Afghan (ethnonym)

This article is about the historic ethnonym. For the modern definition and state citizens of Afghanistan, see Afghans. For other uses, see Afghan (disambiguation).

Afghan (Pashto: افغان) is an ethnonym historically used to refer to Pashtuns.[1] Since the second half of the twentieth century, the term has evolved into a demonym for all residents of Afghanistan, including those outside of the Pashtun ethnicity.[1][2]

Mentions

The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgân) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid 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 the Bactrian documents.[4][5]

"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.

Brihat-samhita, a 6th century CE Indian encyclopedia refers to a people called "Avagāṇa," [अवगाण] which is presumed by some to be an earlier iteration of "Afghan."[7][8][9]

"It would be unfavourable to the people of Chola, the Afghans (Avagāṇa), the white Huns and the Chinese."[9]

— Varāha Mihira, 6th century CE, chapt. 11, verse 61.

The word again appeared in the 982 CE Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, referring to the residents of the village of Saul, which was estimated to be located near Gardez, Afghanistan.[10][11] The text also refers to a kind in Ninhar (Nangarhar), who had Muslim, Afghan, and Hindu wives.[12]^

In the 11th century, Afghans are mentioned in al-Biruni's Tarikh-ul Hind ("History of the Indus"), which describes groups of rebellious Afghans in the tribal lands west of the Indus River in what is now known as Pakistan.[10][13]

Al-Utbi, the Ghaznavid chronicler. In his Tarikh-i Yamini records that many Afghans and Khiljis (possibly the modern Ghilji) living between Laghman and Peshawar enlisted in the army of Sabuktigin after Jayapala was defeated.[14] Al-Utbi further states that Afghans and Ghiljis made up a part of Mahmud Ghaznavi's army and were sent on his expedition to Tokharistan, while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated by Abulfazl Beyhaqi.[15] It is recorded that Afghans were also enrolled in the Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215).[16] By the beginning of the Khilji dynasty in 1290, Afghans were well-known in northern India.

Ibn Battuta, a famous Moroccan traveler, visiting Kabul following the era of the Khilji dynasty in 1333, wrote that the city had become occupied by Afghans, who "possess considerable strength" and were "mostly highwaymen."[17]

A 16th-century Muslim historian, writing about the history of Muslim rule in the subcontinent, states:

"He [Khalid bin Abdullah son of Khalid bin Walid] retired ... 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 ... who each, subsequently, became head of the tribes which to this day bear their name. ... [W]hen 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 ... settled in the Sulimany mountains, where they bore the name of Afghans."[18]

— Ferishta, 1560-1620

The coined term of "Afghanistan" came into place in 1855, officially recognized by the British during the reign of Dost Mohammad Khan.[19]

Etymology

Some scholars suggest that the word "Afghan" is derived from the words awajan/apajan in Avestan and ava-Han/apa-Han in Sanskrit, which means "killing, striking, throwing and resisting, or defending." Under the Sasanians, and possibly the Parthian Empire, the word was used to refer to men of a certain Persian sect.[20] The word may also be an evolution of the name of the Aśvakan people, who lived in modern-day Afghanistan.[21]

19th- and 20th-century scholars suggested that the name Afghan was derived from the word Aśvakan, meaning "horsemen" (from aśva or aspa, the Sanskrit and Avestan words for "horse"), or the Assakenoi of Arrian, which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush.[22][23] However, more recent scholarship has noted linguistic inconsistencies that call the theory into question.[11]

Afghanistan

Main article: Name of Afghanistan

The last part of the name -stān is a Persian suffix for "place of". The Pashto translation of stogna is prominent in many languages of Asia. The name Afghanistan is mentioned in writing by the 16th century Mughal ruler 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 Afghānistān."[24]

— Babur, 1525

The name "Afghanistan" is also mentioned in the writings of the 16th-century historian Ferishta:

"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; 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 of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!"[25]

— Ferishta, 1560-1620

Regarding the modern state of Afghanistan, the Encyclopædia of Islam explains:[26]

"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, 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 of British India (Pakistan)."[27]

Historical and obsolete 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 6th 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, Sarban, Bettan and Ghourghusht, who are progenitors of the various Pashtun tribes.[28]
  • 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.[29]
  • 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".[30][17]
  • Scholars such as Yu Gankovsky have attempted to link "Afghan" to an Uzbek word "Avagan" said to mean "original".[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Huang, Guiyou (30 December 2008). The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature [3 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-1-56720-736-1. 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.
  2. ^ Tyler, John A. (10 October 2021). Afghanistan Graveyard of Empires: Why the Most Powerful Armies of Their Time Found Only Defeat or Shame in This Land Of Endless Wars. Aries Consolidated LLC. ISBN 978-1-387-68356-7. The largest ethnic group in Afghanistan is that of Pashtuns, who were historically known as the Afghans. The term Afghan is now intended to indicate people of other ethnic groups as well.
  3. ^ Noelle-Karimi, Christine; Conrad J. Schetter; Reinhard Schlagintweit (2002). Afghanistan -a country without a state?. University of Michigan, United States: IKO. p. 18. ISBN 3-88939-628-3. Retrieved 24 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'...
  4. ^ Balogh, Dániel (12 March 2020). Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History. Barkhuis. p. 144. ISBN 978-94-93194-01-4. [ To Ormuzd Bunukan, ... greetings and homage from ... ), Pithe ( sot ] ang ( ? ) of Parpaz ( under ) [ the glorious ) yabghu of [ Heph ] thal, the chief ... of the Afghans
  5. ^ Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2000). Bactrian documents from northern Afghanistan. Oxford: The Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press. ISBN 1-874780-92-7.
  6. ^ A small kingdom in Bactria
  7. ^ "Sanskritdictionary.com: Definition of avagāṇa". sanskritdictionary.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  8. ^ "Afghan". Ch. M. Kieffer. Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition. 15 December 1983. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  9. ^ a b Varāhamihira; Bhat, M. Ramakrishna (1981). Bṛhat Saṁhitā of Varāhamihira: with english translation, exhaustive notes and literary comments. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 143. ISBN 978-81-208-0098-4.
  10. ^ a b Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0-631-19841-5. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  11. ^ a b 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
  12. ^ Minorsky, V. V.; Bosworth, C. E. (31 January 2015). Hudud al-'Alam 'The Regions of the World' - A Persian Geography 372 A.H. (982 AD). Gibb Memorial Trust. p. 91. ISBN 978-1-909724-75-4.
  13. ^ 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, ISBN 81-85297-70-3, ISBN 978-81-85297-70-5
  14. ^ "AMEER NASIR-OOD-DEEN SUBOOKTUGEEN". Ferishta, History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India, Volume 1: Section 15. Packard Humanities Institute. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
  15. ^ R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: P-Z, Volume 3 - Page 18
  16. ^ Houtsma, M. Th. (1993). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. BRILL. pp. 150–51. ISBN 90-04-09796-1. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  17. ^ a b Gary W. Bowersox, Bonita E, Gemstones of Afghanistan, pg 27
  18. ^ History Of The Mohamedan Power In India Archived 2009-02-11 at the Wayback Machine by Muhammad Qāsim Hindū Šāh Astarābādī Firištah, The Packard Humanities Institute Persian Texts in Translation.
  19. ^ Lee, Jonathan (2019). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. p. 317. ISBN 9781789140101.
  20. ^ Fikrat & Umar 2008.
  21. ^ "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).
  22. ^ * "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 the Sanskrit, 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 the Greeks; this word being the Sanskrit Ashvaka 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 of Alexander" (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).
  23. ^ Majumdar, Ramesh Chandra (1977) [1952]. Ancient India (Reprinted ed.). Motilal Banarsidass. p. 99. ISBN 978-8-12080-436-4.
  24. ^ Zahir ud-Din Mohammad Babur (1525). "Events Of The Year 910 (p.5)". Memoirs of Babur. Packard Humanities Institute. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  25. ^ Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (1560–1620). "The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 200, Translation of the Introduction to Firishta's History (p.8)". Sir H. M. Elliot. London: Packard Humanities Institute. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
  26. ^ M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition
  27. ^ Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. Vol. 2. BRILL. p. 146. ISBN 90-04-09796-1. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
  28. ^ Olaf Caroe, The Pathans: 550 BC - AD 1957, Link
  29. ^ Persia, p 142, Samuel G. Benjamin.
  30. ^ John Charles Griffiths, Afghanistan, pg 13
  31. ^ Gankovsky, Yu. V., et al. "A History of Afghanistan." Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982. 8vo. Cloth. 359 p. USD 22.50

Further reading

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