Editing Pashtuns (section)

===Greek origin===
According to Firasat et al. 2007, a proportion of Pashtuns may descend from Greeks, but they also suggest that Greek ancestry may also have come from Greek slaves brought by [[Xerxes I]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Firasat|first1=Sadaf|last2=Khaliq|first2=Shagufta|last3=Mohyuddin|first3=Aisha|last4=Papaioannou|first4=Myrto|last5=Tyler-Smith|first5=Chris|last6=Underhill|first6=Peter A|last7=Ayub|first7=Qasim|title=Y-chromosomal evidence for a limited Greek contribution to the Pathan population of Pakistan|journal=European Journal of Human Genetics|date=January 2007|volume=15|issue=1|pages=121–126|doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201726|pmid=17047675|pmc=2588664}}</ref>

The Greek ancestry of the Pashtuns may also be traced on the basis of a homologous group. And Hoplogroup J2 is from the Semitic population, and this Hoplogroup is found in 6.5% of Greeks and Pashtuns and 55.6% of the Israelite population.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Huang|first1=De-Shuang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZa5BQAAQBAJ&dq=greek+origin+of+Pashtun&pg=PA409|title=Intelligent Computing Theories: 9th International Conference, ICIC 2013, Nanning, China, July 28–31, 2013, Proceedings|last2=Bevilacqua|first2=Vitoantonio|last3=Figueroa|first3=Juan Carlos|last4=Premaratne|first4=Prashan|date=20 July 2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-642-39479-9|pages=409|language=en|quote=The Haplogroup J2 is from the Semitic population as well as the population shar- ing the common African ancestor. This Haplogroup was found 6.5% in both the Greek and Pashtun population while 55.6% in the Israel population. The Israel popu- lation however did not result in exact match for haplotype of the 9 or 7 markers tested. Very few exact matches were found only with the 5 markers test. However the 7 marker test had many exact matches from the Greek population.}}</ref>

A number of genetic studies on ''Pashtuns'' have lately been undertaken by academics from various institutions and research institutes. The Greek heritage of Pakistani Pashtuns has been researched in. In this study, the ''Pashtuns'', ''Kalash'', and ''Burusho'' to be descended from Alexander's soldiers considered.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Huang|first1=De-Shuang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aZa5BQAAQBAJ&dq=pashtun+from+greek+ancestry&pg=PA403|title=Intelligent Computing Theories: 9th International Conference, ICIC 2013, Nanning, China, July 28–31, 2013, Proceedings|last2=Bevilacqua|first2=Vitoantonio|last3=Figueroa|first3=Juan Carlos|last4=Premaratne|first4=Prashan|date=20 July 2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-642-39479-9|pages=403|language=en|quote=A number of genetic studies of the Pashtuns have been conducted recently by researchers of various universities and research groups. The Greek ancestry of the Pashtuns of Pakistan has been investigated in [1]. In this study, the claim of the three populations of the region, i.e. the Pashtuns, the Kalash and the Burusho, to have des- cended from the soldiers of Alexander, has been considered.}}</ref>

[[Henry Walter Bellew]] (1834–1892) was of the view that the Pashtuns likely have mixed [[Theory of Pashtun descent from Rajputs|Greek and Indian Rajput roots]].<ref name="Quddus1987">{{cite book|last1=Quddus|first1=Syed Abdul|title=The Pathans|date=1987|publisher=[[Ferozsons]]|page=28|language=English|quote=Grierson finds a form ''Paithan'' in use in the East Gangetic Valley to denote a Muslim ''Rajput''. Bellew, one of the greatest authorities on ''Pathans'', notes that several characteristics are common to both the Rajputs and the Afghans and suggests that ''Sarban'', one of the ancestors of the ''Afghans'', was a corruption of the word ''Suryabans'' (solar race) from which many Rajputs claim descent. The great Muslim historian ''Masudi'' writes that Qandahar was a separate kingdom with a non- Muslim ruler and states that it is a country of ''Rajputs''. It would be pertinent to mention here that at the time of ''Masudi'' most of the Afghans were concentrated in Qandahar and adjacent areas and had not expanded to the north. Therefore, it is highly significant that Masudi should call Qandahar a ''Rajput'' country.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Ahmad|first=Khaled|date=31 August 2009|title=Pathans and Hindu Rajputs|url=http://www.khyber.org/tribes/info/Pathans_and_Hindu_Rajputs.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620193512/http://www.khyber.org/tribes/info/Pathans_and_Hindu_Rajputs.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-date=20 June 2014|access-date=24 March 2018|publisher=Khyber|quote=In a nutshell, Bellew's thesis is that all Afghan tribal names can be traced to Greek and Rajput names, which posits the further possibility of a great Greek mixing with the ancient border tribes of India.}}</ref>

Following Alexander's brief occupation, the successor state of the [[Seleucid Empire]] expanded influence on the Pashtuns until 305&nbsp;BCE when they gave up dominating power to the Indian [[Maurya Empire]] as part of an alliance treaty.<ref>{{cite web|author=Nancy Hatch Dupree / Aḥmad ʻAlī Kuhzād|year=1972|title=An Historical Guide to Kabul – The Name|url=http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830031416/http://www.aisk.org/aisk/NHDAHGTK05.php|archive-date=30 August 2010|access-date=18 September 2010|work=[[Strabo]] (64&nbsp;BC – 24&nbsp;AD)|publisher=American International School of Kabul|quote=Alexander took these away from the [[Aryan]]s and established settlements of his own, but [[Seleucus I Nicator|Seleucus Nicator]] gave them to [[Chandragupta Maurya|Sandrocottus]] ([[Chandragupta Maurya|Chandragupta]]), upon terms of intermarriage and of receiving in exchange 500 elephants.}}</ref>

Some groups from [[Peshawar]] and [[Kandahar]] believe to be descended from [[Greek people|Greeks]] who arrived with [[Alexander the Great]].<ref name="Greek ancestry">{{cite journal|vauthors=Mansoor A, Mazhar K, Khaliq S, etal|date=April 2004|title=Investigation of the Greek ancestry of populations from northern Pakistan|journal=Hum Genet|volume=114|issue=5|pages=484–90|doi=10.1007/s00439-004-1094-x|pmid=14986106|s2cid=5715518}}</ref>