Talk:Afghan cameleers in Australia

message: Note as this article is about the historic group of people it sits separately to the (currently redlinked) article Afghan Australian --Matilda talk 22:40, 1 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Since the Afghan Australian article is no longer redlinked, and because the new refs show that the original "Afghans" were in fact much more ethnically diverse, I suggest that the article be renamed "Afghans (Australian cameleers)". Cheers, Bahudhara (talk) 05:13, 8 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  Agree. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 10:27, 29 May 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  renaming 

message: , just a query - do you have a source for your change saying "the majority of them belonged to non-Afghan ethnic groups"? I did quite a bit of work on this article some time ago, and although it's pointed out many times that many came from other areas other than present-day Afghanistan, I don't recall seeing any evidence that the majority were not from this area. Because "Afghans" was a term applied by the inhabitants of Australia and was the name that stuck as common terminology, but it is known that they weren't all Afghani, the term is (or should be) enclosed by quotation marks wherever it is uses outside of this article. Without strong evidence to the contrary, we cannot assert in the lead that the non-Afghans were in the majority - although if there are sources which argue the point, this can be provided in the article. It is for this reason that I have reverted your change, although open to discussion her with you and other editors to reach consensus. The discussion should also reference Ethnic groups in Afghanistan, Afghan (ethnonym) and Afghan. It seems to me that the usage here accords with the latter article's definition of "Afghan" as "the national demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan". Laterthanyouthink (talk) 02:27, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: You can look in the book cited in the article already called "Australia's Muslim Cameleers: Pioneers of the inland.. etc" There's an incomplete list of names of the various individuals provided you can use as an example. The majority of them are certainly not Pashtun which at that time and now is what the word Afghan truly refers to. Indian's can be found more frequently. Some of the individuals with Hindu and Muslim names and Indian birthplaces have been miscategorized as "Afghan"as well. I understand why you would remove my changes since the sources are a little scarce.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Khehshankas (talk • contribs) 18:25, 31 October 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks for your prompt response, . I requested that book from the library yesterday so hopefully it will turn up in the coming week or two. However, your comment raises two issues: firstly, to quote from the Afghan article: "In modern times, Afghan is rarely used as an ethnic term for the Pashtuns, but is rather used as the national demonym for all citizens of Afghanistan"; and secondly, using a list of names and coming to a conclusion about their origins as editors here is contravening WP:SYNTH - we need to quote published sources. I realise it is complex, but I think we need to defer to modern usage of the term, i.e. what most readers would understand by it. Laterthanyouthink (talk) 06:34, 1 November 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with you the edit was quite lazy with using a list of names to arrive at a definitive conclusion, this was actually my first edit on Wikipedia ever! Interesting, I think given your reasons I would have to defer to your suggestion then of keeping the national demonym to the "modern" English language sourced usage of the term (What most readers would understand by it). Have a nice day!  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Khehshankas (talk • contribs) 20:06, 2 November 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks, , no worries, and congratulations on your first edit! If you have a look at some of the links I've posted on your user page, you will see some of the rules and guidelines about editing on Wikipedia. It can take a while and is a continual learning process, but you it doesn't take too long to get a feel for what is allowed or recommended. One of the basics is that everything should be sourced - even if we "know" something, it needs to be backed up by reliable sources (see WP:RS) - and also check related articles on Wikipedia. I hope you will stick around! Laterthanyouthink (talk) 00:42, 3 November 2019 (UTC)
thread_title: Proportion of actual Afghan descent