74-600: The Mohmand ( Pashto : مومند ) or Momand is a prominent tribe of Pashtun people. They are based primarily in the Mohmand territory, which is located in Nangarhar , Afghanistan and Mohmand Agency , Pakistan . In Afghanistan, their areas of presence include Nangarhar , Ghazni , Kandahar , Kunar , Logar and Kunduz . In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa they predominantly reside in the Mohmand Agency (formerly part of
148-583: A nomadic , pastoral , eastern Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan . They historically were also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the term's meaning had become a demonym for members of all ethnic groups in Afghanistan . The Pashtuns speak the Pashto language , which belongs to the Eastern Iranian branch of
222-453: A royal decree of Zahir Shah formally granted Pashto the status of an official language, with full rights to use in all aspects of government and education – despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian. Thus Pashto became a national language , a symbol for Pashtun nationalism . The constitutional assembly reaffirmed the status of Pashto as an official language in 1964 when Afghan Persian
296-667: A Pashtun population of over 1 million, whilst Jaipur and Bangalore have an estimate of around 100,000. The Pashtuns in Bangalore include the khan siblings Feroz , Sanjay and Akbar Khan , whose father settled in Bangalore from Ghazni . During the 19th century, when the British were recruiting peasants from British India as indentured servants to work in the Caribbean , South Africa and other places, Rohillas were sent to Trinidad , Surinam , Guyana , and Fiji , to work in
370-733: A device). Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from Persian and Hindi-Urdu , with Arabic words being borrowed through Persian, but sometimes directly. Modern speech borrows words from English, French , and German . However, a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto. Here is an exemplary list of Pure Pashto and borrowings: naṛә́i jahān dunyā tod/táwda garm aṛtyā́ ḍarurah híla umid də...pə aṛá bāra bolә́la qasidah Pashtuns Pashtuns ( / ˈ p ʌ ʃ ˌ t ʊ n / , / ˈ p ɑː ʃ ˌ t ʊ n / , / ˈ p æ ʃ ˌ t uː n / ; Pashto : پښتانه , romanized: Pəx̌tānə́ ; ), also known as Pakhtuns , or Pathans , are
444-633: A group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated by Abulfazl Beyhaqi . It is recorded that Afghans were also enrolled in the Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215). By the beginning of the Khilji dynasty in 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. "We travelled on to Kabul, formerly
518-613: A promoter of the wealth and antiquity of Afghanistan's Pashto culture." From the 16th century, Pashto poetry become very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote in Pashto are Bayazid Pir Roshan (a major inventor of the Pashto alphabet ), Khushal Khan Khattak , Rahman Baba , Nazo Tokhi , and Ahmad Shah Durrani , founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Durrani Empire . The Pashtun literary tradition grew in
592-568: A tribe mentioned by Herodotus ( Pactyans ) in 430 BCE in the Histories : Other Indians dwell near the town of Caspatyrus[Κασπατύρῳ] and the Pactyic [Πακτυϊκῇ] country, north of the rest of India; these live like the Bactrians; they are of all Indians the most warlike, and it is they who are sent for the gold; for in these parts all is desolate because of the sand. These Pactyans lived on
666-522: A variety very similar to it, while others have attempted to place it closer to Bactrian . However, neither position is universally agreed upon. What scholars do agree on is the fact that Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language sharing characteristics with Eastern Middle Iranian languages such as Bactrian, Khwarezmian and Sogdian . Compare with other Eastern Iranian Languages and Old Avestan : Zə tā winə́m /ɐz dɐ wənən/ Az bū tū dzunim Strabo , who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that
740-440: 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 called Kuh Sulayman . It is told that the prophet Sulayman [Solomon] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it." Ferishta , a 16th-century Muslim historian writing about
814-421: Is "one of the primary markers of ethnic identity" amongst Pashtuns. A national language of Afghanistan , Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact number of speakers is unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 45–60% of the total population of Afghanistan . In Pakistan , Pashto
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#1732772305834888-525: Is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family , natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan . It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ( افغانی , Afghāni ). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns , it is one of
962-550: Is spoken by 15% of its population, mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province. It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab province , areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and in Islamabad . Pashto speakers are found in other major cities of Pakistan, most notably Karachi , Sindh, which may have the largest Pashtun population of any city in
1036-564: Is taught poorly in schools in Pakistan. Moreover, in government schools material is not provided for in the Pashto dialect of that locality, Pashto being a dialectically rich language. Further, researchers have observed that Pashtun students are unable to fully comprehend educational material in Urdu. Professor Tariq Rahman states: "The government of Pakistan, faced with irredentist claims from Afghanistan on its territory, also discouraged
1110-639: The Amu river and west of the Indus River . They can be found all over Pakistan and Afghanistan. Big cities with a Pashtun majority include Jalalabad , Kandahar , Bannu , Dera Ismail Khan , Khost , Kohat , Lashkar Gah , Mardan , Ghazni , Mingora , Peshawar , Quetta , among others. Pashtuns also live in Abbottabad , Farah , Herat , Islamabad , Kabul , Karachi , Kunduz , Lahore , Mazar-i-Sharif , Mianwali , and Attock . The city of Karachi ,
1184-575: The Assakenoi of Arrian , which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush . Aśvakan literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or " cavalrymen " (from aśva or aspa , the Sanskrit and Avestan words for " horse "). This view was propounded by scholars like Christian Lassen , J. W. McCrindle , M. V. de Saint Martin, and É. Reclus , The earliest mention of
1258-576: The British Raj in colonial India . These include Bombay (now called Mumbai ), Farrukhabad , Delhi , Calcutta , Saharanpur , Rohilkhand , Jaipur , and Bangalore . The settlers are descended from both Pashtuns of present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan ( British India before 1947). In some regions in India , they are sometimes referred to as Kabuliwala . In India significant Pashtun diaspora communities exist. While speakers of Pashto in
1332-638: The Ghilji Pashtuns to the Mazandaran Province in northern Iran. The remnants of this once sizable 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 the Durrani Empire itself. The second Durrani king of Afghanistan, Timur Shah Durrani
1406-501: The Iranian language family . Additionally, Dari serves 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 350–400 Pashtun tribes and clans with a variety of origin theories . In 2021, Shahid Javed Burki estimated
1480-691: The Oxus at that time. Others however have suggested a much older Iranic ancestor given the affinity to Old Avestan . According to one school of thought, Pashtun are descended from a variety of ethnicities, including Persians , Greeks , Turks , Arabs , Bactrians , Dards , Scythians , Tartars , Huns ( Hephthalites ), Mongols , Moghals (Mughals), and anyone else who has crossed the region where these Pashtun live. Further they are also, and probably most surprisingly, of Israelite descent. Some Pashtun tribes claim descent from Arabs , including some claiming to be Sayyids . One historical account connects
1554-739: 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. The ethnogenesis of the Pashtun ethnic group is unclear. There are many conflicting theories amongst historians and the Pashtuns themselves. Modern scholars believe that Pashtuns do not all share
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#17327723058341628-549: The Sogdian language , as well as Khwarezmian , Shughni , Sanglechi , and Khotanese Saka . It is suggested by some that Pashto may have originated in the Badakhshan region and is connected to a Saka language akin to Khotanese. In fact major linguist Georg Morgenstierne has described Pashto as a Saka dialect and many others have observed the similarities between Pashto and other Saka languages as well, suggesting that
1702-729: The Soviet–Afghan War as well as the American War in Afghanistan including against Pakistan Security Forces. In May 2018, Mohmand tribal elders condemned the merger of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and expressed support for the creation of a separate province, Qabailistan . Pashto language Pashto ( / ˈ p ʌ ʃ t oʊ / PUH -shto , / ˈ p æ ʃ t oʊ / PASH -toe ; پښتو , Pəx̌tó , [pəʂˈto, pʊxˈto, pəʃˈto, pəçˈto] )
1776-1144: The Tribal Areas ), with others later settling in Charsadda , Mardan and Peshawar District . The Mohmand Ghoryakhel originally lived in the present-day Mohmand region, as well as in areas of Kandahar , Ghazni , Ghor , and between the basins of the Tarnak , Oxus and Indus rivers, along the present Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Ghoryakhel consists of tribes led by the son of Kand, son of Kharshbun , son of Sarban , and son of Qais Abdur Rashid , who lived in Ghwara Marghay Arghistan Qandahar , mostly in Ghazni , Nangarhar , Logar , Ghor , Kabul , Kunar , Paktia , Kunduz , Zabul and Herat . Ghoryakhel had four sons, Chamkani, Daulatyar, Khalil and Zirani. Daulatyar had two sons Mohmands and Daudzai The Mohmand are historically known for resisting outside forces. From 1672 to 1676 , under
1850-608: The 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration, and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society Pashto Anjuman in 1931 and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy (Pashto Tolana) in 1937. Muhammad Na'im Khan, the minister of education between 1938 and 1946, inaugurated the formal policy of promoting Pashto as Afghanistan's national language, leading to
1924-770: The 8th century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana . Pə́ṭa Xazāná ( پټه خزانه ) is a Pashto manuscript claimed to be written by Mohammad Hotak under the patronage of the Pashtun emperor Hussain Hotak in Kandahar ; containing an anthology of Pashto poets. However, its authenticity is disputed by scholars such as David Neil MacKenzie and Lucia Serena Loi. Nile Green comments in this regard: "In 1944, Habibi claimed to have discovered an eighteenth-century manuscript anthology containing much older biographies and verses of Pashto poets that stretched back as far as
1998-612: The 982 Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam , where a reference is made to a village, Saul, which was probably located near Gardez , Afghanistan. "Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live Afghans ". The same book also speaks of a king in Ninhar ( Nangarhar ), who had Muslim, Afghan and Hindu wives. 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
2072-583: The Afghans, so [you should] impose a penalty on Nat Kharagan ... ...lord of Warnu with ... ... ...the Afghan... ... " The name Afghan is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of "Avagāṇa" [अवगाण] by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in his Brihat-samhita . "It would be unfavourable to the people of Chola, the Afghans (Avagāṇa), the white Huns and the Chinese." The word Afghan also appeared in
2146-919: The British/ Commonwealth links of their respective countries, and modern communities have been established starting around the 1960s mainly in the United Kingdom , Canada , Australia but also in other commonwealth countries (and the United States ). Some Pashtuns have also settled in the Middle East, such as in the Arabian Peninsula . For example, about 300,000 Pashtuns migrated to the Persian Gulf countries between 1976 and 1981, representing 35% of Pakistani immigrants. The Pakistani and Afghan diaspora around
2220-529: The Pashto Movement and eventually allowed its use in peripheral domains only after the Pakhtun elite had been co-opted by the ruling elite...Thus, even though there is still an active desire among some Pakhtun activists to use Pashto in the domains of power, it is more of a symbol of Pakhtun identity than one of nationalism." Robert Nicols states: "In the end, national language policy, especially in
2294-473: 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." Pashto is generally classified as an Eastern Iranian language. It shares features with the Munji language , which is the closest existing language to the extinct Bactrian , but also shares features with
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2368-681: The Pathan community in the city of Kolkata , often nicknamed the Kabuliwala ("people of Kabul "). Pashtun diaspora communities in other countries around the world speak Pashto, especially the sizable communities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia . Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari Persian . Since the early 18th century, the monarchs of Afghanistan have been ethnic Pashtuns (except for Habibullāh Kalakāni in 1929). Persian,
2442-680: The Society's annual meeting in 1927. In 1955, Pashtun intellectuals including Abdul Qadir formed the Pashto Academy Peshawar on the model of Pashto Tolana formed in Afghanistan. In 1974, the Department of Pashto was established in the University of Balochistan for the promotion of Pashto. In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language around of 15% of its population (per the 1998 census). However, Urdu and English are
2516-456: The backdrop to weakening Pashtun power following Mughal rule: Khushal Khan Khattak used Pashto poetry to rally for Pashtun unity and Pir Bayazid as an expedient means to spread his message to the Pashtun masses. For instance Khushal Khattak laments in : "The Afghans (Pashtuns) are far superior to the Mughals at the sword, Were but the Afghans, in intellect, a little discreet. If
2590-420: The chief of the Afghans, ' the judge of Tukharistan and Gharchistan . Moreover, ' 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
2664-658: The commission and publication of Pashto textbooks. The Pashto Tolana was later incorporated into the Academy of Sciences Afghanistan in line with Soviet model following the Saur Revolution in 1978. Although officially supporting the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing". King Zahir Shah (reigning 1933–1973) thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had decreed in 1933 that officials were to study and utilize both Persian and Pashto. In 1936
2738-696: The connection of the Pashtuns with names such as the Parsiētai (Παρσιῆται), Parsioi (Πάρσιοι) that were cited by Ptolemy 150 CE: "The northern regions of the country are inhabited by the Bolitai, the western regions by the Aristophyloi below whom live the Parsioi (Πάρσιοι). The southern regions are inhabited by the Parsiētai (Παρσιῆται), the eastern regions by the Ambautai. The towns and villages lying in
2812-805: The country of the Paropanisadai are these: Parsiana Zarzaua/Barzaura Artoarta Baborana Kapisa niphanda" Strabo , the Greek geographer, in the Geographica (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 an Eastern-Iranian language, much like the Scythian languages : "Most of the Scythians...each separate tribe has its peculiar name. All, or
2886-596: The country only number 21,677 as of 2011, estimates of the ethnic or ancestral Pashtun population in India range from 3,200,000 to 11,482,000 to as high as double their population in Afghanistan (approximately 30 million). The Rohilkhand region of Uttar Pradesh is named after the Rohilla community of Pashtun ancestry; the area came to be governed by the Royal House of Rampur , a Pashtun dynasty. They also live in
2960-410: The different tribes would but support each other, Kings would have to bow down in prostration before them" Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity . In Pashto, this means that the verb agrees with the subject in transitive and intransitive sentences in non-past, non-completed clauses, but when a completed action is reported in any of the past tenses, the verb agrees with
3034-547: The eastern frontier of the Achaemenid Arachosia Satrapy as early as the 1st millennium BCE, present-day Afghanistan. Herodotus also mentions a tribe of known as Aparytai (Ἀπαρύται). Thomas Holdich has linked them with the Afridi tribe: The Sattagydae, Gandarii, Dadicae, and Aparytae (Ἀπαρύται) paid together a hundred and seventy talents; this was the seventh province Joseph Marquart made
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3108-443: The eighth century. It was an extraordinary claim, implying as it did that the history of Pashto literature reached back further in time than Persian, thus supplanting the hold of Persian over the medieval Afghan past. Although it was later convincingly discredited through formal linguistic analysis, Habibi's publication of the text under the title Pata Khazana ('Hidden Treasure') would (in Afghanistan at least) establish his reputation as
3182-623: The entertainment industry and sports. Pashtuns are also found in smaller numbers in the eastern and northern parts of Iran . Records as early as the mid-1600s report Durrani Pashtuns living in the Khorasan Province of Safavid Iran . After the short reign of the Ghilji Pashtuns in Iran , Nader Shah defeated the last independent Ghilji ruler of Kandahar , Hussain Hotak . In order to secure Durrani control in southern Afghanistan, Nader Shah deported Hussain Hotak and large numbers of
3256-400: The field of education in the NWFP, had constructed a type of three tiered language hierarchy. Pashto lagged far behind Urdu and English in prestige or development in almost every domain of political or economic power..." Although Pashto used as a medium of instruction in schools for Pashtun students results in better understanding and comprehension for students when compared to using Urdu, still
3330-462: The financial capital of Pakistan, is home to the world's largest urban community of Pashtuns, larger than Kabul and Peshawar . Likewise, Islamabad , the country's political capital also serves as the major urban center of Pashtuns with more than 20% of the city's population belonging to the Pashto speaking community. Pashtuns in India are often referred to as Pathans (the Hindustani word for Pashtun) both by themselves and other ethnic groups of
3404-399: The government of Pakistan has only introduced Pashto at the primary levels in state-run schools. Taimur Khan remarks: "the dominant Urdu language squeezes and denies any space for Pashto language in the official and formal capacity. In this contact zone, Pashto language exists but in a subordinate and unofficial capacity". Some linguists have argued that Pashto is descended from Avestan or
3478-437: The grain and then request it from the citizens store: I will not order, so.....I Myself order And I in Respect of winter sends men thither to you then look after the farming, To Ormuzd Bunukan, Greetings" "because [you] (pl.), the clan of the Afghans, said thus to me:...And you should not have denied? the men of Rob [that] the Afghans took (away) the horses" "[To ...]-bid the Afghan... Moreover, they are in [War]nu(?) because of
3552-471: The greatest part of them, are nomades. The best known tribes are those who deprived the Greeks of Bactriana, the Asii, Pasiani, Tochari, and Sacarauli, who came from the country on the other side of the Iaxartes (Syr Darya)" This is considered a different rendering of Ptolemy's Parsioi (Πάρσιοι). Johnny Cheung, reflecting on Ptolemy's Parsioi (Πάρσιοι) and Strabo's Pasiani (Πασιανοί) states: "Both forms show slight phonetic substitutions, viz. of υ for ι, and
3626-488: The history of Muslim rule in the subcontinent , stated: He [Khalid bin Abdullah son of Khalid 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 one Lodhi ,
3700-403: The largest ethnic 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 the Pashtun diaspora exist in the northern region of Rohilkhand as well as in major Indian cities such as Delhi and Mumbai . Pashtuns are spread over a wide geographic area, south of
3774-471: The leadership of Aimal Khan Mohmand , they rebelled and fought deadly wars against the Mughal Army . They also battled the British Empire in multiple wars, including taking part in the 1897 Frontier Revolt , alongside other rebellions across Pashtunistan , for Afghan Independence in the 1919 Anglo-Afghan War and they also fought independently in the 1935 Mohmand Campaign . Additionally, the Mohmand people resisted other invaders of Afghanistan, such as during
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#17327723058343848-452: The length and breadth of India, with the largest populations principally settled in the plains of northern and central India . Following the partition of India in 1947, many of them migrated to Pakistan . The majority of Indian Pashtuns are Urdu-speaking communities , who have assimilated into the local society over the course of generations. Pashtuns have influenced and contributed to various fields in India, particularly politics,
3922-426: The literary language of the royal court, was more widely used in government institutions, while the Pashtun tribes spoke Pashto as their native tongue . King Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign (1926–1929) as a marker of ethnic identity and as a symbol of "official nationalism" leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In
3996-454: 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 the Middle Ages until the advent of modern Afghanistan in the 18th century, the Pashtuns were often referred to as "Afghans" . The etymological view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name Afghan evidently derives from Sanskrit Aśvakan , or
4070-428: The name Afghan ( Abgân ) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE, In the 4th century the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as a reference to a particular people is mentioned in the Bactrian documents found in Northern Afghanistan. "To Ormuzd Bunukan, from Bredag Watanan ... greetings and homage from ... ), the ( sotang ( ? ) of Parpaz ( under ) [ the glorious ) yabghu of Hephthal ,
4144-420: The native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern Iranian languages . As noted by Josef Elfenbein, "Loanwords have been traced in Pashto as far back as the third century B.C., and include words from Greek and probably Old Persian". For instance, Georg Morgenstierne notes the Pashto word مېچن mečә́n i.e. a hand-mill as being derived from the Ancient Greek word μηχανή ( mēkhanḗ , i.e.
4218-420: 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. "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
4292-407: The original Pashto speakers might have been a Saka group. Furthermore, Pashto and Ossetian , another Scythian-descending language, share cognates in their vocabulary which other Eastern Iranian languages lack Cheung 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
4366-399: The other Sur ; who each, subsequently, became head of the tribes which to this day bear their name. 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
4440-465: The possessed in the genitive construction, and adjectives come before the nouns they modify. Unlike most other Indo-Iranian languages, Pashto uses all three types of adpositions —prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions. *The retroflex rhotic or lateral, tends to be a lateral flap [ 𝼈 ] at the beginning of a syllable or other prosodic unit, and a regular flap [ ɽ ] or approximant [ ɻ ] elsewhere. In Pashto, most of
4514-410: The same origin. The early ancestors of modern-day Pashtuns may have belonged to old Iranian tribes that spread throughout the eastern Iranian plateau . historians have also come across references to various ancient peoples called Pakthas ( Pactyans ) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, Mohan Lal stated in 1846 that "the origin of the Afghans is so obscure, that no one, even among
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#17327723058344588-439: The states of Maharashtra in central India and West Bengal in eastern India that each have a population of over a million with Pashtun ancestry; both Bombay and Calcutta were primary locations of Pashtun migrants from Afghanistan during the colonial era. There are also populations over 100,000 each in the cities of Jaipur in Rajasthan and Bangalore in Karnataka . Bombay (now called Mumbai ) and Calcutta both have
4662-502: The subcontinent. Some Indians claim descent from Pashtun soldiers who settled in India by marrying local women during the Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent . 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". Historically, Pashtuns have settled in various cities of India before and during
4736-444: The subject if it is intransitive, but with the object if it is transitive. Verbs are inflected for present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect, and past perfect tenses. There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood . Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and four cases (direct, oblique, ablative, and vocative). The possessor precedes
4810-451: The sugarcane fields and perform manual labour. Many stayed and formed 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. Some Pashtuns travelled as far as Australia during the same era. Today, the Pashtuns are a collection of diversely scattered communities present across
4884-432: The total Pashtun population to be situated between 60 to 70 million, with 15 million in Afghanistan. Others who accepted the 15 million figure include British academic Tim Willasey-Wilsey as well Abubakar Siddique, a journalist specialized in Afghan affairs. Although this figure is disputed due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979 . They are the second-largest ethnic group in Pakistan and one of
4958-478: The tribal lands west of the Indus River in what is today Pakistan. Al-Utbi, the Ghaznavid chronicler, in his Tarikh-i Yamini recorded that many Afghans and Khiljis (possibly the modern Ghilji ) enlisted in the army of Sabuktigin after Jayapala was defeated. Al-Utbi further stated that Afghans and Ghiljis made a part of Mahmud Ghaznavi 's army and were sent on his expedition to Tocharistan , while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished
5032-417: The tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana . This was around the time when the area inhabited by the Pashtuns was governed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . From the 3rd century CE onward, they are mostly referred to by the name Afghan ( Abgan ). Abdul Hai Habibi believed that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri of the early Ghurid period in
5106-418: The two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Dari , and it is the second-largest provincial language of Pakistan , spoken mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan . Likewise, it is the primary language of the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is at least 40 million, although some estimates place it as high as 60 million. Pashto
5180-411: The two official languages of Pakistan. Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and north Balochistan . Yet, the primary medium of education in government schools in Pakistan is Urdu. The lack of importance given to Pashto and its neglect has caused growing resentment amongst Pashtuns. It is noted that Pashto
5254-509: The world includes Pashtuns. A tribe called Pakthās , one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna , or "Battle of the Ten Kings" , are mentioned in the seventh mandala of the Rigveda , a text of Vedic Sanskrit hymns dated between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE: Together came the Pakthas (पक्थास), the Bhalanas, the Alinas, the Sivas, the Visanins. Yet to the Trtsus came the Ārya's Comrade, through love of spoil and heroes' war, to lead them. Heinrich Zimmer connects them with
5328-607: The world. Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in India , Tajikistan , and northeastern Iran (primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen , near the Afghan border). In India most ethnic Pashtun (Pathan) peoples speak the geographically native Hindi-Urdu language rather than Pashto, but there are small numbers of Pashto speakers, such as the Sheen Khalai in Rajasthan , and
5402-590: Was born in Mashhad . Contemporary to Durrani rule in the east, Azad Khan Afghan , an ethnic Ghilji Pashtun, formerly second in charge of Azerbaijan during Afsharid rule , gained power in the western regions of Iran and Azerbaijan for a short period. According to a sample survey in 1988, 75 percent of all Afghan refugees in the southern part of the Iranian Khorasan Province were Durrani Pashtuns. Indian and Pakistani Pashtuns have utilised
5476-579: Was officially renamed to Dari . The lyrics of the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto. In British India , prior to the creation of Pakistan by the British government, the 1920s saw the blossoming of Pashto language in the then NWFP : Abdul Ghafar Khan in 1921 established the Anjuman-e- Islah al-Afaghina (Society for the Reformation of Afghans) to promote Pashto as an extension of Pashtun culture; around 80,000 people attended
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