Ignorant westerners calling afghans south asians?

[MohannaD]

When someone is confused just explain with a smile , as simple as that .

An Iranian though I was Iranian ...
In India when me and my mother were in a shopping place someone though we're from Iran
In Bali (Indonesia) some one was checking if I was Jewish (if I recall correctly)
A Lebanese person though i was Egyptian.

If I get annoyed everytime I'd rather write my nationality on a T-shirt and wear it But I take it easy (not always maybe) . And remember , explaining helps .

[کیش]

^ no we are not europeans, but are definatly middle eastern

WTF is that? We are not South Asians, but are definitely middle eastern? afghans have alot more in common with their south Asians brothers, then the Arabs from the middle east.

Unless, your not a real Afghan.

[kakargirl]

To be honest i my self can't tell the difference between czech or russians so many times i called them polish they got so offended, i cant tell the difference between the chinese or Burma,Thialand ect we call them all chinese , yes they get offended,but its human nature, i even thought some greeks and italians were pakistani so there its just not the west.

[Khyber Pass]

Afghanis are not part of the middle east, we are South Asia. Just because someone thinks you are similar to India or Pakistan shouldn't affect your ethnic nationalism. I've got people thinking i'm from Albania, Lebonon, to Pakistan so chill out. Most people are uneducated, same thing goes for Korean,Chinese and Japanese how can an Afghan tell the difference. Since we live in those areas we know whos who. I also disagree with Afghans looking middle eastern, most Afghans I've met look very similar to their brothers in Pakistan or India.

[Khyber Pass]

Also I think our relationship throughout history and the modern age is stronger with South Asia as opposed to the Middle east, but that's just my opinion.

[Michin Khel]

I think Afghanistan is neither in central asia nor in South asia. Northren afghanistan seem to have close links with central asia while pashtun belt was always close with south asia.
Pashtuns used to go more to india for trade, adventure and settlements than either iran or turkistan. Khiljis, lodhis, suris, rohillas and other dynasties in india reflects that some how we were more attracted towards subcontinents. India was a very rich country compared to iran or turkistan so many pashtuns tried their luck in india. Today descendants of pashtuns are found throughout india, but in iran except durranis near border , there were never pashtun settlements, same is the case with turkistan. But as gadoonwal said afghans/pashtuns came to india as foriegners like iranis, mughals and arabs and boundry of hindostan was always river indus or mountains of hindokush.

[afghanonly]

You guys must be blind. There is a huge difference between afghans and south asians.

this is how afghans look:

[afghanonly]

And this is how indians/pakis look on average:

[afghanonly]

south asians are basically a dravdian race. afghans are not

[Bengal_Tiger]

I have reported the post above for its use of an offensive racial term.

I have to agree with Afghanonly, Afghans have nothing to do with South Asia.

They are linguistically, racially, culturally closer to Iranians, Kurds, Balochis and others. Some say Farsi actually originates from what is now Afghanistan.

Historically and politically though they are more connected to South Asia where they had states rather than the middle east where there was never a Pashtun Abdali or Sher Shah.

Pashtuns of Pashtunkhwa are more culturally desified, and see less of a distance between themselves and South Asians, though of course they see themselves as different and distinct but do not find South Asians as so alien, especially the northern Indians and amongst them especially the Punjabis.

Shahrukh Khan talking about Shahid Afridi & Peshawar - YouTube

[afghanonly]

^ among south asians ofcourse there are different colours also, bengalis, south indians, sri lankans tend to be the darkest and most dravdian. while pakistanis/north indians are a shade lighter because these areas are closer to afghanistan/iran and might be a bit more mixed. kashmiries, if they are south asian are the lightest, but i dont consider kashmiries south asians, they are much more closer to the dardic nations. both pakistan/india should layoff their hands off kashmiries

[Karachi]

And this is how indians/pakis look on average:

most pakistanis dont look like this, even from punjab/sindh areas. these pics are definalty from south or east india

[کیش]

Afghanistan is considered South Asia. How I know this? I am taken a History of South Asian civilization course, where my professor is a Ph. d in linguistics and South Asian history. Most of the time he talks about India, he does mention Afghanistan every other class.

[Karachi]

^ in history afghanistan has had lots of links with south asia, some people say that some tribes of pashtuns are mentioned in Rig Vedas , i am not sure how true that is. I think afghanistan has seen history from every where, south asia, central asia, middle east etc...

[Toramana]

^ in history afghanistan has had lots of links with south asia, some people say that some tribes of pashtuns are mentioned in Rig Vedas , i am not sure how true that is. I think afghanistan has seen history from every where, south asia, central asia, middle east etc...

Karachi Khan, we are the offspring of the same Baba Adam and Bibi hawa---It is that we have little bit differences...and it is true that most people in Pakistan (at least in cities) are a bit different looking from Indians----But once I went to interior Sindh and Punjab and noticed they were more Indians compared to city dwellers....

On the whole we can say people of Pakistan east of Indus are more close to India in custom, culture, looks, etc.