Tweet
Hi, this is my first actual thread on Pashtun Forums.
As we all know, the exact origins of the Pashtun people are shrouded in mystery. We can date the written recorded history of the Pashtun people back to about 8th century AD. Some Pashtun folklore itself suggests that the original Pashtun ancestors originated in the Arabian Peninsula, but we know that this is not the case. Pashtuns are an Iranian people, who speak an eastern Iranian language. Pashtuns are part of the greater Iranian race which includes other people's such as Persians, Kurds, Lors, Azeris, Baloch, Tajiks/Pamirs.
A plausible theory, which I seem to think is logical is that Pashtuns originated in the western to North Western Afghanistan regions (known as Khorasan am I right?) and were originally known as the Bactrians. Thus, this theory suggests that the ancestors of the modern day Pashtun people were the ancient Bactrians, who spoke the now extinct Bactrian language. There is some credibility to this theory as the Abdalians (large Pashtun tribe) are also known to be native to this region. Moreover, some linguists have suggested that the Pashto language directly descends from ancient Bactrian and Avestan. So this is a possibility.
Another reason why this theory seems logical to me, is that a large part of the region as far as mid eastern Afghanistan was actually inhabited by various Indic tribes till the 7-8th century AD. The ancient Hindu epic tale Mahabharata talks about the Kuru Kingdom which had one of its most crucial military bases all the way up to Kandahar! Moreover, the Eastern half of current day Afghanistan was ruled by a Dynasty of Hindu Kings known as Shahi, the last of which named Jayapal was driven out of Kabul by Mahmud Ghazni. Therefore, a large part of Eastern Afghanistan was inhabited by Indic tribes who followed Hinduism and were clearly not Pashtuns. It is possible that Pashtun migration from Western Afghanistan began to take place around 7th century AD and large numbers of Pashtun tribes began to settle in the East.
However, this theory falls apart when we bring into the picture the tribe known as the Afridis. Afridis, a major Pashtun tribe have always been native to the Khyber region since Antiquity, even mentioned by the Father of History itself, Herodotus.
What do you guys think?
As we all know, the exact origins of the Pashtun people are shrouded in mystery. We can date the written recorded history of the Pashtun people back to about 8th century AD. Some Pashtun folklore itself suggests that the original Pashtun ancestors originated in the Arabian Peninsula, but we know that this is not the case. Pashtuns are an Iranian people, who speak an eastern Iranian language. Pashtuns are part of the greater Iranian race which includes other people's such as Persians, Kurds, Lors, Azeris, Baloch, Tajiks/Pamirs.
A plausible theory, which I seem to think is logical is that Pashtuns originated in the western to North Western Afghanistan regions (known as Khorasan am I right?) and were originally known as the Bactrians. Thus, this theory suggests that the ancestors of the modern day Pashtun people were the ancient Bactrians, who spoke the now extinct Bactrian language. There is some credibility to this theory as the Abdalians (large Pashtun tribe) are also known to be native to this region. Moreover, some linguists have suggested that the Pashto language directly descends from ancient Bactrian and Avestan. So this is a possibility.
Another reason why this theory seems logical to me, is that a large part of the region as far as mid eastern Afghanistan was actually inhabited by various Indic tribes till the 7-8th century AD. The ancient Hindu epic tale Mahabharata talks about the Kuru Kingdom which had one of its most crucial military bases all the way up to Kandahar! Moreover, the Eastern half of current day Afghanistan was ruled by a Dynasty of Hindu Kings known as Shahi, the last of which named Jayapal was driven out of Kabul by Mahmud Ghazni. Therefore, a large part of Eastern Afghanistan was inhabited by Indic tribes who followed Hinduism and were clearly not Pashtuns. It is possible that Pashtun migration from Western Afghanistan began to take place around 7th century AD and large numbers of Pashtun tribes began to settle in the East.
However, this theory falls apart when we bring into the picture the tribe known as the Afridis. Afridis, a major Pashtun tribe have always been native to the Khyber region since Antiquity, even mentioned by the Father of History itself, Herodotus.
What do you guys think?
Comment