Afghans (, ; , ) are the citizens and nationals of Afghanistan, as well as their descendants in the Afghan diaspora.
The country is made up of various ethnic groups, of which
Pashtuns,
Tajiks,
Hazaras, and
Uzbeks are the largest. The three main languages spoken among the Afghan people are
Dari (a variety of
Persian language),
Pashto, and Uzbek.
Historically, the term "Afghan" was a Pashtun ethnonym, but later came to refer to all people in the country, regardless of their ethnicity after the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan proposed by the King of Afghanistan, Mohammad Zahir Shah.
Etymology
The earliest mention of 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 reference to the Pashtun people is mentioned in the
documents found in Northern Afghanistan.
The word 'Afghan' is of
Persian language origin and refers to the Pashtun people.
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. In the past, several scholars sought a connection with "horse", Skt.aśva-, Av.aspa-, i.e. the Aśvaka or Aśvakayana, the name of the
Aśvakan or
Assakan, the ancient inhabitants of the
Hindu Kush region. Some have theorized that the name of the
Aśvakan or
Assakan has been preserved in that of the modern
Pashtun, with the name Afghan being derived from Asvakan.
[ "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).][Indische Alterthumskunde, Vol I, fn 6; also Vol II, p 129, et al.][Etude Sur la Geog Grecque & c, pp 39–47, M. V. de Saint Martin.][The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83, Élisée Reclus – Geography.][ "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).]
As an adjective, the word Afghan also means "of or relating to Afghanistan or its people, Pashto or culture". According to the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan, all Afghans citizens are equal in rights and obligations before the law. The fourth article of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which was valid until 2021, states that citizens of Afghanistan consist of Pashtun, Tajik, Uzbek, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashayi, Nuristani, Aimaq, Arab, Kyrgyz people, Afghan Qizilbash, Gurjar, Brahui people, and members of other ethnicities. There are political disputes regarding this: there are members of the non-Pashtun ethnicities of Afghanistan that reject the term Afghan being applied to them, and there are Pashtuns in Pakistan that wish to have the term Afghan applied to them.
Usage as an ethnonym
The pre-nation state, historical ethnonym Afghan was used to refer to a member of the Pashtun ethnic group. Due to the changing political nature of the state, the meaning has changed, and the term has shifted to refer to the national identity of people from Afghanistan of all ethnicities.
From a more limited, ethnological point of view, " Afḡhān" is the term by which the Dari-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Pashtō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Pashtūn. The equation Afghans = Pashtūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Pashtūn tribal confederation has maintained its hegemony in the country, numerically and politically.
Variations
The term
Afghani refers to the unit of
Afghan afghani. The term is also often used in the English language (and appears in some dictionaries) for a person or thing related to Afghanistan, although some have expressed the opinion that this usage is incorrect.
The reason for this usage might be because the term "Afghani" (افغانی) is in fact a valid demonym for Afghans in the overall
Persian language, whereas "Afghan" is derived from Pashto. Thus, "Afghan" is the
Anglicisation form of "Afghani" when translating from Dari Persian, but not from Pashto.
Another variant is
Afghanese, which has been seldom used in place of Afghan.
Ethnicities
Afghans come from various ethnic backgrounds. The largest ethnic groups are
Pashtuns,
Tajiks,
Hazaras, and
Uzbeks, who make up approximately 95% of the population of Afghanistan. They are of diverse origins including of
Iranic peoples,
Turkic peoples or
Mongolic peoples ethnolinguistic roots.
Religions
The Afghan people of all ethnicities are predominantly and traditionally followers of
Islam, of whom around 90% are of
Sunni and 10% the
Shia Islam branch. Other religious minorities include the
Afghan Hindus,
Afghan Sikhs, Afghan Zoroastrians,
Afghan Jews and Afghan Christians.
Culture
Afghan culture has existed for over three millennia, dating back to the time of the Achaemenid Empire in 500 BCE. Afghans have both common cultural features and those that differ between regions with each of the 34 provinces having its own unique distinctive cultures partly as a result of geographic obstacles that divide the country. Afghanistan's culture is historically linked to nearby
Persia, including both countries following the
Islam, the Solar Hijri calendar and speaking similar languages, this is due to Iran and Afghanistan being culturally close to each other for thousands of years.
See also
-
Demographics of Afghanistan
-
Afghan (ethnonym)
-
Name of Afghanistan
-
Afghan diaspora
Sources
External links