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The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, Pukhtun; Pashto: پښتون Paṣtun; Persian: پختون Paxtun; Urdu: پشتون Pashtūn), or Pathan (Urdu: پٹھان; Hindi: पठान Paṭhān) or ethnic Afghans are an ethno-linguistic group living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan and in the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterized by their language, adherence to Pashtunwali (a pre-Islamic indigenous religious code of honor and culture), and Islam.

Pashtuns have managed to survive a turbulent history despite having rarely been united. Their history can literally be traced back millennia, while their modern past began with the rise of the Durrani Empire starting in 1747. Pashtun martial prowess has been renowned since Alexander the Great ran up against them in the 3rd century BC. The Pashtuns were one of the few groups that managed to impede British imperialism during the 19th century. Pashtuns played a pivotal role in the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) as many joined the ranks of the Mujahideen. The Pashtuns also gained notoriety with the rise and fall of the Taliban since they were the main ethnic contingent in the movement. Modern Pashtuns have been prominent in the rebuilding of Afghanistan and are an important community in Pakistan where they are the second largest ethnic group.

The Pashtuns are the world's largest (patriarchal) segmentary lineage tribal group. The total population of the group is estimated to be over 40 million, but an accurate count remains elusive as there has not been an official census in Afghanistan since the 1970s, and in Pakistan the migratory nature of many Pashtun tribes as well as the practice of secluding women, make exact figures impossible to obtain.

History and origins

See also History of Afghanistan, History of India, and History of Pakistan

The history of the Pashtuns is ancient and much of it has yet to be recorded in contemporary times. From the 2nd millennium BCE to the present, Pashtun regions have seen immense migrations including the Aryans, Persians, Sakas, Scythians, Kushans, White Huns, Greeks, Arabs, Turks, and Mongols. There are many conflicting theories about the origins of the Pashtun people, some modern and others archaic, both among historians and the Pashtuns themselves.

Ancient references

The Greek historian Herodotus first mentioned a people called Pactyan living on the eastern frontier of the Persian Satrapy Arachosia as early as the 1st millennium BC. It has been conjectured that these may be the ancestors of today's Pashtuns, but there is no corroborating evidence for this. In addition, the Rig-Veda mentions a tribe called the Pakthas (in the region of Pakhat) as inhabiting present-day Afghanistan and some have speculated that they may have been early ancestors of the Pashtuns, but this too remains an unproven guess. In Mahabharat the wife of Dhritarashtra is from Gandhara (Modern day Kandahar) and is named Gandhari. The Bactrians appear to have spoken a related Middle Iranian language and it is conceivable that at least some Pashtuns are partially related to them.

Pashtuns are also historically referred to as ethnic Afghans as the terms Pashtun and Afghan were synonymous until the advent of modern Afghanistan and the division of the Pashtuns by the Durand Line, a dividing line drawn by the British in the late 19th century. According to V. Minorsky, W.K. Frazier Tyler, M.C. Gillet and several other scholars, "The word Afghan first appears in history in the Hudud-al-Alam in 982 AD." It was used by the Pashtuns and refers to a common legendary ancestor known as Afghana.

It is often hypothesized that the Pashtuns emerged from the area around Kandahar and the Suleiman Mountains and began expanding millennia ago. In this geographic location they would have have often been in close contact with the Persians, however according to archeological evidence most Pashtuns where not Zoroastrian but predominantly Pagan, with small minorities of Buddhists and Jews prior to the arrival of Muslim Arabs in the 8th century CE.

Anthropology and linguistics

The origins of the Pashtuns are not entirely clear , but their language is classified as an Eastern Iranian tongue, itself a sub-branch of the Indo-Iranian branch of the greater Indo-European family of languages, and thus the Pashtuns are often classified as an Iranian peoples, notably as probable modern day descendants of the Scythians, an ancient Iranian group. According to many academics, such as Yu V. Gankovsky, 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 AD and is connected with the dissolution of the Epthalite (White Huns) confederacy." These tribes, who most likely spoke an early version of modern Pashto survived countless invasions and spread throughout the northeastern Iranian plateau.

The Pashto-speaking Pashtuns refer to themselves as Pashtuns or Pukhtuns depending upon whether they are speakers of the southern dialect or northern dialect respectively. These Pashtuns compose the core of ethnic Pashtuns who are predominantly an Iranian people are found in southern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Many Pashto-speaking Pashtuns have however intermingled with various invaders, neighboring groups, and migrants (as have the other Iranian peoples) including possibly the Ghilzai who may have mingled with Turkic tribes, the Durrani who have interacted considerably with the Tajiks (another Iranian people), and Pashtun tribes north of Peshawar who have mingled with Dardic groups. In terms of phenotype, the Pashto-speaking Pashtuns overall are predominantly a Mediterranean Caucasoid people, but light hair and eye colours are not uncommon, especially among remote mountain tribes.

Many Punjabi Pashtuns speak the Hindko language and are referred as such because of many Pashtuns tribes, for example Jadoons, who settled in places like Hazara, adopted Hindko as their first language and had gained political power in these areas during the British rule and also because of many ethnic Pushtun people who speak Hinkdo as their first language in Peshawar and Kohat. Similarly, the Yousafzai Pashtun tribe of Mardan prefer to speak Hindko as opposed to Pashto. The Hindko speaking people living in major cities Peshawar, Kohat, Mardan are bilingual in Pashto and Hindko. Similarly many Pashto speaking people in districts like Batagram have become bilingual in Pashto and Hindko.

There are also a small number of Siraiki speaking Pakhtouns as well. As Multan was once a province of Afghanistan, the Nawabs of Multan were various Khakwani and Saddozai chiefs, who having settled in Multan even after the Sikhs took over and now speak Siraiki. Many Siraiki speaking Pakhtouns are there in Mianwali and D.I. Khan.

Oral traditions and recent research

In addition, some anthropologists lend credence to the oral traditions of the Pashtun tribes themselves. For example, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is traced to Maghzan-e-Afghani who compiled a history for Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi in the reign of Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the 16th century CE. Another book, that corresponds with most Pashtun historical records, Taaqati-Nasiri, states that in the 7th century a people called the Bani Israel settled in Ghor, southeast of Herat, Afghanistan and then migrated south and east. These Bani Israel references are in line with the commonly held view by Pashtuns that when the twelve tribes of Israel were dispersed (see Israel and Judah and Lost Ten Tribes), the tribe of Joseph, among other Hebrew tribes, settled in the region. Hence the term 'Yusef Zai' in Pashto translates to the 'sons of Joseph'. A similar story is told by Ferishta.

Maghzan-e-Afghani's Bani-Israel theory has largely been debunked due to historical and linguistic inconsistencies. The oral tradition is believed to be a myth that grew out of a political and cultural struggle between Pashtuns and Mughals, which explains the historical backdrop for the creation of the myth, the inconsistencies of the mythology, and the linguistic research that refutes any Semitic origins.

Other Pashtun tribes claim descent from Arabs including some even claiming to be descendants of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad (popularly referred to as sayyids). Some groups from Peshawar, and Kandahar, such as the Afridis, Khattaks, and Sadozais, also claim to be descended from Alexander the Great's Greeks. The Khakwani tribe which is spread out from Khogyani district (from which they take their name) in Nangarhar province uptil as far as Bahawalpur city in the south of Punjab claims that the Pakhtouns are decendants of Sahabis (companions of the prophet PBUH). With the discovery of the Bactrian civilisation, a few decades ago, the world is knowing for the first time about an important part of the Afghan and Pashtun history, much before Islam. This part of the Afghan history seems to have been closely connected to the ancient Greeks who had colonised this region for very long time. The Greek factor in the Pashtun history, neglected in the past, seems to be getting much more attention, in the modern times. The discovery of the Greek mythology and the presence of a large number of ancient Greek words in Pashto language, revealed through a scientific study, done by a British journalist, Amanullah Ghilzai, the connection between the ethnic Pashtuns and ancient Greeks, seems much stronger than previously thought.

Genetics

Research into human DNA has emerged as a new and innovative tool being used to explore the genetic make-up of various populations in order to ascertain historical population movements. According to some genetic research (the source of which is disclosed under the references section below regarding a random sampling of Pashtun populations without specfication as to which Pashtun tribes were tested in western Pakistan) the anthropological evidence that the Pashto-speaking Pashtuns are related to other Iranian groups as well as the Burusho of the Northern Areas of Pakistan, who speak a language isolate. The genetic testing, though still in its initial phases, has not shown any substantial connection between the general Pashtun population sampled to the genetic markers found among most Greeks, Jews, or Arabs. What may be the case is that the gentically Pashtuns have slightly changed over time by due to vairous migrations in the area , while still maintaining an eastern Iranian base genetically overall. Ultimately, a much more detailed, transparent and wider sampling of Pashtun DNA will be required before a conclusive and generally representative answer of Pashto tribal origins can be answered.

Demographics

The vast majority of Pashtuns can be found in an area stretching from southeastern Afghanistan to western Pakistan. Small additional colonies can be found in the Northern Areas, Azad Kashmir province, Karachi in Pakistan as well as in other parts of Afghanistan. There are smaller communities in Iran and India, and a large migrant worker community in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. Important metropolitan centers of Pashtun culture include Peshawar and Kandahar, while Kabul and Quetta, though having large Pashtun populations, are more mixed cities of cultural significance.

Pashtuns comprise over 15% of Pakistan's population or 28 million and about 42% of Afghanistan's population totaling 12.5 million. This suggests a total of roughly 40 million. The exact measure of these figures remains uncertain, particularly those for Afghanistan, and are affected by approximately 3 million Afghan refugees (of which 81.5% or 2.49 million are ethnic Pashtuns) that remain in Pakistan.

Putative ancestry

There are also various groups which claim Pashtun descent and are largely found among other groups in Afghanistan and South Asia and generally do not speak Pashto and are often considered either overlapping groups or are simply assigned to the ethno-linguistic group that corresponds to their geographic location and their mother tongue. Some groups who claim Pashtun descent include various non-Pashtun Afghans who are often conversant in Persian rather than Pashto. Many claimants of Pashtun heritage in South Asia have mixed with local Muslim populations and refer to themselves (and Pashto-speaking Pashtuns and often Afghans in general) in the Urdu variant Pathan rather than Pashtun or Pukhtun. These populations are usually only part-Pashtun, to varying degrees, and often trace their Pashtun ancestry putatively through a paternal lineage, and are not universally viewed as ethnic Pashtuns (see section on Pashtuns Defined for further analysis). In addition, nearly 20% of Urdu-speaking people claim partial Pashtun ancestry. The Muslim sultans and Mughal emperors of Delhi employed thousands of Pashtun soldiers that settled down in northern India and intermarried with local Muslims. The Rohilla Pashtuns, after their defeat by the British, are notable for having intermarried with local Muslims, while becoming part of the Urdu-speaking Muslim community. The repression of Rohilla Pashtuns by the British in late 18th century caused thousands to flee to the Dutch colony of Guyana in South America. Small minorities of Pashto-speaking Sikhs and Hindus, estimated to be in the thousands, can be found in parts of Afghanistan.

Pashtuns defined

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly is a Pashtun. The most prominent views are (1) that Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian people who are speakers of the Pashto language and live in a contiguous geographic location (this is the generally accepted academic view) in Afghanistan and Pakistan, (2) Pashtuns, in addition to being Pashto-speakers and meeting other criteria, are also Muslim and follow Pashtunwali and thus Jews, Christians, or atheists would be excluded, (3) to define the Pashtuns in terms of patrilineal descent going back to legendary times in accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid who is seen as the progenitor of the Pashtun people. We may call these the ethno-linguistic definition, religious-cultural definition, and the patrilineal definition.

Ethnic definition

The ethno-linguistic definition is the most prominent and accepted view as to who is and is not a Pashtun. Generally, this most common view holds that Pashtuns are defined within the parameters of having mainly eastern Iranian ethnic origins, sharing a common language, culture and history, living in relatively close geographic proximity to each other, and acknowledging each other as kinsmen. Thus, tribes that speak even disparate yet mutually intelligible dialects of Pashto will acknowledge each other as ethnic Pashtuns and even subscribe to certain dialects as 'proper' such as the Pukhtu spoken by the Yousafzai and the Pashto spoken by the Durrani. These criteria tend to be used by most Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan as the basis for who can be counted as a Pashtun.

Cultural definition

The religious and cultural definition is more stringent and requires Pashtuns to be Muslim and adherents of the Pashtunwali code. This is the most prevalent view among the more orthodox and conservative tribesmen who do not view Pashtuns of the Jewish faith as actual Pashtuns even if they themselves might claim to be of Hebrew ancestry depending upon which tribe is in question. The religious definition for Pashtuns is partially based upon the laws of Pashtunwali, and that those who are Pashtun must follow and honor Pashtunwali. However, Pashtun society is not entirely homogenous in the religious sense, as Pashtuns, who are predominantly Sunni Muslims, can also be followers of the Shia sect among others. In addition, the Pashtun Jewish population (once numbering in the thousands) has largely relocated to Israel. Overall, more flexibility can be found among Pashtun intellectuals and academics who sometimes simply define who is and is not a Pashtun based upon other criteria that often excludes religion.

Ancestral definition

The patrilineal definition is based on an important orthodox law of Pashtunwali. Its main requirement is that anyone claiming to be a Pashtun must have a Pashtun father. This law has maintained the tradition of exclusively patriarchal tribal lineage intact. Under this definition there is less regard as to what language you speak (Pashto, Persian, Urdu, English, etc.), while more emphasis is placed upon one's father in order to be an ethnic Pashtun. Thus, the Pathans in India, for example, who have lost both the language and presumably many of the ways of their putative ancestors, can, by being able to trace their fathers' ethnic heritage back to the Pashtun tribes (who some believe are descendants of the four grandsons of Qais Abdur Rashid, a possible legendary progenitor of the Pashtuns), remain 'Pashtun'. The legend states that Qais, after having heard of the new religion of Islam, traveled to meet the Muslim Prophet Muhammad in Medina and returned to Afghanistan a Muslim. Qais, in turn, purportedly had many children and one son, Afghana, produced up to four sons who set out towards the east including one son who went towards Swat, another towards Lahore and Oudh, another to Multan, and finally one to Quetta. This legend is one of many traditional tales among the Pashtuns regarding their disparate origins that remain largely unverifiable.

Culture

See also Pashtun culture

Pashtun culture was formed over the course of many centuries. Pagan traditions survived in the form of traditional dances, while literary styles and music largely reflect strong influence from the Persian literary tradition and regional musical instruments fused with localized variants and interpretation. Pashtun culture is a unique blend of native customs and strong influences from Central, South, and West Asia.

Language and literature

Main article Pashto language

Throughout Pashtun history poets, prophets, kings and warriors have been the most revered members of society. For much of Pashtun history literature has not played a major role as Persian was the lingua franca used by neighboring peoples and generally relied upon for writing purposes. However, by the sixteenth century early written records of Pashto began to appear, the earliest of which describes Sheikh Mali's conquest of Swat. The advent of Pashto poetry and the revered works of Khushal Khan Khattak and Rahman Baba in the 17th century helped transition Pashto towards the modern period. In the 20th century, Pashto literature gained significant prominence with the poetic works of Ameer Hamza Shinwari who was noted for his development of Pashto Ghazals. In recent times, Pashto literature has received increased patronage, but due to relatively high illiteracy rates, many Pashtuns continue to rely upon the oral tradition. Pashtun males continue to meet at chai khaanas or tea cafes to listen and relate various oral tales of valor and history.

In-spite of the general male dominance of Pashto oral story-telling, Pashtun society is also marked by some matriarchal tendencies. Folktales involving reverence for Pashtun mothers and matriarchs are common and are passed down from parent to child, as is most Pashtun heritage, through a rich oral tradition that has survived the ravages of time.

Religion

Main articles: Islam in Afghanistan, Islam in Pakistan, and Jews of Afghanistan

Religiously, nearly all Pashtuns are Muslim, usually of the Sunni sect, while large minorities are also Shia and some Ismaili and Ahmadi. The majority of the Sunnis follow the Hanafite branch of Sunni Islam. A tiny Jewish population has relocated to Israel.

Pashtunwali

Main article Pashtunwali

The term 'Pakhto' or 'Pashto' from which the Pashtuns derive their name is not merely the name of their language, but synonymous with a pre-Islamic honor code/religion formally known as Pashtunwali (or Pakhtunwali). The main tenets of Pashtunwali include:

1. Melmastia: Hospitality and asylum to all guests seeking help.
2. Badal: Justice and revenge, possibly derived from ancient Israelite Mosaic Law, "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
3. Zan, Zar and Zameen: Defense of women/family, treasure, and property/land.
4. Nanawati: Humble admission of guilt for a wrong committed, which should result in automatic forgiveness from the wronged party.

The basic precepts of Pashtunwali continue to be followed by many Pashtuns, especially in rural areas and is often the center of Pashtun tribal life.

Performance art

Main articles Khattak Dance, Music of Afghanistan

Pashtun performers remain avid participants in various physical forms of expression including dance, sword fighting, and other physical feats. Perhaps the most common form of artistic expression can be seen in the various forms of Pashtun dances.

One of the most prominent dances is the Attan, a dance with ancient pagan roots, that was later modified by Islamic mysticism, in some regions, and has become the national dance of Afghanistan. A rigorous exercise, the Attan is performed as musicians play various native instruments including the dhol (drums), tablas (percussions), rubab (a bowed string instrument), and toola (wooden flute). Involving a rapid circular motion, dancers perform until no one is left dancing in a fashion similar to sufi whirling dervishes. Numerous other dances are affiliated with various tribes including the Khattak Wal Atanrh (eponymously named after the Khattak tribe), Mahsood Wal Atanrh (which, in modern times, involves the juggling of loaded rifles), and Waziro Atanrh among others. A sub-type of the Khattak Wal Atanrh known as the Braghoni involves the use of up to three swords and requires great skill to successfully execute. Though most dances are dominated by males, some dance performances such as the Spin Takray feature female dancers. Additionally, young women and girls often entertain at weddings with the Tumbal (tambourine).

Traditional Pashtun music has ties to Klasik (traditional Afghan music heavily inspired by classical Indian music), Iranian musical traditions, and various forms found in the eastern Music of Pakistan. Popular forms include the ghazal (sung poetry) and Sufi qawwali music. General themes tend to revolve around love and religious introspection. Modern Pashto music is currently centered around the city of Peshawar due to the various wars in Afghanistan and tends to combine indigenous techniques and instruments with Iranian-inspired Dari music and Indian Filmi music prominent in Bollywood.

Other modern Pashtun media include an established Pashto language film and tv industry that is based in Pakistan. Both Pashtuns and Punjabi producers, based in Lahore, have created Pashto language films, since the 1970s. Pashto films were once popular, but have declined both commercially and critically in recent years. Past films such as Yusuf Khan Sherbano dealt with serious subject matter, traditional stories, and legends, but the Pashto film industry has, since the 1980s, been accused of churning out increasingly lewd exploitation-style films. Pashtun lifestyle and issues have been raised by Western and Pashtun expatriate film-makers in recent years. Notable films about the Pashtun experience include British film-maker Michael Winterbottom's In This World, which chronicles the struggles of two Afghan youths who leave their refugee camps in Pakistan and attempt to move to the United Kingdom in search of a better life, and the British mini-series Traffik (re-made as Traffic for US audiences) which featured a Pashtun man (played by Jamal Shah) struggling to survive in a world with few opportunities outside the drug trade.

There are also many famous Pashtuns from India involved in the media. It must be mentioned that Bollywood superstar Dilip Kumar is a Pashtun. He was born Yusuf Khan into a Pashto speaking family in Peshawar, British India. He stayed in India after independence to pursue his film career. He adopted the screen name Dilip Kumar, after a novelist suggested that he would reach out to more people that way. Another famous Indian Pashtun is the Bollywood actress Madhubala. A legendary film star of India known by her screen name, Madhubala who came from a Pashtun family of Delhi, is considered one of the most beautiful faces, the South Asian film Industries have ever had. Popularly known as "The Screen Goddess", her real name was Mumtaz Jehan. She had an unhappy life and died at a young age in 1969.

History of Attan also Althen or Khatak dance

A British journalist of Pashtun origin , Amanullah Ghilzai, through his scientific study has traced the roots of "Khatak dance" or Attan also Athen to the ancient Greek dance of almost the same name. According to his theory, the dance which is internationally known as Khatak, while among the Afghans and Pashtuns as Athen or Attan, is actually one of the earliest forms of the ancient Greek dances, called "Athena" attributed to the Greek Goddess of War, Wisdom and Patriotism, of the same name. The Greeks had brought this dance with them to Bactria, ancient Afghanistan about 23 centuries ago when they had colonised this region for several centuries. During this period a sizable chunk of the Greek population had moved to Afghanistan and some western and northern-western parts of Pakistan, mentioned as "Yawanas" in the ancient Hindu books. The dance "Athen" also "Attan", seems to have been preserved in one of its earliest forms by members of the Khatak and some other Pashtun tribes, including the Ghilzais. The dance Athen is performed by many Pashtuns but each of the tribes has changed it a bit or a lot while the name "Athen" remains the same. In the ancient Greece, the dance Athena had the same definition and reverence attached to it as most Pashtuns would still attach to Athen. The dance Athena seems to have disappeared in Greece during the Christian era while interestingly, the Athen survived in Afghanistan and Pashtun parts of Pakistan.

Sports

Image:Imrankhan1.jpg|thumb|200px|Imran Khan, is a Pakistani Cricketer turned politician. Imran Khan is a Pashtun from the Niazi tribe from Lahore, Pakistan

Pashtuns engage in various sporting activities common throughout the world including cricket and football (soccer). Older traditional sports include Buzkashi, a contest between horsemen (believed to have been brought to the region by the Mongols) that entails dragging a goat carcass and keeping it away from other players. Another Pashtun past-time is Naiza bazi, which also involves horsemen who engage in throwing spears. Polo is also an ancient traditional sport in the region and is a popular amongst many tribesmen such as the Yousafzai. Like other neighboring peoples, many Pashtuns engage in wrestling (Pahlwani), which is often part of larger sporting events. Cricket is largely a legacy of British rule in the North West Frontier Province and many Pashtuns have become prominent participants including Shahid Afridi,real name Shahid Hussain Shah, who is regarded as one of the best cricket players in the world. Cricket would not be complete without mentioning Imran Khan. Imran Khan hails from the Niazi Pashtun Tribe. His family is settled in Punjab, however, he still considers himself and his heritage Pashtun (Pathan) as per his autobiography (Warrior Race: A Journey Through the Land of the Tribal Pathans). Football is a more recent sport that increasing numbers of Pashtuns have started to play. Children engage in various games including a somewhat macabre form of marbles called buzul-bazi, which involves playing with the knuckle bones of sheep. Although traditionally less involved in sports than boys, young Pashtun girls often play volleyball and basketball, especially in urban areas. Another sport played by Pashtuns is Gatka in which is a form of fencing where they square up to each other and are armed with a leather padded, circular, round shield accompanied by a long think treated, leather covered cane. This sport was quite popular up to the 70's and frequently was a showpiece at special occassions such as weddings. It has declined in popularity in recent decades due to shortage of Ustazs'(masters' and teachers). Swat and Hazara regions were the mainstay of this activity.

Institutions

See Pashtun tribes for a complete list of tribal groupings.

Possibly the most prominent institution of the Pashtun people is the intricate system of tribes. The Pashtuns remain a predominantly tribal people, but the world-wide trend of urbanization has begun to alter Pashtun society as cities such as Peshawar and Quetta have grown rapidly due to the influx of rural Pashtuns and Afghan refugees. Many still identify themselves with various clans in-spite of this trend towards urbanization.

More precisely, there are several levels of organization within the Pashtun tribal system: the Tabar (tribe) is subdivided into kinship groups each of which is a Khel. The Khel in turn is divided into smaller groups (Pllarina or plarganey), each of which consists of several extended families or Kahols. "A large tribe often has dozens of sub-tribes whose members may see themselves as belonging to each, some, or all of the sub-tribes in different social situations (co-operative, competitive, confrontational) and identify with each accordingly." Pashtun tribes are divided into four 'greater' tribal groups: Sarbans, Batans, Ghurghusht and Karlans.

In addition to the tribal hierarchy, another prominent Pashtun institution is that of the Jirga or 'Senate' of elected elders and wise men. Most decisions in tribal life are made by members of the Jirga, which is the main institution of authority that the largely egalitarian Pashtuns willingly acknowledge as a viable governing body.

Pashtuns often observe special occasions upon which to celebrate and/or commemorate events, which are also quite often national holidays in Afghanistan and Pakistan. A common Turko-Iranian celebration known as Nouruz (or New Year) is often observed by Pashtuns, especially in Afghanistan. Most prominent are Muslim holidays including Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Muslim holidays tend to be the most widely observed and commercial activity can come to a halt as large extended families gather together in what is often both a religious duty and a festive celebration.

The modern era

The Pashtuns are intimately tied to the history of modern-era Afghanistan stretching back to the Hotaki dynasty and later the Durrani Empire. The Hotaki were Ghilzai Pashtuns who challenged the crumbling Safavid Empire and briefly seized control over much of Persia from 1722 to 1736. This early phase of Pashtun independence was followed by the efforts of the country's founder, Ahmad Shah Durrani, who was an Abdali (Durrani) Pashtun and formerly a high-ranking military official under the Turko-Iranian ruler Nadir Shah. He founded an empire which covered all of what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, and Iranian Mashad. (Map) His successors would rule this empire for the next 40 years, while truncated Afghanistan emerged following conflicts with the Sikhs (see also Ranjit Singh) and the British. The Pashtuns/Afghans fought the British to a standstill and kept the Russians at bay during the so-called Great Game during which Afghanistan managed to remain an independent state that played the two large imperialist empires against each other to maintain some semblance of autonomy. In the 20th century, various Pashtuns living under British Indian rule in the North West Frontier Province agitated for Indian independence, including Khan Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (both members of the Khudai Khidmatgar, popularly referred to as the Surkh posh or "the Red shirts"), and were inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's non-violent method of resistance. Later, in the 1970s, Khan Wali Khan pressed for more autonomy for Pashtuns or even an independent Pashtunistan.

Pashtuns in Afghanistan attained complete independence from British intervention, during the reign of King Amanullah Khan, following the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The monarchy ended with the Mohammed Daoud Khan, who seized control of Afghanistan in 1973 and opened the door to Soviet intervention, which eventually culiminated in the Saur Revolution or Communist take-over of Afghanistan in 1978. Starting in the 1970s, many Pashtuns joined the Mujahideen opposition against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. These Mujahideen fought for control of Afghanistan against the Communist Khalq and the Parcham factions, which were also largely composed of ethnic Pashtuns. More recently the Pashtuns became known for being the primary ethnic group that comprised the Taliban, whose ideological basis began in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The movement began in the Afghan refugee community of Peshawar and at the Madarassa-e-Haqqania in Akora, Khattak and then shifted to the predominantly Pashtun city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. As of late 2001, the Taliban had been removed from power as a result of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Pashtuns have played an important role in the region of South-Central Asia. The current President of Afghanistan is an ethnic Pashtun, Hamid Karzai, while in neighboring Pakistan ethnic Pashtun politicians, notably Ayub Khan and Ghulam Ishaq Khan, have also attained the Presidency in the past. One of India's celebrated former presidents, Zakir Hussain, was from a Pashtun family settled in Hyderabad. The Afghan royal family now represented by Muhammad Zahir Shah is also of ethnic Pashtun origin. Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th century warrior poet Khushal Khan Khattak, Afghan "Iron" Emir Abdur Rahman Khan and in modern times US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad among many others. In India, the former ambassador to Algeria and advisor to Indira Gandhi, Mohammad Yunus was a Pashtun who remained in India after independence.

Women

The Pashtuns today are a diverse population with widely varying lifestyles and perspectives. The effects of globalization have led to the proliferation of Western ideas as well as the infiltration of Saudi-style Wahhabist Islam. Though many Pashtuns remain tribal and illiterate, others have become urbanized and highly educated. The ravages of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the Afghan wars leading up to the rise and fall of the Taliban have caused substantial hardship amongst the Pashtuns. Currently, Afghanistan is in a rebuilding phase, while Pashtuns in Pakistan have grown in numbers and influence. Stability remains elusive for Pashtuns who have had to balance a practical necessity to survive with a desire to work hard and seek out opportunity. However, changes among the Pashtuns have not come without difficulty, especially in the case of women.

Pashtun women greatly vary from the traditional housewives who live in seclusion to urban workers some of whom seek (and have attained) parity with men. They share with their menfolk a free-willed, strong and fiercely independent character that values freedom and self rule.

Due to numerous social hurdles, the literacy rate for Pashtun women remains considerably lower than that of males. Abuse against women is also widespread and yet is increasingly being challenged by women's rights organizations who find themselves struggling with conservative religious groups as well as government officials in both Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to researcher Benedicte Grima's book Performance of Emotion Among Paxtun Women, "a powerful ethic of forbearance severely limits traditional Pashtun women's ability to mitigate the suffering they acknowledge in their lives."

Pashtun women often have their legal rights curtailed in favor of their husbands or male relatives as well. For example, though women are technically allowed to vote in Afghanistan and Pakistan, many have been kept away from ballot boxes by males. Traditionally, Pashtun women have few inheritance rights and are often charged with taking care of large extended families of their spouses. Another tradition that persists is Swara, a practice that involves giving a female relative to someone in order to rectify a dispute. The practice was declared illegal in 2000, but continues to be conducted in tribal regions.

In-spite of obstacles, many Pashtun women have begun a process of slow change. Some Pashtun women in cities in Pakistan have attained more personal freedom and autonomy when it comes to their personal lives, which has not been received well by conservative Pashtun men and women. Others have joined men in business, finance, and other male dominated fields. While most Pashtun women (like many men) are illiterate, a rich oral tradition and resurgence of poetry has sparked some interest on the part of both men and women and given hope to many Pashtun women seeking to learn to read and write. As a sign of further female emancipation, a Pashtun woman recently became one of the first female fighter pilots in Pakistan's Airforce. In addition, numerous Pashtun women have attained high political office in both Pakistan and, following recent elections, in Afghanistan where female representatives compose one of the highest percentages in the world. Substantial work remains though for Pashtun women who hope to gain equal rights with Pashtun men who remain disproportionately dominant in most aspects of Pashtun society. Human rights organizations including the Afghan Women's Network continue to struggle for greater women's rights as does the Aurat Foundation in Pakistan which often attempts to safeguard women from domestic abuse. The recent history of Afghanistan has seen a legendary female figure who fought for the rights of women in that country at a very difficult time. Meena Khishwar Kamal, born in 1957 in Kabul to a middle class family was one of most out-spoken campaigner for the rights of women in Afghanistan. She would be remembered as one of the bravest Afghan women in the recent history of that country. Meena, who came from the Pashtun ethnicity, was the founder of the revolutionary Women of Afghanistan, the She was killed in the Pakistani city of Quetta, in mysterious circumstances, several years ago. Her name Meena, which in Pashto, means love, gave voice to the deprived and silenced women of Afghanistan at the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s. She campaigned against religious fundamentalism and the occupation of Afghanistan by the Russian forces. Her party, the RAWA, is still functioning in and outside Afghanistan. During the Taleban era of Afghanistan, RAWA, was one of the most outspoken critiques of the regeme, notorious for its anti-women policies.

See also

• Pashtunistan
• Pashtun tribes
• Pashtun diaspora
• List of Pashtuns
• Demographics of Afghanistan
• Demographics of Pakistan
• Iranian languages
• Iranian peoples
• Pan-Iranism

External links

• Pashtun Tribes
• Studies of the Pashtun family
• Afghan Women's Network
• A Nation Displaced: The world's largest refugee population
• Ethnologue Pashto
• Pathan/Pashtun population geographic distribution and statistics
• UNHCR “BETRAYED AND ABANDONED” AFGHAN REFUGEES: HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT
• Afghan refugees in Iran
• PukhtunWomen.org
• khyberwatch.com
• pakhtun.com

Literature

• Ahmad, Aisha and Boase, Roger. 2003. "Pashtun Tales from the Pakistan-Afghan Frontier: From the Pakistan-Afghan Frontier." Saqi Books (March 1, 2003). ISBN 0-86356-438-0.
• Ahmed, Akbar S. 1976. "Millennium and Charisma among Pathans: A Critical Essay in Social Anthropology." London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
• Ahmed, Akbar S. 1980. "Pukhtun economy and society." London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
• Banuazizi, Ali and Myron Weiner (eds.). 1994. "The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)." Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2608-8.
• Banuazizi, Ali and Myron Weiner (eds.). 1988. "The State, Religion, and Ethnic Politics: Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)." Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2448-4.
• Caroe, Olaf. 1984. "The Pathans: 500 B.C.-A.D. 1957 (Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints)." Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-577221-0
• Dani, Ahmad Hasan. 1985. "Peshawar: Historic city of the Frontier." Sang-e-Meel Publications (1995). ISBN 969-35-0554-9.
• Dupree, Louis. 1997. "Afghanistan." Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-577634-8.
• Elphinstone, Mountstuart. 1815. "An account of the Kingdom of Caubul and its dependencies in Persia, Tartary, and India: comprising a view of the Afghaun nation." Akadem. Druck- u. Verlagsanst (1969).
• Habibi, Abdul Hai. 2003. "Afghanistan: An Abridged History." Fenestra Books. ISBN 1-58736-169-8.
• Hopkirk, Peter. 1984. "The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia." Kodansha Globe; Reprint edition. ISBN 1-56836-022-3.
• Wardak, Ali "Jirga - A Traditional Mechanism of Conflict Resolution in Afghanistan", 2003, online at UNPAN (the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance).
• "A Study of the Greek Ancestry of Northern Pakistani Ethnic Groups Using 115 Microsatellite Markers." A. Mansoor, Q. Ayub, et al.Am. J. Human Genetics, Oct 2001 v69 i4 p399.
• "Y-Chromosomal DNA Variation in Pakistan."
• "Where west meets east: the complex mtDNA landscape of the southwest and Central Asian corridor."

Notes and references

1. Population Census Organization, Government of Pakistan - Population by Mother Tongue
2. CIA - The World Factbook - Afghanistan
3. Pushtan, Southern of India
4. Pashto, Northern
5. Pashto, Southern
6. Ethnologue report for Southern Pashto: Iran (1993)
7. Joshua Project: Pushtoon, Southern
8. Ethnologue report for Northern Pashto
9. Banuazizi, Ali and Myron Weiner (eds.). 1994. "The Politics of Social Transformation in Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)." Syracuse University Press. ISBN 0-8156-2608-8.
10. Tribal Law of Pashtunwali and Women’s Legislative Authority by Palwasha Kakar, Harvard University School of Law.
11. Ethnic, Cultural and Linguistic Denominations in Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber Watch
12. The History of Herodotus Chapter 7, Written 440 B.C.E, Translated by George Rawlinson
13. Book review-History of the Pathans: The Sarabani Pathans Volume I by Haroon Rashid
14. The Khalaj West of the Oxus, Excerpts from "The Turkish Dialect of the Khalaj", Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies, University of London, Vol 10, No 2, pp 417-437
15. Lonely Planet: Background Information on Afghanistan-Pre 20th Century History
16. Pashtun - Encyclopædia Britannica
17. Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies - Articles on: Anthropology, Genealogy & Folkloric Traditions of Iranian Peoples
18. Awde, Nicholas and Sarwan, Asmatullah. 2003. "Pashto Dictionary & Phrasebook: Pashto-English English-Pashto". Hippocrene Books (January 2003). ISBN 0-7818-0972-X.
19. Ethnologue report for Pashto
20. Gankovsky, Yu. V., et al "A History of Afghanistan." Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982. 8vo. Cloth. 359 p. USD 22.50
21. History of Pakistan - Pashtuns
22. The Khalaj West of the Oxus
23. US Library of Congress - Afghanistan Ethnic Groups: Pashtun
24. Muhammad Qāsim Hindū Šāh Astarābādī Firištah, "History Of The Mohamedan Power In India", Introduction, (LINK)
25. Afghanology.com - Bani-Israelite Theory of Paktoons Ethnic Origin
26. Investigation of the Greek ancestry of populations from northern Pakistan - Biomedical and Genetic Engineering Division, Dr. A.Q. Khan Research Laboratories
27. UNHCR Statistical Summary Report: Census of Afghans in Pakistan
28. Memons, Khojas, Cheliyas, Moplahs.... How Well Do You Know Them?, Islamic Voice
29. Dawat Magazine: Study of the Pathan Communities in four States of India
30. Joshua Project: Urdu speaking Pathans in India
31. Afghans of Guyana
32. Sikhs struggle in Afghanistan, BBC News
33. US Library of Congress-Pakistan: Pakhtuns
34. Afghanan dot Net: Pathans in retrospect
35. UCLA: The History of Pashto language
36. Pashto.org-Rahman Baba: Poet of the Pashtuns
37. Khyber.org, Amir Hamza Shinwari Baba
38. Afghanan dot net: Pakhtunwali
39. Virtual Afghans.com-Attan: Afghanistan's National Dance
40. Khyber.org: Traditional Dances of Pashtoons
41. Afghanistan Online: Traditional Pashto Music
42. PashtoMusic.net
43. Khyber.org: Pashto Movies & Video Clips
44. Khyber.org: Pashto Cinema-Craziness
45. The Hot Spot Online: The Sublime and Surreal World of Pushto Movies
46. Indiewire: Michael Winterbottom Talks About His Tragic Road Movie, "In This World"
47. World Cultures-Pashtun Sports
48. Afghanistan: Sports and Recreation
49. Department of Urban Studies and Planning, MIT, How Ethno-Religious Identity Influences the Living Conditions of Hazara and Pashtun Refugees in Peshawar, Pakistan
50. Wardak, Ali. Jirga - A Traditional Mechanism of Conflict Resolution in Afghanistan (2003), p. 7
51. Ibid., p. 10
52. Human Rights Watch: Q & A on Afghanistan's Loya Jirga Process
53. U.S. Department of State, Afghanistan: History
54. BBC World Service - I have a right to - Muhammad Dawood Azami: Pashto
55. Illinois Institute of Technology - Paul V. Galvin Library - Government Documents Depository Website - Afghanistan Country Study
56. Alternatives: Pakistani Girls Forced to Settle Men’s Disputes, Khaleej Times, Published: Fri April 16, 2004
57. The Boston Globe - "The tale of the Pashtun poetess", by Leela Jacinto - May 22, 2005
58. BBC News - "Pakistan's first women fighter pilots", by Zaffar Abbas - 11 May, 2005
59. BBC News - "Warlords and women in uneasy mix", by Andrew North - 14 November 2005

Important note: population statistics for Pashtuns (including those without a notation) in foreign countries were derived from various census counts, the UN, the CIA Factbook, Ethnologue, and the Joshua Project.

• Pashtun people
• Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
• Ethnic groups in India
• Ethnic groups in Pakistan