This article is about the historic ethnonym. For the modern definition and state citizens of Afghanistan, seeAfghans. For other uses, seeAfghan (disambiguation).
Bactrian document in the Greek script from the 4th century mentioning the word Afghan (αβγανανο): "From Ormuzd Bunukan to Bredag Watanan, the chief of the Afghans."
TheethnonymAfghan (Pashto:افغان) has been used historically to refer to thePashtuns.[1] Since the second half of the twentieth century, the term "Afghan" evolved into a demonym for all residents ofAfghanistan, including those outside of the Pashtun ethnicity.[1][2]
The earliest mention of the nameAfghan (Abgân) is byShapur I of theSassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE.[3] In the 4th century, the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) was used in reference to a particular people as mentioned in theBactrian documents.[4][5]
"To Ormuzd Bunukan, from Bredag Watanan ... greetings and homage from ... the sotang (?) of Parpaz (under) the gloriousYabghu of Hephthal, the chief of the Afghans, the judge ofTukharistan andGharchistan. Moreove, a letter [has come hither] from you, so I have heard how [you have] written to me concerning my health. I arrived in good health (and) afterwards (?) I heard that a message was sent thither to you (saying ) thus : ... look after the farming but the order was given to you thus. You should hand over the grain and then request it from the citizens store: I will not order, so ... I myself order and in respect of winter sends men thither to you then look after the farming. To Ormuzd Bunukan, Greetings."
— Bactrian documents, 4th century
"because [you] (pl.), the clan of the Afghans, said thus to me: ... And you should not have denied (?) the men of Rob[6] [that] the Afghans took (away) the horses."
— Bactrian documents, 4th century, Sims-Williams 2007b, pp. 90-91.
"[To...]-bid the Afghan... Moreover, they are in [War]nu (?) because of the Afghans, so [you should] impose a penalty on Nat Kharagan ... ... Lord of Warnu with ... ... ...the Afghan... ..."
— Bactrian documents, 4th century, Sims-Williams 2007b, pp. 90-91.
The term "Afghan" is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of"Avagāṇa" [अवगाण][15] by the Indian astronomerVarāha Mihira in hisBrihat-samhita.[16][17]
"It would be unfavourable to the people of Chola, the Afghans (Avagāṇa), the white Huns and the Chinese."[17]
— Varāha Mihira, 6th century CE, chapt. 11, verse 61.
The word Afghan also appeared in the 982Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where a reference is made to the village of Saul, which was estimated to be located nearGardez, in thePaktia province of Afghanistan.[18]
"Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it liveAfghans."[18]
"Ninhar, a place of which the king makes a show of Islam, and has many wives, (namely) over thirty Muslim, Afghan, and Hindu (wives). The rest of the people are idolaters. In (Ninhar) there are three large idols."
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 River in what is now known as Pakistan.[18][20]
Al-Utbi, theGhaznavid chronicler. In hisTarikh-i Yamini records that many Afghans and Khiljis (possibly the modernGhilji) living between Laghman and Peshawar enlisted in the army ofSabuktigin afterJayapala was defeated.
"The Afghans and Khiljis who resided among the mountains having taken the oath of allegiance to Subooktugeen, many of them were enlisted in his army, after which he returned in triumph toGhizny."[21]
Al-Utbi further states that Afghans and Ghiljis made up a part ofMahmud Ghaznavi's army and were sent on his expedition toTokharistan, while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated byAbulfazl Beyhaqi.[22] It is recorded that Afghans were also enrolled in theGhurid Kingdom (1148–1215).[23] By the beginning of theKhilji dynasty in 1290, Afghans have been well known in northern India.
Ibn Battuta, a famousMoroccan traveler, visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khilji dynasty in 1333 writes.
"We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by Afghans. They hold mountains and defiles and possess considerable strength, and are mostly highwaymen. Their principal mountain is calledKuh Sulayman. It is told that theprophet Sulayman [Solomon] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it."[24]
"He [Khalid bin Abdullah son ofKhalid 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 oneLodhi, the otherSur; who each, subsequently, became head of the tribes which to this day bear their name. I have read in theMutla-ul-Anwar, a work written by a respectable author, and which I procured atBurhanpur, a town ofKhandesh in theDeccan, that the Afghans areCopts of the race of thePharaohs; and that when the prophet Moses got the better of that infidel who was overwhelmed in theRed Sea, many of the Copts became converts to theJewish 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."[25]
Some scholars suggest that the word "Afghan" is derived from the wordsawajan/apajan inAvestan andava-Han/apa-Han inSanskrit, which means "killing, striking, throwing and resisting, or defending." Under theSasanians, and possibly theParthian Empire, the word was used to refer to men of a certain Persian sect.[27]
Another view is that the nameAfghan evidently derives from the wordAśvakan which means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "cavalrymen" (fromaśva oraspa, theSanskrit andAvestan words for "horse"), or theAssakenoi ofArrian, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of theHindu Kush.[28][29] This view was propounded by scholars likeChristian Lassen,[8]J. W. McCrindle,[30] M. V. de Saint Martin,[9] andÉ. Reclus,[10][11][12][13][14][31] However, this theory is linguistically untenable. Johnny Cheung notes that "the expected result [of Aśvakān] would be rather †aškān, †askān in Persian."[32]
The last part of the name-stān is aPersian suffix for "place of". The Pashto translation ofstogna is prominent in many languages of Asia. ThenameAfghanistan is mentioned in writing by the 16th century Mughal rulerBabur and his descendants, referring to the territory betweenKhorasan,Kabulistan, and theIndus River, which was inhabited bytribes 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 byTūrks, 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 byPashāis, Parāchis, Tājiks, Berekis, and Afghans... In the hill-country to the north-east liesKaferistān, such as Kattor and Gebrek. To the south is Afghānistān."[40]
The name "Afghanistan" is also mentioned in the writings of the 16th-century historianFerishta:
"The men of Kábul andKhilj also went home; and whenever they were questioned about theMusulmáns 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 intheir own language Afghánistán, and themselves Afgháns. The people of India call themPatán; however 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 ofPatná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—butGod knows!"[41]
"The country now known asAfghanistan 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, however 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 ofBritish India (Pakistan)."[43]
There are a number of other hypotheses suggested for the name historically, all of them obsolete.
The"Maḫzan-e Afġān" byNimat Allah al-Harawi, written in 1612 at theMughal court, traces the nameAfghan to an eponymous ancestor, anAfghana, identified as a grandson ofSaul. Afghana was supposedly a son of Irmia (Jeremia), who was in turn a son ofSaul (Talut). Afghana was orphaned at a young age, and brought up byDavid. When Solomon became king, Afghana was promoted as thecommander-in-chief of the army. Neither Afghana nor Jeremia son of Saul figure in theHebrew Bible. Some four centuries after Afghana, in the 6th century BCE, Bakhtunnasar, orNebuchadnezzar, the king ofBabil, attacked theKingdom of Judah and exiled the descendants of Afghana, some of whom went to the mountains ofGhor in present-day Afghanistan and some to the neighborhood ofMecca inArabia. Until the time ofMuhammad, the deportedChildren of Israel of the east continually increased in number in the countries around Ghor which includedKabul,Kandahar andGhazni 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 ofQuraysh. After conversion to Islam, Khalid invited his kinsmen, the Children of Israel of Ghor, to Islam. A deputation led byQais proceeded toMedina to meet Muhammad and embraced Islam. Muhammad lavished blessings on them, and gave the nameAbdur Rashid to Qais, who returned to Ghor successfully to propagate Islam. Qais had three sons,Sarban,Bettan and Ghourghusht, who are progenitors of the variousPashtun tribes.[44]
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.[45]
H. W. Bellew, in his 1891An Inquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, believes that the nameAfghan comes fromAlban which derives from theLatin termalbus, meaning "white", or "mountain", as mountains are often white-capped with snow (cf.Alps); used byArmenians asAlvan orAlwan, which refers to mountaineers, and in the case of transliterated Armenian characters, would be pronounced asAghvan orAghwan. To thePersians, this would further be altered toAoghan,Avghan, andAfghan as a reference to the eastern highlanders or "mountaineers".
Michanovsky suggests the nameAfghan derives from SanskritAvagana, which in turn derives from the ancientSumerian word forBadakhshan -Ab-bar-Gan, or "high country".[46][47]
Scholars such as Yu Gankovsky have attempted to link "Afghan" to anUzbek word "Avagan" said to mean "original".[48]
^abHuang, Guiyou (30 December 2008).The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO.ISBN978-1-56720-736-1.In Afghanistan, up until the 1970s, the common reference to Afghan meant Pashtun. Other groups were known as Farsiwan, meaning Persian-speakers. Tajiks (northeast region), Uzbeks (northern region), Turkmen (northern region), Kazak (northern region). or Hazara (central region). The term Afghan as an inclusive term for all ethnic groups was an effort begun by the "modernizing" King Amanullah (1909-1921), who went as far as printing the four different languages on the four corners of his money. Later this was continued by King Mohammad Zahir, who tried to unify the country under the banner of Afghan.
^Noelle-Karimi, Christine; Conrad J. Schetter; Reinhard Schlagintweit (2002).Afghanistan -a country without a state?.University of Michigan, United States: IKO. p. 18.ISBN3-88939-628-3. Retrieved24 September 2010.The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the 3rd century, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'...
^Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2000).Bactrian documents from northern Afghanistan. Oxford: The Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press.ISBN1-874780-92-7.
^"The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian... " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180. See also: Alexander's Invasion of India, p 38; J.W. McCrindle).
^abIndische Alterthumskunde, Vol I, fn 6; also Vol II, p 129, et al.
^abEtude Sur la Geog Grecque & c, pp 39-47, M. V. de Saint Martin.
^abThe Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83, Élisée Reclus - Geography.
^ab"Even the name Afghan is Aryan being derived from Asvakayana, an important clan of the Asvakas or horsemen who must have derived this title from their handling of celebrated breeds of horses" (See: Imprints of Indian Thought and Culture abroad, p 124, Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan).
^abcf:"Their name (Afghan) means "cavalier" being derived from theSanskrit,Asva, orAsvaka, a horse, and shows that their country must have been noted in ancient times, as it is at the present day, for its superior breed of horses. Asvaka was an important tribe settled north to Kabul river, which offered a gallant resistance but ineffectual resistance to the arms of Alexander "(Ref: Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1999, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society).
^ab"Afghans are Assakani of theGreeks; this word being theSanskritAshvaka meaning 'horsemen' " (Ref: Sva, 1915, p 113, Christopher Molesworth Birdwood).
^abCf:"The name represents Sanskrit Asvaka in the sense of acavalier, and this reappears scarcely modified in the Assakani or Assakeni of the historians of the expedition ofAlexander" (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of ColloquialAnglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).
^A Glossary Of The Tribes And Castes Of The Punjab And North-West Frontier Province Vol. 3 By H.A. Rose, Denzil Ibbetson Sir Published by Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1997, Page 211,ISBN81-85297-70-3,ISBN978-81-85297-70-5
^*"The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian... " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180. See also: Alexander's Invasion of India, p 38; J.W. McCrindle).
"Even the name Afghan is Aryan being derived from Asvakayana, an important clan of the Asvakas or horsemen who must have derived this title from their handling of celebrated breeds of horses" (See: Imprints of Indian Thought and Culture Abroad, p 124, Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan).
cf:"Their name (Afghan) means "cavalier" being derived from theSanskrit, Asva, or Asvaka, a horse, and shows that their country must have been noted in ancient times, as it is at the present day, for its superior breed of horses. Asvaka was an important tribe settled north to Kabul river, which offered a gallant resistance but ineffectual resistance to the arms of Alexander "(Ref: Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1999, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society).
"Afghans are Assakani of theGreeks; this word being theSanskritAshvaka meaning 'horsemen'" (Ref: Sva, 1915, p 113, Christopher Molesworth Birdwood).
Cf:"The name represents Sanskrit Asvaka in the sense of a cavalier, and this reappears scarcely modified in the Assakani or Assakeni of the historians of the expedition ofAlexander" (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of ColloquialAnglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).
^"The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian... " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180. See also: Alexander's Invasion of India, p 38; J. W. McCrindle).
^See few more references on Asvaka = Afghan: The Numismatic Chronicle, 1893, p 100, Royal Numismatic Society (Great Britain); Awq, 1983, p 5, Giorgio Vercellin; Der Islam, 1960, p 58, Carl Heinrich Becker, Maymūn ibn al-Qāsim Tabarānī; Journal of Indian History: Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, Trivandrum, India (City), University of Kerala. Dept. of History; Literary History of Ancient India in Relation to Its Racial and Linguistic Affiliations, 1970, p 17, Chandra Chakraberty; Stile der Portugiesischen lyrik im 20 jahrhundert, p 124, Winfried Kreutzen.; See: Works, 1865, p 164, Dr H. H. Wilson; The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83; Chants populaires des Afghans, 1880, p clxiv, James Darmesteter; Nouvelle geographie universelle v. 9, 1884, p.59, Elisée Reclus; Alexander the Great, 2004, p.318, Lewis Vance Cummings (Biography & Autobiography); Nouveau dictionnaire de géographie universelle contenant 1o La géographie physique ... 2o La .., 1879, Louis Rousselet,Louis Vivien de Saint-Martin; An Ethnic Interpretation of Pauranika Personages, 1971, p 34, Chandra Chakraberty; Revue internationale, 1803, p 803; Journal of Indian History: Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, Trivandrum, India (City). University of Kerala. Dept. of History; Edinburgh University Publications, 1969, p 113, University of Edinburgh; Shi jie jian wen, 1930, p 68 by Shi jie zhi shi chu ban she. Cf also: Advanced History of Medieval India, 1983, p 31, Dr J. L. Mehta; Asian Relations, 1948, p 301, Asian Relations Organization ("Distributed in the United States by: Institute of Pacific Relations, New York."); Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1892, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society - Geography; The geographical dictionary of ancient and mediaeval India, 1971, p 87, Nundo Lal Dey; Nag Sen of Milind Paṅhö, 1996, p 64, P. K. Kaul - Social Science; The Sultanate of Delhi, 1959, p 30, Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava; Journal of Indian History, 1965, p 354, University of Kerala Dept. of History, University of Allahabad Dept. of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore - India; Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales, 1858, p 313, fn 3, Stanislas Julien Xuanzang - Buddhism.
^Johnny Cheung (2017), “On the Origin of the Terms "Afghan" & "Pashtun" (Again)”, in Enrico Morano, Elio Provasi & Adriano V. Rossi, editors, , Rome, Italy: Scienze e Lettere,→ISBN, pages 35
^Journal of American Oriental society, 1889, p 257, American Oriental Society; Mahabharata 10.18.13.
^Kambojo assa.nam ayata.nam i.e.Kamboja the birthplace of horse......(|| Samangalavilasini, Vol I, p 124||).
^Aruppa-Niddesa of Visuddhimagga by Buddhaghosa describes theKamboja land as the base of horses (10/28)
^In the Anushasnaparava section of Mahabharata, the Kambojas are specifically designated asAshava.yuddha.kushalah (expert cavalrymen).
^Jataka, Vol VI, pp 208, 210 (transFausboll); The Jataka, VI, p 110, (Trans. E. B. Cowell) + Videvati XIV.5-6 + Herodotus (I.140); Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1912, p 256, Dr Grierson; Das Volk Der Kamboja bei Yaska, First Series of Avesta, Pahlavi and Ancient Persian Studies in honour of the late Shams-ul-ulama Dastur Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana, Strassberg & Leipzig, 1904, pp 213 ff, Dr Ernst Kuhn
^* Dr V. S. Agarwala writes: "As shown in theJataka andAvestic literature, the Kamboja was the center of ancient Iranian civilization as is evidenced by the peculiar customs of the country " (Ref: The Kamboja Janapada, January 1964, Purana, Vol VI, No 1, p 229; Jataka edited by Fausboll, Vol VI, p 210.)
DrMichael Witzel: "The Kambojas, located somewhere in east Afghanistan, spoke Iranian language and followed Zoroastrian habits of killing lower animals." (Early Eastern Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, fn 81, p 114; Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, Vol. 7 (2001), issue 3 (May 25), Art. 9).
Dr D. C. Sircar: "The Kambojas were of Iranian extractions .. they were settled in Afghanistan region in Uttarapatha. Their numbers were occasionally swelled by new migrants from Iran, especially during age of Achaemenians." (Purana, Vol. V, No. 2, July 1963, p 256, Dr D. C. Sircar).
Willem Vogelsang: "The name Kamboja was commonly applied in Indian sources to the Iranian population of the borderlands i.e Afghanistan." (The Afghans (Peoples of Asia), 2001, p 127).
Dr R. Thapar: "The Kambojas were a tribe of the Iranians " (History of India, Vol. I, 1997, p 276).
E. Benveniste: "The Kambojas ... were known in Indian traditions as a foreign people, with peculiar customs, ... raised celebrated horses, spoke - as the Nirukata (II,2.8) tells us - a language with Iranian words in it ... and had, according to Buddhist Jataka (VI.206, 27-30), a certain religious practice - the killing of insects, moths, snakes and worms - which we may recognize as Mazdean from the passages inMazdean books like the Videvati (XIV.5-6) as well as from the remark of Herodotus (I.140) about the Persian religion " (Journal Asiatique, CCXLVI 1958, I, pp 47-48, E. Benveniste).
^Cf: "Zoroastrian religion had probably originated in Kamboja-land (Bacteria-Badakshan)....and the Kambojas spoke Avestan language" (Ref: Bharatiya Itihaas Ki Rup Rekha, p 229-231, Jaychandra Vidyalankar; Bhartrya Itihaas ki Mimansa, p 229-301, J. C. Vidyalankar; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 217, 221, J. L. Kamboj).
