The Hotaki are a subtribe of the Ghilzai Pashtun tribe. The Ghilzai are known for their 1709 rebellion against the Persian Safavid shah, led by Mir Wais Hotak.

Shafie Ayar (born 1961) is an Afghan-born activist and author. He ran the Afghan Revolutionary Youth Association at Kabul University in 1978.

Ayar is the author of five books: Hamasa-e-Eman, Paqnjal Hae-e-Khoneen, Nawrooze tan Behrooz, Afghanistan – Jihad and Peace, and Afghan Hearts & Minds.

John Iwasaki, in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, wrote that Ayar was critical of the Afghan regime: "With Karzai able to appoint one-third of the upper house of the Afghan legislature, 'it's not democracy at all'". Apart from the politics, wrote Iwasaki, Ayar saw Afghanistan in a poor state: the roads were potholed "'even on streets in front of the Capitol,' Ayar said", while "The only eggs he saw for sale were trucked in from Pakistan and Iran". And while the Soviets had long gone (since 1984), "Twenty years is enough time for people to have chicken farms".

The poet Nicholas Klacsanzky, reviewing Afghan Hearts & Minds, wrote that "Through pleasant and conversational language, author Shafie Ayar induces the reader into a state of enjoying simple pleasures through his sincere gratitude for a life other than torture."

Ahmad Shirpacha Zahir (Persian: احمد ظاهر‎ – Aḥmad Zāhir; 14 June 1946 – 14 June 1979) was a singer, songwriter, and composer from Afghanistan. He is widely considered an icon of Afghan music and is sometimes called the "King of Afghan music". His songs are mostly in Persian and based on well-recognized Persian poems, although a few are in Pashto and English. Zahir composed and performed rock and pop music, in a similar style to Elvis Presley. Today, he is regarded as one of the greatest persons in Afghan culture and history.

Zahir was born on 14 June 1946 (Jauza 24, 1325 of the Jalali calendar) in Laghman, Afghanistan. His father, Abdul Zahir, was a royal court doctor, minister of health, Prime Minister of Afghanistan between 1971 and 1972, speaker of the parliament and an influential figure in King Zahir Shah's era who helped write the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan. Zahir grew up in Kabul and belonged to the Pashtun ethnic background.

Zahir attended Habibia High School in Kabul in the early 1960s. He sang and played the accordion in a band mainly consisting of his friends and classmates including Omar Sultan on guitar, Farid Zaland on congas and Kabir Howaida on piano. The band later became known as the amateur band of Habibia High School and performed in local concerts during celebratory occasions like Nowruz, Eid ul-Fitr,^{[disambiguation needed ]} and Afghan Independence Day.