The Pashtuns (, or ; Pashto: پښتانه‎
Pax̌tānə; singular masculine: پښتون
Pax̌tūn, feminine: پښتنه Pax̌tana;
also Pukhtuns), historically known as ethnic
Afghans (Persian: افغان‎, Afğān)
and Pathans (Hindustani: پٹھان, पठान,
Paṭhān), are an Iranian ethnic group who
mainly live in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
They speak the Pashto language and adhere
to Pashtunwali, which is a traditional set
of ethics guiding individual and communal
conduct.
The ethnogenesis of the Pashtun ethnic group
is unclear but historians have come across
references to various ancient peoples called
Pakthas (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the
1st millennium BC, who may be their early
ancestors.
Their history is mostly spread amongst the
present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan,
centred on their traditional seat of power
in that region.
Globally, the Pashtuns are estimated to number
around 50 million, but an accurate count remains
elusive due to the lack of an official census
in Afghanistan since 1979.
The majority of the Pashtuns live in the region
regarded as Pashtunistan, which has been split
between the two countries since the British-imposed
Durand Line border was formed.
There are also significant Pashtun diaspora
communities in the cities of Sindh and Punjab
in Pakistan, in particular Karachi and Lahore.
A recent Pashtun diaspora has also developed
in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, primarily
in the United Arab Emirates.
The Pashtuns are a significant minority group
in Pakistan, where they constitute the second-largest
ethnic group or about 15% of the population.
As the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan
(anywhere between 42 and 60 percent of the
population), Pashtuns have been the dominant
ethno-linguistic group for over 300 years.
During the Delhi Sultanate era, the 15th–16th
century Lodi dynasty briefly replaced the
preexisting rulers in North India until Babur
completely deposed the Lodi dynasty.
Other Pashtuns fought the Safavids and Mughals
before obtaining an independent state in the
early 18th century, which began with a successful
revolution by Mirwais Hotak followed by conquests
of Ahmad Shah Durrani.
The Barakzai dynasty played a vital role during
the Great Game from the 19th century to the
20th century as they were caught between the
imperialist designs of the British and Russian
empires.
The Pashtuns are the world's largest segmentary
lineage ethnic group.
Estimates of the number of Pashtun tribes
and clans range from about 350 to over 400.
There have been many notable Pashtun people
throughout history: Ahmad Shah Durrani is
regarded as the founder of the modern state
of Afghanistan, while Bacha Khan was a Pashtun
independence activist against the rule of
the British Raj.
Some others include Maulana Aazam, Malala
Yousafzai, Shah Rukh Khan, Zakir Husain (politician),
Zarine Khan, Imran Khan, Farhad Darya, Hamid
Karzai, Mullah Mohammed Omar, and Ashraf Ghani.
== Geographic distribution ==
The vast majority of the Pashtuns are found
in the traditional Pashtun homeland, located
in an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan,
and west of the Indus River in Pakistan, which
includes Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern
part of Balochistan.
Additional Pashtun communities are located
in western and northern Afghanistan, the Gilgit–Baltistan
and Kashmir regions, and northwestern Punjab
province (Mianwali and Attock), Pakistan.
There are also sizeable Muslim communities
in India, which are of largely Pashtun ancestry.
Throughout the Indian subcontinent, they are
often referred to as Pathans.
Smaller Pashtun communities are found in the
countries of the Middle East, such as in the
Khorasan Province of Iran, the Arabian Peninsula,
Europe, North America, and Australia.
Important metropolitan centres of Pashtun
culture include Peshawar, Kabul, Quetta, Kandahar,
Mardan, Mingora, and Jalalabad.
In Pakistan, the city of Karachi in Sindh
province has the largest Pashtun diaspora
communities in the world, with as much as
7 million Pashtuns living in Karachi according
to some estimates.
Several cities in Pakistan's Punjab province
also have sizeable Pashtun populations, in
particular Lahore.
About 15% of Pakistan's nearly 200 million
population is Pashtun.
In Afghanistan, they are the largest ethnic
group and make up between 42–60% of the
32.5 million population.
The exact figure remains uncertain in Afghanistan,
which is also affected by the 1.3 million
or more Afghan refugees that remain in Pakistan,
a majority of which are Pashtuns.
Another one million or more Afghans live in
Iran.
A cumulative population assessment suggests
a total of around 49 million individuals all
across the world.
=== Tribes ===
A prominent institution of the Pashtun people
is the intricate system of tribes.
The Pashtuns remain a predominantly tribal
people, but the trend of urbanisation has
begun to alter Pashtun society as cities such
as Kandahar, Peshawar, Quetta and Kabul have
grown rapidly due to the influx of rural Pashtuns.
Despite this, many people still identify themselves
with various clans.
The tribal system has several levels of organisation:
the tribe, tabar, is divided into kinship
groups called khels, in turn divided into
smaller groups (pllarina or plarganey), each
consisting of several extended families called
kahols.
Pashtun tribes are divided into four 'greater'
tribal groups: the Sarbani, the Bettani, the
Gharghashti, and the Karlani.
== History and origins ==
Excavations of prehistoric sites suggest that
early humans were living in what is now Afghanistan
at least 50,000 years ago.
Since the 2nd millennium BC, cities in the
region now inhabited by Pashtuns have seen
invasions and migrations, including by Ancient
Indian peoples, Ancient Iranian peoples, the
Medes, Persians, and Ancient Macedonians in
antiquity, Kushans, Hephthalites, Arabs, Turks,
Mongols, and others.
In recent times, people of the Western world
have explored the area as well.Most historians
acknowledge that the origin of the Pashtuns
is somewhat unclear, although there are many
conflicting theories, some modern and others
archaic, both among historians and the Pashtuns
themselves.
"... the origin of the Afghans is so obscure,
that no one, even among the oldest and most
clever of the tribe, can give satisfactory
information on this point."
"Looking for the origin of Pashtuns and the
Afghans is something like exploring the source
of the Amazon.
Is there one specific beginning?
And are the Pashtuns originally identical
with the Afghans?
Although the Pashtuns nowadays constitute
a clear ethnic group with their own language
and culture, there is no evidence whatsoever
that all modern Pashtuns share the same ethnic
origin.
In fact it is highly unlikely."
Early precursors to some of the Pashtun's
may have been old Iranian tribes that spread
throughout the eastern Iranian plateau.
According to Yu.
V. Gankovsky, the Pashtun's probably began
as a "union of largely East-Iranian tribes
which became the initial ethnic stratum of
the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle
of the first millennium CE and is connected
with the dissolution of the Epthalites (White
Huns) confederacy."
He proposes Ephthalite origin for Pashtuns
but others draw a different conclusion.
According to Abdul Hai Habibi, some oriental
scholars hold that the second largest Pasthun
tribe, the Ghiljis, are the descendants of
a mixed race of Hephthalite and Pakhtas who
have been living in Afghanistan since the
Vedic Aryan period.Pashtuns are intimately
tied to the history of modern Afghanistan,
Pakistan and northern India.
Following Muslim conquests from the 7th to
11th centuries, many Pashtun ghazis (warriors)
invaded and conquered much of the northern
parts of South Asia during the periods of
the Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Lodis, Suris, and
Durranis.
=== Ancient references ===
Some modern-day Pashtun tribes have also been
identified living in ancient Ariana (e.g.,
Alexander's historians mentioned "Aspasii"
in 330 BC and that may refer to today's Afridis
or to the Yusufzai).
In the Middle Ages until the advent of modern
Afghanistan in the 18th century and the division
of Pashtun territory by the 1893 Durand Line,
Pashtuns were often referred to as ethnic
"Afghans".
The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgân)
is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during
the 3rd century CE, which is later recorded
in the 6th century CE in the form of "Avagānā"
by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in
his Brihat-samhita.
It was used to refer to a common legendary
ancestor known as "Afghana", propagated to
be grandson of King Saul of Israel.Xuanzang,
a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, visiting the Afghanistan
region several times between 630 and 644 CE
also speaks about them.
In Shahnameh 1–110 and 1–116, it is written
as Awgaan.
Ancestors of many of today's Turkic-speaking
Afghans settled in the Hindu Kush area and
began to assimilate much of the culture and
language of the Pashtun tribes already present
there.
Among these were the Khalaj people who are
known today as Ghilji.
According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky,
the name "Afghan" is documented several times
in the 982 CE Hudud-al-Alam.
"Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain.
In it live Afghans".
The village of Saul was probably located near
Gardez in Afghanistan.
Hudud ul-'alam also speaks of a king in Ninhar
(Nangarhar), who had Muslim, Afghan and Hindu
wives.
Al-Biruni wrote about Afghans in the 11th
century as various tribes living in the western
mountains of India and extending to the region
of Sind.
It was reported that between 1039 and 1040
CE Mas'ud I of the Ghaznavid Empire sent his
son to subdue a group of rebel Afghans near
Ghazni.
An army of Arabs, Afghans, Khiljis and others
was assembled by Arslan Shah Ghaznavid in
1119 CE.
Another army of Afghans and Khiljis was assembled
by Bahram Shah Ghaznavid in 1153 CE.
Muhammad of Ghor, ruler of the Ghorids, also
had Afghans in his army along with others.
A famous Moroccan travelling scholar, Ibn
Battuta, visiting Afghanistan following the
era of the Khalji dynasty in early 1300s gives
his description of the Afghans."We travelled
on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site
of which is now occupied by a village inhabited
by a tribe of Persians called Afghans.
They hold mountains and defiles and possess
considerable strength, and are mostly highwaymen.
Their principle mountain is called Kuh Sulayman.
It is told that the prophet Sulayman (Solomon),
Sulemani ascended this mountain and having
looked out over India, which was then covered
with darkness, returned without entering it."
Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (Ferishta), writes
about Afghans and their country called Afghanistan
in the 16th century."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; but
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!"
One historical account connects the native
Pakhtuns of Pakistan to a possible Ancient
Egyptian past but this lacks supporting evidence."I
have read in the Mutla-ul-Anwar, a work written
by a respectable author, and which I procured
at Burhanpur, a town of Khandesh in the Deccan,
that the Afghans are Copts of the race of
the Pharaohs; and that when 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, 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."
Additionally, although this too is unsubstantiated,
some Afghan historians have maintained that
Pashtuns are linked to the ancient Israelites.
Mohan Lal quoted Mountstuart Elphinstone who
wrote:"The Afghan historians proceed to relate
that the children of Israel, both in Ghore
and in Arabia, preserved their knowledge of
the unity of God and the purity of their religious
belief, and that on the appearance of the
last and greatest of the prophets (Muhammad)
the Afghans of Ghore listened to the invitation
of their Arabian brethren, the chief of whom
was Khauled...if we consider the easy way
with which all rude nations receive accounts
favourable to their own antiquity, I fear
we much class the descents of the Afghans
from the Jews with that of the Romans and
the British from the Trojans, and that of
the Irish from the Milesians or Brahmins."
Henry Walter Bellew concluded in 1864 that
the Pashtuns likely have mixed Greek and Indian
Rajput roots.
Following Alexander's brief occupation, the
successor state of the Seleucid Empire expanded
influence on the Pashtuns until 305 BCE when
they gave up dominating power to the Indian
Maurya Empire as part of an alliance treaty.
=== Anthropology and oral traditions ===
Some Pashtun tribes claim descent from Arabs,
including some claiming to be Sayyids (descendants
of Muhammad).
Some groups from Peshawar and Kandahar believe
to be descended from Greeks who arrived with
Alexander the Great.
Pashto is classified under the Eastern Iranian
sub-branch of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European
language family.
Those who speak a dialect of Pashto in the
Kandahar region refer to themselves as Pashtuns,
while those who speak a Peshawari dialect
call themselves Pukhtuns.
These native people compose the core of ethnic
Pashtuns who are found in southeastern Afghanistan
and western Pakistan.
The Pashtuns have oral and written accounts
of their family tree.
The elders transfer the knowledge to the younger
generation.
Lineage is considered very important and is
a vital consideration in marital business.
==== Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites
====
Some anthropologists lend credence to the
oral traditions of the Pashtun tribes themselves.
For example, according to the Encyclopaedia
of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from
Israelites is traced to Nimat Allah al-Harawi,
who compiled a history for Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi
in the reign of Mughal Emperor Jehangir in
the 17th century.
The 13th century Tabaqat-i Nasiri discusses
the settlement of immigrant Bani Israel at
the end of the 8th century CE in the Ghor
region of 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,
the tribe 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 the Ten Lost Tribes after
groups converted to Christianity and Islam.
Hence the tribal name Yusufzai in Pashto translates
to the "son of Joseph".
A similar story is told by many historians,
including the 14th century Ibn Battuta and
16th century Ferishta.One conflicting issue
in the belief that the Pashtuns descend from
the Israelites is that the Ten Lost Tribes
were exiled by the ruler of Assyria, while
Maghzan-e-Afghani says 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 Chaldean Babylonia,
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.
=== Modern era ===
Their modern past stretches back to the Delhi
Sultanate, particularly the Hotak dynasty
and the Durrani Empire.
The Hotaks were Ghilji tribesmen who rebelled
against the Safavids and seized control over
much of Persia from 1722 to 1729.
This was followed by the conquests of Ahmad
Shah Durrani who was a former high-ranking
military commander under Nader Shah.
He created the last Afghan empire that covered
most of what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Kashmir, Indian Punjab, as well as the Kohistan
and Khorasan provinces of Iran.
After the decline of the Durrani dynasty in
the first half of the 19th century under Shuja
Shah Durrani, the Barakzai dynasty took control
of the empire.
Specifically, the Mohamedzai subclan held
Afghanistan's monarchy from around 1826 to
the end of Zahir Shah's reign in 1973.
Former President Hamid Karzai is from the
Popalzai tribe of Kandahar.
The Pashtuns in Afghanistan resisted British
designs upon their territory and kept the
Russians at bay during the so-called Great
Game.
By playing the two super powers against each
other, Afghanistan remained an independent
sovereign state and maintained some autonomy
(see the Siege of Malakand).
But during the reign of Abdur Rahman Khan
(1880–1901), Pashtun regions were politically
divided by the Durand Line, and what is today
western Pakistan was claimed by British in
1893.
In the 20th century, many politically active
Pashtun leaders living under British rule
of undivided India supported Indian independence,
including Ashfaqulla Khan, Abdul Samad Khan
Achakzai, Ajmal Khattak, Bacha Khan and his
son Wali Khan (both members of the Khudai
Khidmatgar), and were inspired by Mohandas
Gandhi's non-violent method of resistance.
Some Pashtuns also worked in the Muslim League
to fight for an independent Pakistan, including
Yusuf Khattak and Abdur Rab Nishtar who was
a close associate of Muhammad Ali Jinnah.The
Pashtuns of Afghanistan attained complete
independence from British political intervention
during the reign of Amanullah Khan, following
the Third Anglo-Afghan War.
By the 1950s a popular call for Pashtunistan
began to be heard in Afghanistan and the new
state of Pakistan.
This led to bad relations between the two
nations.
The Afghan monarchy ended when President Daoud
Khan seized control of Afghanistan from his
cousin Zahir Shah in 1973, which opened doors
for a proxy war by neighbors and the rise
of Marxism.
In April 1978, Daoud Khan was assassinted
along with his family and relatives.
Mujahideen commanders began being recruited
in neighboring Pakistan for a guerrilla warfare
against the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded its southern
neighbor Afghanistan in order to defeat a
rising insurgency.
The mujahideen were funded by the United States,
Saudi Arabia, Iran and others, and included
some Pashtun commanders such as Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar and Jalaluddin Haqqani, who are
currently waging an insurgency against the
Islamic republic of Afghanistan and the US-led
Resolute Support Mission.
In the meantime, millions of Pashtuns fled
their native land to live among other Afghan
diaspora in Pakistan and Iran, and from there
tens of thousands proceeded to North America,
the European Union, the Middle East, Australia
and other parts of the world.
In the late 1990s, Pashtuns became known for
being the primary ethnic group comprised by
the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (Taliban
regime).
The Northern Alliance that was fighting against
the Taliban also included a number of Pashtuns.
Among them were Abdullah Abdullah, Abdul Qadir
and his brother Abdul Haq, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf,
Asadullah Khalid, Hamid Karzai and Gul Agha
Sherzai.
The Taliban regime was ousted in late 2001
during the US-led War in Afghanistan and replaced
with the Karzai administration.
This was followed by the Ghani administration.
Many high-ranking government officials in
Afghanistan are Pashtuns, including: Zalmay
Rasoul, Abdul Rahim Wardak, Omar Zakhilwal,
Ghulam Farooq Wardak, Anwar ul-Haq Ahady,
Yousef Pashtun and Amirzai Sangin.
The list of current governors of Afghanistan,
as well as the parliamentarians in the House
of the People and House of Elders, include
large percentage of Pashtuns.
The Chief of staff of the Afghan National
Army, Sher Mohammad Karimi, and Commander
of the Afghan Air Force, Mohammad Dawran,
as well as Chief Justice of Afghanistan Abdul
Salam Azimi and Attorney General Mohammad
Ishaq Aloko also belong to the Pashtun ethnic
group.
Pashtuns not only played an important role
in South Asia but also in Central Asia and
the Middle East.
Many of the non-Pashtun groups in Afghanistan
have adopted the Pashtun culture and use Pashto
as a second language.
For example, many leaders of non-Pashtun ethnic
groups in Afghanistan practice Pashtunwali
to some degree and are fluent in Pashto language.
These include Ahmad Shah Massoud, Ismail Khan,
Mohammed Fahim, Bismillah Khan Mohammadi,
and many others.
The Afghan royal family, which was represented
by King Zahir Shah, belongs to the Mohammadzai
tribe of Pashtuns.
Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th-century
poets Khushal Khan Khattak and Rahman Baba,
and in contemporary era Afghan Astronaut Abdul
Ahad Mohmand, former U.S. Ambassador to the
United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad, and Ashraf
Ghani Ahmadzai among many others.
Many Pashtuns of Pakistan have adopted non-Pashtun
cultures, and learned other languages such
as Hindi-Urdu, Balochi or Hindko.
These include Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, and Ghulam
Ishaq Khan, who attained the Presidency.
Ghulam Mohammad became the Governor-General
of Pakistan from 1951 to 1955.
Many more held high government posts, such
as Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, Fazal-ur-Rehman (politician),
and Asfandyar Wali Khan, who represents Awami
National Party (ANP) in Pakistan.
Others became famous in sports (e.g., Imran
Khan, Shahid Afridi, Jahangir Khan, and Jansher
Khan) and literature (e.g., Ghani Khan, Ameer
Hamza Shinwari, Munir Niazi, and Omer Tarin).
Malala Yousafzai, who became the youngest
Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 2014, is a
Pakistani Pashtun.
Pashtun families are historically accustomed
to watching Indian films and dramas.
This is due to cultural similarities.
Many of the Bollywood film stars in India
have Pashtun ancestry; some of the most notable
ones are Sharukh Khan, Salman Khan, Feroz
Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Madhubala, Kader Khan,
and Zarine Khan.
In addition, one of India's former presidents,
Zakir Hussain, belonged to the Afridi tribe.
Mohammad Yunus, India's former ambassador
to Algeria and advisor to Indira Gandhi, is
of Pashtun origin and related to the legendary
Bacha Khan.
== Genetics ==
The haplogroup R1a (Y-DNA) is found at a frequency
of 51.02% among the Pashtun people.
Paragroup Q-M242 (xMEH2, xM378) (of Haplogroup
Q-M242 (Y-DNA)) was found at 16.3% in Pashtuns.
Haplogroup Q-M242 is also found at a frequency
of 18% in Pashtuns in the Afghan capital of
Kabul.
According to a 2012 study: "MDS and Barrier
analysis have identified a significant affinity
between Pashtun, Tajik, North Indian, and
Western Indian populations, creating an Afghan-Indian
population structure that excludes the Hazaras,
Uzbeks, and the South Indian Dravidian speakers.
In addition, gene flow to Afghanistan from
India marked by Indian lineages, L-M20, H-M69,
and R2a-M124, also seems to mostly involve
Pashtuns and Tajiks.
This genetic affinity and gene flow suggests
interactions that could have existed since
at least the establishment of the region's
first civilizations at the Indus Valley and
the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex."
According to a 2012 study: "MDS and Barrier
analysis.
The gene flow to Afghanistan from India marked
by Indian lineages L-M20, H-M69 and R2a-M124
also seems to mostly involve Pashtuns and
Tajiks."
The abstract states:"our results that all
current Afghans largely share a heritage derived
from a common unstructured ancestral population
that could have emerged during the Neolithic
revolution and the formation of the first
farming communities.
Our results also indicate that inter-Afghan
differentiation started during the Bronze
Age, probably driven by the formation of the
first civilizations in the region.".
Khan AM et al. in their study "Genetic analysis
of mitochondrial DNA control region variations
in four tribes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan"
researched the Jewish origin among Pashtuns
of KPK specifically the Khattak Tribe.
According to Khan AM et al.
"Moreover, we linked the unexplored genetic
connection between Ashkenazi Jews and Pashtun.
The presence of specific haplotypes J1b (4%)
and K1a1b1a (5%) pointed to a genetic connection
of Jewish conglomeration in Khattak tribe."
Furthermore the Authors stated: "This was
a result of an ancient genetic influx in the
early Neolithic period that led to the formation
of a diverse genetic substratum in present
day Pashtun."
== Pashtuns defined ==
Among historians, anthropologists, and the
Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate
as to who exactly qualifies as a Pashtun.
The most prominent views are:
Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian
people, who use Pashto as their first language,
and live in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
This is the generally accepted academic view.
They are those who follow Pashtunwali.
In accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur
Rashid, the figure traditionally regarded
as their progenitor, Pashtuns are those whose
related patrilineal descent may be traced
back to legendary times.These three definitions
may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition,
the religious-cultural definition and the
patrilineal definition, respectively.
=== Ethnic definition ===
The ethno-linguistic definition is the most
prominent and accepted view as to who is and
is not a Pashtun.
Generally, this most common view holds that
Pashtuns are defined within the parameters
of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins,
sharing a common language, culture and history,
living in relatively close geographic proximity
to each other, and acknowledging each other
as kinsmen.
Thus, tribes that speak disparate yet mutually
intelligible dialects of Pashto acknowledge
each other as ethnic Pashtuns and even subscribe
to certain dialects as "proper", such as the
Pukhto spoken by the Yousafzais, Gigyani tribe,
Afridi and other tribes in Peshawar and the
Pashto spoken by the Kakar, Wazir, Khilji
and Durranis in Kandahar.
These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns
in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
=== Cultural definition ===
The religious and cultural definition requires
Pashtuns to be Muslim and adhere to Pashtunwali
codes.
This is the most prevalent view among orthodox
and conservative tribesmen, who refuse to
recognise any non-Muslim as a Pashtun.
Pashtun intellectuals and academics, however,
tend to be more flexible and sometimes define
who is Pashtun based on other criteria.
Pashtun society is not homogenous by religion:
the overwhelming majority of them are Sunni,
with a tiny Shia community (the Turi and partially
the Bangash tribe) in the Kurram and Orakzai
agencies of FATA, Pakistan.
Pakistani Jews and Afghan Jews, have largely
relocated to Israel and the United States.
=== Ancestral definition ===
The patrilineal definition is based on an
important orthodox law of Pashtunwali which
mainly requires that only those who have a
Pashtun father are Pashtun.
This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively
patriarchal tribal lineage.
This definition places less emphasis on what
language one speaks, such as Pashto, Dari,
Hindko, Urdu, Hindi or English.
There are various communities who claim Pashtun
origin but are largely found among other ethnic
groups in the region who generally do not
speak the Pashto language.
These communities are often considered overlapping
groups or are simply assigned to the ethno-linguistic
group that corresponds to their geographic
location and mother tongue.
The Niazi is one of these group.
Claimants of Pashtun heritage in South Asia
have mixed with local Muslim populations and
are referred to as Pathan, the Hindustani
form of Pashtun.
These communities are usually partial Pashtun,
to varying degrees, and often trace their
Pashtun ancestry through a paternal lineage.
The Pathans in India have lost both the language
and presumably many of the ways of their ancestors,
but trace their fathers' ethnic heritage to
the Pashtun tribes.
Smaller number of Pashtuns living in Pakistan
are also fluent in Hindko, Seraiki and Balochi.
These languages are often found in areas such
as Abbottabad, Mansehra, Haripur, Attock,
Khanewal, Multan, Dera Ismail Khan and Balochistan.
Some Indians claim descent from Pashtun soldiers
who settled in India by marrying local women
during the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent.
No specific population figures exist, as claimants
of Pashtun descent are spread throughout the
country.
Notably, the Rohillas, after their defeat
by the British, are known to have settled
in parts of North India and intermarried with
local ethnic groups.
They are believed to have been bilingual in
Pashto and Urdu until the mid-19th century.
Some Urdu-speaking Muhajir people of India
claiming descent from Pashtuns began moving
to Pakistan in 1947.
Many Pathans chose to live in the Republic
of India after the partition of India and
Khan Mohammad Atif, a professor at the University
of Lucknow, estimates that "The population
of Pathans in India is twice their population
in Afghanistan".During the 19th century, when
the British were accepting peasants from British
India as indentured servants to work in the
Caribbean, South Africa and other far away
places, Rohillas who had lost their empire
were unemployed and restless were sent to
places as far as Trinidad, Surinam, Guyana,
and Fiji, to work with other Indians on the
sugarcane fields and perform manual labour.
Many of these immigrants stayed there and
formed unique communities of their own.
Some of them assimilated with the other South
Asian Muslim nationalities to form a common
Indian Muslim community in tandem with the
larger Indian community, losing their distinctive
heritage.
Their descendants mostly speak English and
other local languages.
Some Pashtuns travelled to as far away as
Australia during the same era.
== Culture ==
Pashtun culture is mostly based on Pashtunwali
and the usage of the Pashto language.
Pre-Islamic traditions, dating back to Alexander's
defeat of the Persian Empire in 330 BC, possibly
survived in the form of traditional dances,
while literary styles and music reflect influence
from the Persian tradition and regional musical
instruments fused with localised variants
and interpretation.
Pashtun culture is a unique blend of native
customs with some influences from South and
Western Asia.
Like other Muslims, Pashtuns celebrate Ramadan
and Eid al-Fitr.
Some also celebrate Nouruz, which is the Persian
new year dating to pre-Islamic period.
=== Pashtunwali ===
Pashtunwali (or Pakhtunwali) refers to an
ancient self-governing tribal system that
regulates nearly all aspects of Pashtun life
ranging from community to personal level.
One of the better known tenets is Melmastia,
hospitality and asylum to all guests seeking
help.
Perceived injustice calls for Badal, swift
revenge.
Many aspects promote peaceful co-existence,
such as Nanawati, the humble admission of
guilt for a wrong committed, which should
result in automatic forgiveness from the wronged
party.
These and other basic precepts of Pashtunwali
continue to be followed by many Pashtuns,
especially in rural areas.
Another prominent Pashtun institution is the
loya jirga or 'grand council' of elected elders.
Most decisions in tribal life are made by
members of the jirga, which has been the main
institution of authority that the largely
egalitarian Pashtuns willingly acknowledge
as a viable governing body.
=== Pashto literature and poetry ===
The majority of Pashtuns use Pashto as their
native tongue, believed to belong to the Indo-Iranian
language family, and is spoken by up to 60
million people.
It is written in the Pashto-Arabic script
and is divided into two main dialects, the
southern "Pashto" and the northern "Pukhto".
The language has ancient origins and bears
similarities to extinct languages such as
Avestan and Bactrian.
Its closest modern relatives may include Pamir
languages, such as Shughni and Wakhi, and
Ossetic.
Pashto may have ancient legacy of borrowing
vocabulary from neighbouring languages including
such as Persian and Vedic Sanskrit.
Modern borrowings come primarily from the
English language.Fluency in Pashto is often
the main determinant of group acceptance as
to who is considered a Pashtun.
Pashtun nationalism emerged following the
rise of Pashto poetry that linked language
and ethnic identity.
Pashto has national status in Afghanistan
and regional status in neighboring Pakistan.
In addition to their native tongue, many Pashtuns
are fluent in Urdu, Dari, and English.
Throughout their history, poets, prophets,
kings and warriors have been among the most
revered members of Pashtun society.
Early written records of Pashto began to appear
around the 16th century.
The earliest describes Sheikh Mali's conquest
of Swat.
Pir Roshan is believed to have written a number
of Pashto books while fighting with the Mughals.
Pashtun scholars such as Abdul Hai Habibi
and others believe that the earliest Pashto
work dates back to Amir Kror Suri, and they
use the writings found in Pata Khazana as
proof.
Amir Kror Suri, son of Amir Polad Suri, was
an 8th-century folk hero and king from the
Ghor region 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 by Ameer
Hamza Shinwari who developed Pashto Ghazals.
In 1919, during the expanding of mass media,
Mahmud Tarzi published Seraj-al-Akhbar, which
became the first Pashto newspaper in Afghanistan.
In 1977, Khan Roshan Khan wrote Tawarikh-e-Hafiz
Rehmatkhani which contains the family trees
and Pashtun tribal names.
Some notable poets include Khushal Khan Khattak,
Afzal Khan Khattak, Ajmal Khattak, Pareshan
Khattak, Rahman Baba, Nazo Anaa, Hamza Shinwari,
Ahmad Shah Durrani, Timur Shah Durrani, Shuja
Shah Durrani, Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi, and Ghani
Khan.Recently, Pashto literature has received
increased patronage, but many Pashtuns continue
to rely on oral tradition due to relatively
low literacy rates and education.
Pashtun society is also marked by some matriarchal
tendencies.
Folktales involving reverence for Pashtun
mothers and matriarchs are common and are
passed down from parent to child, as is most
Pashtun heritage, through a rich oral tradition
that has survived the ravages of time.
=== Media and arts ===
Pashto media has expanded in the last decade,
with a number of Pashto TV channels becoming
available.
Two of the popular ones are the Pakistan-based
AVT Khyber and 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-based Shamshad TV,
Radio Television Afghanistan, and Lemar TV,
which has a special children's show called
Baghch-e-Simsim.
International news sources that provide Pashto
programs include BBC and Voice of America.
Producers based in Peshawar have created Pashto-language
films since 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 is Attan,
which has ancient roots.
A rigorous exercise, Attan is performed as
musicians play various native instruments
including the dhol (drums), tablas (percussions),
rubab (a bowed string instrument), and toola
(wooden flute).
With a rapid circular motion, dancers perform
until no one is left dancing, similar to Sufi
whirling dervishes.
Numerous other dances are affiliated with
various tribes notably from Pakistan including
the Khattak Wal Atanrh (eponymously named
after the Khattak tribe), Mahsood Wal Atanrh
(which, in modern times, involves the juggling
of loaded rifles), and Waziro Atanrh among
others.
A sub-type of the Khattak Wal Atanrh known
as the Braghoni involves the use of up to
three swords and requires great skill.
Young women and girls often entertain at weddings
with the Tumbal (tambourine).
=== Sports ===
The Afghanistan national cricket team, which
is dominated by Pashtun players, was formed
in the early 2000s.
One of the most popular sports among Pashtuns
is cricket, which was introduced to South
Asia during the early 18th century with the
arrival of the British.
Many Pashtuns have become prominent international
cricketers in the Pakistan national cricket
team, including Imran Khan, Shahid Afridi,
Majid Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Junaid
Khan and Younis Khan.
Australian cricketer Fawad Ahmed is of Pakistani
Pashtun origin who has played for the Australian
national team.Football (soccer) is also one
of the most popular sports among Pashtuns.
The current captain of Pakistan national football
team, Muhammad Essa, is an ethnic Pashtun.
Other sports popular among Pashtuns may include
polo, field hockey, volleyball, handball,
basketball, golf, track and field, bodybuilding,
weightlifting, wrestling (pehlwani), kayaking,
horse racing, martial arts, boxing, skateboarding,
bowling and chess.
Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan became greatest
professional squash players.
Although now retired, they are engaged in
promoting the sport through the Pakistan Squash
Federation.
Maria Toorpakai Wazir is the first female
Pashtun squash player.
Pakistan also produced other world champions
of Pashtun origin: Hashim Khan, Roshan Khan,
Azam Khan, Mo Khan and Qamar Zaman.
Snooker and billiards are played by young
Pashtun men, mainly in urban areas where snooker
clubs are found.
Several prominent international recognised
snooker players are from the Pashtun area,
including Saleh Mohammed.
Although traditionally very less involved
in sports than boys, Pashtun girls sometimes
play volleyball, basketball, football, and
cricket, especially in urban areas.
Makha is 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 recent decades Hayatullah Khan Durrani,
Pride of Performance caving legend from Quetta,
has been promoting mountaineering, rock climbing
and caving in Balochistan, Pakistan.
== Religion ==
The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns follow
Sunni Islam, belonging to the Hanafi school
of thought.
There are some Shia Pashtun communities in
the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA)
of Pakistan and in neighbouring northeastern
section of Paktia province of Afghanistan.
The Shias belong to the Turi tribe while the
Bangash tribe is approximately 50% Shia and
the rest Sunni, who are mainly found in and
around the Parachinar, Kurram, Hangu, Kohat
and Orakzai areas in Pakistan.Studies conducted
among the Ghilji reveal strong links between
tribal affiliation and membership in the larger
ummah (Islamic community).
Afghan historians believe that most Pashtuns
are descendants of Qais Abdur Rashid, who
is purported to have been an early convert
to Islam and thus bequeathed the faith to
the early Pashtun population.
The legend says that after Qais heard of the
new religion of Islam, he travelled to meet
Muhammad in Medina and returned to Afghanistan
as a Muslim.
He purportedly had four children: Sarban,
Batan, Ghourghusht and Karlan.
Before the Islamization of their territory,
the Pashtuns likely followed various religions.
Some may have been Buddhists and Hindus, while
others Zoroastians, worshippers of the sun,
or worshippers of Nana, with some adhering
to Judaism and "local natural religions".
However, there is no conclusive evidence to
these theories other than the fact that these
were the religions practiced by the people
in this region before the arrival of Islam
in the 7th century.
A legacy of Sufi activity may be found in
some Pashtun regions, especially in the Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa area, as evident in songs and
dances.
Many Pashtuns are prominent Ulema, 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 as Muhammad
Muhsin Khan who has helped translate the Noble
Quran, Sahih Al-Bukhari and many other books
to the English language.
Jamal-al-Din al-Afghani was a 19th-century
Islamic ideologist and one of the founders
of Islamic modernism.
Although his ethnicity is disputed by some,
he is widely accepted in the Afghanistan-Pakistan
region as well as in the Arab world, as a
Pashtun from the Kunar Province of Afghanistan.
Like other non Arabic-speaking Muslims, many
Pashtuns are able to read the Quran but not
understand the Arabic language implicit in
the holy text itself.
Translations, especially in English, are scarcely
far and in between understood or distributed.
This paradox has contributed to the spread
of different versions of religious practices
and Wahabism, as well as political Islamism
(including movements such as the Taliban)
having a key presence in Pashtun society.
In order to counter radicalisation and fundamentalism,
the United States began spreading its influence
in Pashtun areas.
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.Lastly,
little information is available on non-Muslim
as there is limited data regarding irreligious
groups and minorities, especially since many
of the Hindus and Sikhs in Pashtun area migrated
from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the partition
of India and later, after the rise of the
Taliban.
There is a community of Pashtun Sikhs in Peshawar,
Parachinar, and Orakzai Agency of FATA, Pakistan.A
small Pashtun Hindu community, known as the
Sheen Khalai meaning 'blue skinned' (referring
to the color of Pashtun women's facial tattoos),
migrated to Unniara, Rajasthan, India after
partition.
Prior to 1947, the community resided in the
Quetta, Loralai and Maikhter regions of the
British Indian province of Baluchistan.
Today, they continue to speak Pashto and celebrate
Pashtun culture through the Attan dance.
== Women ==
In Pashtun society there are three levels
of women's leadership and legislative authority:
the national level, the village level, and
the family level.
The national level includes women such as
Nazo Tokhi (Nazo Anaa), Zarghona Anaa, and
Malalai of Maiwand.
Nazo Anaa was a prominent 17th century Pashto
poet and an educated Pashtun woman who eventually
became the "Mother of Afghan Nationalism"
after gaining authority through her poetry
and upholding of the Pashtunwali code.
She used the Pashtunwali law to unite the
Pashtun tribes against their Persian enemies.
Her cause was picked up in the early 18th
century by Zarghona Anaa, the mother of Ahmad
Shah Durrani.The lives of Pashtun women vary
from those who reside in conservative rural
areas, such as the tribal belt, to those found
in relatively freer urban centres.
At the village level, the female village leader
is called "qaryadar".
Her duties may include witnessing women's
ceremonies, mobilising 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, others have become educated and
gainfully employed.
In Afghanistan, the decades of war and the
rise of the Taliban caused considerable hardship
among Pashtun women, as many of their rights
were curtailed by a rigid interpretation of
Islamic law.
The difficult lives of Afghan female refugees
gained considerable notoriety with the iconic
image of the so-called "Afghan Girl" (Sharbat
Gula) depicted on the June 1985 cover of National
Geographic magazine.Modern social reform for
Pashtun women began in the early 20th century,
when Queen Soraya Tarzi of 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 of King Amanullah's reign in 1929.
In 1942, Madhubala (Mumtaz Jehan), the Marilyn
Monroe of India, entered the Bollywood film
industry.
Bollywood blockbusters of 1970s and 1980s
starred Parveen Babi, who hailed from the
lineage of Gujarat's historical Pathan community:
the royal Babi Dynasty.
Other Indian actresses and models, such as
Zarine Khan, continue to work in the industry.
Civil rights remained an important issue during
the 1970s, as feminist leader Meena Keshwar
Kamal campaigned for women's rights and founded
the Revolutionary 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 Pashtun
females than for males.
Abuse against women is present and increasingly
being challenged by women's rights organisations
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."Despite
obstacles, many Pashtun women have begun a
process of slow change.
A rich oral tradition and resurgence of poetry
has inspired many Pashtun women seeking to
learn to read and write.
Further challenging the status quo, Vida Samadzai
was 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 Pashtun women have attained political
office in Pakistan.
In Afghanistan, following recent elections,
the proportion of female political representatives
is one of the highest in the world.
A number of Pashtun women are found as TV
hosts, journalists and actors.
Khatol Mohammadzai serves as Brigadier general
in the military of Afghanistan, another Pashtun
female became a fighter pilot in the Pakistan
Air Force.
Some other notable Pashtun women include Suhaila
Seddiqi, Zeenat Karzai, Shukria Barakzai,
Fauzia Gailani, Naghma, Najiba Faiz, Tabassum
Adnan, Sana Safi, Malalai Kakar, Malala Yousafzai,
and the late Ghazala Javed.
Pashtun women often have their legal rights
curtailed in favour of their husbands or male
relatives.
For example, though women are officially allowed
to vote in Afghanistan and Pakistan, some
have been kept away from ballot boxes by males.
Another tradition that persists is swara (a
form of child marriage), which was declared
illegal in Pakistan in 2000 but continues
in some parts.
Substantial work remains for Pashtun women
to gain equal rights with men, who remain
disproportionately dominant in most aspects
of Pashtun society.
Human rights organisations continue to struggle
for greater women's rights, such as the Afghan
Women's Network and the Aurat Foundation in
Pakistan which aims to protect women from
domestic violence.
== See also ==
List of Pashtun empires and dynasties
== 
Notes ==
Note: population statistics for Pashtuns (including
those without a notation) in foreign countries
were derived from various census counts, the
UN, the CIA World Factbook and Ethnologue
