Al Jazeera: Living primarily in the rugged highlands in the country’s centre, the Hazaras are one of Afghanistan’s largest ethnic minorities, accounting for up to 20 percent of Afghanistan’s 30 million inhabitants.  The Hazaras say they are considered outsiders in their own country and have been persecuted throughout history. In the late 1900s, Pashtun King Amir Abdul Rahman Khan ordered the killing of all Shias in central Afghanistan, leaving tens of thousands of Hazaras dead, according to anthropologist Thomas Barfield. Hazaras were sold as slaves as late as the 19th century. Click here to read more (external link).