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I am not versed in the history or languages, but it seems to me credible that if Gandhara and Kandahar/Arghandab can be synonymous, then Afghan must be derived from the same root. It might be interesting to search for the common origin in Gandhara/Kandahar/Arghandab and see if this can also be matched to Afghan... Gandhara seems to have been a large and influential nation/empire encompassing (much of?) the region which we now know as Afghanistan, as well as much of Pakistan ... any info on this possibility? ... I notice the discussion page of Afghanistan mentions this as accepted historical fact, and says that the Gandhara name predates Alexander ... a competing theory of name origin ... perhaps in fact Alexander's name comes from the Afghan's or was influential in his success with them (they called him 'Iskandar') ... -- 60.240.129.13 (talk) 12:37, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
Other prominent words and terms associated with the area, which are dominated by the gutteral 'ghan'/'khan' sound could be listed here, as it seems likely there is some common origin ... Ganges (the river, was part of the land of Kuru after whose Queen Gandhara is said to have been named ..) ... Khan (the term for ruler or lord in the region) .. Alexander/Iskandar the great leader said to originate in Macedonia but who succeeded in military conquest of the entire region now inhabited by Pushtan folks .. Afghan .. Gandhara .. Kandahar .. Arghandab ... more? i'm not sure on the pronunciation, but Chandragupta Maurya (also known as Sandrokyptos, Sandrokottos and said to have taken Alexander's empire from him .. are they sure this is not the same guy??) seems another name likely to have had great influence in the region at about the time of many of those already mentioned here by me ... please list what occurs to you, so that others can research any possible links (even if it turns out not to be likely to be linked to 'Afghan', there may be other commonalities which are interesting in some cases .. -- 60.240.129.13 (talk) 12:45, 28 October 2009 (UTC)
Upa-Gana (not Upa-ghana) literally means sub-tribe (upa- = deputy-, sub-) and (-gana =-tribe) thus upa-gana may mean subdividion of a tribe i.e a minor tribe. Upa-ganah is plural and may mean many minor tribes orv sub-divided tribes. Thus, it may mean land of numerous minor tribes Does it make sense?. But I dont think Upa-ghana or Upaganah conveying the sense of 'United' or Allied is attested anywhere in Hindi, Persian or Sanskrit. Can somebody come forward and explain?
-Stan means land of course.
Besides Ashvakan, another etymology often stated by some writers is Ashva-stan i.e land of horse (Ashva=horse, stan=land).
Kls
"the Muslim, Prophet Muhammad" sounds odd to me.
plz people do not get jackass by some people who try to spread lies here. They have to understand that Wikipedia is not a game forum it is a knowledge portal for the humanized and civilizied folks of the world!! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Tajik-Professor (talk • contribs) 16:39, 14 May 2007 (UTC).
Yussufzai as term has nothing to do here! Yussuf is an arabic word and means Joseph and zai is mongolic for son. Both terms are not related with the greater Ashvakas of the Kambujayes group. Pashtuns do also not relfect those ancient Ashvakas since only a small part of them are their aryanic ancestors while the majority have another origine, mostly of non-iranic origine.--84.59.119.90 (talk) 16:11, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
Zai means "son" in Pashto. No ones ever heard it in mongolic and the majority of them are genetically form an iranic base also quiet related to other iranic ethnic linguistacaly and genetically especially the mountainous triba zones Pashtunfacts (talk) 16:20, 9 September 2020 (UTC)
Pashto is not only the most important East Iranian language but also the only Avestan language that’s survived. Asban802 (talk) 00:14, 21 October 2021 (UTC)
I have reverted the recent edits that were based on Ferishta's (1560-1620) The History of the Rise of the Mahometan Power in India (London, 1829, 4 vols. 8vo). Although Ferishta was certainly a notable scholar of his time and is a good source today, his work does not fit the standard of WP:SOURCE. Claiming that the name Afghan was used at around 600 A.D. and using Ferishta's work (written in the 16th century AD) as a source is not scholastic. Tajik (talk) 16:09, 4 June 2009 (UTC)
Hi, I think you are getting confused and lets not remove things that you may not agree with. What is wrong with Ferishta's work?--Mullaji (talk) 07:12, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
this article is about the name Afghan, not about medieval legends concerning the origin of the Pashtun. Of course it would be interesting to learn about this book Mutla-ul-Anwar, but it appears nothing is known about it. When citing Ferishta, there is no need to stick to the antiquated 1829 translation, especially when it comes to translation. I am sure Ferishta didn't write "Mohamedan", that's the 19th century British translator, but "Muslim". --dab (𒁳) 07:57, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
Ferishta does not seem reliable as the definitive source because he refers to stories about earlier Afghans (Pashtuns) of around 1000 years before him. If Al Biruni (who lived in eastern Afghanistan in 11th century) is also cited, it will be great for the article. MassaGetae(talk) 09:58, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
of course we should quote medieval and Mughal period Muslim historians. But they are to be treated as primary sources, not secondary ones. --dab (𒁳) 12:34, 5 June 2009 (UTC)
Hi User Mullaji
Please do not delete Verifiable content from reliable sources with citations as you have done in your post of 3rd june .
Intothefire (talk) 09:56, 7 June 2009 (UTC)
In one day there are three deletions by Mullaji and User Massagate of the same referenced content . Here is the record .This is inspite of content restoration by admin SkyWalker.
(rvv, not verifiable; i've read biruni's work and he mentions rajputs (punjabis). punjabis were all hindus until mahmud of ghazni forced them to convert during times of al-biruni)
(if they are wrong, misleading and not belonging here sure i can)
(Reverted 1 edit by Mullaji; No you are wrong.. (TW)) Next edit →
(merge section. make quotes shorter)
This is patently Unreasonable .
Intothefire (talk) 08:18, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
the question is not whether the material is referenced (we assume it is referenced, that goes without saying), but whether it is WP:DUE. Instead of edit-warring, you are supposed to find a compromise on just how much a given source, such as Alberuni, should be duly dwelled upon for the purposes of this article. This isn't a yes-or-no question, but a question of editorial judgement and consensus. --dab (𒁳) 11:29, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Dbachmann your point is well taken about WP:DUE .
Await the suggested concensus paraphrase .
Cheers
Intothefire (talk) 17:22, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Massagetae and Mullaji'
Intothefire (talk) 18:18, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Al Biruni writes In the western frontier mountains of India there live various tribes of Afghans and extend to the neighborhood of Indus Valleys. Where does he mention their religion? MassaGetae(talk) 15:00, 7 June 2009 (UTC)
My friend this article is somewhat majoratarian and a little diversity based on references will only enrich it .
Intothefire (talk) 17:44, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Going back to where we started here's a quote from ROSE IBBETSON
"Al Beruni no doubt also alludes to them in the passage (loc. Cit .p 199 ) where he says that rebellious savage races , tribes of Hindus , or akin to them inhabit the mountains which form the frontier of India towards the west ."[1]
Intothefire (talk) 19:05, 8 June 2009 (UTC)
Intothefire (talk) 06:19, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
I am sorry, I am not sure I understand what you are saying. What are "inherent Buddhist and Hindu periods"? What "majoratarian flow"? Which "opposing views"? This is the article about the name "Afghan". You seem to want to make it into a full-blown medieval history of the Pashtuns. The article should only discuss points that are directly relevant to the origin and history of the name itself. --dab (𒁳) 07:11, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
I agree with dab. Also, I say citing more references will be great for the article, but these should explicitly mention the word "Afghan" so that they are relevant for the article. MassaGetae(talk) 07:33, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
Hi Massagetae
Here is the specific mention of the word Afghan in this quote , this should be included .
Although the meaning of the other deleted quote o clearly refers to Aghans as well .
I am not posting this and seek your concensus , considering it meets your criteria .
Various respected scholars and historian such as Wiley-Blackwell , Rose, Denzil Ibbetson have recorded Al- Baruni’s mention of the Afghans .
“ | The most explicit mentioning of the Afghans appears in Al- Baruni’s Tarikh al hind (eleventh century AD) Here it is said that various tribes of Afghans lived in the mountains in the west of India . Al Baruni adds that they were savage people and he describes them as Hindus .,[2] | ” |
Intothefire (talk) 10:51, 9 June 2009 (UTC)
According to historian Fareshta from 1600s, he explains in details that the Afghans became Muslims since the 7th century so how can you deny that? I mean Fareshta is explaining that Afghans were Muslims since 7th century but Wiley-Blackwell, Rose, Denzil of modern day is saying that Afghans were Hindus. So who is telling the truth? I don't think Al-Biruni said Afghans were Hindus, I like to see the original writings of al-Biruni where he says this.
Thanks Intothefire. Al Biruni mentioned Afghans only once in the book when he wrote Afghans live in the western frontier mountains of India. But the author H.A. Rose believes the following passage is also about Afghans: In the mountains wbicli form the frontier of India towards the west there are tribes of the Hindus, or of people near akin to them — rebellious savage races — which extend as far as the farthermost frontiers of the Hindu race.
However tribes in the mountains of western India will not be necessarily Afghans (Pashtuns) because there were also many non-Pashtun tribes in Afghanistan. But I changed the article. MassaGetae(talk) 10:40, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
I reverted the article because of unexplained deletion of sourced material--Inuit18 (talk) 22:40, 2 November 2009 (UTC)
The buddhist and hindu passages will be removed due to no hinderance to the actual topic of the usage of the "word" afghan. Having read this wiki page. I will have to remove unecssary information which does not line in with the page form
Pashtunfacts (talk) 11:30, 27 November 2020 (UTC)
Intothefire (talk) 19:49, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
Looking at how Pashtun word sounds, I'm getting an impression that it might be derived from a Slavic word [pastuh] or [pustyn]. The former one means a shepherd while the latter means a desert. I'm not a linguist, just shared a personal observation - please don't judge. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.14.98.155 (talk) 03:59, 25 September 2010 (UTC)
I have removed the reference to Ferishta, as it is factually incorrect, since it states that only people in Afghanistan used Afghan to refer to Pashtuns. Nowhere in the citation is that quoted.
Second, the reference to how the Hazara or Chinese-Afghans view Afghans, does not have any bearing on the historical context of the name and is not derived from any scholarly source, but rather a politicized, ad hominem, in response to socially charged issue in Afghanistan.
Finally, this is actually very sad to see that as an Afghan, we are having our history hijacked on these pages, because we do not have anyone who can come in here correct the blantant lies and misinformation being spread by Tajikistanis and Chinese-Afghans. A message to all true Afghans, please protect your heritage. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Afghan25 (talk • contribs) 15:29, 14 November 2015 (UTC)
The reference to Afghana was removed from the origin of the term Afghan, as the first, the citation does not state that the name Afghan derives from Afghana, but rather discusses the origin of the Afghan people themselves, and second the citation itself states that even that in and of itself is most likely incorrect.
Also, there is already scholarly consensus later on in the article on the derivation and history of the name. Putting it much more before the invention of Afghana. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Afghan25 (talk • contribs) 15:54, 14 November 2015 (UTC)
There is no proof whatsoever that only since the time of the british was the term Afghan applied to people of the region known as Afghanistan. This is not any cited in any scholarly article or source, and is merely opinion. Furthermore, the intent here is to imply that the name was not used to apply to the peoples of the region prior to that, which the rest of the wikipedia article refutes. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Afghan25 (talk • contribs) 15:58, 14 November 2015 (UTC)
Removed the reference to the afghanlord website article, as it should be afghanWarLord.com. Article is not scholarly or fact based, written by Chinese-Afghan upset because they want to keep their moniker of Hazara rather then be called Afghan. It is an opinionated factless piece which can not be considered a "source" for scholarly debate. It has nothing to do with the origin or history of the word Afghan. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Afghan25 (talk • contribs) 16:03, 14 November 2015 (UTC)
Dear friends, I would like to report that this quotation of the well known poet Khattak:"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!" is nowhere to be found in Biddulph's translation (as indicated in the note). In fact the page itself is not signaled, and I have many doubts he had ever compared Afghan and Pashtuns as a synonymous in that way. Can someone give some explanations in this regard? Greetings from Italy — Preceding unsigned comment added by 151.95.26.4 (talk) 08:16, 20 July 2016 (UTC)
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I have a question I saw on the internet that alexander the great has mentioned in several quotes the afghans is it true? AfghansPashtun (talk) 11:40, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
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