Editing Pashtuns (section)

===Diverse origin===
According to one school of thought, Pashtun are descended from a variety of ethnicities, including [[Persians]], [[Greeks]], [[Turkish people|Turks]], [[Arabs]], [[Bactrians]], [[Dards]], [[Scythians]], [[Tatars|Tartars]], Huns ([[Hephthalites]]), [[Mongols]], [[Moghol people|Moghals]] (Mughals), and anyone else who has crossed the region where these Pashtun live. Unexpectedly, this includes alleged ties of [[Israelite]] descent.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Acheson|first=Ben|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QaW5EAAAQBAJ|title=The Pashtun Tribes in Afghanistan: Wolves Among Men|date=30 June 2023|publisher=Pen and Sword Military|isbn=978-1-3990-6924-3|pages=14|language=en|quote=Given the range of raiders and residents that the area has seen over the centuries, it is easy to see why today's Pashtuns could be descended from Persians, Greeks, Turks, Bactrians, Scythians, Tartars, Huns, Mongols, Moghuls or anyone else who has crossed the region over the years.__More unexpected are the alleged Pashtun ties to Israel (Israelites).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Who Are the Pashtun People of Afghanistan and Pakistan?|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/who-are-the-pashtun-195409|access-date=9 October 2023|website=ThoughtCo|language=en|quote=Many scholars believe that the ''Pashtun'' people are descended from several ancestral groups. Likely the foundational population were of eastern Iranian (Persian) origin and brought the Indo-European language east with them. They probably mixed with other peoples, including possibly the Hephthalites or White Huns, 'Arabs', Mughals, and others who passed through the area.}}</ref>

Some Pashtun tribes claim descent from [[Arabs]], including some claiming to be [[Sayyids]].<ref name="ISBN Olaf Caroe">Caroe, Olaf. 1984. ''The Pathans: 500&nbsp;B.C.-A.D. 1957'' (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)." Oxford University Press.</ref>

One historical account connects the Pashtuns to a possible [[Ancient Egypt]]ian past but this lacks supporting evidence.<ref>{{cite web|last=Barmazid|title=Theory of Coptic origin of Pashtuns|url=http://www.barmazid.com/2016/11/copts-theory-of-pashtun-origin.html}}</ref>

[[Henry Walter Bellew]], who wrote extensively on Afghan culture, noted that some people claim that the [[Bangash]] Pashtuns are connected to [[Ismail Samani]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fAkEAAAAMAAJ&dq=bangash+ismail+samani&pg=PA105|title=An Inquiry Into the Ethnography of Afghanistan Prepared for and Presented to the 9th International Congress of Orientalists (London, Sept. 1891)|pages=105|quote=By Some, the Bangash ancestor, ''Ismail'', is connected with the Sultan Ismail, founder of the Saimani dynasty, which succeddeded to that of the Suffari (founded by Yacub Bin Leith or Lais) 875 A.D.|last1=Bellew|first1=Henry Walter|date=8 March 1891}}</ref>