Pashtuns

Pashtuns(/ˈpʌʃˌtʊn/,/ˈpɑːʃˌtʊn/,/ˈpæʃˌtuːn/;Pashto:پښتانه,romanized:Pəx̌tānə́;), also known asPakhtuns,orPathans,are anomadic,pastoral,Iranian ethnic groupprimarily residing in northwesternPakistanand southern and easternAfghanistan.They were historically also referred to asAfghansuntil 1964after the term's meaning had become a demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan regardless of theirethnic group.
The Pashtuns speak thePashto language, which belongs to theEastern Iranianbranch of theIranian language family. Additionally,Dariserves as the second language of Pashtuns in Afghanistan,while those in Pakistan speak Urdu and English.In India, the majority of those of Pashtun descent have lost the ability to speak Pashto and instead speak Hindi and other regional languages.
There are an estimated 350–400Pashtun tribes and clanswith avariety of origin theories.In 2021,Shahid Javed Burkiestimated the total Pashtun population to be situated between 60 and 70 million, with 15 million in Afghanistan.Others who accept the 15 million figure include British academic Tim Willasey-Wilseyas well as Abubakar Siddique, a journalist specializing in Afghan affairs.This figure is disputed due to thelack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979due to continuing conflicts there.
They are the second-largestethnic group in Pakistanand one of the largestethnic groups in Afghanistan,constituting around 18.24% of the total Pakistani population and around 47% of the total Afghan population.In India, significant and historical communities of thePashtun diasporaexist in the northern region ofRohilkhand, as well as in major Indian cities such asDelhiandMumbai.
Pashtuns are spread over a wide geographic area, south of theAmu riverand west of theIndus River. They can be found all over Afghanistan and Pakistan.Big cities with a Pashtun majority includeJalalabad,Kandahar,Bannu,Dera Ismail Khan,Khost,Kohat,Lashkar Gah,Mardan,Ghazni,Mingora,Peshawar,Quetta, among others. Pashtuns also live inAbbottabad,Farah,Herat,Islamabad,Kabul,Karachi,Kunduz,Lahore,Mazar-i-Sharif,Mianwali, andAttock.
The city ofKarachi, the financial capital of Pakistan, is home to the world's largest urban community of Pashtuns, larger than those ofKabulandPeshawar.Likewise,Islamabad, the country's political capital, also serves as the major urban center of Pashtuns. More than 20% of the city's population belongs to thePashto-speaking community.
Pashtuns in India often identify asPathans(the Hindustani word for Pashtun), and are referred to this way by other ethnic groups of the subcontinent.Some Indians claim descent from Pashtun soldiers who settled in India by marrying local women during theMuslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent.
Many Pathans chose to live in the Republic of India after thepartition of India. Khan Mohammad Atif, a professor at theUniversity of Lucknow, estimates that "The population of Pathans in India is twice their population in Afghanistan".
Historically, Pashtuns settled in various cities of India before and during theBritish Rajincolonial India. These include Bombay (now calledMumbai),Farrukhabad,Delhi,Calcutta,Saharanpur,Rohilkhand,Jaipur, andBangalore.The settlers are descended from both Pashtuns of present-dayPakistanandAfghanistan(British Indiabefore 1947). In some regions in India, they are sometimes referred to asKabuliwala.
In India significant Pashtun diaspora communities exist.While speakers of Pashto in the country number only 21,677 as of 2011, estimates of the ethnic or ancestral Pashtun population in India range from 3,200,000to 11,482,000,to as high as double their population in Afghanistan (approximately 30 million).
TheRohilkhandregion ofUttar Pradeshis named after theRohillacommunity of Pashtun ancestry; the area came to be governed by theRoyal House of Rampur, a Pashtun dynasty.They also live in the states ofMaharashtrain central India andWest Bengalin eastern India that each have a population of over a million with Pashtun ancestry;bothBombayandCalcuttawere primary locations of Pashtun migrants fromAfghanistanduring the colonial era.There are also populations over 100,000 each in the cities ofJaipurinRajasthanandBangaloreinKarnataka.Bombay (now calledMumbai) andCalcuttaboth have a Pashtun population of over 1 million, whileJaipurandBangalorehave an estimate of around 100,000. The Pashtuns inBangaloreinclude the khan siblingsFeroz,SanjayandAkbar Khan, whose father settled inBangalorefromGhazni.
During the 19th century, when the British were recruiting peasants from British India as indentured servants to work in theCaribbean,South Africaand other places, Rohillas were sent toTrinidad,Surinam,Guyana, andFiji, to work in the sugarcane fields and perform manual labour.Many stayed and formed communities of their own. Some of themassimilatedwith the other South Asian Muslim nationalities to form a common Indian Muslim community in tandem with the larger Indian community, losing their distinctive heritage. Some Pashtuns travelled as far asAustraliaduring the same era.
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 ofnorthernandcentral India.Following thepartition of Indiain 1947, many of themmigrated to Pakistan.The majority of Indian Pashtuns areUrdu-speaking communities,who have assimilated into thelocal societyover the course of generations.Pashtuns have influenced and contributed to various fields in India, particularly politics, the entertainment industry and sports.
Pashtuns are also found in smaller numbers in the eastern and northern parts ofIran.Records as early as the mid-1600s reportDurrani Pashtunsliving in theKhorasan provinceofSafavid Iran.After the short reign of theGhilji Pashtuns in Iran,Nader Shahdefeated the last independent Ghilji ruler ofKandahar,Hussain Hotak. In order to secure Durrani control in southern Afghanistan, Nader Shah deportedHussain Hotakand large numbers of theGhilji Pashtunsto theMazandaran provincein northern Iran. The remnants of this once sizeable 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 theDurrani Empireitself. The second Durrani king of Afghanistan,Timur Shah Durraniwas born inMashhad.Contemporary to Durrani rule in the east,Azad Khan Afghan, an ethnic Ghilji Pashtun, formerly second in charge ofAzerbaijanduringAfsharid rule, gained power in the western regions of Iran andAzerbaijanfor a short period.According to a sample survey in 1988, 75 per cent of all Afghan refugees in thesouthern part of the Iranian Khorasan provincewere Durrani Pashtuns.
Indian and Pakistani Pashtuns have utilized the British/Commonwealthlinks of their respective countries, and modern communities have been established starting around the 1960s mainly in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia but also in othercommonwealth countries(and the United States). Some Pashtuns have also settled in the Middle East, such as in theArabian Peninsula. For example, about 300,000 Pashtuns migrated to thePersian Gulf countriesbetween 1976 and 1981, representing 35% of Pakistani immigrants.ThePakistaniandAfghan diasporaaround the world includes Pashtuns.
A tribe calledPakthās, one of the tribes that fought againstSudasin theDasarajna, or"Battle of the Ten Kings", are mentioned inthe seventh mandalaof theRigveda, a text ofVedic Sanskrithymns dated betweenc.1500 and 1200 BCE:
Heinrich Zimmerconnects them with a tribe mentioned byHerodotus(Pactyans) in 430 BCE in theHistories:
These Pactyans lived on the eastern frontier of theAchaemenidArachosiaSatrapyas early as the 1st millennium BCE, present-day Afghanistan.Herodotusalso mentions a tribe of known as Aparytai (Ἀπαρύται).Thomas Holdichhas linked them with theAfriditribe:
Joseph Marquartmade the connection of the Pashtuns with names such as the Parsiētai (Παρσιῆται), Parsioi (Πάρσιοι) that were cited byPtolemy150 CE:
Strabo, the Greek geographer, in theGeographica(written between 43 BC to 23 AD) makes mention of the Scythian tribe Pasiani (Πασιανοί), which has also been identified with Pashtuns given that Pashto is anEastern-Iranianlanguage, much like theScythian languages:
This is considered a different rendering of Ptolemy's Parsioi (Πάρσιοι).Johnny Cheung,reflecting on Ptolemy'sParsioi (Πάρσιοι)and Strabo'sPasiani(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."
In theMiddle Agesuntil the advent of modern Afghanistan in the 18th century, the Pashtuns were often referred to as"Afghans".Theetymologicalview supported by numerous noted scholars is that the nameAfghanevidently derives fromSanskritAśvakan, or theAssakenoiofArrian, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of theHindu Kush.Aśvakanliterally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "cavalrymen" (fromaśvaoraspa, theSanskritandAvestanwords for "horse").This view was propounded by scholars likeChristian Lassen,J. W. McCrindle,M. V. de Saint Martin,andÉ. Reclus,
The earliest mention of the nameAfghan(Abgân) is byShapur Iof theSassanid Empireduring the 3rd century CE,In the 4th century the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as a reference to a particular people is mentioned in theBactriandocuments found in Northern Afghanistan.
The name Afghan is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of"Avagāṇa"[अवगाण]by the Indian astronomerVarāha Mihirain hisBrihat-samhita.
The word Afghan also appeared in the 982Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where a reference is made to a village, Saul, which was probably located nearGardez, Afghanistan.
The same book also speaks of a king in Ninhar (Nangarhar), who had Muslim,Afghanand Hindu wives.In the 11th century, Afghans are mentioned inAl-Biruni'sTarikh-ul Hind("History of the Indus"), which describes groups of rebellious Afghans in the tribal lands west of theIndus Riverin what is today Pakistan.
Al-Utbi, theGhaznavidchronicler, in hisTarikh-i Yaminirecorded that many Afghans and Khiljis (possibly the modernGhilji) enlisted in the army ofSabuktiginafterJayapalawas defeated.Al-Utbi further stated that Afghans and Ghiljis made a part ofMahmud Ghaznavi's army and were sent on his expedition toTocharistan, while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated byAbulfazl Beyhaqi.It is recorded that Afghans were also enrolled in theGhurid Kingdom(1148–1215).By the beginning of theKhilji dynastyin 1290, Afghans have been well known in northern India.
Ibn Battuta, when visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khilji dynasty, also wrote about the Afghans.
Ferishta, a 16th-centuryMuslim historianwriting about the history ofMuslim rule in the subcontinent, stated:
Theethnogenesisof the Pashtun ethnic group is unclear. There are many conflicting theories among historians and the Pashtuns themselves. Modern scholars believe that Pashtuns do not all share the same origin. The early ancestors of modern-day Pashtuns may have belonged to oldIranian tribesthat spread throughout the easternIranian plateau.Historians have also come across references to various ancientIndo-Aryan tribescalledPakthas(Pactyans) between the2ndand the 1st millennium BC,although according toRichard N. Fryethe identification of Pashtuns with the Pakhtas is a mere guess and not proven. And scholars such asGeorg Morgenstiernepropose the derivation of Pashto fromParsaor Parswana.
Mohan Lalstated in 1846 that "the origin of theAfghansis so obscure, that no one, even among the oldest and most clever of the tribe, can give satisfactory information on this point."Others have suggested that a single origin of the Pashtuns is unlikely but rather they are a tribal confederation.
Pashto is generally classified as anEastern Iranianlanguage.It shares features with theMunji language, which is the closest existing language to the extinctBactrian,but also shares features with theSogdian language, as well asKhwarezmian,Shughni,Sanglechi, andKhotanese Saka.
It is suggested by some that Pashto may have originated in theBadakhshanregion and is connected to aSaka languageakin to Khotanese.In fact major linguistGeorg Morgenstiernehas described Pashto as aSakadialect and many others have observed the similarities between Pashto and other Saka languages as well, suggesting that the original Pashto speakers might have been aSakagroup.Furthermore, Pashto andOssetian, another Scythian-descending language, share cognates in their vocabulary which other Eastern Iranian languages lackCheung 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 theOxusat that time.Others however have suggested a much older Iranic ancestor given the affinity toOld Avestan.
According to one school of thought, Pashtun are descended from a variety of ethnicities, includingPersians,Greeks,Turks,Arabs,Bactrians,Dards,Scythians,Tartars, Huns (Hephthalites),Mongols,Moghals(Mughals), and anyone else who has crossed the region where these Pashtun live. Unexpectedly, this includes alleged ties ofIsraelitedescent.
Some Pashtun tribes claim descent fromArabs, including some claiming to beSayyids.
One historical account connects the Pashtuns to a possibleAncient Egyptianpast but this lacks supporting evidence.
Henry Walter Bellew, who wrote extensively on Afghan culture, noted that some people claim that theBangashPashtuns are connected toIsmail Samani.
According to Firasat et al. 2007, a proportion of Pashtuns may descend from Greeks, but they also suggest that Greek ancestry may also have come from Greek slaves brought byXerxes I.
The Greek ancestry of the Pashtuns may also be traced on the basis of a homologous group. And Hoplogroup J2 is from the Semitic population, and this Hoplogroup is found in 6.5% of Greeks and Pashtuns and 55.6% of the Israelite population.
A number of genetic studies onPashtunshave lately been undertaken by academics from various institutions and research institutes. The Greek heritage of Pakistani Pashtuns has been researched in. In this study, thePashtuns,Kalash, andBurushoto be descended from Alexander's soldiers considered.
Henry Walter Bellew(1834–1892) was of the view that the Pashtuns likely have mixedGreek and Indian Rajput roots.
Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of theSeleucid Empireexpanded influence on the Pashtuns until 305 BCE when they gave up dominating power to the IndianMaurya Empireas part of an alliance treaty.
Some groups fromPeshawarandKandaharbelieve to be descended fromGreekswho arrived withAlexander the Great.
According to some accounts theGhiljitribe has been connected to theKhalaj people.Followingal-Khwarizmi,Josef Markwartclaimed the Khalaj to be remnants of theHephthaliteconfederacy.The Hephthalites may have been Indo-Iranian,although the view that they were ofTurkicGaojuorigin"seems to be most prominent at present".The Khalaj may originally have been Turkic-speaking and only federated with Iranian Pashto-speaking tribes in medieval times.
However, according to linguistSims-Williams, archaeological documents do not support the suggestion that the Khalaj were the successors of the Hephthalites,while according to historianV. Minorsky, the Khalaj were "perhaps only politically associated with the Hephthalites."
According toGeorg Morgenstierne, theDurranitribe who were known as the "Abdali" before the formation of theDurrani Empire1747,might be connected to with theHephthalites;Aydogdy Kurbanovendorses this view who proposes that after the collapse of the Hephthalite confederacy, Hephthalite likely assimilated into different local populations.
According toThe Cambridge History of Iranvolume 3, Issue 1, theGhiljitribe of Afghanistan are the descendants of Hephthalites.
Someanthropologistslend credence to theoral traditionsof the Pashtun tribes themselves. For example, according to theEncyclopaedia of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is traced toNimat Allah al-Harawi, who compiled a history forKhan-e-Jehan Lodhiin the reign ofMughalEmperorJehangirin the 17th century.The 13th centuryTabaqat-i Nasiridiscusses the settlement of immigrant Bani Israel at the end of the 8th century CE in theGhor regionof 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, thetribe of Joseph, 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 theTen Lost Tribesafter groups converted to Christianity and Islam. Hence the tribal nameYusufzaiin Pashto translates to the "son of Joseph". A similar story is told by many historians, including the 14th centuryIbn Battutaand 16th centuryFerishta.However, the similarity of names can also be traced to the presence of Arabic through Islam.
This theory of Pashtuns Jewish origin has been largely denied and is said that Its biblical claims are anecdotal, its historical documentation is inconsistent, its geographic claims are incoherent, and its linguistic assertions are implausible.
One conflicting issue in the belief that the Pashtuns descend from theIsraelitesis that the Ten Lost Tribes were exiled by the ruler ofAssyria, whileMaghzan-e-Afghanisays 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 ChaldeanBabylonia, 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 arelinked to the ancient Israelites.Mohan LalquotedMountstuart Elphinstonewho wrote:
This theory has been criticized for not being substantiated by historical evidence.Zaman Stanizai criticizes this theory:
According to genetic studies Pashtuns have a greaterR1a1a*-M198modal halogroup than Jews:
Their modern past stretches back to theDelhi Sultanate(KhaljiandLodi dynasty), theHotak dynastyand theDurrani Empire. The Hotak rulers rebelled against theSafavidsand seized control over much of Persia from 1722 to 1729.This was followed by the conquests ofAhmad Shah Durraniwho was a former high-ranking military commander underNader Shahand founder of the Durrani Empire, which covered most of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan,Kashmir,Indian Punjab, as well as theKohistanandKhorasanprovinces of Iran.After the decline of theDurrani dynastyin the first half of the 19th century underShuja Shah Durrani, theBarakzai dynastytook control of the empire. Specifically, theMohamedzaisheld Afghanistan's monarchy from around 1826 to the end ofZahir Shah's reign in 1973.
During the so-called "Great Game" of the 19th century, rivalry between theBritishandRussianempires was useful to the Pashtuns of Afghanistan in resisting foreign control and retaining a degree of autonomy (see theSiege of Malakand). However, during the reign ofAbdur Rahman Khan(1880–1901),Pashtun regionswerepoliticallydivided by theDurand Line– areas that would become 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 supportedIndian independence, includingAshfaqulla Khan,Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai,Ajmal Khattak,Bacha Khanand his sonWali Khan(both members of theKhudai Khidmatgar), and were inspired byMohandas Gandhi'snon-violentmethod of resistance.Many Pashtuns also worked in theMuslim Leagueto fight for an independent Pakistan through non violent resistance, includingYusuf KhattakandAbdur Rab Nishtarwho was a close associate ofMuhammad Ali Jinnah.The Pashtuns of Afghanistan attained complete independence from Britishpolitical interventionduring the reign ofAmanullah Khan, following theThird Anglo-Afghan War. By the 1950s a popular call forPashtunistanbegan to be heard in Afghanistan and the new state of Pakistan. This led to bad relations between the two nations. The Afghan monarchy ended whenPresidentDaoud Khanseized control of Afghanistanfrom his cousinZahir Shahin 1973 on aPashtun Nationalistagenda, which opened doors for aproxy warby neighbours. In April 1978,Daoud Khan was assassinatedalong with his family and relatives in a bloody coup orchestrated byHafizullah Amin.Afghan mujahideencommanders in exile in neighbouring Pakistan began recruiting for aguerrilla warfareagainst theDemocratic Republic of Afghanistan– the Marxist government which was also dominated by PashtunKhalqistswho heldNationalistviews includingHafizullah Amin,Nur Muhammad Taraki, GeneralMohammad Aslam Vatanjar,Shahnawaz Tanai,Mohammad Gulabzoyand many more. In 1979, theSoviet Unionintervened in its southern neighbour Afghanistan in order to defeat a rising insurgency. The Afghan mujahideen were funded by the United States, Saudi Arabia, China and others, and included some Pashtun commanders such asAbdul Rasul Sayyaf,Gulbuddin Hekmatyar,Jalaluddin Haqqani,Mohammad Nabi MohammadiandMohammad Yunus Khalis. In the meantime, millions of Pashtuns joined theAfghan diasporainPakistanandIran, and from there tens of thousands proceeded to Europe, North America, Oceania and other parts of the world.The Afghan government andmilitarywould remain predominantly Pashtun until the fall ofMohammad Najibullah'sRepublic of Afghanistanin April 1992.
Many high-ranking government officials in theIslamic Republic of Afghanistanwere Pashtuns, including:Abdul Rahim Wardak,Abdul Salam Azimi,Anwar ul-Haq Ahady,Amirzai Sangin,Ghulam Farooq Wardak,Hamid Karzai,Mohammad Ishaq Aloko,Omar Zakhilwal,Sher Mohammad Karimi,Zalmay Rasoul,Yousef Pashtun. Thelist of current governors of Afghanistanalso include large percentage of Pashtuns.Mullah Yaqoobserves as acting Defense Minister,Sirajuddin Haqqanias acting Interior Minister,Amir Khan Muttaqias acting Foreign Minister,Gul Agha Ishakzaias acting Finance Minister, andHasan Akhundas acting Prime Minister. A number of other ministers are also Pashtuns.
The Afghanroyal family, which was represented byKing Zahir Shah, are referred toMohammadzais. Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th-century poetsKhushal Khan KhattakandRahman Baba, and in contemporary eraAfghan AstronautAbdul Ahad Mohmand, formerU.S. AmbassadorZalmay Khalilzad, andAshraf Ghaniamong many others.
Many Pashtuns of Pakistan and India have adopted non-Pashtun cultures, mainly by abandoning Pashto and using languages such asUrdu,Punjabi, andHindko.These includeGhulam Mohammad(firstFinance Minister, from 1947 to 1951, and thirdGovernor-General of Pakistan, from 1951 to 1955),Ayub Khan, who was the secondPresident of Pakistan,Zakir Husainwho was the thirdPresident of IndiaandAbdul Qadeer Khan, father of Pakistan'snuclear weapons program.
Many more held high government posts, such asAsfandyar Wali Khan,Mahmood Khan Achakzai,Sirajul Haq, andAftab Ahmad Sherpao, who are presidents of their respective political parties in Pakistan. Others became famous in sports (e.g.,Imran Khan,Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi,Younis Khan,Shahid Afridi,Irfan Pathan,Jahangir Khan,Jansher Khan,Hashim Khan,Rashid Khan,Shaheen Afridi,Naseem Shah,Misbah Ul Haq,Mujeeb Ur RahmanandMohammad Wasim) and literature (e.g.,Ghani Khan,Hamza Shinwari, andKabir Stori).Malala Yousafzai, who became the youngestNobel Peace Prizerecipient in2014, is a Pakistani Pashtun.
Many of theBollywoodfilm stars in India have Pashtun ancestry; some of the most notable ones areAamir Khan,Shahrukh Khan,Salman Khan,Feroz Khan,Madhubala,Kader Khan,Saif Ali Khan,Soha Ali Khan,Sara Ali Khan, andZarine Khan.In addition, one of India's former presidents,Zakir Husain, belonged to theAfriditribe.Mohammad Yunus, India's former ambassador to Algeria and advisor toIndira Gandhi, is of Pashtun origin and related to the legendary Bacha Khan.
In the late 1990s, Pashtuns were the primary ethnic group in the ruling regime i.e.Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan(Taliban regime).TheNorthern Alliancethat was fighting against the Taliban also included a number of Pashtuns. Among them wereAbdullah Abdullah,Abdul Qadirand his brotherAbdul Haq,Abdul Rasul Sayyaf,Asadullah Khalid,Hamid KarzaiandGul Agha Sherzai. The Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001 during the US-ledWar in Afghanistanand replaced by theKarzai administration.This was followed by the Ghani administration and the reconquest of Afghanistan by the Taliban (Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan).
The long wars in Afghanistan have led to Pashtuns gaining a reputation for being exceptional fighters.Some activists and intellectuals are trying to rebuild Pashtun intellectualism and its pre-war culture.
The majority of Pashtuns from Afghanistan belong toR1a, with a frequency of 50–65%.Subclade R1a-Z2125 occurs at a frequency of 40%.This subclade is predominantly found in Tajiks, Turkmen, Uzbeks and in some populations in the Caucasus and Iran.Haplogroup G-M201reaches 9% in Afghan Pashtuns and is the second most frequent haplogroup in Pashtuns from southern Afghanistan.Haplogroup L and Haplogroup J2 occurs at an overall frequency of 6%.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 in Afghanistan share ancestral heritage. Among the studied ethnic groups, the Pashtuns have the greatest mtDNA diversity.The most frequent haplogroup among Pakistani Pashtuns is haplogroup R which is found at a rate of 28–50%. Haplogroup J2 was found in 9% to 24% depending on the study and Haplogroup E has been found at a frequency of 4% to 13%. Haplogroup L occurs at a rate of 8%. Certain Pakistani Pashtun groups exhibit high levels of R1b.Overall Pashtun groups are genetically diverse, and the Pashtun ethnic group is not a single genetic population. Different Pashtun groups exhibit different genetic backgrounds, resulting in considerable heterogeneity.
Y haplogroup and mtdna haplogroup samples were taken from Jadoon, Yousafzai, Sayyid, Gujar and Tanoli men living inSwabi District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Jadoon men have predominantly East Asian origin paternal ancestry with West Eurasian maternal ancestry and a lesser amount of South Asian maternal ancestry according to a Y and mtdna haplogroup test indicating local females marrying immigrant males during the medieval period. Y Haplogroup O3-M122 makes up the majority of Jadoon men, the same haplogroup carried by the majority (50–60%) of Han Chinese. 82.5% of Jadoon men carrying Q-MEH2 and O3-M122 which are both of East Asian origin. O3-M122 was absent in the Sayyid (Syed) population and appeared in low numbers among Tanolis, Gujars andYousafzais. There appears to be founder affect in the O3-M122 among the Jadoon.76.32% of Jadoon men carry O3-M122 while 0.75% of Tanolis, 0.81% of Gujars and 2.82% of Yousafzais carry O3-M122.
56.25% of the Jadoons in another test carried West Eurasian maternalHaplogroup H (mtDNA).Dental morphology of the Swabi Jadoons was also analysed and compared to other groups in the regions like Yousufzais and Sayyids.
The most prominent views among Pashtuns as to who exactly qualifies as a Pashtun are:
A prominent institution of the Pashtun people is the intricate system oftribes.The tribal system has several levels of organization: the tribe they are in is fromfour 'greater' tribal groups: theSarbani, theBettani, the Gharghashti, and theKarlani.The tribe is then divided into kinship groups calledkhels, which in turn is divided into smaller groups (pllarinaorplarganey), each consisting of several extended families calledkahols.
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 more numerous, more rural, and reputedly tougher. In the 18th century, the groups collaborated at times and at other times fought each other. With a few gaps, Durranis ruled modern Afghanistan continuously until theSaur Revolutionof 1978; the newcommunist rulerswere 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.
Pashtois themother tongueof most Pashtuns.It is one of the twonational languagesofAfghanistan.In Pakistan, although being the second-largest language being spoken,it is often neglected officially in the education system.This has been criticized 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 categorized as anEastern Iranianlanguage,but a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto.Pashto morphologyin relation to verbs is complex compared to other Iranian languages.In this respectMacKenziestates:
Pashto has a large number ofdialects: generally divided intoNorthern,SouthernandCentralgroups;and alsoTarino or Waṇetsias distinct group.As Elfenbein notes: "Dialect differences lie primarily inphonologyand lexicon: the morphology and syntax are, again with the exception ofWanetsi, quite remarkably uniform".Ibrahim Khan provides the following classification on the letter ښ: the Northern Western dialect (e.g. spoken by theGhilzai) having the phonetic value/ç+/, the North Eastern (spoken by theYusafzaisetc.) having the sound/x/, the South Western (spoken by theAbdalisetc.) having/ʂ/and the South Eastern (spoken by theKakarsetc.) having/ʃ/.He illustrates that the Central dialects, which are spoken by theKarlāṇ tribes, can also be divided on the North/x/and South/ʃ/distinction but provides that in addition these Central dialects have had a vowel shift which makes them distinct: for instance/ɑ/represented byalephthe non-Central dialects becoming/ɔː/inBanisidialect.
The first Pashto alphabet was developed byPir Roshanin the 16th century.In 1958, a meeting of Pashtun scholars and writers from both Afghanistan and Pakistan, held in Kabul, standardized the presentPashto alphabet.
Pashtun culture is based on Pashtunwali,Islamand the understanding of Pashto language. The Kabul dialect is used to standardize the presentPashto alphabet.Poetry is also an important part of Pashtun culture and it has been for centuries.Pre-Islamic traditions, dating back toAlexander's defeat of thePersian Empirein 330 BC, possibly survived in the form oftraditional dances, while literary styles and music reflect influence from thePersian traditionand regionalmusical instrumentsfused with localized variants and interpretation. Like otherMuslims, Pashtuns celebrateIslamic holidays. Contrary to the Pashtuns living in Pakistan,Nowruz in Afghanistanis celebrated as the Afghan New Year by all Afghan ethnicities.
Another prominent Pashtun institution is thelóya jirgá(Pashto:لويه جرګه) or 'grand council' of electedelders.Most decisions in tribal life are made by members of thejirgá(Pashto:جرګه), which has been the main institution of authority that the largely egalitarian Pashtuns willingly acknowledge as a viable governing body.
Before Islam there were various different beliefs which were practised by Pashtuns such asZoroastrianism,BuddhismandHinduism.
The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns adhere toSunni Islamand belong to theHanafischool of thought. SmallShiacommunities exist in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Paktia. The Shias belong to theTuritribe while theBangashtribe is approximately 50% Shia and the rest Sunni, who are mainly found in and aroundParachinar,Kurram,Hangu,KohatandOrakzai.
A legacy ofSufiactivity may be found in some Pashtun regions, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, as evident in songs and dances. Many Pashtuns are prominentUlema, 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 asMuhammad Muhsin Khanwho has helped translate theNoble Quran,Sahih Al-Bukhariand many other books to the English language.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.
Little information is available on non-Muslim as there is limited data regardingirreligiousgroups and minorities, especially since many of theHinduandSikhPashtuns migrated from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after thepartition of Indiaand later, after therise of the Taliban.
There are also Hindu Pashtuns, sometimes known as the Sheen Khalai, who have moved predominantly to India.A small Pashtun Hindu community, known as theSheen Khalaimeaning 'blue skinned' (referring to the color of Pashtun women's facialtattoos), migrated to Unniara,Rajasthan, India afterpartition.Prior to 1947, the community resided in theQuetta,Loralaiand Maikhter regions of the British Indian province ofBaluchistan.They are mainly members of the PashtunKakartribe. Today, they continue to speak Pashto and celebrate Pashtun culture through theAttandance.
There is also a minority of Pashtun Sikhs inTirah,Orakzai,Kurram,Malakand, andSwat. Due to the ongoinginsurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, some Pashtun Sikhs wereinternally displacedfrom their ancestral villages to settle in cities likePeshawarandNankana Sahib.
The majority of Pashtuns usePashtoas theirnative tongue, belonging to theIranianlanguage family,and spoken by up to 60 million people.It is written in thePashto-Arabic scriptand is divided into two main dialects, the southern "Pashto" and the northern "Pukhto". The language has ancient origins and bears similarities toextinct languagessuch asAvestanandBactrian.Its closest modern relatives may includePamir languages, such asShughniandWakhi, andOssetic.Pashto may have ancient legacy of borrowing vocabulary from neighbouring languages including such asPersianandVedic Sanskrit. Modern borrowings come primarily from the English language.
The earliest describes Sheikh Mali's conquest ofSwat.Pir Roshanis believed to have written a number of Pashto books while fighting with the Mughals. Pashtun scholars such asAbdul Hai Habibiand others believe that the earliest Pashto work dates back toAmir Kror Suri, and they use the writings found inPata Khazanaas proof. Amir Kror Suri, son ofAmir Polad Suri, was an 8th-centuryfolk heroand king from theGhorregion 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 byAmeer Hamza Shinwariwho developedPashto Ghazals.In 1919, during the expanding of mass media,Mahmud Tarzipublished Seraj-al-Akhbar, which became the first Pashto newspaper in Afghanistan. In 1977,Khan Roshan KhanwroteTawarikh-e-Hafiz Rehmatkhaniwhich contains the family trees and Pashtun tribal names. Some notable poets includeMalak Ahmad Khan YusufzaiAbdul Ghani Khan,Afzal Khan Khattak,Ahmad Shah Durrani,Gaju KhanKalu Khan YousafzaiAjmal Khattak,Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi,Hamza Shinwari,Hanif Baktash,Khushal Khan Khattak,Nazo Tokhi,Pareshan Khattak,Rahman Baba,Shuja Shah Durrani, andTimur Shah Durrani.
Pashto mediahas expanded in the last decade, with a number ofPashto TV channelsbecoming available. Two of the popular ones are the Pakistan-basedAVT Khyberand 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-basedShamshad TV,Radio Television Afghanistan,TOLOnewsandLemar TV, which has a special children's show calledBaghch-e-Simsim. International news sources that provide Pashto programs includeBBC PashtoandVoice of America.
Producers based inPeshawarhave createdPashto-language filmssince 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 isAttan, which has ancient roots. A rigorous exercise, Attan is performed as musicians play various native instruments including thedhol(drums),tablas(percussions),rubab(abowedstring instrument), andtoola(wooden flute). With a rapid circular motion, dancers perform until no one is left dancing, similar toSufiwhirling dervishes. Numerous other dances are affiliated with various tribes notably from Pakistan including theKhattak Wal Atanrh(eponymously named after theKhattaktribe),Mahsood Wal Atanrh(which, in modern times, involves the juggling of loaded rifles), andWaziro Atanrhamong others. A sub-type of theKhattak Wal Atanrhknown as theBraghoniinvolves the use of up to three swords and requires great skill. Young women and girls often entertain at weddings with theTumbal(Dayereh) which is an instrument.
Both thePakistan national cricket teamand theAfghanistan national cricket teamhave Pashtun players.One of the most popular sports among Pashtuns iscricket, which was introduced to South Asia during the early 18th century with the arrival of the British. Many Pashtuns have become prominent internationalcricketers, includingImran Khan,Shahid Afridi,Majid Khan,Misbah-ul-Haq,Younis Khan,Umar Gul,Junaid Khan,Fakhar Zaman,Mohammad Rizwan,Usman Shinwari,Naseem Shah,Shaheen Afridi,Iftikhar Ahmed,Mohammad WasimandYasir Shah.Australian cricketerFawad Ahmedis of Pakistani Pashtun origin who has played for the Australian national team.
Makhais 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 ofbuzkashiin which horse riders attempt to place a goat or calf carcass in a goal circle.
Pashtun women are known to be modest and honourable because of their modest dressing.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, mobilizing 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.
The decades of war and the rise of the Talibancaused considerable hardshipamong Pashtun women, as many of their rights have been curtailed by a rigid interpretation ofIslamic law. The difficult lives of Afghan female refugees gained considerable notoriety with the iconic imageAfghan Girl(Sharbat Gula) depicted on the June 1985 cover ofNational Geographicmagazine.
Modern social reform for Pashtun women began in the early 20th century, when QueenSoraya Tarziof 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 ofKing Amanullah's reign in 1929.Civil rightsremained an important issue during the 1970s, as feminist leaderMeena Keshwar Kamalcampaigned forwomen's rightsand founded theRevolutionary 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 organizations 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."
Further challenging the status quo,Vida Samadzaiwas 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.In 1942,Madhubala(Mumtaz Jehan), theMarilyn Monroeof India, entered theBollywoodfilm industry.Bollywood blockbusters of the 1970s and 1980s starredParveen Babi, who hailed from the lineage of Gujarat's historical Pathan community: the royalBabi Dynasty.Other Indian actresses and models, such asZarine Khan, continue to work in the industry.During the 1980s many Pashtun women served in the ranks of theAfghan communist regime's Military.Khatol Mohammadzaiserved paratrooper during theAfghan Civil Warand was later promoted tobrigadier generalin theAfghan Army.Nigar Joharis athree-star generalin the Pakistan Army, another Pashtun female became a fighterpilotin thePakistan Air Force.Pashtun women often have their legal rights curtailed in favour of their husbands or male relatives. For example, though women are officiallyallowed to votein Pakistan, some have been kept away fromballot boxesby males.