Etymology of Pashtun/Pashto place names

[Nurzai]

Everyone here knows what 'Logar' means except you!

What it mean?

[torkham]

Loy Ghar. Is it not obvious?

[Nurzai]

Loy Ghar. Is it not obvious?

Ok but I was talking about origin not meaning so fair

[kunatawar]

• Peshawar - From Sanskrit Puruṣapura which means "city of men".

• Kabul - From Ottoman Turkish قبول, originally from Arabic قَبُول which means "acceptance/reception/welcome"

• Quetta - A variation of Kot, a Pashto word meaning "fortress".

• Kandahar - From Sikander ("Alexander") as it was founded by him.

• Nimroz - Persian form of Nim + wredz ("half-day").



Do you have a link to his Facebook? (Assuming he doesn't mind you sharing that)



Peshawer in Sanskrit was Puruṣapura so there's no way that is true.

purusapura meant city of men and mardans name has something to do with men although its farsi and its located in the peshawar region so thats where i thought the connection was. the facebook page tarikh-i-pakhtunkhwa was the one i was referring to
Tarikh-i-Pakhtunkhwa - Home | Facebook

[Sarbani]

Charsadda is also of Persian origin. The first part (Char) clearly means "four", dunno what sadda means though.

[Elias]

Charsadda is also of Persian origin. The first part (Char) clearly means "four", dunno what sadda means though.

Maybe it comes from zada - descendant.

[Sarbani]

Kabul had been around far before the Arab invasion of Afghanistan, so no idea how you came to the conclusion that Kabul comes from Arabic. Ptolemy refers to one of the cities of Paropamisadae as Cabura and its people as Bolitae which can be which can be none other than Kabul and its people. Was also called Kaufu by a chinese writer who said that it was constantly conquered by India, Kushans, and Parthians. Will find the source a lil later.

Do you know what Kabul's etymology is then?

Kandahar is probably not from Sikandar. Iv heard this urban legend since i was a kid and imo there is not much to back it up.

Here is a good piece of info on Kandahar's origin:

I have always strongly doubted Kandahar's name coming from Sikandar (and still do) but I couldn't find any good alternate theories. The problem with the Gandhara theory is that Gandhara was in modern day KPK and Northeast Afghanistan not around Kandahar. But your link explains the name was brought by Arachosian migrants. This theory makes much more sense.

[maneatinglizard]

Kandahar is probably not from Sikandar. Iv heard this urban legend since i was a kid and imo there is not much to back it up.

Here is a good piece of info on Kandahar's origin:

I agree. Kandahar sounds nothing like Alexander.

Interestingly, Ibn Khordadbeh lists Kandahar as a part of Sindh, while he lists Rukhaj as a part of Khorasan. When I first saw that, it confused me as I had never heard of a Sindh that reached all the way into Afghanistan, but the theory that it adopted the name of Gandhara makes more sense.

I still have doubts about it though. Why would Gandharans migrate to a much less fertile land like Kandahar, and where are their descendants now?

Do you know what Kabul's etymology is then?

The city seems old enough that it may have come from an altogether extinct language. Perhaps even from the BMAC people?

[salman47]

Maybe it comes from zada - descendant.

Or 'years'. So '4 years'...

[Sarbani]

Kandahar is probably not from Sikandar. Iv heard this urban legend since i was a kid and imo there is not much to back it up.

Here is a good piece of info on Kandahar's origin:

By the way, were the Arachosians Indics or were they Iranics?

[jama0112]

I think they(parthians) ran into the south asians, while the greek ran into the iranic ones, or that the parthians foud the arachosians similar to south asians(indians), because they probably knew the differences between themselves(iranics) and indics, while the greeks don't. I don't know, considered that i came from easter Afghanistan(Kabul and Kandahar) and look like some bollywood Khan(an indic loking one, as people refer me to looking like an inian. That's all what i can cme up with. I know, thi probably sounds stupid and ****, but i think there where sme indics in arachosians, considered the fact that i loook very indic(or probably part indic, part iranic).

[salman47]

I think they(parthians) ran into the south asians, while the greek ran into the iranic ones, or that the parthians foud the arachosians similar to south asians(indians), because they probably knew the differences between themselves(iranics) and indics, while the greeks don't. I don't know, considered that i came from easter Afghanistan(Kabul and Kandahar) and look like some bollywood Khan(an indic loking one, as people refer me to looking like an inian. That's all what i can cme up with. I know, thi probably sounds stupid and ****, but i think there where sme indics in arachosians, considered the fact that i loook very indic(or probably part indic, part iranic).

No actually the Greeks had the Achaemenid Empire, then the Parthians threw the new Greek empire back to Greece... So I would say both of them are referring to the same area!
Also Parthians lived north of Arachosia, so like they were neighbors and knew them way better than the Greeks..

[jama0112]

So, there's a large possibility of the arachosians being lighter indians? Makes at least sense, considering my appearence and my parents home cities.

[Elias]

So, there's a large possibility of the arachosians being lighter indians? Makes at least sense, considering my appearence and my parents home cities.

where are you from?

[jama0112]

As i kept saying, Kandahar(my mom) and Kabul(my dad).

I honestly sometimes wanted to do a DNA-test just to see how south-asian i am.