Theories of Pashtun origin

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Historically, there have been multiple claims and theories conceived that concern the origin of ethnic Pashtuns, who are classified as an Iranic people native to Central and South Asia.^[1][2]

The most prominent theories of Pashtun origin are:

1. The traditional and common legend of descent from the Ten Lost Tribes of the ancient Israelites through Saul, the first king of Israel.
2. Descent from the Hephthalites (also known as the White Huns), a late-antiquity nomadic confederation in Central Asia.^[2][3]
3. Descent from the Saka, a group of nomadic Iranic peoples who historically inhabited the Eurasian Steppe and the Tarim Basin.
4. Descent from the Pakthas, an ancient people referenced in Sanskrit and Greek sources who inhabited what is today southeastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan.
5. Descent from the ancient Greeks and Rajputs (see Ancient Greece–Ancient India relations).^[4][5]

Prior to DNA studies, it was generally acknowledged that their origins were obscure;^[6][7] modern scholars suggest that a common and singular origin between the Pashtun tribes is unlikely due to their existence as a tribal confederation.^[8]

Connection with ancient Vedic tribe Pakthas[]

Historians have come across several references to various ancient peoples called Pakthas (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC,^[9] who may be their early ancestors.

The Vedic people of the region were historically known as the Pakthas, and were identified by the Ancient Greeks as the Pactyans, and considered as ancestors of modern Pakthuns.

There is mention of the tribe called Pakthās who were one of the Vedic tribes that fought against Sudas in the Dasarajna the Battle of the Ten Kings (dāśarājñá), a battle alluded to in Mandala 7 of the Rigveda (RV 7.18.7).^[10] dated between c. 1500 and 1200 BCE.^[11] The Pakthās are mentioned:^[12]

Together came the Pakthas (पक्था), the Bhalanas, the Alinas, the Sivas, the Visanins. Yet to the Trtsus came the Ārya's Comrade, through love of spoil and heroes' war, to lead them.

— Rigveda, Book 7, Hymn 18, Verse 7

Heinrich Zimmer connects them with a tribe mentioned by Herodotus (Pactyans), and with Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan.^[13][14]

Herodutus in 430 BCE mentions in the Histories:^[15]

Other Indians dwell near the town of Caspatyrus [Κασπάτυρος] and the Pactyic [Πακτυϊκή] country, north of the rest of India; these live like the Bactrians; they are of all Indians the most warlike, and it is they who are sent for the gold; for in these parts all is desolate because of the sand.

— Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 102, Section 1

Greek sources mention Pactyans as a people living in the region which includes south-eastern province (Loya Paktia) in Afghanistan and northern parts of Pakistan.^[16][17]

"The Pakthas, Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Kruma originates. Zimmer locates them in present-day eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with the modern Pakthun."^[18]

Greek and Rajput theory[]

The British physician and authority on oriental languages, Henry Walter Bellew, accredited for writing the first Pushtu dictionary in colonial India, suggested that the Pashtuns (Pathans) are actually a descendants of the Greek and Rajputs peoples.^[19][4][5] Bellew’s theory was that Pashtun tribal names could be traced to Greek and Rajput names, which posits the further possibility of a great Greek mixing with the ancient border tribes of India.^[20] Henry Walter Bellew states the Sarabaur or Sarban one of the ancestors of the Afghans, was a corruption of the word Suryabans or Suryavansh, or “the Solar race”. (solar race) one of the principal clan of Rajputs claim descent. He further states that Pashtuns have so many points in common with the Rajput customs ‘as to raise the suspicion of a real connection’.

All these Pathan tribes are located on the Suleman and Khyber ranges^{[disambiguation needed]} from the Kabul river in the north to the Kaura or Vahou Pass in the south.^[21] Utmanzais have sub-tribes like Baddo (Rajput Yaddo, the tribe of Krishna), or Gadun Pastoons tribes (of Hazara which is Sanskrit Abhisara), which names are variant of the Jadu Rajput tribe. These are Yadavas tribes of India^[22][23]

Gaduns established Gajni which is today Ghazni, according to James Tod Gajni was established by Bhatti Rajput named Gaj singh. The Afghan Batanis are ancient Bhattis,a royal elite Yaduvanshi tribe of the Rajputs.In addition, the renowned Arab historian Masudi wrote that Kandahar, the city in which most Pashtuns were concentrated at the time, "is a country of Rajputs" and at the time of Masudi most of the Afghans were concentrated in Qandahar and adjacent areas and had not expanded to the north. Therefore, it is highly significant that Masudi should call Qandahar a Rajput country.^[24][25] In the battle between Prithviraj Chauhan and Muhammad of Ghor in 1192 A.D., the historian Firishta stated that "Hindu Afghans were fighting on the side of the Rajput Chief".^[26]

Hephthalite (White Hun) descent[]

The early ancestors of modern-day Pashtun tribes could possibly be ancient Iranian tribes that spread throughout the eastern Iranian plateau. According to Yu. V. Gankovsky, the Pashtun's probably began as a "union of largely East-Iranian tribes which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle of the first millennium CE and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalites (White Huns) confederacy." He proposes Ephthalite origin for Pashtuns.^[27][28][29] According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, Ghilzais, the second largest Pashtun tribe, is the admixture of Afghan tribes (descendants of Epthalites) and Khalaj people.^[30]

The Pashtuns began as a union of largely East-Iranian tribes which became the initial ethnic stratum of the Pashtun ethnogenesis, dates from the middle of the first millennium CE and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalite (White Huns) confederacy. ... Of the contribution of the Epthalites (White Huns) to the ethnogenesis of the Pashtuns we find evidence in the ethnonym of the largest of the Pashtun tribe unions, the Abdali (Durrani after 1747) associated with the ethnic name of the Epthalites — Abdal. The Siah-posh, the Kafirs (Nuristanis) of the Hindu Kush, called all Pashtuns by a general name of Abdal still at the beginning of the 19th century.

Bani Israel theory[]

There is a tradition among the Pashtuns of being descended from the exiled lost tribes of Israel.^[31] This tradition was referenced in 19th-century Western scholarship and was also incorporated in the "Lost Tribes" literature popular at the time (notably George Moore's The Lost Tribes of 1861). Recently (2000s), interest in the topic has been revived by Jerusalem anthropologist Shalva Weil, who was quoted in the popular press to the effect that "Taliban may be descended from Jews".^[32]

The traditions surrounding the Pashtuns being remote descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" is to be distinguished from the historical presence of the Jewish community in eastern Afghanistan which flourished from about the 7th century to the early 20th century, but has essentially disappeared due to its emigration to Israel since the 1950s.

Mughal-era historiography[]

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is traced to Maghzan-e-Afghani, a history compiled for Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi in the reign of Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the 16th century.

In his universal history Mirat-ul-Alam – The Mirror of the World – Bukhtawar Khan describes the journeys of the Pashtuns from the Holy Land to Ghor, Ghazni, and Kabul. Similarly, Rahmat bin Shah Alam, in his Khulasat-ul-Ansab and Fareed-ud-Din Ahmad in Risala-i-Ansab-i-Afghana provide the history of the Afghans and deal with their genealogies.

Two of the most famous historical works on the subject are Tarikh-i-Afghana – History of the Afghans – by Nimat Allah al-Harawi, which was translated by Bernard Dorn in 1829, and Tarikh-i-Hafiz Rahmatkhani, by Muhammad Zadeek which he wrote in 1770. "Tawarikh-e-Hafiz Rehmat khani"was later translated and provided with footnotes by Khan Roshan khan. These books deal with the early history of the Pashtuns, their origin and wanderings in general. They particularly discuss the Yusefzai (literally "sons of Joseph") and their occupation of Kabul, Bajoor, Swat, Peshawar and some of Charsadda (District of Peshawar).

In his Travels into Bokhara, which he published in 1835, Sir Alexander Burnes wrote: "The Afghans call themselves Bani Israel, or the children of Israel, but consider the term Yahoodi, or Jew, to be one of reproach. They say that Nebuchadnezzar, after the overthrow of Israel, transplanted them into the towns of Ghore near Bamean and that they were called after their Chief Afghan they say that they lived as Israelites till Khalid summoned them in the first century of the Muhammadans. Having precisely stated the traditions and history of the Afghans I see no good reason for discrediting them… the Afghans look like Jews and the younger brother marries the widow of the elder. The Afghans entertain strong prejudices against the Jewish nation, which would at least show that they have no desire to claim – without just cause – a descent from them." (Sir Alexander Burnes, Travels into Bokhara, Vol. 2:139-141.)

Burnes was again in 1837 sent as the first British Envoy to the Court of Kabul. For some time he was the guest of King Dost Mohammad Khan. He questioned the King about the descent of the Pashtuns from the Israelites. The King replied that "his people had no doubt of that, though they repudiated the idea of being Jews". This supports their long held tradition of being descended from Israel ( Northern 10 Tribes) rather than the tribe of Judah ( Jews), which two groups were separate nations after a certain point as referenced many times in the Hebrew Bible aka Old Testament.

William Moorcroft traveled during 1819 to 1825 through various countries adjoining India, including Afghanistan. "The Khaibarees," he says, "are tall and have a singularly Jewish cast of features." (Moorcroft, Travels in Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara, 12)

In his book, An Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia and Afghanistan, which he published in 1843, J. B. Frazer says: "According to their own tradition they believe themselves to be descendants from the Hebrews… they preserved the purity of their religion until they met with Islam." (J.B. Frazer, A Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia and Afghanistan, 298)

Sir Henry Yule (1902 Encyclopædia Britannica, article on Afghanistan) references the tradition:

This story is repeated in great and varying detail in sundry books by afghans, the oldest of which appears to be of the 16th century; nor do we know that any trace of the legend is found of older date. In the version given by Major Raverty (Introd. To Afghan Grammar), Afghana is settled by King Solomon himself in the Sulimani mountains; there is nothing about Nebuchadnezzar or Ghur. The historian Firishta says he had read that the Pashtuns were descended from Copts of the race of Pharoah. And one of the Afghan histories, quoted by Mr. Bellew, relates "a current tradition" that previous to the time of Kais, Bilo the father of the Biluchis, Uzbak (evidently the father of the Uzbegs), and Afghana were considered as brethren. As Mahommed Uzbeg Khan, the eponymus of the medley of Tartar tribes called Uzbegs, reigned in the 14th century A.D., this gives some possible light on the value of these so-called traditions.

Thomas Ledlie wrote in an article in the Calcutta Review in 1989 that "the Afghans [...] claim themselves to be of Bani Israel."^[33]

Lost Tribes[]

It should first be noted that Jewish tradition holds that the tribes were not 'lost', but intermingled. The idea entire tribes - such as the Tribe of Joseph - became separated from the main body is not in accordance with that tradition. It is, however, established historical fact that the early Jewish diaspora was widespread, particularly along the Silk Road, and that sizeable groups migrated, assimilated, and eventually, in some cases, took the local religion. Additionally, the presence of an early Jewish community in the area is well attested, and indeed the community survived to the modern day. It is therefore not unlikely that there is a community descended from early Jewish migrants, but difficult to plausibly call them a 'lost tribe'.

Joseph-Pierre Ferrier wrote his History of the Afghans in 1858 (translated by Capt. W. M. Jesse). Ferrier wrote that "When Nadir Shah Afshar marching to the conquest of India arrived at Peshawar, the chief of the tribe of Yoosoof Zyes (Sons of Joseph) presented him with a Bible written in Hebrew and several other articles that had been used in their ancient worship and which they had preserved...This fact, supposing it to be one, if affording evidence sufficiently convincing to some persons, can only be considered as authority with respect to the Yoosoofzyes ; but it does not follow, therefore, that other Afghan tribes are branches from the same stem ; on the contrary, everything leads to the conclusion that, although they all speak a common language, the Pushtoo, the tribes are not all of the same origin - they are distinguished by marked characteristics, moral as well as physical."^[34]

George Moore published his work The Lost Tribes in 1861. He argued that these tribes are traceable to India. After giving details of the character of the wandering Israelites, he said: "And we find that the very natural character of Israel reappear in all its life and reality in countries where people call themselves Bani Israel and universally claim to be the descendants of the Lost Tribes. The nomenclature of their tribes and districts, both in ancient Geography, and at the present day, confirms this universal natural tradition. Lastly, we have the route of the Israelites from Media to Afghanistan and India marked by a series of intermediate stations bearing the names of several of the tribes and clearly indicating the stages of their long and arduous journey." [George Moore, The Lost Tribes]

Moore goes on to say: "Sir William Jones, Sir John Malcolm and the missing Chamberlain, after full investigation, were of the opinion that the Ten Tribes migrated to India, Tibet, and Cashemire [Kashmir] through Afghanistan." [George Moore, The Lost Tribes]

Major H. W. Bellew went on a political mission to Kandahar and published his impressions in his Journal of a Mission to Kandahar, 1857-8. He then wrote in 1879 his book Afghanistan and Afghans. In 1880 he was sent, once again on another mission to Kabul, and in the same year he delivered two lectures before the United Services Institute at Simla: "A New Afghan Question", or "Are the Afghans Israelites?" and "Who are the Afghans?" He then published another book: The Races of Afghanistan. Finally he collected all his facts in An Enquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, which was published in 1891.

In this work he mentions Killa Yahoodi ("Fort of the Jews") (H.W. Bellew, An Enquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, 34), as being the name of the eastern boundary of their country, and also speaks of Dasht-i-Yahoodi ("Jewish plain") (ibid., 4), a place in Mardan District. He concludes: "The Afghan’s accounts of Jacob and Esau, of Moses and the Exodus, of the Wars of the Israelites with the Amalekites and conquest of Palestine, of the Ark of the Covenant and of the election of Saul to the Kingdom, etc., etc., are clearly founded on the Biblical records, and clearly indicate a knowledge of the Old Testament, which if it does not prove the presence of the Christians at least corroborates their assertion that the Afghans were readers of the Pentateuch." (Ibid., 191

The "Lost Tribes" tradition has left some traces in the self-perception of both some Pashtuns and of some Jews well into the 20th century, and until the present day.^[35] Thus, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, the second President of Israel, in his 1957 book The Exiled and the Redeemed, writes that Hebrew migrations into Afghanistan began: "with a sprinkling of exiles from Samaria who had been transplanted there by Shalmaneser, King of Assyria (719 BC) [...] The Afghan tribes, among whom the Jews have lived for generations, are Moslems who retain to this day their amazing tradition about their descent from the Ten Tribes. It is an ancient tradition, and one not without some historical plausibility... if the Afghan tribes persistently adhere to the tradition that they were once Hebrews and in course of time embraced Islam, and there is not an alternative tradition also existent among them, they are certainly Jewish." (p. 176)

In the 2000s, the "lost tribes" hypothesis was popularized by Shalva Weil, an anthropologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,^[36] In 2010, The Observer under the title "Pashtun clue to lost tribes of Israel" claimed that "Some leading Israeli anthropologists believe that, of all the many groups in the world who claim a connection to the 10 lost tribes, the Pashtuns, or Pathans, have the most compelling case" and on a planned study on the ancestry of the Afridi Pashtuns (while noting that "A previous genetic study in the same area did not provide proof one way or the other"), also citing Weil as saying "Of all the groups, there is more convincing evidence about the Pathans than anybody else, but the Pathans are the ones who would reject Israel most ferociously. That is the sweet irony".^[37]

In his book Abraham's Children, Jon Entine, an American TV News producer and author excludes this possibility.^{[38][clarification needed]}

See also[]

• Genetics and archaeogenetics of pashtun
• Dashti Yahudi
• Nimat Allah al-Harawi Author of Tarikh-i-Khan Jahani Makhzan-i-Afghani
• Bani Israel
• British Israelism
• Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory
• Theory of Kashmiri descent from lost tribes of Israel

References[]

External links[]

• Alden Oreck, The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Afghanistan from Jewish Virtual Library
• Bani-Israelite Theory of Paktoons Ethnic Origin on the site of World Afghan Jirgah. Archived 6 February 2005.
• Traditions of Israelite Descent Among Certain Muslim Groups in South Asia
• From the most of ages by Shahid Hassan From the Mists of Ages