The ethnonym Afghan (افغان afġān) has been used in reference to the Pashtun people during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period.^[1] The name Afghanistan (افغانستان afġānistān; Afghan + -stan) is a derivation from the ethnonym, originally in the loose meaning "land of the Afghans (Pashtuns)" and referred to the territory inhabited by Pashtun tribes south of the Hindu Kush and was later adopted by the Pashtun-dominated kingdoms of Kabul.^[2][3] The Pashtun people are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and constitute the second largest ethnic community in neighbouring Pakistan.

In the 3rd century AD, the Sassanids mention a tribe called Abgân,^[4] which is attested in its Arabic form (Afġān) in the 10th century Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam.^[5] It likely derives from a Sanskritic tribal name, Aśvaka, used in reference to the Kambojas in antiquity. The Arabic Afġān is an adaptation of the Prakritic form अवगाना (Avagānā), as used by Varahamihira in his Bṛhat Saṃhitā in 6th century CE. Since the Middle Ages, "Afghan" has been used as a synonym for Pashtun, while the native name for the ethnic group is "Pashtun".

Origin of the names Afghan and Afghana[link]

The Arachosia Satrapy and the Pactyan people during the Achaemenid Empire in 500 B.C.

Names of territories during the Islamic Caliphate of the 7th century and onward.

Kelaut-I-Ghiljie, a small village-town in Afghanistan.

The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgân) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE,^[4][6][7] which is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of "Avagānā" by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in his Brihat-samhita.^[8] It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as "Afghana", grandson of King Saul of Israel.^[1][9]

The Encyclopædia Iranica explains:^[8]

From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Afġān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afġān [and] Paštūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paštūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically. The term "Afġān" has probably designated the Paštūn since ancient times. Under the form Avagānā, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. in his Brhat-samhita.

Hiven Tsiang, a Chinese pilgrim visiting the Afghanistan area several times between 630 to 644 CE, also speaks about the native tribes inhabiting the region.^[6][10] According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, W.K. Frazier Tyler and M.C. Gillet, the word Afghan has appeared in the 982 AD Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where a reference is made to a village.

Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live Afghans.^[11]

Saul was probably located near Gardez, in the Paktia province of Afghanistan.^[11] Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam also speaks of a king in "Ninhar" (Nangarhar), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he has over 30 wives, which are described as "Muslim, Afghan, and Hindu" wives. It should be noted that these names were often used as geographical terms. For example, Hindu (or Hindustani) has been historically used as a geographical term to describe someone who was native from the region known as Hindustan (Indian subcontinent).

Al-Utbi, the Ghaznavid chronicler, in his Tarikh-i Yamini records that recruitment for Sabuktigin's army was answered by Afghans and the 'Khalaj' (possibly related to modern Ghilzai), and he enrolled thousands of them. With these armies he twice defeated the Hindushahi King Jaipal in Laghman and Nangarhar, and drove him out of the upper Kabul valley, capturing immense treasures. Al-Utbi further states that Afghans and Ghilzais made a part of Mahmud Ghaznavi's army and were sent on his expedition to Tocharistan, while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated by Abulfazl Beyhaqi.^[12] In the 11th century AD, Afghans mentioned in Al-Biruni's Tarikh-ul Hind ("History of India"), which describes a group of "rebellious" Afghans in the tribal lands that he passed by. Al-Biruni refers to these Afghans in another passage (loc. Cit. p. 199) where he mentions an uncivilized people in the mountains west of the Indus River (i.e. Suleiman Mountains) as tribes of Hindus or akin to them.^[11][13] Afghan soldiers were also enrolled in the Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215).^[14] From the beginning of the Khilji dynasty in 1290, Afghans are becoming more recognized in the Delhi Sultanate of India.

Ibn Battuta, a famous Moroccan traveler, visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khilji dynasty in early 1300s writes.

We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by a village inhabited by a tribe of Ajam (Persians) called Afghans. They hold mountains and defiles and possess considerable strength, and are mostly highwaymen. Their principle mountain is called Kuh Sulayman. It is told that the prophet Sulayman [Solomon] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it.^[15]

—Ibn Battuta, 1333 AD

Firishta, a 16th century Muslim historians writing about the history of Muslim rule in India states:

He [Khalid bin Abdullah son of Khalid bin Walid] retired, therefore, with his family, and a number of Arab retainers, into the Sulaiman Mountains, situated between Multan and Peshawar, where he took up his residence, and gave his daughter in marriage to one of the Afghan chiefs, who had become a proselyte to Mahomedism. From this marriage many children were born, among whom were two sons famous in history. The one Lodhi, the other Sur; who each, subsequently, became head of the tribes which to this day bear their name. I have read in the Mutla-ul-Anwar, a work written by a respectable author, and which I procured at Burhanpur, a town of Khandesh in the Deccan, that the Afghans are Copts of the race of the Pharaohs; and that when the prophet Moses got the better of that infidel who was overwhelmed in the Red Sea, many of the Copts became converts to the Jewish faith; but others, stubborn and self-willed, refusing to embrace the true faith, leaving their country, came to India, and eventually settled in the Sulimany mountains, where they bore the name of Afghans.^[1]

—Ferishta, 1560-1620

In the writings of the 17th-century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak, the equation of Afghan and Pashtun is further confirmed:^[16]

Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashtun and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtuns, Pashtuns are Afghans!

Afghanistan[link]

A mid 19th century Lithography collection by James Rattray showing the name Afghaunistan on the front cover.

The last part of the name -stān is a Persian suffix for "place of", prominent in many languages of Asia. The name Afghanistan is mentioned in writing by the 16th century Mughal rulers Babur and his descendants, referring to the territory between Khorasan, Kabulistan, and the Indus River, which was inhabited by tribes of Afghans.

The road from Khorasān leads by way of Kandahār. It is a straight level road, and does not go through any hill-passes... In the country of Kābul there are many and various tribes. Its valleys and plains are inhabited by Tūrks, Aimāks, and Arabs. In the city and the greater part of the villages, the population consists of Tājiks*(Sarts). Many other of the villages and districts are occupied by Pashāis, Parāchis, Tājiks, Berekis, and Afghans... In the hill-country to the north-east lies Kaferistān, such as Kattor and Gebrek. To the south is Afghanistān.^[17]

—Babur, 1525

The name "Afghanistan" is also mentioned many times in the writings of the 16th century historian, Ferishta, and many others.

The men of Kábul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were ques­tioned about the Musulmáns of the Kohistán (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistán, but Afghánistán; for there is nothing there but Afgháns and dis­turbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghánistán, and themselves Afgháns. The people of India call them Patán; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmáns first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!^[18]

—Ferishta, 1560-1620

Regarding the modern state of Afghanistan, the Encyclopædia Of Islam explains:^[19]

The country now known as Afghanistan has borne that name only since the middle of the 18th century, when the supremacy of the Afghan race became assured: previously various districts bore distinct apellations, but the country was not a definite political unit, and its component parts were not bound together by any identity of race or language. The earlier meaning of the word was simply "the land of the Afghans", a limited territory which did not include many parts of the present state but did comprise large districts now either independent or within the boundary of British India (Pakistan).^[20]

Ashvaka[link]

The etymological view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name Afghan evidently derives from Sanskrit Aśvakas, qv. the Assakenoi of Arrian.^[21] This view was propounded by scholars like Christian Lassen,^[22] J. W. McCrindle,^[23] M. V. de Saint Martin,^[24] and É. Reclus,^[25] and has been supported by numerous modern scholars.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

In Sanskrit, the word ashva (Iranian aspa, Prakrit assa) means "horse", and ashvaka (Prakrit assaka) means "horseman",^[31] "horse people",^[32] "land of horses",^[33] as well as "horse breeders".^[34] Pre-Christian times knew the people of the Hindukush region as Ashvakas (horsemen), since they raised a fine breed of horses and had a reputation for providing expert cavalrymen. The fifth-century-BCE Indian grammarian Pāṇini calls them Ashvakayana^[35] and Ashvayana.^[36][37] Mahabharata mentions them as Ashvaka(na). Classical writers, however, use the respective equivalents Aspasioi (or Aspasii, Hippasii) and Assakenoi (or Assaceni/Assacani, Asscenus) etc. The Aspasioi/Assakenoi (Ashvakas = Cavalrymen) is stated to be another name for the Kambojas of ancient texts because of their equestrian characteristics.^[38] Alexander Cunningham and a few other scholars identify these designations with the modern name Afghan.^[39]

The Indian epic Mahabharata speaks about Kambojas among the finest horsemen,^[40] and ancient Pali texts describe their lands as the land of horses.^[41][42][43] Kambojas spoke Avestan language and followed Zoroastrianism.^[44][45] Some scholars believe Zoroastrianism originated in land of Kambojas.^[46]

The former Aspins of Chitral and Ashkuns (Yashkuns) of Gilgit are identified as the modern representatives of the Pāṇinian Aśvakayanas (Greek: Assakenoi); and the Asip/Isap (cf. Aspa-zai > Yusufzai) in the Kabul valley (between the rivers Kabul and Indus) are believed to be modern representatives of the Pāṇinian Aśvayanas (Greek: Aspasioi) respectively.^{[47][48][49][50][51]}

[edit] Historical suggestions

There are a number of other hypotheses suggested for the name historically, all of them obsolete.

• The "Maḫzan-e Afġān" by Nimat Allah al-Harawi, written in 1612 at the Mughal court, traces the name Afghan to an eponymous ancestor, an Afghana, identified as a grandson of Saul. Afghana was supposedly a son of Irmia (Jeremia), who was in turn a son of Saul (Talut). Afghana was orphaned at a young age, and brought up by David. When Solomon became king, Afghana was promoted as the commander-in-chief of the army. Neither Afghana nor Jeremia son of Saul figure in the Hebrew Bible. Some four centuries after Afghana, in the sixth century BCE, Bakhtunnasar, or Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babil, attacked the Kingdom of Judah and exiled the descendants of Afghana, some of whom went to the mountains of Ghor in present-day Afghanistan and some to the neighborhood of Mecca in Arabia. Until the time of Muhammad, the deported Children of Israel of the east continually increased in number in the countries around Ghor which included Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni, and made wars with the infidels around them. Khalid bin Walid is said to belong to the tribe of descendants of Afghana in the neighborhood of Mecca, although actually he was from the tribe of Quraysh. After conversion to Islam, Khalid invited his kinsmen, the Children of Israel of Ghor, to Islam. A deputation led by Qais proceeded to Medina to meet Muhammad, and embraced Islam. Muhammad lavished blessings on them, and gave the name Abdur Rashid to Qais, who returned to Ghor successfully to propagate Islam. Qais had three sons, Sarbanr, Batan and Ghourghusht, who are progenitors of the various Pashtun tribes.^[52]
• Samuel G. Benjamin (1887) derived the name Afghan from a term for 'wailing', which the Persians are said to have contemptuously used for their plaintive eastern neighbors.^[53]
• H. W. Bellew, in his 1891 An Inquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, believes that the name Afghan comes from Alban which derives from the Latin term albus, meaning "white", or "mountain", as mountains are often white-capped with snow (cf. Alps); used by Armenians as Alvan or Alwan, which refers to mountaineers, and in the case of transliterated Armenian characters, would be pronounced as Aghvan or Aghwan. To the Persians, this would further be altered to Aoghan, Avghan, and Afghan as a reference to the eastern highlanders or "mountaineers".
• Michanovsky suggests the name Afghan derives from Sanskrit Avagana, which in turn derives from the ancient Sumerian word for Badakhshan - Ab-bar-Gan, or "high country".^[54][55]
• There are also a few people^[who?] who have attempted to link "Afghan" to an Uzbek word "Avagan" said to mean "original".^[56]

See also[link]

• Afghan (disambiguation)
• Afghanistan
• Pashtun people
• List of country name etymologies

References[link]

Afghan افغان is used, since the foundation of the Afghan state in 1747, to indicate a citizen of Afghanistan. Though, mistakenly used for Pashtuns, it is no longer the reality. The fourth article of the Constitution of Afghanistan^[1] states that citizens of Afghanistan include Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Aymaq, Arab, Baluch, Pashayi, Nuristani, Qezelbash, Brahui and Gurjar who are native inhabitants of the country and that all citizens of Afghanistan be called Afghans.

According to encyclopaedia Iranica,^[2] AFGHAN (afḡān) in current political usage means any citizen of Afghanistan, whatever his ethnic, tribal, or religious affiliation is. According to the 1977 constitution of the Republic of Afghanistan (1973–78), all Afghans are equal in rights and obligations before the law. In an attempt to alleviate the inevitable tensions and conflicts of an ethnically diverse state, the republic discouraged reference to ethnic or tribal origin and prohibited the use of personal names that evoke an ethnic group (such as Tajik, Hazara, Hindu, Sikh, Afrīdī, Aḥmadzay, Ōrmuṛ, Nūrzay, Pōpalzay, Wardak, etc.).

As an adjective, the word Afghan also means "of or relating to Afghanistan or its people, language, or culture".

Afghani[link]

The only time to use Afghani is in reference to the unit of Afghan currency. Some people use it to indicate a citizen of Afghanistan. From an Afghan point of view this name is wrongly being used for Afghans. After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan millions of Afghans took refuge in neighboring Pakistan and Iran. The Pakistani, Irani and the international aid agencies coined this word to speak of Afghans.

See also[link]

• Demography of Afghanistan

References[link]