Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of

Pashtunistan Pashtunistan ( ps, پښتونستان, lit=land of the Pashtuns) is a historical region in Central Asia and South Asia, inhabited by the indigenous Pashtuns, Pashtun people of Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Wherein Pashtun culture, the Pashto ...

in the present-day countries of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. They were historically referred to as

Afghans Afghans ( ps, افغانان, translit=afghanan; Persian/ prs, افغان ها, translit=afghānhā; Persian: افغانستانی, romanized: ''Afghanistani'') or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry f ...

() or xbc, αβγανο () until the 1970s, when the term's meaning officially evolved into that of a demonym for all residents of Afghanistan, including those outside of the Pashtun ethnicity. The group's native language is

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...

, an

Iranian language The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family that are spoken natively by the Iranian peoples, predominantly in the Iranian Plateau. The Iranian languages are grouped ...

in the Indo-Iranian branch of the

Indo-European language family The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Du ...

. Additionally,

Dari Persian Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the Variety (linguistics), variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Politics of Afghanistan, Afghan government ...

serves as the second language of Pashtuns in Afghanistan while those in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

speak

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

(see

Hindustani language Hindustani (; Devanagari: , * * * * ; Perso-Arabic: , , ) is the '' lingua franca'' of Northern and Central India and Pakistan. Hindustani is a pluricentric language with two standard registers, known as Hindi and Urdu. Thus, the lan ...

) as their second language. Pashtuns are the 26th-largest ethnic group in the world, and the largest

segmentary lineage A segmentary lineage society has equivalent parts ("segments") held together by shared values. A segmentary lineage society is a type of tribal society. A close family is usually the smallest and closest segment and will generally stand togethe ...

society; there are an estimated 350–400 Pashtun tribes and clans with a variety of origin theories. The total population of the Pashtun people worldwide is estimated to be around 49 million, although this figure is disputed due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979. They are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan, constituting around 48 percent of the total Afghan population and around 15.4 percent of the total Pakistani population. In

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, significant and historical communities of the

Pashtun diaspora The Pashtun diaspora comprises all ethnic Pashtuns and their descendants who are living outside of their traditional homeland of Pashtunistan, a historic region that is today situated over parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. While Pashtunistan ...

exist in the northern region of

Rohilkhand Rohilkhand (previously Rampur State) is a region in the northwestern part of Uttar Pradesh, India, that is centered on the Rampur, Bareilly and Moradabad divisions. It is part of the upper Ganges Plain, and is named after the Rohilla tribe. Th ...

as well as in major Indian cities such as

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. A more recent Pashtun diaspora has formed in the

Arab states of the Persian Gulf The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

(primarily in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

) as part of the larger Afghan and Pakistani diaspora in that region. Prominent Pashtun figures include

Abdul Ahad Momand Abdul Ahad Momand (; born 1959) is a Afghan-German and former Afghan Air Force aviator who became the first, and currently only, Afghan citizen to journey to outer space. He became one of Soyuz TM-6 crew members and spent nine days aboard the M ...

Abdul Ghaffar Khan Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...

Abdul Ghani Baradar Abdul Ghani Baradar, , (born 29 September 1963 or 1968; known by the honorific '' mullah'') is an Afghan political and religious leader who is currently the acting first deputy prime minister alongside Abdul Salam Hanafi and Abdul Kabir, of ...

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī ( ps, احمد شاه دراني; prs, احمد شاه درانی), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the founder of the Durrani Empire and is regarded as the founder of the modern Afghanistan. In July 1747, Ahm ...

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over lar ...

Amanullah Khan Ghazi Amanullah Khan (Pashto and Dari: ; 1 June 1892 – 25 April 1960) was the sovereign of Afghanistan from 1919, first as Emir and after 1926 as King, until his abdication in 1929. After the end of the Third Anglo-Afghan War in August 1919, ...

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in L ...

Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced s ...

Bahlul Lodi Bahlul Khan Lodi (12 July 1489) was the chief of the Pashtun Lodi tribe. Founder of the Lodi dynasty from the Delhi Sultanate upon the abdication of the last claimant from the previous Sayyid rule. Bahlul became sultan of the dynasty on 19 A ...

Dilip Kumar Mohammed Yusuf Khan (; 11 December 1922 – 7 July 2021), better known by his stage name Dilip Kumar, was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. Credited with pioneering method acting in cinema, he dominated the Indian movie scene from lat ...

Hamid Karzai Hamid Karzai (; Pashto/ fa, حامد کرزی, , ; born 24 December 1957) is an Afghan statesman who served as the fourth president of Afghanistan from July 2002 to September 2014, including as the first elected president of the Islamic Repub ...

Hasan Akhund Mohammad Hasan Akhund (born or ) is an Afghan mullah, politician and Taliban leader who is currently the acting prime minister of Afghanistan. Akhund is one of the founding members of the Taliban and has been a senior leading member of t ...

Hibatullah Akhundzada Hibatullah Akhundzada, also spelled Haibatullah Akhunzada, is an Afghan Islamic scholar, cleric, and jurist who is the supreme leader of Afghanistan. He has led the Taliban since 2016, and came to power with its victory over Western-backe ...

Imran Khan Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi ( ur}; born 5 October 1952) is a Pakistani politician and former Cricket captain who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan from August 2018 to until April 2022, when he was ousted through a no-confidenc ...

Irrfan Khan Irrfan Khan () (born Sahabzade Irfan Ali Khan; 7 January 196729 April 2020), also known simply as Irrfan, was an Indian actor who worked in Indian cinema as well as British and American films. Widely regarded as one of the finest actors in In ...

, Khushal Khan,

Madhubala Madhubala (born Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi; 14 February 1933 – 23 February 1969) was an Indian actress and producer who worked in Hindi-language films. She ranked as one of the highest-paid entertainers in India in the post-independence era, ...

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai ( ur, , , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997), is a Pakistani female education activist and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Awarded when she was 17, she is the world's youngest Nobel Prize laureate, and the second Pak ...

Manzoor Pashteen Manzoor Ahmad Pashteen (Pashto: منظور احمد پښتين, Urdu: منظور احمد پشتین) is a Pakistani Pashtun human rights activist from South Waziristan. He is the chairman of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM). ("Pashtun Protection ...

Mirwais Hotak Mir Ways ibn Shah 'Alam, also known as Mirwais Khan Hotak (Pashto/Dari: ) (1673–1715) was an Afghan ruler from the Ghilji tribe of Kandahar, Afghanistan, and the founder of the Hotak dynasty. In 1709, after overthrowing and assassinating Geo ...

Mohammed Daoud Khan Mohammed Daoud Khan ( ps, ), also romanized as Daud Khan or Dawood Khan (18 July 1909 – 28 April 1978), was an Afghan politician and general who served as prime minister of Afghanistan from 1953 to 1963 and, as leader of the 1973 Afghan coup ...

Mullah Omar Mullah Muhammad Omar (; –April 2013) was an Afghan Islamic revolutionary who founded the Taliban and served as the supreme leader of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Born into a religious family of Kandahar, Omar was educated at local '' ma ...

Pir Roshan Bāyazīd Khān Ansārī Pīr Rōshān ( ps, ) or Pīr Rōkhān (1525–1585) was an Afghan warrior, poet, Sufi, and revolutionary leader. He wrote mostly in Pashto, but also in Persian, Hindustani, and Arabic, while he also spoke Ormuri. H ...

Rahman Baba Abdur Rahmān Momand ( ps, عبدالرحمان بابا; 1632–1706) or Rahmān Bābā ( ps, رحمان بابا), was a renowned Pashtun Sufi Dervish and poet from Momand Agency in Peshawar during the Mughal era. He, along with his contemp ...

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. In a film career spanning over thirty years, Khan has received numerous awards, including two Nation ...

Sirajuddin Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani ( ps, سراج الدين حقاني, Sirāj al-Dīn Ḥaqqānī, ; aliases ''Khalifa'', and, ''Siraj Haqqani''. born December 1979) is an Afghan Islamist militant who is the first deputy leader of Afghanistan and the acti ...

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

, Shahid Afridi,

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

Zabiullah Mujahid Zabihullah Mujahid ( ps, ; ''Ẕabīḥullāh Mujāhid'' ; also spelled Dhabih Allah Mujahid) is an Afghan official Central spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since 25 October 2021 and Deputy Ministry of Information and Culture ...

, Zalmay Khalizad, and

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

, among many others.

Geographic distribution

Traditional homeland

Major ethnic groups of Pakistan in 1980 borders removed

The majority of Pashtuns are found in the native Pashtun homeland, located south of the

Hindu Kush The Hindu Kush is an mountain range in Central and South Asia to the west of the Himalayas. It stretches from central and western Afghanistan, Quote: "The Hindu Kush mountains run along the Afghan border with the North-West Frontier Provinc ...

which is in Afghanistan and west of the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

in Pakistan, principally around the

Sulaiman Mountains The Sulaiman Mountains, also known as Kōh-e Sulaymān ( Balochi/Urdu/ fa, ; "Mountains of Solomon") or Da Kasē Ghrūna ( ps, د كسې غرونه; "Mountains of Kasi"), are a north–south extension of the southern Hindu Kush mountain system i ...

. It is believed that the Pashtuns emerged from the region around

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

and the

, roughly around the ancient region of

Arachosia Arachosia () is the Hellenized name of an ancient satrapy situated in the eastern parts of the Achaemenid empire. It was centred around the valley of the Arghandab River in modern-day southern Afghanistan, and extended as far east as the ...

, and expanded from there between the 13th and 16th centuries to the adjoining areas of modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Starting in the 1880s, various Pashtun-dominated governments of

have pursued policies, called

Pashtunization Pashtunization ( ps, پښتون‌ جوړونه), also called Pathanization, is a process of cultural or linguistic change in which someone or something non-Pashtun becomes acculturated to Pashtun influence. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group ...

, aimed towards settling more ethnic Pashtuns in non-Pashtun regions, particularly the northern region of Afghanistan. Metropolitan centres within Pashtun dominated areas include

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth List of cities in Pakistan by population, most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in Geography of Pakistan, south-west of the country close to the ...

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...

Mardan Mardān (Pashto and ; Urdu ; Pashto: ) is a city in the Mardan District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Located in the Valley of Peshawar, Mardan is the second-largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (after Peshawar). It is a fast-growing ...

Mingora Mingora ( ps, مینګورہ, ur, ) is a city in the Swat District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Located on the Swat River, it is the 3rd largest city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the 26th largest in Pakistan. Mingora is the largest city and ...

and

Peshawar Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

is home to the largest community of Pashtuns outside of the native homeland (with estimates of around 7 million).

India

Pashtuns in India are often commonly referred to as ''Pathans'' (the Hindustani word for Pashtun) both by themselves and other ethnic groups of the subcontinent. Historically, Pashtuns have settled in various cities of India before and during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

colonial India Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spices. The search for the wealth and prosper ...

. These include Bombay (now called

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

Jaipur Jaipur (; Hindi Language, Hindi: ''Jayapura''), formerly Jeypore, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Rajasthan. , the city had a pop ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. The settlers are descended from both Pashtuns of present-day

and

(

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

before 1947). In some regions in

, they are sometimes referred to as ''Kabuliwala''. In

significant Pashtun diaspora communities exist. While speakers of Pashto in the country only number 21,677 as of 2011, estimates of the ethnic or ancestral Pashtun population in India range from 3,200,000 to 11,482,000 to as high as double their population in Afghanistan (approximately 30 million). The

region of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

is named after the

Rohilla Rohillas are a community of Pashtun ancestry, historically found in Rohilkhand, a region in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. It forms the largest Pashtun diaspora community in India, and has given its name to the Rohilkhand region. The Ro ...

community of Pashtun ancestry. They also live in the states of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

in central India and

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

in eastern India that each have a population of over a million with Pashtun ancestry; both

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and

were primary locations of Pashtun migrants from

during the colonial era. There are also populations over 100,000 each in the cities of

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. Bombay (now called

) and

both have a Pashtun population of over 1 million, whilst

and

have an estimate of around 100,000. The Pashtuns in

include the khan siblings Feroz,

Sanjay Sanjay, also spelled Sanjai, Sanjey, Sanje, Sanjaey and Sunjay, is a male given name of Sanskrit origin meaning "triumphant" (from Sañjaya) and may refer to: People * Sanjaya, an important character in the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata'' * San ...

and Akbar Khan, whose father settled in

from

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

. Today, the Pashtuns are a collection of diversely scattered communities present across the length and breadth of India, with the largest populations principally settled in the plains of northern and

central India Central India is a loosely defined geographical region of India. There is no clear official definition and various ones may be used. One common definition consists of the states of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, which are included in alm ...

. Following the

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947, many of them migrated to Pakistan. The majority of Indian Pashtuns are Urdu-speaking communities, who have assimilated into the local society over the course of generations. Pashtuns have influenced and contributed to various fields in India, particularly politics, the entertainment industry and sports.

Iran

Pashtuns are also found in smaller numbers in the eastern and northern parts of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. Records as early as the mid-1600s report Durrani Pashtuns living in the Khorasan Province of

Safavid Iran Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

. After the short reign of the Ghilji Pashtuns in Iran, Nader Shah defeated the last independent Ghilji ruler of

Hussain Hotak Shah Hussain Hotak, (Pashto/Dari: ), son of Mirwais Hotak, was the fifth and last ruler of the Hotak dynasty. An ethnic Pashtun (''Afghan'') from the Ghilji tribe, he succeeded to the throne after the death of his brother Mahmud Hotak in 1725. ...

. In order to secure Durrani control in southern Afghanistan, Nader Shah deported

and large numbers of the Ghilji Pashtuns to the Mazandaran Province in northern Iran. The remnants of this once sizable exiled community, although assimilated, continue to claim Pashtun descent. During the early 18th century, in the course of a very few years, the number of Durrani Pashtuns in Iranian Khorasan, greatly increased. Later the region became part of the

Durrani Empire The Durrani Empire ( ps, د درانيانو ټولواکمني; fa, امپراتوری درانیان) or the Afghan Empire ( ps, د افغانان ټولواکمني, label=none; fa, امپراتوری افغان, label=none), also know ...

itself. The second Durrani king of Afghanistan,

Timur Shah Durrani Timur Shah Durrani (; prs, ;), also known as Timur Shah Abdali or Taimur Shah Abdali (December 1746 – May 20, 1793) was the second ruler of the Afghan Durrani Empire, from November 1772 until his death in 1793. An ethnic Pashtun, he was the s ...

was born in

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

. Contemporary to Durrani rule in the east,

Azad Khan Afghan Azād Khān Afghān (Persian, ps, آزاد خان افغان), or Azād Shāh Afghān () (died 1781), was a Pashtun military commander and a major contender for supremacy in western Iran after the death of Nader Shah Afshar in 1747.Perry, J. R. ( ...

, an ethnic Ghilji Pashtun, formerly second in charge of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

during Afsharid rule, gained power in the western regions of Iran and

for a short period. According to a sample survey in 1988, 75 percent of all Afghan refugees in the southern part of the Iranian Khorasan Province were Durrani Pashtuns.

In other regions

Indian and Pakistani Pashtuns have utilised the British/ Commonwealth links of their respective countries, and modern communities have been established starting around the 1960s mainly in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

but also in other

commonwealth countries The Commonwealth of Nations is a voluntary association of 56 sovereign states. Most of them were British colonies or dependencies of those colonies. No one government in the Commonwealth exercises power over the others, as is the case in a po ...

(and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

). Some Pashtuns have also settled in the Middle East, such as in the

Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...

. For example, about 300,000 Pashtuns migrated to the

Persian Gulf countries The Arab states of the Persian Gulf refers to a group of Arab states which border the Persian Gulf. There are seven member states of the Arab League in the region: Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. ...

between 1976 and 1981, representing 35% of Pakistani immigrants. Due to the multiple wars in Afghanistan since the late 1970s, various waves of

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

(Afghan Pashtuns, but also a sizeable number of Tajiks, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen and Afghan Sikhs) have left the country as

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

s. There are 1.3 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and 1 million in Iran. Others have claimed asylum in the United Kingdom, United States and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

countries through Pakistan.

Tribes

A prominent institution of the Pashtun people is the intricate system of

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

s. The Pashtuns remain a predominantly tribal people, but the trend of urbanisation has begun to alter Pashtun society as cities such as

and

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

have grown rapidly due to the influx of rural Pashtuns. Despite this, many people still identify themselves with various

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

s. The tribal system has several levels of organisation: the tribe they are in is from four 'greater' tribal groups: the

Sarbani Saṛbanī ( ps, سړبني) or Sarban Confedracy is a tribal group of Pashtuns. They are situated in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Sarbani include many Pashtun tribes, including Sherani, Tareen, Durrani, Khalil, Kheshgi, Kasi which includes ...

, the

Bettani The Bettani ( ps, بېټني), also spelled Baittani or Bhittani, is a Pashtun tribe located mostly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Bettani are named after ''Shaykh Beṭ'', their legendary ancestor who is said to be the second son of Qais Abdur ...

, the Gharghashti, and the

Karlani Karlāṇī ( ps, کرلاڼي) is a Pashtun tribal confederacy. They primarily inhabit the FATA region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and certain parts of eastern Afghanistan. In the 16th century the Karlani founded the Karrani dyn ...

, the '' tabar'' (tribe), is then divided into kinship groups called ''khels'', which in turn is divided into smaller groups (''pllarina'' or ''plarganey''), each consisting of several extended families called ''kahols''.

History and origins

Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that early humans were living in what is now Afghanistan at least 50,000 years ago. Since the 2nd millennium BC, cities in the region now inhabited by Pashtuns have seen invasions and migrations, including by Ancient Indian peoples,

Ancient Iranian peoples The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate ...

, the

Medes The Medes (Old Persian: ; Akkadian: , ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were an ancient Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, the ...

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

, and

Ancient Macedonians The Macedonians ( el, Μακεδόνες, ''Makedónes'') were an ancient tribe that lived on the alluvial plain around the rivers Haliacmon and lower Vardar, Axios in the northeastern part of Geography of Greece#Mainland, mainland Greece. Es ...

in antiquity,

Kushans The Kushan Empire ( grc, Βασιλεία Κοσσανῶν; xbc, Κυϸανο, ; sa, कुषाण वंश; Brahmi: , '; BHS: ; xpr, 𐭊𐭅𐭔𐭍 𐭇𐭔𐭕𐭓, ; zh, 貴霜 ) was a syncretic empire, formed by the Yuezhi, ...

, Hephthalites,

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

Mongols The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...

, and others. In recent times, people of the Western world have explored the area as well. The early precursors to modern-day Pashtuns may have been old

Iranian tribes The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of Indo-European peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate ...

that spread throughout the eastern

Iranian plateau The Iranian plateau or Persian plateau is a geological feature in Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. It comprises part of the Eurasian Plate and is wedged between the Arabian Plate and the Indian Plate; situated between the Zagros ...

. According to Yu. V. Gankovsky: Gankovsky proposes Ephthalite origin for Pashtuns but others draw a different conclusion.

Ghilji The Ghiljī ( ps, غلجي, ; fa, خیلجی, Xelji) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai or Ghilzay (), are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also sett ...

tribe has been connected to the

Khalaj people The Khalaj ( Bactrian χαλασσ ''Xalass''; ps, خلجیان, Khalajyān; fa, خلج‌ها, Xalajhâ) are a Turkic ethnic group who mainly live in Iran. Medieval Muslim scholars considered the tribe to be one of the earliest to cross the A ...

. According to

Abdul Hai Habibi Abdul Hai Habibi ( ps, عبدالحى حبيبي, fa, عبدالحی حبیبی) – ''ʿAbd' ul-Ḥay Ḥabībi'') (1910 – 9 May 1984) was a prominent Afghan historian for much of his lifetime as well as a member of the National Assembly of ...

, some oriental scholars hold that the second largest Pasthun tribe, the

s, are the descendants of a mixed race of Hephthalite and Pakhtas who have been living in Afghanistan since the Vedic Aryan period. But according to Sims-Williams, archaeological documents do not support the suggestion that the Khalaj were the Hephthalites' successors. According to

Georg Morgenstierne Georg Valentin von Munthe af Morgenstierne (2 January 1892 – 3 March 1978) was a Norwegian professor of linguistics with the University of Oslo (UiO). He specialized in Indo-Iranian languages. Studies During the years 1923 to 1971, Morgenst ...

, the

Durrani The Durrānī ( ps, دراني, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan ( Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, Pakistan, but ...

tribe who were known as the "Abdali" before the formation of the

1747, might be connected to with the

Hephthalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Central Asia during th ...

; Aydogdy Kurbanov endorses this view who proposes that after the collapse of the Hephthalite confederacy, Hephthalite likely assimilated into different local populations. Afghanistan region during 500 BC

The

ethnogenesis Ethnogenesis (; ) is "the formation and development of an ethnic group". This can originate by group self-identification or by outside identification. The term ''ethnogenesis'' was originally a mid-19th century neologism that was later introdu ...

of the Pashtun ethnic group is unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called '' Pakthas'' (''Pactyans'') between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, who may be their early ancestors. However, there are many conflicting theories amongst historians and the Pashtuns themselves. Mohan Lal states:

Willem Vogelsang Willem Vogelsang (born 1956 in Medemblik) is the deputy director of the International Institute for Asian Studies at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He is also a colonel in the Dutch armed forces as Project Coordinator for Cultural Af ...

states: Pashtuns are tied to the history of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India: following

Muslim conquests The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He estab ...

from the 7th to 11th centuries, many Pashtun warriors invaded and conquered much of the northern parts of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

during the periods of the Suris and

Durranis The Durrānī ( ps, دراني, ), formerly known as Abdālī (), are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. Their traditional homeland is in southern Afghanistan (Loy Kandahar region), straddling into Toba Achakzai in Balochistan, Pakistan, but ...

Linguistic origin

Saka warrior Termez Achaeological Museum

Pashto is generally classified as an

Eastern Iranian The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian dial ...

language. It shares features with the

Munji language The Munji language ( fa, مونجی), also known as Munjani (), Munjhan (), and the Munjiwar language, is a Pamir language spoken in Munjan valley in Badakhshan Province in northeast Afghanistan. It is similar to the Yidgha language, which is s ...

, which is the closest existing language to the extinct Bactrian, but also shares features with the

Sogdian language The Sogdian language was an Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian language spoken mainly in the Central Asian region of Sogdia (capital: Samarkand; other chief cities: Panjakent, Fergana, Khujand, and Bukhara), located in modern-day Uzbekist ...

, as well as Khwarezmian, Shughni, Sanglechi, and Khotanese Saka. It is suggested by some that Pashto may have originated in the

Badakhshan Badakhshan is a historical region comprising parts of modern-day north-eastern Afghanistan, eastern Tajikistan, and Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in China. Badakhshan Province is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan. Much of historic Ba ...

region and is connected to a

Saka language Saka, or Sakan, was a variety of Eastern Iranian languages, attested from the ancient Buddhist kingdoms of Khotan, Kashgar and Tumshuq in the Tarim Basin, in what is now southern Xinjiang, China. It is a Middle Iranian language. The two ki ...

akin to Khotanese. In fact major linguist

has described Pashto as a

Saka The Saka ( Old Persian: ; Kharoṣṭhī: ; Ancient Egyptian: , ; , old , mod. , ), Shaka (Sanskrit ( Brāhmī): , , ; Sanskrit (Devanāgarī): , ), or Sacae (Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) were a group of nomadic Iranian peoples who hist ...

dialect and many others have observed the similarities between Pashto and other Saka languages as well, suggesting that the original Pashto speakers might have been a

group. Furthemore Pashto and Ossetian, another Scythian-descending language, share cognates in their vocabulary which other Eastern Iranian languages lack Cheung suggests a common isogloss between Pashto and Ossetian which he explains by an undocumented Saka dialect being spoken close to reconstructed Old Pashto which was likely spoken north of the

Oxus The Amu Darya, tk, Amyderýa/ uz, Amudaryo// tg, Амударё, Amudaryo ps, , tr, Ceyhun / Amu Derya grc, Ὦξος, Ôxos (also called the Amu, Amo River and historically known by its Latin name or Greek ) is a major river in Central Asi ...

at that time. Others however have suggested a much older Iranic ancestor given the affinity to

Old Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

Ancient historical references: Pashtun

There is mention of the tribe called Pakthās who were one of the tribes that fought against

Sudas Sudās Paijavana ( sa, सुदास्) was an Indo-Aryan tribal king of the Bharatas, during the main or middle Rigvedic period (c. 14th century BCE). He led his tribe to victory in the Battle of the Ten Kings near the Paruṣṇī (mod ...

in the

Dasarajna The Battle of the Ten Kings ( sa, दाशराज्ञ युद्ध, translit=Dāśarājñá yuddhá) is a battle, first alluded to in the 7th Mandala of the Rigveda (RV), between a Bharata king and a confederation of tribes. It resulte ...

- ''the Battle of the Ten Kings'' - of the

Rigveda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...

(

RV 7 The seventh Mandala of the Rigveda ("book 7", "RV 7") has 104 hymns. In the Rigveda Anukramani, all hymns in this book are attributed to ''Vashista''. Hymn 32 is additionally credited to Sakti Vashista, and hymns 101-102 (to Parjanya) are addit ...

.18.7) dated between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE. The Pakthās are mentioned:

Heinrich Zimmer Heinrich Robert Zimmer (6 December 1890 – 20 March 1943) was a German Indologist and linguist, as well as a historian of South Asian art, most known for his works, ''Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization'' and ''Philosophies of India ...

connects them with a tribe mentioned by

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

(''Pactyans''), and with

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...

and

. Herodutus in 430 BCE mentions in the Histories: These Pactyans lived on the eastern frontier of the

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

Satrapy A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

as early as the 1st millennium BCE, present day Afghanistan.

also mentions a tribe of known as Aparytai (Ἀπαρύται)

Thomas Holdich Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich (13 February 1843 – 2 November 1929) was an English geographer and president of the Royal Geographical Society. He is best known as Superintendent of Frontier Surveys in British India, arbiter in the Cord ...

has linked them with the Pashtun tribe: ''

Afridi The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...

s'' as all these tribes have been placed in the Indus valley. Herodotus states: Joseph Marquart made the connection of the Pashtuns with names such as the Parsiētai (Παρσιῆται), Parsioi (Πάρσιοι) that were cited by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

150 CE. The text from Ptolemy:

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

, the Greek geographer, in the

Geographica The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...

(written between 43 BC to 23 AD) makes mention of the Pasiani (Πασιανοί), this has been identified with Pashtuns given that Pashto is an Eastern-Iranian language and Pashtuns reside in the area once termed

Ariana Ariana was a general geographical term used by some Greek and Roman authors of the ancient period for a district of wide extent between Central Asia and the Indus River, comprising the eastern provinces of the Achaemenid Empire that covered the ...

. Strabo states: This is considered a different rendering of Ptolemy's Parsioi (Πάρσιοι).Johnny Cheung
reflecting on Ptolemy's ''Parsioi (Πάρσιοι)'' and Strabo's ''Pasiani'' (Πασιανοί) states: "Both forms show slight phonetic substitutions, viz. of υ for ι, and the loss of r in Pasianoi is due to perseveration from the preceding Asianoi. They are therefore the most likely candidates as the (linguistic) ancestors of modern day Pashtuns."

Middle historical references: Afghan

In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

until the advent of modern Afghanistan in the 18th century and the division of Pashtun territory by the 1893

Durand Line The Durand Line ( ps, د ډیورنډ کرښه; ur, ), forms the Pakistan–Afghanistan border, a international land border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia. The western end runs to the border with Iran and the eastern end to th ...

, Pashtuns were often referred to as ethnic '' "Afghans"''. The earliest mention of the name ''Afghan'' (''Abgân - αβγανο'') is by

Shapur I Shapur I (also spelled Shabuhr I; pal, 𐭱𐭧𐭯𐭥𐭧𐭥𐭩, Šābuhr ) was the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran. The dating of his reign is disputed, but it is generally agreed that he ruled from 240 to 270, with his father Ardas ...

of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...

during the 3rd century CE. In the 4th century the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as a reference to the Pashtun people is mentioned in the Bactrian documents, they mention an Afghan chief named Bredag Watanan in connection with the

Hephtalites The Hephthalites ( xbc, ηβοδαλο, translit= Ebodalo), sometimes called the White Huns (also known as the White Hunas, in Iranian languages, Iranian as the ''Spet Xyon'' and in Sanskrit as the ''Sveta-huna''), were a people who lived in Cen ...

and in the context of some stolen horses. Interestingly the documents mention the Afghans far in the north of Afghanistan around modern

Kunduz , native_name_lang = prs , other_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = Kunduz River valley.jpg , imagesize = 300 , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_ ...

Baghlan Baghlan (Dari: بغلان ''Baġlān'') is a city in northern Afghanistan, in the eponymous province, Baghlan Province. It is located three miles east of the Kunduz River, 35 miles south of Khanabad, and about 500 metres above sea level in the ...

and Samangan in historical

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

Bactrian document Northern Afghanistan 4th century

Other reference from the same documents : The name Afghan is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of ''"Avagāṇa"'' ��वगाणby the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in his Brihat-samhita.

Xuanzang Xuanzang (, ; 602–664), born Chen Hui / Chen Yi (), also known as Hiuen Tsang, was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of ...

, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, visiting the Afghanistan region several times between 630 and 644 CE also speaks about them. In

Shahnameh The ''Shahnameh'' or ''Shahnama'' ( fa, شاهنامه, Šāhnāme, lit=The Book of Kings, ) is a long epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi between c. 977 and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,00 ...

1–110 and 1–116, it is written as ''Awgaan''. According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, the name "Afghan" is documented several times in the 982 CE Hudud-al-Alam. Hudud ul-'alam also speaks of a king in Ninhar ( Nangarhar), who had Muslim, ''Afghan'' and Hindu wives. Writing in the 11th century AD,

Al-Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (973 – after 1050) commonly known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian in scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously the "founder of Indology", "Father of Co ...

in his ''Tarikh al Hind'', In the western frontier mountains of India there live various tribes of the Afghans, and extend up to the neighbourhood of the Sindh Valley, It was reported that between 1039 and 1040 CE Mas'ud I of the

Ghaznavid Empire The Ghaznavid dynasty ( fa, غزنویان ''Ġaznaviyān'') was a culturally Persianate, Sunni Muslim dynasty of Turkic ''mamluk'' origin, ruling, at its greatest extent, large parts of Persia, Khorasan, much of Transoxiana and the northwes ...

sent his son to subdue a group of rebel Afghans near

. An army of

, Afghans, Khiljis and others was assembled by Arslan Shah Ghaznavid in 1119 CE. Another army of Afghans and Khiljis was assembled by Bahram Shah Ghaznavid in 1153 CE.

Muhammad of Ghor Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad ibn Sam ( fa, معز الدین محمد بن سام), also Mu'izz ad-Din Muhammad Ghori, also Ghūri ( fa, معز الدین محمد غوری) (1144 – March 15, 1206), commonly known as Muhammad of Ghor, also Gh ...

, ruler of the

Ghorids The Ghurid dynasty (also spelled Ghorids; fa, دودمان غوریان, translit=Dudmân-e Ğurīyân; self-designation: , ''Šansabānī'') was a Persianate dynasty and a clan of presumably eastern Iranian Tajik origin, which ruled from the ...

, also had Afghans in his army along with others. A famous Moroccan travelling scholar,

Ibn Battuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...

, visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khalji dynasty in early 1300s gives his description of the Afghans. Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (Ferishta), writes about Afghans and their country called ''

'' in the 16th century.

Anthropology and oral traditions

Sher Ali Khan and company of Afghanistan in 1869

is classified under the

sub-branch of the Iranian branch of the

. Those who speak a Southern dialect of Pashto refer to themselves as Pashtuns, while those who speak Northern Dialect call themselves Pukhtuns. These native people compose the core of ethnic Pashtuns who are found in southeastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. The Pashtuns have oral and written accounts of their family tree. Lineage is considered very important.

Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites

Some

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

s lend credence to the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...

s of the Pashtun tribes themselves. For example, according to the ''

Encyclopaedia of Islam The ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' (''EI'') is an encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies published by Brill. It is considered to be the standard reference work in the field of Islamic studies. The first edition was published in ...

'', the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is traced to

Nimat Allah al-Harawi Ni'mat Allah al-Harawi (also known as Niamatullah; ) was a chronicler at the court of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir where he compiled a Persian history of the Afghans, the ''Makhzan-i-Afghani''. Its translated copies appear as ''The History of the ...

, who compiled a history for ''Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi'' in the reign of Mughal Emperor

Jehangir Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti. Ear ...

in the 17th century. The 13th century

Tabaqat-i Nasiri ''Tabaqat-i Nasiri'' ( fa, ), named for ''Sultan'' Nasir-ud-Din, is an elaborate history of the Islamic world written in Persian by Minhaj-i-Siraj Juzjani and completed in 1260. Consisting of 23 volumes and written in a blunt straightforward st ...

discusses the settlement of immigrant Bani Israel at the end of the 8th century CE in the Ghor region of Afghanistan, settlement attested by Jewish inscriptions in Ghor. Historian André Wink suggests that the story "may contain a clue to the remarkable theory of the Jewish origin of some of the Afghan tribes which is persistently advocated in the Persian-Afghan chronicles." These references to Bani Israel agree with the commonly held view by Pashtuns that when the twelve tribes of Israel were dispersed, the

tribe of Joseph The Tribe of Joseph is one of the Tribes of Israel in biblical tradition. Since Ephraim and Manasseh (often called the "two half-tribes of Joseph") together traditionally constituted the tribe of Joseph, it was often not listed as one of th ...

, among other Hebrew tribes, settled in the Afghanistan region. This oral tradition is widespread among the Pashtun tribes. There have been many legends over the centuries of descent from the

Ten Lost Tribes The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ashe ...

after groups converted to Christianity and Islam. Hence the tribal name

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai ( ps, یوسفزی, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ) are one of the largest Pashtun tribes, tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, to which they migrated to from Sulim ...

in Pashto translates to the "son of Joseph". A similar story is told by many historians, including the 14th century

and 16th century

Ferishta Firishta or Ferešte ( fa, ), full name Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah Astarabadi ( fa, مُحَمَّد قاسِم هِندو شاہ), was a Persian historian, who later settled in India and served the Deccan Sultans as their court historian. He wa ...

. However, the similarity of names can also be traced to the presence of Arabic through Islam. One conflicting issue in the belief that the Pashtuns descend from the

Israelites The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan. The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...

is that the Ten Lost Tribes were exiled by the ruler of

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...

, while ''Maghzan-e-Afghani'' says they were permitted by the ruler to go east to Afghanistan. This inconsistency can be explained by the fact that Persia acquired the lands of the ancient Assyrian Empire when it conquered the Empire of the Medes and Chaldean

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

, which had conquered Assyria decades earlier. But no ancient author mentions such a transfer of Israelites further east, or no ancient extra-Biblical texts refer to the Ten Lost Tribes at all. Some Afghan historians have maintained that Pashtuns are linked to the ancient Israelites. Mohan Lal quoted

Mountstuart Elphinstone Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...

who wrote: This theory has been criticised by not being substantiated by historical evidence. Dr. Zaman Stanizai criticises this theory: According to genetic studies Pashtuns have a greater R1a1a*-M198 modal halogroup than Jews:

Other theories of descent

Some Pashtun tribes claim descent from

, including some claiming to be

Sayyid ''Sayyid'' (, ; ar, سيد ; ; meaning 'sir', 'Lord', 'Master'; Arabic plural: ; feminine: ; ) is a surname of people descending from the Prophets in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad through his grandsons, Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali ...

s (descendants of Muhammad).Caroe, Olaf. 1984. ''The Pathans: 500 B.C.-A.D. 1957'' (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)." Oxford University Press. Some groups from

and

believe to be descended from

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

who arrived with

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

. According to Firasat et al. 2007, only a small proportion of Pashtuns may descend from Greeks, but they also suggest that Greek ancestry may also have come from Greek slaves brought by

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...

. Some like the

also claim Turkish descent having settled in the

area and began to assimilate much of the

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there. One historical account connects the Pashtuns to a possible Ancient Egyptian past but this lacks supporting evidence.

Henry Walter Bellew Henry Walter Bellew MRCP (30 August 1834 – 26 July 1892) was an Indian-born British medical officer who worked in Afghanistan. He wrote several books based on his explorations in the region during the course of his army career and also studied ...

(1864) was of the view that the Pashtuns likely have mixed Greek and Rajput roots. Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of the

Seleucid Empire The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...

expanded influence on the Pashtuns until 305 BCE when they gave up dominating power to the Indian

Maurya Empire The Maurya Empire, or the Mauryan Empire, was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in the Indian subcontinent based in Magadha, having been founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, and existing in loose-knit fashion until 1 ...

as part of an alliance treaty. Vogelsang (2002) suggests that a single origin of the Pashtuns is unlikely but rather they are a tribal confederation.

Modern era

Their modern past stretches back to the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

, particularly the

Hotak dynasty The Hotak dynasty ( ps, fa, ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful revolution against t ...

and the

. The Hotaks were

tribesmen who rebelled against the

Safavids Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...

and seized control over much of Persia from 1722 to 1729. This was followed by the conquests of

who was a former high-ranking military commander under Nader Shah. He created the last Afghan empire that covered most of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan,

Kashmir Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...

Indian Punjab Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and ...

, as well as the

Kohistan Kohistan ( fa, کوہستان, ), also transliterated Kuhistan, Kuhiston, Quhistan, may refer to: In Afghanistan *Kohistan District, Kapisa, Kapisa Province ** Kohistan Hesa Awal District, a district in Kapisa Province, created within the form ...

and

Khorasan Khorasan may refer to: * Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan * Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...

provinces of Iran. After the decline of the Durrani dynasty in the first half of the 19th century under

Shuja Shah Durrani Shuja ( ar, شجاع‎, ur, شجاع‎, bn, সুজা) is a surname and male given name. Notable people with this name include: * Shuja al-Khwarazmi, was the mother of Abbasid caliph Al-Mutawakkil (r. 847–861) * Ahmad Shuja Pasha (born ...

, the

Barakzai dynasty The two branches of the Barakzai dynasty (, "sons of Barak") ruled modern day Afghanistan from 1823 to 1973 when the monarchy ended under Musahiban Mohammed Zahir Shah. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Dur ...

took control of the empire. Specifically, the

Mohamedzai Mohammadzai ( ps, محمدزی), also spelled Moḥammadzay (meaning "descendants of Mohammad"), is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul a ...

subclan held Afghanistan's monarchy from around 1826 to the end of

Zahir Shah Mohammed Zahir Shah (Pashto/Dari: , 15 October 1914 – 23 July 2007) was the last king of Afghanistan, reigning from 8 November 1933 until he was deposed on 17 July 1973. Serving for 40 years, Zahir was the longest-serving ruler of Afghanistan s ...

's reign in 1973. Former President

is from the

Popalzai Popalzai or Popalzay ( ps, پوپلزی), also known as Popal, are Durrani (formerly called Abdali or Bor Tareen) Pashtuns of Afghanistan. The Popalzai are part of the Zirak confederation of Pashtun tribes. The origin of the Abdali forefather ...

tribe of

The Pashtuns in Afghanistan resisted

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

designs upon their territory and kept the

Russians , native_name_lang = ru , image = , caption = , population = , popplace = 118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate) , region1 = , pop1 ...

at bay during the so-called "

Great Game The Great Game is the name for a set of political, diplomatic and military confrontations that occurred through most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – involving the rivalry of the British Empire and the Russian Empi ...

". By playing the two super powers against each other, Afghanistan remained an independent sovereign state and maintained some autonomy (see the

Siege of Malakand The siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province.Nevill p. 232 The British faced a force of Pashtun tribesmen whose tribal lands ...

). During the reign of

(1880–1901), Pashtun regions were

politically Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

divided by the

, and what is today western Pakistan fell within British India as a result of the border. In the 20th century, many politically active Pashtun leaders living under British rule of undivided India supported Indian independence, including

Ashfaqulla Khan Ashfaqulla Khan (22 October 1900 – 19 December 1927) was an Indian independence activist in the Indian independence movement and co-founder of the Hindustan Republican Association. Early life Khan was born in the Shahjahanpur district of th ...

Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai (7 July 1907 – 2 December 1973) ( ps, عبدالصمد خان اڅکزی), commonly known as Khan Shaheed () (This title or name was given by the great Baba-e-Afghan Abdul Rahim Khan Mandokhail) was a Pashtun peop ...

, Ajmal Khattak,

Bacha Khan Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtuns, Pashtun, List of Indian independence activists, independence ...

and his son Wali Khan (both members of the

Khudai Khidmatgar Khudai Khidmatgar ( ps, خداۍ خدمتګار; literally "servants of God") was a predominantly Pashtun nonviolent resistance movement known for its activism against the British Raj in colonial India; it was based in the country's North-West ...

), and were inspired by

Mohandas Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

method of resistance. Some Pashtuns also worked in the

Muslim League Muslim League may refer to: Political parties Subcontinent ; British India *All-India Muslim League, Mohammed Ali Jinah, led the demand for the partition of India resulting in the creation of Pakistan. **Punjab Muslim League, a branch of the organ ...

to fight for an independent Pakistan, including

Yusuf Khattak Muhamad Yusuf Khan Khattak ( b. 18 November 1917 – 29 July 1991) was a Pakistani politician, Socialism in Pakistan, left-wing intellectual, lawyer, and noted Pakistan Movement :Pakistan Movement activists, activist from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. ...

and

Abdur Rab Nishtar Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar (13 June 1899 – 14 February 1958) was a Pakistani Muslim League politician from North-West Frontier Province.Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

. The Pashtuns of Afghanistan attained complete independence from British political intervention during the reign of

, following the

Third Anglo-Afghan War The Third Anglo-Afghan War; fa, جنگ سوم افغان-انگلیس), also known as the Third Afghan War, the British-Afghan War of 1919, or in Afghanistan as the War of Independence, began on 6 May 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan inv ...

. By the 1950s a popular call for

began to be heard in Afghanistan and the new state of Pakistan. This led to bad relations between the two nations. The Afghan monarchy ended when

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Daoud Khan seized control of Afghanistan from his cousin

in 1973, which opened doors for a

proxy war A proxy war is an armed conflict between two states or non-state actors, one or both of which act at the instigation or on behalf of other parties that are not directly involved in the hostilities. In order for a conflict to be considered a pr ...

by neighbors and the rise of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. In April 1978, Daoud Khan was assassinated along with his family and relatives.

Mujahideen ''Mujahideen'', or ''Mujahidin'' ( ar, مُجَاهِدِين, mujāhidīn), is the plural form of ''mujahid'' ( ar, مجاهد, mujāhid, strugglers or strivers or justice, right conduct, Godly rule, etc. doers of jihād), an Arabic term th ...

commanders began being recruited in neighboring Pakistan for a

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

against the

Democratic Republic of Afghanistan The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA),, renamed the Republic of Afghanistan, in 1987, was the Afghan state during the one-party rule of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) from 1978 to 1992. The PDPA came to power ...

- the Marxist government was also dominated by Pashtun

Khalq Khalq ( ps, خلق, ) was a faction of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Its historical ''de facto'' leaders were Nur Muhammad Taraki (1967–1979), Hafizullah Amin (1979) and Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy (1979–1990). It was also ...

ists. In 1979, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

invaded its southern neighbor Afghanistan in order to defeat a rising insurgency. The mujahideen were funded by the United States, Saudi Arabia, China and others, and included some Pashtun commanders such as

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ( ps, ګلب الدين حكمتيار; born 1 August 1949) is an Afghan politician, former mujahideen leader and drug trafficker. He is the founder and current leader of the Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin political party, so calle ...

and

Jalaluddin Haqqani Jalaluddin Haqqani ( ps, جلال الدين حقاني, Jalāl al-Dīn Ḥaqqānī) (1939 – 3 September 2018) was an Afghan insurgent commander who founded the Haqqani network, an insurgent group fighting in guerilla warfare against US-led ...

. In the meantime, millions of Pashtuns fled their native land to live among other

Afghan diaspora Afghan diaspora refers to the Afghan people that reside and work outside of Afghanistan. They include citizens of Afghanistan who have immigrated to other countries. The majority of the diaspora has been formed by Afghan refugees since the star ...

and

, and from there tens of thousands proceeded to North America, the

, the Middle East, Australia and other parts of the world.

In politics and media

Many high-ranking government officials in Afghanistan are Pashtuns, including:

Zalmay Rasoul Zalmai Rassoul ( ps, زلمی رسول; born 11 May 1943) is an politics of Afghanistan, Afghan politician who served as Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Afghanistan), Foreign Minister of Afghanistan from January 2010 to October 2013. He previously se ...

Abdul Rahim Wardak General Abdul Rahim Wardak (; Pashto/ prs, عبدالرحیم وردگ; born 1945), an ethnic Pashtun, is an Afghan politician and former Defense Minister of Afghanistan. He was appointed on December 23, 2004, by Afghan President Hamid Karzai. ...

Omar Zakhilwal Dr. Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal ( ps, ډاکتر عمر زاخيلوال ; born 1968) is an Afghan politician who served as the President's Special Representative and Afghanistan's Ambassador to Pakistan from 2016 until 2018. He also served as Minister ...

Ghulam Farooq Wardak Ghulam Farooq Wardak (born 1959) is a politician in Afghanistan, formerly serving as the Minister of Education. He was appointed to that position by Afghan President Hamid Karzai on October 11, 2008. Early life Farooq Wardak was born in the Say ...

, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady,

Yousef Pashtun Mohammad Yousef Pashtun ( ps, یوسف پښتون ) is an Afghan technocrat and politician. He served as Minister of Urban Development and Housing for two terms (2002-2003, 2005-2010) and as Governor of Kandahar province in 2003, replacing Gu ...

and Amirzai Sangin. The

list of current governors of Afghanistan This is a table chart of the current governors of Afghanistan. Provincial governors are all appointed by the leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Governors See also * List of current provincial deputy governors in Afghanistan * List of ...

, as well as the parliamentarians in the House of the People and

House of Elders House of Elders could refer to: * House of Elders (Afghanistan) * House of Elders (Somaliland) See also * Elder (disambiguation) An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administra ...

, include large percentage of Pashtuns. The Chief of staff of the

Afghan National Army Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia * Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

Sher Mohammad Karimi General officer, General Sher Mohammad Karimi (born November 11, 1945) was the Chief of staff, Chief of Army Staff in the Military of Afghanistan. An ethnic Pashtun people, Pashtun, Karimi was born in Khost Province of Afghanistan. After the 197 ...

, and Commander of the

Afghan Air Force The Air Force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, also referred to as the Islamic Emirate Air Force and the Afghan Air Force, is the air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. The Royal Afghan Air Force was e ...

Mohammad Dawran Major General Mohammad Dawran (January 20, 1954) was Commander of the Afghan Air Force.http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2010/01/04/ministry-gets-firefighting-vehicles He was promoted to the post in 2005 by Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and the Co ...

, as well as

Chief Justice of Afghanistan The chief justice of Afghanistan is the head of Afghanistan's supreme court. There have been multiple supreme courts throughout Afghanistan's history. The current supreme court is the Supreme Court of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and its ...

Abdul Salam Azimi Abdul Salam Azimi (born 1936 in Farah Province) is an Afghan judge who was the Chief Justice of Afghanistan and, as such, the head of the Afghan Supreme Court from May 2006 to October 2014, when he resigned his position. A former professor at ...

and Attorney General

Mohammad Ishaq Aloko Mohammad Ishaq Aloko ps, محمد اسحاق الکو; born 1935) is the Attorney General of Afghanistan since August 2008. He was appointed by President Hamid Karzai after Abdul Jabar Sabit was forced to resign from the post. An ethnic Pashtun ...

also belong to the Pashtun ethnic group. Pashtuns not only played an important role in South Asia but also in Central Asia and the Middle East. Many of the non-Pashtun groups in Afghanistan have adopted the Pashtun culture and use Pashto as a second language. For example, many leaders of non-Pashtun ethnic groups in Afghanistan practice Pashtunwali to some degree and are fluent in Pashto language. These include Ahmad Shah Massoud,

Ismail Khan Mohammad Ismail Khan (Dari/Pashto: محمد اسماعیل خان) (born 1946) is an Afghan former politician who served as Minister of Energy and Water from 2005 to 2013 and before that served as the governor of Herat Province. Originally a cap ...

Mohammed Fahim Mohammad Qasim Fahim ( prs, محمد فهیم, also known as "Marshal Fahim"; 1957 – 9 March 2014) was a politician in Afghanistan who served as Vice President from June 2002 until December 2004 and from November 2009 until his death. Betwee ...

Bismillah Khan Mohammadi Bismillah Khan Mohammadi (; born 1961, in Panjshir Province), or Bismillah Khan, is an Afghan politician who served as the defense minister of Afghanistan from 2012 to 2015 and for two months in 2021. From 2002 to 2010, he served as Chief of St ...

, and many others. The Afghan

royal family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

, which was represented by King Zahir Shah, belongs to the

Mohammadzai Mohammadzai ( ps, محمدزی), also spelled Moḥammadzay (meaning "descendants of Mohammad"), is a Pashtun sub-tribe or clan of the Barakzai which is part of the Durrani confederacy of tribes. They are primarily centered on Kandahar, Kabul a ...

tribe of Pashtuns. Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th-century poets

Khushal Khan Khattak Khošāl Khān Khaṭak (1613 – 25 February 1689; Pashto: خوشال خان خټک), also known as Khushal Baba ( ps, خوشال بابا), was a Pashtun poet, chief, and warrior. Khushal Khan served the Mughal Empire protecting them fr ...

and

, and in contemporary era Afghan Astronaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

Zalmay Khalilzad Zalmay Mamozy Khalilzad ( ps, ځلمی خلیل زاد, prs, زلمی خلیل‌زاد; born March 22, 1951) is an Afghan-American diplomat and foreign policy expert. Khalilzad was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to serve as U.S. Spec ...

, and

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in ...

among many others. Many Pashtuns of Pakistan and India have adopted non-Pashtun cultures, and learned other languages such as

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

Punjabi, and

Hindko Hindko (, romanized: , ) is a cover term for a diverse group of Lahnda dialects spoken by several million people of various ethnic backgrounds in several areas in northwestern Pakistan, primarily in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pun ...

. These include Ghulam Mohammad (first

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

, from 1947 to 1951, and third

Governor-General of Pakistan The governor-general of Pakistan ( ur, ) was the representative of the Pakistani monarch in the Dominion of Pakistan, established by the Indian Independence Act 1947. The office of governor-general was abolished when Pakistan became an Islami ...

, from 1951 to 1955),

, who was the second

President of Pakistan The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.Zakir Husain Zakir Husain Khan (8 February 1897 – 3 May 1969) was an Indian educationist and politician who served as the third president of India from 13 May 1967 until his death on 3 May 1969. Born in Hyderabad in a Afridi Pashtun family, Husain ...

, who was the third

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

. Many more held high government posts, such as Fazal-ur-Rehman,

Asfandyar Wali Khan Asfandyar Wali Khan (Urdu and Pashto: اسفندیار ولی خان) (born 19 February 1949) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the president of the Awami National Party (ANP). His father, Abdul Wali Khan, was the party's first presiden ...

Mahmood Khan Achakzai Mahmood Khan Achakzai ( ps, محمود خان اڅکزی; born 14 December 1948) is a Pakistani Pashtun politician who is the chairman of the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) till 27th December of 2022. Mahmood Achakzai was thrown out by the ...

, Sirajul Haq, and

Aftab Ahmad Sherpao Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao (آفتاب احمد خان شېرپاؤ; born 20 August 1944) is a Pakistani politician who is the current chairman of the centre-left Pashtun nationalist Qaumi Watan Party, after previously being a member of the Paki ...

, who are presidents of their respective political parties in Pakistan. Others became famous in sports (e.g.,

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi Nawab Mohammad Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (also known as Mansur Ali Khan, or M. A. K. Pataudi; 5 January 1941 – 22 September 2011; nicknamed Tiger Pataudi) was an Indian cricketer and a former captain of the Indian cricket team. Pataudi was a ...

Younis Khan Mohammad Younis Khan PP SI (Urdu: ; Pashto: ; born 29 November 1977) is a Pakistani professional cricket coach and former cricketer and captain of the Pakistan national cricket team in all three formats of the game, and is widely regarded as ...

, Shahid Afridi,

Irfan Pathan Irfan Pathan (; born 27 October 1984) is a former Indian cricketer turned Commentator, Cricket Analyst, Actor and Dancer. He was a bowling all rounder and a member of the Indian cricket team that won the inaugural 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup a ...

Jahangir Khan Jahangir Khan (Pashto/ ur, جهانگير خان born 10 December 1963) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. He won the World Open title six times , and the British Open title ten times (1982-1991). Jahangir Khan is w ...

Jansher Khan Jansher Khan PP SI HI ( ur, جان شیر خان; born 15 June 1969, in Peshawar, Pakistan) is a former World No. 1 professional Pakistani squash player. During his career, he won the World Open a record eight times, and the British Open s ...

Rashid Khan Rashid Khan Arman ( ps, ; born 20 September 1998) is an Afghan international cricketer and a former captain of the national team. In franchise leagues, he plays for Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Adelaide Strikers in Austra ...

, and

Mujeeb Ur Rahman Mujeeb Ur Rahman Zadran ( ps, مجیب الرحمن ځدراڼ; born 28 March 2001) is an Afghan cricketer, who plays for the Afghanistan national cricket team. Two months after his international debut, at the age of 16 years and 325 days, he b ...

) and literature (e.g.,

Ghani Khan , image = Khan Abdul Ghani Khan 1940s.jpg , image_size = 250px , caption = Khan in the 1940s , birth_date = , birth_place = Hashtnagar, North-West Frontier Province, British India, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan , death_date = , de ...

Hamza Shinwari Ameer Hamza ( ps, امیرحمزه), commonly known as Hamza Baba (), was a prominent Pashto-language poet. His books are taught on master levels in University of Peshawar. At least 5 scholars did their PH.D research thesis on him. He is consid ...

, and

Kabir Stori Kabir Stori (6 April 1942 – 4 April 2006) ( ps, کبیر ستوری) was a Pashtun nationalist, poet, and writer from Kunar Province of Afghanistan. He was chairman of the Pashtoons Social Democratic Party, a political party that he found ...

, who became the youngest

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

recipient in 2014, is a Pakistani Pashtun. Many of the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film stars in India have Pashtun ancestry; some of the most notable ones are

Aamir Khan Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan (; born 14 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director and producer who works in Hindi films. Through his career spanning over 30 years, Khan has established himself as one of the most notable actors of Indian ci ...

Shahrukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

, Feroz Khan,

Kader Khan Kader Khan (22 October 1937 – 31 December 2018) was an Indian actor, screenwriter and film director. As an actor, he appeared in over 300 Bollywood films after his debut film in the 1973 film '' Daag'', starring Rajesh Khanna, in which he ...

Saif Ali Khan Saif Ali Khan (; born Sajid Ali Khan Pataudi; 16 August 1970) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Part of the Pataudi family, he is the son of actress Sharmila Tagore and cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Khan ma ...

Soha Ali Khan Soha Ali Khan Pataudi Khemu (born 4 October 1978) is an Indian actress who has worked in Hindi, Bengali and English films. She is the daughter of veteran actress Sharmila Tagore and former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, and t ...

, Sara Ali Khan, and

Zarine Khan Zareen Khan (born 14 May 1987), also known as Zarine Khan, is an Indian actress and model. Mainly working in the Hindi film industry, she has also appeared in Punjabi, Telugu and Tamil films. Khan made her Bollywood debut in 2010 playing a pr ...

. In addition, one of India's former presidents,

, belonged to the

tribe. Mohammad Yunus, India's former ambassador to Algeria and advisor to

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

, is of Pashtun origin and related to the legendary Bacha Khan.

Conflicts of Afghanistan

The wars in Afghanistan altered the balance of power in the country - Pashtuns were historically dominant in the country, but the emergence of well-organized armed groups consisting of

Tajiks Tajiks ( fa, تاجيک، تاجک, ''Tājīk, Tājek''; tg, Тоҷик) are a Persian-speaking Iranian ethnic group native to Central Asia, living primarily in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Tajiks are the largest ethnicity in Tajik ...

Uzbeks The Uzbeks ( uz, , , , ) are a Turkic ethnic group native to the wider Central Asian region, being among the largest Turkic ethnic group in the area. They comprise the majority population of Uzbekistan, next to Kazakh and Karakalpak mino ...

and

Hazaras The Hazaras ( fa, , Həzārə; haz, , Āzərə) are an ethnic group and the principal component of the population of Afghanistan, native to, and primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan and generally scatt ...

, combined with politically fragmented Pashtuns, reduced their influence on the state. In 1992, following the mujahideen victory,

Burhanuddin Rabbani Burhānuddīn Rabbānī (Persian: ; 20 September 1940 – 20 September 2011) was an Afghanistani politician and teacher who served as President of Afghanistan from 1992 to 1996 (in exile from 1996 to 2001). Born in the Badakhshan Province, Ra ...

became the first non-Pashtun President in Afghanistan. In the late 1990s, Pashtuns were the primary ethnic group in the

Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

(Taliban regime). The

Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance, officially known as the United Islamic National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( prs, جبهه متحد اسلامی ملی برای نجات افغانستان ''Jabha-yi Muttahid-i Islāmi-yi Millī barāyi Nijāt ...

that was fighting against the Taliban also included a number of Pashtuns. Among them were

Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah Abdullah ( Dari/ ps, عبدالله عبدالله, ; born as Abdullah on 5 September 1960) is an Afghan politician who led the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) from May 2020 until August 2021, when the Afghan government w ...

, Abdul Qadir and his brother

Abdul Haq ʻAbd al-Ḥaqq (ALA-LC romanization of ar, عبد الحقّ) is an Arabic male given name, and in modern usage, surname. It is built from the Arabic words '' ʻabd'' and ''al-Ḥaqq'', one of the names of God in the Qur'an, which give rise to the ...

Abdul Rasul Sayyaf Abdulrab Rasul Sayyaf ( ; ps, عبدالرسول سیاف; born 1946) is an exiled Afghan politician and former mujahideen commander. He took part in the war against the Marxist–Leninist People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) govern ...

, Asadullah Khalid, Hamid Karzai and Gul Agha Sherzai. The Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001 during the US-led Operation Enduring Freedom, War in Afghanistan and replaced with the Presidency of Hamid Karzai, Karzai administration. This was followed by the Ghani administration. The long wars in Afghanistan have led to Pashtuns on both sides of the border gaining a "reputation" for violence. Conflict as well as the Taliban have also led to a decline in traditional Pashtun customs including Pashtun music and poetry. Some activists and intellectuals are trying to rebuild Pashtun intellectualism and its pre-war culture.

Genetics

According to a study from 2012 called "Afghanistan from a Y-chromosome perspective", the study from a sample size of 190 showed R1a1a-M198 to be the most dominant haplogroup in Pashtuns at 67.4%. In the north, it peaks at 50% while in the south, it peaks at 65.8%. R1a-Z2125 occurs at a frequency of 40% in Pashtuns from Northern Afghanistan. This subclade is also predominantly present among Tajik, Turkmen, Uzbek, and Bashkir ethnic groups, as well as in some populations in the Caucasus and Iran. Haplogroup G-M201 reaches 14.7% in Afghan Pashtuns and is the second most frequent haplogroup in Pashtuns from southern Afghanistan. It is virtually absent from all other Afghan populations. This haplogroup is reported at high frequencies in the Caucasus and is thought to be associated with the Neolithic expansion throughout the region. Haplogroup L-M20 exhibits substantial disparity in its distribution on either side of the Hindu Kush range, with 25% of Pashtuns from northern Afghanistan belonging to this lineage, compared with only 4.8% of males from the south. Paragroup L3*-M357 accounts for the majority of L-M20 chromosomes among Afghan Pashtuns in both the north and south. According to a Mitochondrial DNA analysis of four ethnic groups of Afghanistan, the majority of mtDNA among Afghan Pashtuns belongs to West Eurasian lineages, and share a greater affinity with West Eurasian and Central Asian populations rather than to populations of South Asia or East Asia. The haplogroup analysis indicates the Pashtuns and Tajiks share some sort of ancestral heritage. The study also states that among the studied ethnic groups, the Pashtuns have the greatest HVS-I sequence diversity. A 2019 study on autosomal STR profiles of the populations of South and North Afghanistan states:

Definitions

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly qualifies as a Pashtun. The most prominent views are: # Pashtuns are predominantly an Iranian peoples, Eastern Iranian people, who use Pashto as their first language, and originate from Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is the generally accepted academic view. # They are those who follow Pashtunwali. # Pashtuns are those whose related through patrilineality, patrilineal descent. This may be traced back to legendary times, in accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid, the figure regarded as their progenitor in folklore. These three definitions may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition, the religious-cultural definition and the patrilineal definition, respectively.

Ethnic

The ethno-linguistic definition is the most prominent and accepted view as to who is and is not a Pashtun. Generally, this most common view holds that Pashtuns are defined within the parameters of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins, sharing a common language, culture and history, living in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, and acknowledging each other as kinsme. Thus, tribe that speak disparate yet mutually intelligible dialects of Pashto acknowledge each other as ethnic Pashtuns, and even subscribe to certain dialects as "proper", such as the Pukhto spoken by the

, Gigyani tribe,

and other tribes in Eastern Afghanistan and the Pashto spoken by the Kakar, Wazir (Pashtun tribe), Wazir, Ghilji, Khilji and

s in Southern Afghanistan. These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Durrani and Ghilji Pashtuns

The Durranis and Ghiljis (or Ghilzais) are the two largest groups of Pashtuns, with approximately two-thirds of Afghan Pashtuns belonging to these confederations. The Durrani tribe has been more urban and politically successful, while the Ghiljis are larger, more rural, and apparently tougher. In the 18th century, the two collaborated at times and at other times fought each other. With a few gaps, Durranis ruled modern Afghanistan continuously until the Saur Revolution of 1978; the new communist rulers were Ghilji. Tribal allegiances are stronger among the Ghilji, while governance of the Durrani confederation is more to do with cross-tribal structures of land ownership.

Cultural

The cultural definition requires Pashtuns to adhere to Pashtunwali codes. Orthodox tribesmen, may refuse to recognise any non-Muslim as a Pashtun. However, others tend to be more flexible and sometimes define who is Pashtun based on cultural and not religious criteria: Pashtun society is not homogenous by religion. The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns are Sunni Islam, Sunni, with a tiny Shia Islam, Shia community (the Turi (tribe), Turi and partially the Bangash tribe) in the Kurram Agency, Kurram and Orakzai Agency, Orakzai agencies of FATA, Pakistan. There are also Hindus, Hindu Pashtuns, sometimes known as the Sheen Khalai, who have moved predominantly to

Ancestral

The patrilineal definition is based on an important orthodox law of Pashtunwali which mainly requires that only those who have a Pashtun father are Pashtun. This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively patriarchal tribal lineage. This definition places less emphasis on what language one speaks, such as Pashto, Dari language, Dari,

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

No specific population figures exist, as claimants of Pashtun descent are spread throughout the country. Notably, the

s, after their defeat by the British, are known to have settled in parts of North India and intermarried with local ethnic groups. They are believed to have been bilingual in Pashto and Urdu until the mid-19th century. Some Urdu-speaking Muhajir (Urdu-speaking people), Muhajir people of India claiming descent from Pashtuns began moving to Pakistan in 1947. Many Pathans chose to live in the Republic of India after the

and Khan Mohammad Atif, a professor at the University of Lucknow, estimates that "The population of Pathans in India is twice their population in Afghanistan". During the 19th century, when the British were accepting peasants from British India as indentured servants to work in the Caribbean, South Africa and other far away places, Rohillas who had lost their empire were unemployed and restless were sent to places as far as Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad, Surinam (Dutch colony), Surinam, Guyana, and Fiji, to work with other Indians on the sugarcane fields and perform manual labour. Many of these immigrants stayed there and formed unique communities of their own. Some of them Cultural assimilation, assimilated with the other South Asian Muslim nationalities to form a common Indian Muslim community in tandem with the larger Indian community, losing their distinctive heritage. Their descendants mostly speak English and other local languages. Some Pashtuns travelled to as far away as Afghan (Australia), Australia during the same era.

Language

is the First language, mother tongue of Pashtuns. It is one of the two national languages of

.Modarresi, Yahya: "Iran, Afghanistan and Tadjikistan, 1911–1916." In: ''Sociolinguistics'', Vol. 3, Part. 3. Ulrich Ammon, Norbert Dittmar, Klaus J. Mattheier, Peter Trudgill (eds.). Berlin, De Gryuter: 2006. p. 1915.

/ref> In Pakistan, although being the second-largest language being spoken, it is often neglected officially in the education system. This has been criticised as adversely impacting the economic advancement of Pashtuns, as students do not have the ability to comprehend what is being taught in other languages fully. Robert Nichols remarks: Pashto is categorised as an

language, but a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto. Pashto grammar, Pashto morphology in relation to verbs is complex compared to other Iranian languages. In this respect David Neil MacKenzie, MacKenzie states: Pashto has a large number of Pashto dialects, dialects: generally divided into Northern Pashto, Northern, Southern Pashto, Southern and Central Pashto, Central groups; and also Wanetsi, Tarino or Waṇetsi as distinct group. As Elfenbein notes: "Dialect differences lie primarily in Pashto phonology, phonology and lexicon: the morphology and syntax are, again with the exception of Wanetsi, quite remarkably uniform". Ibrahim Khan provides the following classification on the letter ښ: the Northern Western dialect (e.g. spoken by the Ghilji, Ghilzai) having the phonetic value , the North Eastern (spoken by the Yusufzai, Yusafzais etc.) having the sound , the South Western (spoken by the Durrani, Abdalis etc.) having and the South Eastern (spoken by the Kakars etc.) having . He illustrates that the Central dialects, which are spoken by the Karlani, Karlāṇ tribes, can also be divided on the North and South distinction but provides that in addition these Central dialects have had a vowel shift which makes them distinct: for instance represented by Pashto alphabet, aleph the non-Central dialects becoming in Banuchi, Banisi dialect. The first Pashto alphabet was developed by

in the 16th century. In 1958, a meeting of Pashtun scholars and writers from both Afghanistan and Pakistan, held in Kabul, standardised the present Pashto alphabet.

Culture

Tribal and religious leaders in southern Afghanistan

Pashtun culture is based on Pashtunwali and the usage of the Pashto language. Pre-Islamic traditions, dating back to Alexander the Great, Alexander's defeat of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Empire in 330 BC, possibly survived in the form of Khattak Dance, traditional dances, while literary styles and music reflect influence from the Culture of Iran, Persian tradition and regional musical instruments fused with localised variants and interpretation. Poetry is a big part of Pashtun culture and it has been for centuries. Pashtun culture is a unique blend of native customs with some influences from Western or Southern Asia. Like other Muslims, Pashtuns celebrate ''Ramadan'' and ''Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr''. In Afghanistan some also celebrate ''Nowruz'', which is the Persian New Year dating back to Zoroastrianism. The Kabul dialect is used to standardize the present Pashto alphabet.

Pashtunwali

Pashtunwali ( ps, پښتونولي) refers to an ancient self-governing tribal system that regulates nearly all aspects of Pashtun life ranging from community to personal level. One of the better known tenets is ''Melmastya, Melmastyā́'' ( ps, مېلمستيا), hospitality and asylum to all guests seeking help. Perceived injustice calls for ''Badál'' ( ps, بدل), swift revenge. Many aspects promote peaceful co-existence, such as ''Nanawatai, Nənawā́te'' ( ps, ننواتې), the humble admission of guilt for a wrong committed, which should result in automatic forgiveness from the wronged party. These and other basic precepts of Pashtunwali continue to be followed by many Pashtuns, especially in rural areas. Another prominent Pashtun institution is the loya jirga, ''lóya jirgá'' ( ps, لويه جرګه) or 'grand council' of elected elder (administrative title), elders. Most decisions in tribal life are made by members of the jirga, ''jirgá'' ( ps, جرګه), which has been the main institution of authority that the largely egalitarian Pashtuns willingly acknowledge as a viable governing body.

Pashto literature and poetry

The majority of Pashtuns use Pashto language, Pashto as their first language, native tongue, believed to belong to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian language family,Nicholas Sims-Williams
Eastern Iranian languages
in Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition, 2010. ''"The Modern Eastern Iranian languages are even more numerous and varied. Most of them are classified as North-Eastern: Ossetic; Yaghnobi (which derives from a dialect closely related to Sogdian); the Shughni group (Shughni, Roshani, Khufi, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Sarikoli), with which Yaz-1ghulami (Sokolova 1967) and the now extinct Wanji (J. Payne in Schmitt, p. 420) are closely linked; Ishkashmi, Sanglichi, and Zebaki; Wakhi; Munji and Yidgha; and Pashto."'' and is spoken by up to 60 million people. It is written in the Pashto alphabet, Pashto-Arabic script and is divided into two main dialects, the southern "Pashto" and the northern "Pukhto". The language has ancient origins and bears similarities to extinct languages such as Avestan language, Avestan and Bactrian. Its closest modern relatives may include Pamir languages, such as Shughni and Wakhi language, Wakhi, and Ossetic language, Ossetic. Pashto may have ancient legacy of borrowing vocabulary from neighbouring languages including such as Persian language, Persian and Vedic Sanskrit. Modern borrowings come primarily from the English language.Awde, Nicholas and Asmatullah Sarwan. 2002. ''Pashto: Dictionary & Phrasebook'', New York: Hippocrene Books Inc. . Retrieved 18 February 2007. Fluency in Pashto is often the main determinant of group acceptance as to who is considered a Pashtun. Pashtun nationalism emerged following the rise of Pashto literature and poetry, Pashto poetry that linked language and ethnic identity. Pashto has national language, national status in Afghanistan and regional language, regional status in neighboring Pakistan. In addition to their native tongue, many Pashtuns are fluent in Dari language, Dari, English and Urdu. Throughout their history, poets, prophets, kings and warriors have been among the most revered members of Pashtun society. Early written records of Pashto began to appear around the 16th century. The earliest describes Sheikh Mali's conquest of Swat (princely state), Swat.

is believed to have written a number of Pashto books while fighting with the Mughals. Pashtun scholars such as

and others believe that the earliest Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana as proof. Amir Kror Suri, son of ''Amir Polad Suri'', was an 8th-century folk hero and king from the Ghor Province, Ghor region in Afghanistan. However, this is disputed by several European experts due to lack of strong evidence. The advent of poetry helped transition Pashto to the modern period. Pashto literature gained significant prominence in the 20th century, with poetry by Ameer Hamza Shinwari who developed ''Pashto Ghazals''. In 1919, during the expanding of mass media, Mahmud Tarzi published Seraj-al-Akhbar, which became the first Pashto newspaper in Afghanistan. In 1977, Khan Roshan Khan wrote ''Tawarikh-e-Hafiz Rehmatkhani'' which contains the family trees and Pashtun tribal names. Some notable poets include

, Afzal Khan Khattak, Ajmal Khattak, Pareshan Khattak,

, Nazo Tokhi, Nazo Anaa,

, Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi, and

. Recently, Pashto literature has received increased patronage, but many Pashtuns continue to rely on

due to relatively low literacy rates and education. Pashtun society is also marked by some matriarchy, matriarchal tendencies. Folktales involving reverence for Pashtun mothers and matriarchs are common and are passed down from parent to child, as is most Pashtun heritage, through a rich oral tradition that has survived the ravages of time.

Media and arts

Pashto media has expanded in the last decade, with a number of List of Pashto-language television channels, Pashto TV channels becoming available. Two of the popular ones are the Pakistan-based AVT Khyber and Pashto One. Pashtuns around the world, particularly those in Arab countries, watch these for entertainment purposes and to get latest news about their native areas. Others are Afghanistan-based Shamshad TV, Radio Television Afghanistan, and Lemar TV, which has a special children's show called ''Baghch-e-Simsim''. International news sources that provide Pashto programs include BBC Pashto and Voice of America#Languages, Voice of America. Producers based in

have created List of Pashto-language films, Pashto-language films since the 1970s. Pashtun performers remain avid participants in various physical forms of expression including dance, sword fighting, and other physical feats. Perhaps the most common form of artistic expression can be seen in the various forms of Pashtun dances. One of the most prominent dances is ''Attan'', which has ancient roots. A rigorous exercise, Attan is performed as musicians play various native instruments including the ''dhol'' (drums), ''tablas'' (percussions), ''Rubab (instrument), rubab'' (a bow (music), bowed string instrument), and ''toola'' (wooden flute). With a rapid circular motion, dancers perform until no one is left dancing, similar to Sufism, Sufi Mevlevi, whirling dervishes. Numerous other dances are affiliated with various tribes notably from Pakistan including the ''Khattak Wal Atanrh'' (eponymously named after the Khattak tribe), ''Mahsood Wal Atanrh'' (which, in modern times, involves the juggling of loaded rifles), and ''Waziro Atanrh'' among others. A sub-type of the ''Khattak Wal Atanrh'' known as the ''Braghoni'' involves the use of up to three swords and requires great skill. Young women and girls often entertain at weddings with the ''Tumbal'' (Dayereh) which is an instrument.

Sports

Both the Afghanistan national cricket team and the Pakistan national cricket team have Pashtun players. One of the most popular sports among Pashtuns is cricket, which was introduced to South Asia during the early 18th century with the arrival of the British. Many Pashtuns have become prominent international cricketers, including

, Shahid Afridi, Majid Khan (cricketer, born 1946), Majid Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq,

, Umar Gul, Junaid Khan (cricketer), Junaid Khan, Fakhar Zaman (cricketer), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan (cricketer), Mohammad Rizwan, Usman Shinwari and Yasir Shah. Australian cricketer Fawad Ahmed is of Pakistani Pashtun origin who has played for the Australian national team. Association football, Football (soccer) is also one of the most popular sports among Pashtuns. The Former captain (association football), captain and now the current assistant coach of Pakistan national football team, Muhammad Essa, is an ethnic Pashtun. Other sports popular among Pashtuns may include polo, field hockey, volleyball, team handball, handball, basketball, golf, track and field, bodybuilding, Olympic weightlifting, weightlifting, wrestling, kayaking, horse racing, martial arts, boxing, taekwondo, kick boxing , skateboarding, bowling and chess.

and

became professional Squash (sport), squash players. Although now retired, they are engaged in promoting the sport through the ''Pakistan Squash Federation''. Maria Toorpakai Wazir is the first female Pashtun squash player. Pakistan also produced other world champions of Pashtun origin: Hashim Khan, Roshan Khan, Azam Khan (squash player), Azam Khan, Mohibullah "Mo" Khan, Mo Khan and Qamar Zaman.In recent decades Hayatullah Khan Durrani, Pride of Performance legendary caver from

, has been promoting mountaineering, rock climbing and Caving in Balochistan, Pakistan. Mohammad Abubakar Durrani International Canoeing shining star of Pakistan. Snooker and billiards are played by young Pashtun men, mainly in urban areas where snooker clubs are found. Several prominent International Billiards and Snooker Federation, international recognized snooker players are from the Pashtun area, including Saleh Mohammad (snooker player), Saleh Mohammed. Although traditionally very less involved in sports than boys, Pashtun girls sometimes play volleyball, basketball, Afghanistan women's national football team, football, and Pakistan national women's cricket team, cricket, especially in urban areas. Makha is a traditional archery sport in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, played with a long arrow (''gheshai'') having a saucer shaped metallic plate at its distal end, and a long bow. In Afghanistan, some Pashtuns still participate in the ancient sport of buzkashi in which horse riders attempt to place a goat or calf carcass in a goal circle.

Religion

Before the Islamization of their territory, the region used to be home to various beliefs and cults such as Zoroastrianism, ancient Iranian religions, Hinduism and Buddhism. The region of

, around Kandahar and Quetta in modern-day southern Afghanistan and western Pakistan, used to be primarily Zoroastrian and played a key role in the transfer of the Avesta to Persis, Persia and is thus considered by some to be the "second homeland of Zoroastrianism". The Khalaj people, Khalaj of Turk Shahis, Kabul, supposed ancestors of the modern

Pashtuns, used to worship various local Ancient Iranian religion, ancient Iranian gods such as the fire God Atar. The historic region of Gandhara used to be dominantly Hinduism, Hindu and Buddhism, Buddhist. Buddhism, in its own unique syncretic form, was also common throughout the whole region, people would be patrons of Buddhism but still worship local Iranian gods such as Ahura Mazda, Nana (Kushan goddess), Lady Nana, Anahita or Mithra, Mihr (Mithra). In folklore, it is believed that most Pashtuns are descendants of Qais Abdur Rashid, who is purported to have been an early convert to Islam and thus bequeathed the faith to the early Pashtun population.Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan; of Kabul, Volume 1. By Mohan Lal (1846), pg.5 The legend says that after Qais heard of the new religion of Islam, he travelled to meet Muhammad in Medina and returned to Afghanistan as a Muslim. He purportedly had four children: Sarban, Batan, Ghourghusht and Karlan. This theory has been criticised, for not being substantiated by historical evidence and based on post-Arabic influence. The Muslim conquest of Afghanistan was not completed until the 10th century under Ghaznavid and Ghurid dynasty's rule who patronized Muslim religious institutions. The Caliph Al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833 A.D.) conducted raids against non-Muslim rulers of a Kabul Province, Kabul and Zabul Province, Zabul. Al-Utbi in Tarikh Yamini states that the Afghans and Ghaljis, Khaljis, living between Laghman and Peshawar, took the oath of allegiance to Sabuktigin and were recruited into his army.

Modern era

The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns adhere to Sunni Islam and belong to the Hanafi school of thought. Small Shia Islam, Shia communities exist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Paktia. The Shias belong to the Turi (tribe), Turi tribe while the Bangash tribe is approximately 50% Shia and the rest Sunni, who are mainly found in and around Parachinar, Kurram District, Kurram, Hangu District, Pakistan, Hangu, Kohat and Orakzai District, Orakzai. Afghan men praying in Kunar-2009

A legacy of Sufism, Sufi activity may be found in some Pashtun regions, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as evident in songs and dances. Many Pashtuns are prominent Ulema, Islamic scholars, such as Maulana Aazam an author of more than five hundred books including Tafasee of the Quran as Naqeeb Ut Tafaseer, Tafseer Ul Aazamain, Tafseer e Naqeebi and Noor Ut Tafaseer etc., as well as Muhammad Muhsin Khan who has helped translate the Noble Qur'an (Hilali-Khan), Noble Quran, Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Al-Bukhari and many other books to the English language. A number of Pashtuns are involved in Dawah activities in the United States. One of them is Sheikh Uthman Ibn Farooq, who belongs to the

Pashtun tribe. Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani was a 19th-century Islamic ideologist and one of the founders of Islamic modernism. Although his ethnicity is disputed by some, he is widely accepted in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region as well as in the Arab world, as a Pashtun from the Kunar Province of Afghanistan. Like other non Arabic-speaking Muslims, many Pashtuns are able to read the Quran but not understand the Arabic language implicit in the holy text itself. Translations, especially in English, are scarcely far and in between understood or distributed. This paradox has contributed to the spread of different versions of religious practices and Wahabism, as well as political Islamism (including movements such as the Taliban) having a key presence in Pashtun society. In order to counter radicalization, the United States began spreading its influence in Pashtun areas. Many Pashtuns want to reclaim their identity from being lumped in with the Taliban and international terrorism, which is not directly linked with Pashtun culture and history. Lastly, little information is available on non-Muslim as there is limited data regarding irreligion, irreligious groups and minorities, especially since many of the Hindu and Sikh Pashtuns migrated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the

and later, after the Battle of Kabul (1992–1996), rise of the Taliban. A small Pashtun Hindu community, known as the ''Sheen Khalai'' meaning 'blue skinned' (referring to the color of Pashtun women's facial tattoos), migrated to Unniara,

, India after partition of India, partition. Prior to 1947, the community resided in the

, Loralai and Maikhter regions of the British Indian province of Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province), Baluchistan. They are mainly members of the Pashtun Kakar tribe. Today, they continue to speak Pashto and celebrate Pashtun culture through the Attan dance. There is also a minority of Pashtun Sikhs in Tirah, Orakzai District, Orakzai, Kurram District, Kurram, Malakand District, Malakand, and Swat District, Swat. Due to the ongoing insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, some Pashtun Sikhs were internally displaced person, internally displaced from their ancestral villages to settle in cities like

and Nankana Sahib.

Women

In Pashtun society there are three levels of women's leadership and legislative authority: the national level, the village level, and the family level. The national level includes women such as Nazo Tokhi, Zarghona Anaa and Malalai of Maiwand. Tokhi was a 17th century Pashto poet who eventually became the "Mother of Afghan Nationalism" after gaining authority through her poetry and adhering to Pashtunwali. She used the Pashtunwali law to unite Pashtun tribes against the Safavids. Her cause was picked up in the early 18th century by Zarghona Anaa, the mother of Ahmad Shah Durrani. The lives of Pashtun women vary from those who reside in the ultra-conservative rural areas to those found in urban centres. At the village level, the female village leader is called "qaryadar". Her duties may include witnessing women's ceremonies, mobilising women to practice religious festivals, preparing the female dead for burial, and performing services for deceased women. She also arranges marriages for her own family and arbitrates conflicts for men and women. Though many Pashtun women remain tribal and illiterate, some have completed universities and joined the regular employment world. Madhubala1957

Shinzō Abe and Malala Yousafzai (1) Cropped

The decades of war and the rise of the Taliban Taliban treatment of women, caused considerable hardship among Pashtun women, as many of their rights have been curtailed by a rigid interpretation of Sharia, Islamic law. The difficult lives of Afghan female refugees gained considerable notoriety with the iconic image ''Afghan Girl'' (Sharbat Gula) depicted on the June 1985 cover of ''National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic'' magazine. Modern social reform for Pashtun women began in the early 20th century, when Queen Soraya Tarzi of Afghanistan made rapid reforms to improve women's lives and their position in the family. She was the only woman to appear on the list of rulers in Afghanistan. Credited with having been one of the first and most powerful Afghan and Muslim female activists. Her advocacy of social reforms for women led to a protest and contributed to the ultimate demise of Amanullah Khan, King Amanullah's reign in 1929. In 1942,

(Mumtaz Jehan), the Marilyn Monroe of India, entered the

film industry. Bollywood blockbusters of the 1970s and 1980s starred Parveen Babi, who hailed from the lineage of Gujarat's historical Pathan community: the royal Babi Dynasty. Other Indian actresses and models, such as

, continue to work in the industry. Civil rights remained an important issue during the 1970s, as feminist leader Meena Keshwar Kamal campaigned for women's rights in Afghanistan, women's rights and founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) in the 1977. Pashtun women these days vary from the traditional housewives who live in seclusion to urban workers, some of whom seek or have attained parity with men. But due to numerous social hurdles, the literacy rate remains considerably lower for them than for males. Abuse against women is present and increasingly being challenged by women's rights organisations which find themselves struggling with conservative religious groups as well as government officials in both Pakistan and Afghanistan. According to a 1992 book, "a powerful ethic of forbearance severely limits the ability of traditional Pashtun women to mitigate the suffering they acknowledge in their lives." Despite obstacles, many Pashtun women have begun a process of slow change. A rich oral tradition and resurgence of poetry has inspired many Pashtun women seeking to learn to read and write. Further challenging the status quo, Vida Samadzai was selected as Miss Afghanistan in 2003, a feat that was received with a mixture of support from those who back the individual rights of women and those who view such displays as anti-traditionalist and un-Islamic. Some have attained political office in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A number of Pashtun women are found as TV hosts, journalists and actors. Nigar Johar is a three-star rank, three-star general in the Pakistan Army. Khatol Mohammadzai served as brigadier general in the Afghan Army, another Pashtun female became a fighter Aviator, pilot in the Pakistan Air Force. Some other notable Pashtun women include Aisha Uqbah Malik, Armeena Khan, Fauzia Gailani, Ghazala Javed, Gulalai Ismail, Gul Panra, Humaira Begum, Laila Khan (singer), Laila Khan,

, Naghma, Najiba Faiz, Nilofar Bakhtiar, Sana Safi, Shinkai Karokhail, Shukria Barakzai, Suhaila Seddiqi, Tabassum Adnan, Zartaj Gul and Zeenat Karzai. Pashtun women often have their legal rights curtailed in favour of their husbands or male relatives. For example, though women are officially women's suffrage, allowed to vote in Afghanistan and Pakistan, some have been kept away from ballot boxes by males. Another tradition that persists is Swara (custom), swara (a form of child marriage), which was declared illegal in Pakistan in 2000 but continues in some parts. Substantial work remains for Pashtun women to gain Social equality, equal rights with men, who remain disproportionately dominant in most aspects of Pashtun society. Human rights organisations continue to struggle for greater women's rights, such as the Afghan Women's Network and the Aurat Foundation in Pakistan which aims to protect women from domestic violence.

Notable people

, founder of the

. Defeated the Maratha Empire at the Third Battle of Panipat. He is considered to be the List of national founders, founder of modern-day Afghanistan. *

, second ruler of the

, Battle of Rohtas (1779), defeated Sikhs and took back Multan. *

, revolted against

and established the

. *Mahmud Hotak, second ruler of the Hotaki dynasty and List of monarchs of Persia, Shah of Persia. He Siege of Isfahan, Invaded Persia and overthrew the Safavid dynasty. *Azad Shah Afghan, military commander famous for conquering parts of Central Iran, Central and Western Iran, as well as Iranian Kurdistan, Kurdistan and Gilan Province, Gilan. *

, head of the

tribe and served as President of Afghanistan from 22 December 2001 to 29 September 2014. *Ashraf Ghani, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the previous president Islamic republic of Afghanistan. *Mohammad Najibullah, Afghan politician *

*Hafizullah Amin *

*Mohammed Zahir Shah *

(Hindko Speaker) *Yahya Khan *

* Shaheen Afridi, Pakistani cricketer. * Rashid Khan, Afghan cricketer. *Khalilullah Khalili, Pashtun poet of the Persian language. *

, founder and 16th century ruler of the Sur Empire. Defeated the Mughal Empire at the Battle of Chausa. *

, Pashto poet and Sufi Dervish. *

, founder and 15th century ruler of the Lodi dynasty. *Sikandar Lodi, Sultan of the Delhi Sultanate, Lodi dynasty. He gained control of Bihar and founded the modern city of Agra. *Ibrahim Lodi, last Sultan of the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

. *

, first Afghan cosmonaut, made

the 4th language spoken in space *

, warrior and

poet. *

, Indian actress of Pashtun descent. Famous for her portrayal of Anarkali in the 1960 film ''Mughal-e-Azam'', which was the List of highest-grossing Indian films, highest grossing film in India at that point of time. *Nazo Tokhi, Afghan poetess and writer in the Pashto language. Mother of the 18th century Afghans, Afghan King

. *Wazir Akbar Khan, Afghan prince, general and emir. Famous for his role in the First Anglo-Afghan War, particularly for the 1842 retreat from Kabul, massacre of Elphinstone's army. *Abdul Ghafoor Breshna, painter, music composer, poet and film director. Breshna is regarded as one of Afghanistan's most talented artists. He is the artist behind the painting 1747 coronation of

, sketch of

and the Afghan national anthem of the Republic of Afghanistan (1973—1978), Republic of Afghanistan. *Malalai of Maiwand, national folk hero of

. Rallied Pashtun fighters to defeat the United Kingdom, British during the Second Anglo-Afghan war. *

, warrior, poet, Sufi and revolutionary leader. Created the first known

alphabet. He's also the founder of the Roshani movement, Roshani movement/the enlightened movement. *

, prominent

poet. He is considered a bridge between classic Pashto literature and modern literature. *Abdul Ghani Khan, philosopher, poet, eartist, writer and politician. *Ahmad Zahir, dubbed the "Elvis of Afghanistan", Ahmad Zahir is considered to be the best singer in Afghanistan, Afghanistan's history. Most of his songs are in Persian language, Persian, albeit he also made many songs in

, Russian language, Russian, English language, English and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

*Mirza Mazhar Jan-e-Janaan, renowned Hanafi Maturidi Naqshbandi Sufi poet, distinguished as one of the "four pillars of

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
''

, female education activist, awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize at age 17, the first Pashtun to receive a Nobel Prize.

Explanatory notes

* ''Note: population statistics for Pashtuns (including those without a notation) in foreign countries were derived from various census counts, the UN, the CIA's ''The World Factbook'' and ''Ethnologue''.

Geographic distribution

Traditional homeland

India

Iran

In other regions

Tribes

History and origins

Linguistic origin

Ancient historical references: Pashtun

Middle historical references: Afghan

Anthropology and oral traditions

Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites

Other theories of descent

Modern era

In politics and media

Conflicts of Afghanistan

Genetics

Definitions

Ethnic

Durrani and Ghilji Pashtuns

Cultural

Ancestral

Language

Culture

Pashtunwali

Pashto literature and poetry

Media and arts

Sports

Religion

Modern era

Women

Notable people

See also

Explanatory notes

References

Further reading