Last name "Khan": Question

[Feroza_Banu]

salam everyone

I have always wondered... why is that more than half of the pakhtoonkhwa have last name "khan"... men, women, children, elderly... while it is so rare to find someone named khan in Afghanistan.

what is the word khan got to do with being a pashtoon. khan word is a farsi word which means a person of high rank or wealth.

Pashtoons have specific last names that come from their tribes... like in afghanistan u rarely ever find someone named "filanki khan"... its usually, Filanki momand, filanki wardag, filanki barakzai. when and how did the word "khan" get associated with pakhtoonkhwa pakhtoons?

sorry if it is a repeated thread.

and please no political BULLL $hiTTTT here...... i am just curious. and if such a thread already exists... please direct me there . thanks.

[Sheenka]

khan is in pashtu too, and in afghanistan there are loads of khans

[graveyardofempires]

Khan is actually a degree given to people for their good service to the nation.
it was given by kings,for example by Afghan king when Afghans defeated the british and many people earned the title khan.

some people just call themselves khan without knowing what it means.
khan in dari means rich,but in reality it has not much to do with being rich.

some people say khan comes from Han and the mongols were also called khans,so its not clear if they brought this title and spread it here or they got it in here.

[Sheenka]

we say in pashtu khan as well to wealthy person dont we? ^
btw are u talking about Wazir Akbar Khan?

[graveyardofempires]

Its kind of our identity now a days so whats wrong with it?

nothing wrong with it khana
we just want to find out how it started
just for educational purposes.

[کیش]

Most Pashtuns in Afghanistan do not have last names. If they have to write a last name, they usually write their tribal name.

My grandpa had Khan in his name, though it was apart of his first name. He didn't have a last name.

[Feroza_Banu]

one more thing... i have yet to see someone in afghanistan... a female with a last name khan... like "shaista khan"... Khan name definitely exists in afghanistan but is given to those individual (first of all only to male), who are head of a tribe or woleswali, or are zameendaar, or are very rich....

i wonder why is it so widespread in KP.

every kid running on the street without a partog, and a runny nose is named khan. lol... its cute though. but i still wonder the historical background

[Feroza_Banu]

Most Pashtuns in Afghanistan do not have last names. If they have to write a last name, they usually write their tribal name.
.

that is what last name means for pashtoons... their tribe's name... unlike tajiks and persians... pashtoons have an identity, which is their tribe's name.

pashtoon last name and their tribe name is their pride...so...

[کیش]

I prefer khan over the tribal name sounds more like unifying our ranks.

Also a lot of Afghans, like my large extended ones spread out in America. Took the name of their dads. Like one of my grandpas name is Zarifqadir, that is his name, no last our middle. Their kids took Qadir, and made that their last name.

[fzpz]

First thing that needs to be taken out of peoples' mind is that Khan = pashtun. Willing to bet that most 'khans' are non-pashtuns. It's a title before the pashtuns ever came on to the scene as a unified entity under their empires. This title is used by many, from the rajputs of potohar, the gilgitis, punjabis, balochis, mongolians (past), biharis, bengalis, etc to denote a title (once held) rather than lineage. Also the use of a last name to identify oneself is a relatively new phenomenon in south central asia (and the east as a whole).

[Pakhtunzai]

^Pretty much what he said.

Although the majority of rajputs that have their names as "khan" just put it there for no reason whatsoever except to make themselves look better.

My great grandfathers name was Illum Deen

[graveyardofempires]

First thing that needs to be taken out of peoples' mind is that Khan = pashtun. Willing to bet that most 'khans' are non-pashtuns. It's a title before the pashtuns ever came on to the scene as a unified entity under their empires. This title is used by many, from the rajputs of potohar, the gilgitis, punjabis, balochis, mongolians (past), biharis, bengalis, etc to denote a title (once held) rather than lineage. Also the use of a last name to identify oneself is a relatively new phenomenon in south central asia (and the east as a whole).

In pakistan and india khan is almost exclusively associated with Pukhtane

[Saifullah]

Sharukh Khan, Amir Khan and many famous Khans are not pashtuns...so its funny how khan=pashtuns. Nobody in the world knows khan=pashtun. All they know is genghis khan and say are u related to him...lol

[Saifullah]

yea bengalis and all sorts have khan....its like pashtuns saying if you have yousufzai as your name it means we are related to jews...

[kakargirl]

khan means king ,prince in afghanistan one dosn't need it next to the name as people know who the true khans are,like my own family automatically as soon we enter qandahar they know who we are ,and automatic response will be the khanans are here ,khan name in other area is used to due to genghis khan, its used in germany too kahn or caan, turkic qaan, china kehan ,sometimes its spelt as xan but is used commonly so the original meaning has gone where it was used for a prince or cheif or king or for high class familys before.