How did the association of Pashtuns to the Khan surname/title happen in India?

[maneatinglizard]

It seems like any Indian/Punjabi with “Khan” as his surname assumes he must have Pashtun ancestry. Does anyone know how this association started? Why has the Turkic association seemingly disappeared, and for that matter, why does it seem to be much less common among Turks than it is Indics and Paki Pashtuns?

Also, why is that last name so common among Pakistani Pashtuns? A last name isn’t very useful when like 90% of the people in a region all use the same exact one.

[Samandri]

why does it seem to be much less common among Turks than it is Indics and Paki Pashtuns?

Your kings:-

Amir Dost Muhammad Khan
Amir Sher Ali Khan
Amir Yaqub Khan
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
Amir Habibullah Khan
King Amanullah Khan

Cabinet of King Zahir Shah in 1933:-

1- Sardar Muhammad Hashim Khan (Premier)
2- Sardar Shah Mahmud Ghazi (Minister of War)
3- Muhammad Gul Khan (Minister of interior)
4- Faiz Muhammad Khan (Minister of Foriegn Affairs)
5- Fazal Muhammad Khan (Minister for Justice)
6- Ahmad Ali Khan (Minister for education)
7- Mirza Muhammad Khan (Minister for Commerce)
8- Allah Nawaz Khan (Minister for Public works)

The real question is, why Afghanistani Pashtuns stopped using Khan?

[jama0112]

Your kings:-

Amir Dost Muhammad Khan
Amir Sher Ali Khan
Amir Yaqub Khan
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
Amir Habibullah Khan
King Amanullah Khan

Cabinet of King Zahir Shah in 1933:-

1- Sardar Muhammad Hashim Khan (Premier)
2- Sardar Shah Mahmud Ghazi (Minister of War)
3- Muhammad Gul Khan (Minister of interior)
4- Faiz Muhammad Khan (Minister of Foriegn Affairs)
5- Fazal Muhammad Khan (Minister for Justice)
6- Ahmad Ali Khan (Minister for education)
7- Mirza Muhammad Khan (Minister for Commerce)
8- Allah Nawaz Khan (Minister for Public works)

The real question is, why Afghanistani Pashtuns stopped using Khan?

I really hope you misspelled Allah as Allan, because no way a muslim can call himself "Allah" which means god in arabic.

[RightWingPakhtun]

Your kings:-

Amir Dost Muhammad Khan
Amir Sher Ali Khan
Amir Yaqub Khan
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
Amir Habibullah Khan
King Amanullah Khan

Cabinet of King Zahir Shah in 1933:-

1- Sardar Muhammad Hashim Khan (Premier)
2- Sardar Shah Mahmud Ghazi (Minister of War)
3- Muhammad Gul Khan (Minister of interior)
4- Faiz Muhammad Khan (Minister of Foriegn Affairs)
5- Fazal Muhammad Khan (Minister for Justice)
6- Ahmad Ali Khan (Minister for education)
7- Mirza Muhammad Khan (Minister for Commerce)
8- Allah Nawaz Khan (Minister for Public works)

The real question is, why Afghanistani Pashtuns stopped using Khan?

yes. why we call Gul Khans gul Khans cause they keep using the name Khan

i bet Nationalist Pashtuns and Afghan Pashtuns also used Khan in their history but is it that they slowly realizing this is a mistake and now reclaiming their last names as Afridi, Suleimankheil, Mehsud, Yousafzai and getting rid of Khan?

but Gul Khans still use Khan, or instead they use Arabic names as last names like Akbar, Hussein, Amin etc. etc.

[torkham]

Your kings:-

Amir Dost Muhammad Khan
Amir Sher Ali Khan
Amir Yaqub Khan
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
Amir Habibullah Khan
King Amanullah Khan

Cabinet of King Zahir Shah in 1933:-

1- Sardar Muhammad Hashim Khan (Premier)
2- Sardar Shah Mahmud Ghazi (Minister of War)
3- Muhammad Gul Khan (Minister of interior)
4- Faiz Muhammad Khan (Minister of Foriegn Affairs)
5- Fazal Muhammad Khan (Minister for Justice)
6- Ahmad Ali Khan (Minister for education)
7- Mirza Muhammad Khan (Minister for Commerce)
8- Allah Nawaz Khan (Minister for Public works)

The real question is, why Afghanistani Pashtuns stopped using Khan?

In documents, such as the Barakzai Geneology, Khan is often added to names of notable family members, such as Dost Mohammad Khan or his father Painda Khan (who also was called Sarfaraz Khan - for double the respect)

There is the other issue that it is a title of respect the kind of respect associated with those who are strong, own or lead people.

Then there is a matter that many Afghans have names on tazkara slightly different to name on say passport - the use of takhalas is there, which may include exalted terms as Khan or humble term as Khaksar

An finally I suspect Afghans in Afghanistan started using location/city, nation-'taup' related names due to knowledge or connection, like:

Arghandabwal
Khakrezwal
Kandahari
Zabuli
Maiwandwal
Karzai
Afghanmal
Afghanzai
Khybar
Pashtoon

to associate a connection to some place, people or nation, leaving given name to takara document.

I often add Khan to a person's name when adressing with respect or honour. For instance if a certain Dawran Afghanmal (fictitious) is invited to my home, I may introduce him as Dawran Khan.

But the plethora of Khans in the east is possibly due to not knowing their a Qom or a place with Afghan affinity eg Bollywood Khans do that, they either don't know their Qom or confuse Khan as a Qom (except the late, great Kader Khan - who has said convincingly of his Kakar ancestry).

[Traveller]

It seems like any Indian/Punjabi with “Khan” as his surname assumes he must have Pashtun ancestry. Does anyone know how this association started? Why has the Turkic association seemingly disappeared, and for that matter, why does it seem to be much less common among Turks than it is Indics and Paki Pashtuns?

Indic people have a lot more interaction with the last name "Khan" from Pashtuns than Turks so they started associating it with us more. Turkic people and Indics who claim Turkic ancestry use "Beg" more often nowadays.

Also, why is that last name so common among Pakistani Pashtuns? A last name isn’t very useful when like 90% of the people in a region all use the same exact one.

It's only really common as a last name in detribalized areas such as the Peshawar valley(except perhaps Nowshera) and most of the Malakand division, and even in those areas there are many people who use the name of their village, area, tribe, or a normal name as a last name. In the rest of Pakistani Pakhtunkhwa where the tribal system is still more or less intact most people prefer tribal last names and Khan is mainly used as a middle name.

[khushal]

Afghans making up last names is a new phenomena. Khan used to be a title,and then it became a compliment or flattery.

[KGODB]

Your kings:-

Amir Dost Muhammad Khan
Amir Sher Ali Khan
Amir Yaqub Khan
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan
Amir Habibullah Khan
King Amanullah Khan

Cabinet of King Zahir Shah in 1933:-

1- Sardar Muhammad Hashim Khan (Premier)
2- Sardar Shah Mahmud Ghazi (Minister of War)
3- Muhammad Gul Khan (Minister of interior)
4- Faiz Muhammad Khan (Minister of Foriegn Affairs)
5- Fazal Muhammad Khan (Minister for Justice)
6- Ahmad Ali Khan (Minister for education)
7- Mirza Muhammad Khan (Minister for Commerce)
8- Allah Nawaz Khan (Minister for Public works)

The real question is, why Afghanistani Pashtuns stopped using Khan?

The answer to your question lies in your post

[Samandri]

Khan is either title (in case of Khan Khels of tribes) or part of name (in case of masses). When we say "They are Khans" (do khananan di), we are talking about Khan Khel family of a tribe.

I was not paying attention but it seems Khushal has western/christian naming system in his mind (He is an Americanay after all). The naming system of westerns , with which you people are accustomed to, is not followed in our regions. Dost Muhammad Khan Mohamad, to be precise there is no forename and surname in it. Mohmand is tribal name, not surname. Tribal name can be Mohamand or sub-tribe like Dawezai or Bamezai etc.

There is one big difference between Pashtuns and Indians. Pashtun females do no have Khan in their names while Indian females have Khan as surname.

[Samandri]

We all agree that Khan is Turko-Mongol nomenclature. Pashtuns of medieval Roh/Pakhtunkhwa adopted it, probably under Timurid rule but we have no concrete information. But Afghanistanis and pseudo-Afghanistanis (i.e Western diaspora) seem to argue that Pashtuns of present-day Afghanistan never adopted it and Khan in the names of Pakistani Pashtuns is relatively recent Desi influence from India.

I have dozens of sources written between 1500 and 1700 which will dispel this delusion of Afghanistanis but i will just go with the earliest one, the Baburnama.

1- "Bu Khan" is name of one of the chiefs of Dilazak Afghans of Peshawar valley (Baburnama, eng trans by A.Beveridge, p-409)

2- "Langar Khan Niyazi" meets Babur in near Peshawar (ibid, p-412)

2- "Sher Khan Tarklani", an Afghan from Laghmanat, hosts Babur (ibid, p-424)

[Firdousi]

Afghans making up last names is a new phenomena. Khan used to be a title,and then it became a compliment or flattery.

Actually this surname phenomena is quite modern thing. In Iran people did not have surnames so during the Pahlevi dynasty people were encouraged to adopt one. I know Iranian with amazing surnames such as "Rastgoo", "Pourgoli" or "Parwari". I even know a family called "Shotor" (camel) lol

In Afghanistan something similar happened. My own family did not have any surname until four or five decades ago. Before that we were just called "Khanawade Khwaja" or "Khwajazadeha": Khwaja´s family. We claim to be heirs of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, Herat´s patron saint.

Even when you look at some of the greatest pre nation state regional great poets, scholars or warriors they did not have any surnames. They just adopted their father´s job, their fathers name or the place they were born as surnames: Omar Khayyam (tent maker), Attari (Perfume maker or perfume seller), Rumi (Roman), Khwarezmi (Khwarezmian), Ibn Sina (son of Sina, his father was a Shia Ismaeli btw), and so on.

Even Arabs were like this. I have a friend from Syria and his surname is "Alhalaq" (the barber). I know a Moroccan guy named Bilal Baqqali (grocery) and so on.

[Iblis_Efreetzai]

Even Arabs were like this. I have a friend from Syria and his surname is "Alhalaq" (the barber). I know a Moroccan guy named Bilal Baqqali (grocery) and so on.

There's also a difference in naming conventions between must'arab and 'asal 'Arabs. typically 'asal 'Arabs have tribal links.

[khushal]

Most last names throughout the world are either patronymic, territorial, occupational or religious.