The History of the Pashtuns- Pakhtuns

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History and origins

Pashtuns (Pashto: پښتون Paṣtūn, Paxtūn, also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns), also called Pathans (Urdu: پٹھان, Hindi: Paṭhān), ethnic Afghans, are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and in the North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of western Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterized by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is a traditional code of conduct and honor. Pashtun society consists of many tribes and clans which were rarely politically united, until the rise of the Durrani Empire in 1747. Pashtuns played a vital role during the Great Game as they were caught between the imperialist designs of the British and Russian empires. For over 250 years, they reigned as the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan. More recently, the Pashtuns gained worldwide attention after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979  Pashtuns are also an important community in Pakistan, where they are prominently represented in the military and are the second-largest ethnic group.

The Pashtuns are the world's largest (patriarchal) segmentary lineage ethnic group. The total population of the group is estimated to be around 42 million, but an accurate count remains elusive due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979. There are an estimated 60 major Pashtun tribes and more than 400 sub-clans.

The history of the Pashtuns is ancient, and much of it is not fully researched. Since the 2nd millennium BC, regions now inhabited by Pashtuns have seen invasions and migrations, including by Indo-Iranians,Iranian peoples, Indo-Aryans, Medes, Persians, Mauryas, Scythians, Kushans, Hephthalites, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, Mongols. There are many conflicting theories about the origins of the Pashtun people, some modern and others archaic, both among historians and the Pashtuns themselves.

Ancient references

A variety of ancient groups with eponyms similar to either Pashtun or Pukhtun have been hypothesized as possible ancestors of modern Pashtuns. The Greek historian Herodotus mentioned a people called Pactyans, living on the eastern frontier of the Persian Satrapy Arachosia as early as the 1st millennium BC, but their connection to Pashtuns remains unclear. Similarly, the Rig-Veda mentions a tribe called the Pakthas (in the region of Pakhat) inhabiting eastern Afghanistan and some academics have proposed a connection with modern Pashtuns, but this too remains speculative.

In modern history, Pashtuns were also called Afghans until the advent of modern Afghanistan and the division of Pashtuns by a border called Durand Line drawn by the British in the late 19th century. According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, W.K. Frazier Tyler and M.C. Gillet, "The word Afghan first appears in history in the Hudud-al-Alam in 982 CE." It was used by the Pashtuns and refers to a common legendary ancestor known as Afghana.

Al-Biruni refers to Afghans as various tribes living along the frontier mountains between India and Persia, a possible reference to the Sulaiman Mountains, and further notes that they were neither Muslim or Hindu, indicative of an indigenous Pre-Islamic religion. Thus, it is believed that the Pashtuns emerged from the area around Kandahar and the Sulaiman Mountains, and expanded from there. In this geographic location they would have often been in close contact not just with other Iranian tribes such as Persians but also with the Indians.  No proof is available of their religion during the pre-Islamic period.

Anthropology and linguistics

The origins of the Pashtuns are eastern Iranian. The Pashto language is classified under the Eastern Iranian sub-branch of the Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Thus, Pashtuns are classified as an Iranian people, possibly as partial descendants of the Bactrians and Scythians, an ancient Iranian group.

Early precursors to the Pashtuns were Old Iranian tribes that spread throughout the eastern Iranian plateau. According to academic Yu. V. Gankovsky, the Pashtuns began as a "union of largely East-Iranian tribes which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle of the first millennium CE and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalite (White Huns) confederacy." Gankovsky proposes Kushan-o-Ephthalite origin for Pashtuns.

Pashtuns who speak a southern dialect of Pashto refer to themselves as Pashtuns, while those who speak a northern dialect as Pukhtuns. These Pashtuns compose the core of ethnic Pashtuns who are found in western Pakistan and southern-eastern Afghanistan. Like other Iranian peoples, many Pashtuns have mixed with various invaders, neighboring groups, and migrants. In terms of phenotype, Pashtuns are predominantly a Mediterranean people, so light hair, eye colors and pale skin are not uncommon, especially among remote mountain tribes.

  

Pakthas

The Pakthas were one of the tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna battle. Heinrich Zimmer connects them with a tribe already mentioned by Herodotus (Pactyans), and with Pakhtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The Greek historian Herodotus first mentioned a people called Pactyan living on the eastern frontier of the Persian Satrapy Arachosia as early as the 1st millennium BCE. It has been conjectured that these may be the ancestors of today's Pashtuns, but there is no specific evidence for this. In addition, the Rig-Veda mentions a tribe called the Paktues (in the region of Pakhat) as inhabiting present-day Afghanistan and some have speculated that they may have been early ancestors of the Pashtuns, but this too remains unproven. The Bactrians appear to have spoken a related Middle Iranian language and it is conceivable that some Pakhtuns are at least partially related to them

Pactyans shown in yellow during about 600 B.C. represents the Pashtun territory, which is present-day southern Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Genetics

Research into human DNA is as a new way to explore historical movements of populations by studying their genetic make-up. Some recent genetic genealogy studies show Pashto-speaking Pashtuns are mainly related to Iranian peoples and to the Burusho who speak a language isolate. There is evidence of a small Greek contribution to the Pashtun gene pool that will likely require further testing in order to ascertain its pervasiveness.

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