Editing Pashtuns (section)

=== Middle historical references: Afghan ===
{{Further|Afghan (ethnonym)}}

In the [[Middle Ages]] until the advent of modern Afghanistan in the 18th century, the Pashtuns were often referred to as ''[[Afghan (ethnonym)|"Afghans"]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|quote=Pashtun...bore the exclusive name of Afghan before that name came to denote any native of the present land area of Afghanistan.|title=Pashtun {{!}} people|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pashtun|access-date=3 November 2020|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>
The [[etymological]] view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name ''Afghan'' evidently derives from [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Aśvaka]]n'', or the [[Assakenoi]] of [[Arrian]], which was the name used for ancient inhabitants of the [[Hindu Kush]].<ref>* ''"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).
* ''"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 the Great|Alexander]]"'' (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial [[Anglo-Indian]] words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).</ref> ''Aśvakan'' literally means "horsemen", "horse breeders", or "[[cavalry]]men" (from ''[[aśva]]'' or ''aspa'', the [[Sanskrit]] and [[Avestan]] words for "[[horse]]").<ref>{{cite book|last=Majumdar|first=Ramesh Chandra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XNxiN5tzKOgC&pg=PA99|title=Ancient India|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1977|isbn=978-8-12080-436-4|edition=Reprinted|page=99|author-link=Ramesh Chandra Majumdar|orig-year=1952}}</ref> This view was propounded by scholars like [[Christian Lassen]],<ref>Indische Alterthumskunde, Vol I, fn 6; also Vol II, p 129, et al.</ref> [[J. W. McCrindle]],<ref name="r0">''"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).</ref> M. V. de Saint Martin,<ref>Etude Sur la Geog Grecque & c, pp 39–47, M. V. de Saint Martin.</ref> and [[Élisée Reclus|É. Reclus]],<ref>The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83, Élisée Reclus – Geography.</ref><ref name="r1">''"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).</ref><ref name="r2">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).</ref><ref>''"Afghans are Assakani of the [[Greeks]]; this word being the [[Sanskrit]] [[Ashvaka]] meaning 'horsemen' " '' (Ref: Sva, 1915, p 113, Christopher Molesworth Birdwood).</ref><ref name="r3">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 the Great|Alexander]]" '' (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial [[Anglo-Indian]] words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).</ref><ref>See few more references on Asvaka = Afghan: The Numismatic Chronicle, 1893, p 100, Royal Numismatic Society (Great Britain); Awq, 1983, p 5, Giorgio Vercellin; Der Islam, 1960, p 58, Carl Heinrich Becker, Maymūn ibn al-Qāsim Tabarānī; Journal of Indian History: Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, Trivandrum, India (City), University of Kerala. Dept. of History; Literary History of Ancient India in Relation to Its Racial and Linguistic Affiliations, 1970, p 17, Chandra Chakraberty; Stile der Portugiesischen lyrik im 20 jahrhundert, p 124, Winfried Kreutzen.; See: Works, 1865, p 164, Dr H. H. Wilson; The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83; Chants populaires des Afghans, 1880, p clxiv, James Darmesteter; Nouvelle geographie universelle v. 9, 1884, p.59, Elisée Reclus; Alexander the Great, 2004, p.318, Lewis Vance Cummings (Biography & Autobiography); Nouveau dictionnaire de géographie universelle contenant 1o La géographie physique ... 2o La .., 1879, Louis Rousselet, [[Louis Vivien de Saint-Martin]]; An Ethnic Interpretation of Pauranika Personages, 1971, p 34, Chandra Chakraberty; Revue internationale, 1803, p 803; Journal of Indian History: Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, Trivandrum, India (City). University of Kerala. Dept. of History; Edinburgh University Publications, 1969, p 113, University of Edinburgh; Shi jie jian wen, 1930, p 68 by Shi jie zhi shi chu ban she. Cf also: Advanced History of Medieval India, 1983, p 31, Dr J. L. Mehta; Asian Relations, 1948, p 301, Asian Relations Organization ("Distributed in the United States by: Institute of Pacific Relations, New York."); Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1892, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society – Geography; The geographical dictionary of ancient and mediaeval India, 1971, p 87, Nundo Lal Dey; Nag Sen of Milind Paṅhö, 1996, p 64, P. K. Kaul – Social Science; The Sultanate of Delhi, 1959, p 30, Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava; Journal of Indian History, 1965, p 354, University of Kerala Dept. of History, University of Allahabad Dept. of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore – India; Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales, 1858, p 313, fn 3, Stanislas Julien Xuanzang – Buddhism.</ref>

[[File:Bactrian document Northern Afghanistan 4th century.jpg|thumb|Bactrian document in the Greek script from the 4th century mentioning the word Afghan (αβγανανο): "To Ormuzd Bunukan from Bredag Watanan, the chief of the Afghans"]]

The earliest mention of the name ''Afghan'' (''Abgân'') is by [[Shapur I]] of the [[Sassanid Empire]] during the 3rd century CE,<ref name="Abgan">{{Cite book|last1=Noelle-Karimi|first1=Christine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eo3tAAAAMAAJ|title=Afghanistan -a country without a state?|author2=Conrad J. Schetter|author3=Reinhard Schlagintweit|publisher=IKO|year=2002|isbn=3-88939-628-3|location=[[University of Michigan]], United States|page=18|quote=''The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the 3rd century, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'...''|access-date=24 September 2010}}</ref> In the 4th century the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as a reference to a particular people is mentioned in the [[Bactria]]n documents found in Northern Afghanistan.<ref name="Barkhuis">{{cite book|last1=Balogh|first1=Dániel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=frnVDwAAQBAJ&q=bunukan&pg=PA144|title=Hunnic Peoples in Central and South Asia: Sources for their Origin and History|date=12 March 2020|publisher=Barkhuis|isbn=978-94-93194-01-4|pages=144|language=en|quote=[ To Ormuzd Bunukan, ... greetings and homage from ... ), Pithe ( sot ] ang ( ? ) of Parpaz ( under ) [ the glorious ) yabghu of [ Heph ] thal, the chief ... of the Afghans}}</ref><ref name="Bactrian documents from northern Af">{{cite book|last1=Sims-Williams|first1=Nicholas|title=Bactrian documents from northern Afghanistan|date=2000|publisher=The Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press|isbn=1-874780-92-7|location=Oxford}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|"To Ormuzd Bunukan, from Bredag Watanan ... greetings and homage from ... ), the ( sotang ( ? ) of Parpaz ( under ) [ the glorious ) [[Tokhara Yabghus|yabghu of Hephthal]], the chief of the Afghans, ' the judge of [[Tokharistan|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 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"|the Bactrian documents|4th century|source=}}
{{Blockquote|"because [you] (pl.), the clan of the Afghans, said thus to me:...And you should not have denied? the men of Rob<ref>A small kingdom in Bactria</ref> [that] the Afghans took (away) the horses"|the Bactrian documents|4th century|source=Sims-Williams 2007b, pp. 90–91}}{{Blockquote|"[To ...]-bid the Afghan... Moreover, they are in [War]nu(?) because of the Afghans, so [you should] impose a penalty on Nat Kharagan ... ...lord of Warnu with ... ... ...the Afghan... ... "|the Bactrian documents|4th century|source=Sims-Williams 2007b, pp. 90–91}}
The name Afghan is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of ''"Avagāṇa"'' [अवगाण]<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sanskritdictionary.com: Definition of avagāṇa|url=https://sanskritdictionary.com/avag%C4%81%E1%B9%87a/20082/1|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200507190602/http://sanskritdictionary.com/avag%C4%81%E1%B9%87a/20082/1|archive-date=7 May 2020|access-date=18 November 2020|website=sanskritdictionary.com}}</ref> by the Indian astronomer [[Varahamihira|Varāha Mihira]] in his [[Bṛhat Saṃhitā|Brihat-samhita]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=15 December 1983|title=Afghan|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afgan-in-current-political-usage-any-citizen-of-afghanistan-whatever-his-ethnic-tribal-or-religious-affiliation|access-date=27 September 2010|work=Ch. M. Kieffer|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Iranica]] Online Edition}}</ref><ref name="Bhat">{{Cite book|last1=Varāhamihira|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7rboQwAACAAJ|title=Bṛhat Saṁhitā of Varāhamihira: with english translation, exhaustive notes and literary comments|last2=Bhat|first2=M. Ramakrishna|date=1981|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0098-4|pages=143|language=en}}</ref>
{{Blockquote|"It would be unfavourable to the people of Chola, the Afghans (Avagāṇa), the white Huns and the Chinese."<ref name="Bhat" />|Varāha Mihira|6th century CE|source=chapt. 11, verse 61}}
The word Afghan also appeared in the 982 [[Hudud ul-'alam|Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam]], where a reference is made to a village, Saul, which was probably located near [[Gardez]], Afghanistan.<ref name="Vogelsang" />
{{blockquote|"Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live ''Afghans''".<ref name="Vogelsang">{{Cite book|title=The Afghans|last1=Vogelsang|first1=Willem|year=2002|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=0-631-19841-5|page=18|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&pg=PA18|access-date=2010-08-22}}</ref>}} The same book also speaks of a king in Ninhar ([[Nangarhar Province|Nangarhar]]), who had Muslim, ''Afghan'' and Hindu wives.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Minorsky|first1=V. V.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zB1CQAAQBAJ&q=hudud+alam|title=Hudud al-'Alam 'The Regions of the World' – A Persian Geography 372 A.H. (982 AD)|last2=Bosworth|first2=C. E.|date=31 January 2015|publisher=Gibb Memorial Trust|isbn=978-1-909724-75-4|pages=91|language=en|quote=Ninhar, a place of which the king makes a show of Islam, and has many wives, (namely) over thirty Muslim, Afghan, and Hindu (wives).}}</ref> 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 the tribal lands west of the [[Indus River]] in what is today Pakistan.<ref name="Vogelsang" /><ref>A Glossary of the Tribes And Castes of the Punjab And North-West Frontier Province Vol. 3 By H.A. Rose, Denzil Ibbetson Sir Published by Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1997, Page 211, {{ISBN|81-85297-70-3}}, {{ISBN|978-81-85297-70-5}}</ref>

Al-Utbi, the [[Ghaznavids|Ghaznavid]] chronicler, in his ''[[Tarikh Yamini|Tarikh-i Yamini]]'' recorded that many Afghans and Khiljis (possibly the modern [[Ghilji]]) enlisted in the army of [[Sabuktigin]] after [[Jayapala]] was defeated.<ref name=Farishta-2>{{cite web|work=[[Ferishta]], History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India, Volume 1: Section 15|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=13|title=AMEER NASIR-OOD-DEEN SUBOOKTUGEEN|publisher=Packard Humanities Institute|access-date=31 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130514092123/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=13|archive-date=14 May 2013|url-status=dead|quote=The Afghans and Khiljis who resided among the mountains having taken the oath of allegiance to Subooktugeen, many of them were enlisted in his army, after which he returned in triumph to [[Ghazni|Ghizny]].}}</ref> Al-Utbi further stated that Afghans and Ghiljis made a part of [[Mahmud of Ghazni|Mahmud Ghaznavi]]'s army and were sent on his expedition to [[Tocharistan]], while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated by [[Abulfazl Beyhaqi]].<ref>R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: P-Z, Volume 3 – Page 18</ref> It is recorded that Afghans were also enrolled in the [[Ghurid dynasty|Ghurid Kingdom]] (1148–1215).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Houtsma|first1=M. Th.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&pg=PA150|title=E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913–1936|publisher=BRILL|year=1993|isbn=90-04-09796-1|pages=150–51|access-date=23 August 2010}}</ref> 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.{{Blockquote|"We travelled on to Kabul, formerly 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 [[Sulaiman Mountains|Kuh Sulayman]]. It is told that the [[Islamic view of Solomon|prophet Sulayman [Solomon]]] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354|author=Ibn Battuta|edition=reprint, illustrated|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-415-34473-5|page=180|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKqn_CWTxYEC&pg=PA180|access-date=2010-09-10}}</ref>|[[Ibn Battuta]]|1333}}

[[Ferishta]], a 16th-century [[Muslim historians|Muslim historian]] writing about the history of [[Muslim conquest in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim rule in the subcontinent]], stated:
{{blockquote|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 [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodhi]], the other [[Sur (Pashtun)|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 Plateau|Deccan]], that the Afghans are [[Copt]]s of the race of the [[Pharaoh]]s; 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 [[Judaism|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.<ref name="Ferishta"/>}}