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The ethnonym Afghan (افغان afġān) has been used in reference to the Pashtun people during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. The name Afghanistan (افغانستان afġānistān) is a derivation from the ethnonym, originally in the loose meaning "land of the Afghans (Pashtuns)" and referred to the territory inhabited by Pashtun tribes south of the Hindu Kush and was later adopted by the Pashtun-dominated kingdoms of Kabul.
The name Afghan is believed to be first attested in its Arabic form in the 10th century Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam. It likely derives from a Sanskritic tribal name, Aśvaka, used in reference to the Kambojas in antiquity. The Arabic Afġān is an adaptation of the Prakritic form अवगाना (Avagānā), as first used by Varahamihira in his Bṛhat Saṃhitā in 6th century CE. Since the Middle Ages, "Afghan" has been used as a synonym for Pashtun, while the native name for the ethnic group is "Pashtun".
The Pashtun people were called Afghans in the past, since at least the 7th century AD and onwards. A Chinese pilgrim, Xuanzang, who visited the Afghanistan area in 629 AD mentions about Afghans in Zhob.
The Encyclopædia Iranica explains:
From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Afġān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afġān [and] Paštūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paštūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically. The term "Afġān" has probably designated the Paštūn since ancient times. Under the form Avagānā, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. in his Brhat-samhita.
In the writings of the 17th-century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak, the equation of Afghan and Pashtun is further confirmed:
Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashtun and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtuns, Pashtuns are Afghans!
The name Afghan is believed to be first attested in its Arabic form in the 10th century Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam. It likely derives from a Sanskritic tribal name, Aśvaka, used in reference to the Kambojas in antiquity. The Arabic Afġān is an adaptation of the Prakritic form अवगाना (Avagānā), as first used by Varahamihira in his Bṛhat Saṃhitā in 6th century CE. Since the Middle Ages, "Afghan" has been used as a synonym for Pashtun, while the native name for the ethnic group is "Pashtun".
The Pashtun people were called Afghans in the past, since at least the 7th century AD and onwards. A Chinese pilgrim, Xuanzang, who visited the Afghanistan area in 629 AD mentions about Afghans in Zhob.
The Encyclopædia Iranica explains:
From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Afġān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afġān [and] Paštūn has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the Paštūn tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically. The term "Afġān" has probably designated the Paštūn since ancient times. Under the form Avagānā, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. in his Brhat-samhita.
In the writings of the 17th-century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak, the equation of Afghan and Pashtun is further confirmed:
Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashtun and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtuns, Pashtuns are Afghans!
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