Afghan (ethnonym)

The ethnonym Afghan (افغان afġān) has been used in reference to the Pashtun people during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period.^[1] 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.^[2][3] The Pashtun people are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and constitute the second largest ethnic community in neighbouring Pakistan.

In the 3rd century AD, the Sassanids mention a tribe called Abgân^[4], which is attested in its Arabic form (Afġān) in the 10th century Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam.^[5] 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 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".

Origin of the names Afghan and Afghana

Main article: Afghana

The Arachosia Satrapy and the Pactyan people during the Achaemenid Empire in 500 B.C.

Names of territories during the Islamic Caliphate of the 7th century and onward.

Kelaut-I-Ghiljie, a small village-town in Afghanistan.

The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgân) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE,^[6][4][7] which is later recorded in the 6th century CE in the form of "Avagānā" by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in his Brihat-samhita.^[8] It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as "Afghana", grandson of King Saul of Israel.^[9][1]

The Encyclopædia Iranica explains:^[8]

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.

Hiven Tsiang, a Chinese pilgrim visiting the Afghanistan area several times between 630 to 644 CE, also speaks about the native tribes inhabiting the region.^[6][10] According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, W.K. Frazier Tyler and M.C. Gillet, the word Afghan has appeared in the 982 AD Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam, where a reference is made to a village.

Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live Afghans.^[11]

Saul was probably located near Gardez, in the Paktia province of Afghanistan.^[11] Ḥudūd al-ʿĀlam also speaks of a king in "Ninhar" (Nangarhar), who shows a public display of conversion to Islam, even though he has over 30 wives, which are described as "Muslim, Afghan, and Hindu" wives. It should be noted that these names were often used as geographical terms. For example, Hindu (or Hindustani) has been historically used as a geographical term to describe someone who was native from the region known as Hindustan (Indian subcontinent).

Al-Utbi, the Ghaznavid chronicler, in his Tarikh-i Yamini records that recruitment for Sabuktigin's army was answered by Afghans and the 'Khalaj' (possibly related to modern Ghilzai), and he enrolled thousands of them. With these armies he twice defeated the Hindushahi King Jaipal in Laghman and Nangarhar, and drove him out of the upper Kabul valley, capturing immense treasures. Al-Utbi further states that Afghans and Ghilzais made a part of Mahmud Ghaznavi's army and were sent on his expedition to Tocharistan, while on another occasion Mahmud Ghaznavi attacked and punished a group of opposing Afghans, as also corroborated by Abulfazl Beyhaqi.^[12] In the 11th century AD, Afghans mentioned in Al-Biruni's Tarikh-ul Hind ("History of India"), which describes a group of "rebellious" Afghans in the tribal lands that he passed by. Al-Biruni refers to these Afghans in another passage (loc. Cit. p. 199) where he mentions an uncivilized people in the mountains west of the Indus River (i.e. Suleiman Mountains) as tribes of Hindus or akin to them.^[11][13] Afghan soldiers were also enrolled in the Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215).^[14] From the beginning of the Khilji dynasty in 1290, Afghans are becoming more recognized in the Delhi Sultanate of India.

Ibn Battuta, a famous Moroccan traveler, visiting Afghanistan following the era of the Khilji dynasty in early 1300s writes.

We travelled on to Kabul, formerly a vast town, the site of which is now occupied by a village inhabited by a tribe of Persians called Afghans. They hold mountains and defiles and possess considerable strength, and are mostly highwaymen. Their principle mountain is called Kuh Sulayman. It is told that the prophet Sulayman [Solomon] ascended this mountain and having looked out over India, which was then covered with darkness, returned without entering it.^[15]

—Ibn Battuta, 1333 AD

Firishta, a 16th century Muslim historians writing about the history of Muslim rule in India states:

He [Khalid bin Abdullah son of Khalid bin Walid] retired, therefore, with his family, and a number of Arab retainers, into the Sulaiman Mountains, situated between Multan and Peshawar, where he took up his residence, and gave his daughter in marriage to one of the Afghan chiefs, who had become a proselyte to Mahomedism. From this marriage many children were born, among whom were two sons famous in history. The one Lodhi, the other Sur; who each, subsequently, became head of the tribes which to this day bear their name. I have read in the Mutla-ul-Anwar, a work written by a respectable author, and which I procured at Burhanpur, a town of Khandesh in the Deccan, that the Afghans are Copts of the race of the Pharaohs; and that when the prophet Moses got the better of that infidel who was overwhelmed in the Red Sea, many of the Copts became converts to the Jewish faith; but others, stubborn and self-willed, refusing to embrace the true faith, leaving their country, came to India, and eventually settled in the Sulimany mountains, where they bore the name of Afghans.^[1]

—Ferishta, 1560-1620

In the writings of the 17th-century Pashto poet Khushal Khan Khattak, the equation of Afghan and Pashtun is further confirmed:^[16]

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!

Afghanistan

Main article: Name of Afghanistan

A mid 19th century Lithography collection by James Rattray showing the name Afghaunistan on the front cover.

The last part of the name -stān is a Persian suffix for "place of", prominent in many languages of Asia. The name Afghanistan is mentioned in writing by the 16th century Mughal rulers Babur and his descendants, referring to the territory between Khorasan, Kabulistan, and the Indus River, which was inhabited by tribes of Afghans.

The road from Khorasān leads by way of Kandahār. It is a straight level road, and does not go through any hill-passes... In the country of Kābul there are many and various tribes. Its valleys and plains are inhabited by Tūrks, Aimāks, and Arabs. In the city and the greater part of the villages, the population consists of Tājiks*(Sarts). Many other of the villages and districts are occupied by Pashāis, Parāchis, Tājiks, Berekis, and Afghans... In the hill-country to the north-east lies Kaferistān, such as Kattor and Gebrek. To the south is Afghanistān.^[17]

—Babur, 1525

The name "Afghanistan" is also mentioned many times in the writings of the 16th century historian, Ferishta, and many others.

The men of Kábul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were ques­tioned about the Musulmáns of the Kohistán (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistán, but Afghánistán; for there is nothing there but Afgháns and dis­turbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghánistán, and themselves Afgháns. The people of India call them Patán; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmáns first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!^[18]

—Ferishta, 1560-1620

Regarding the modern state of Afghanistan, the Encyclopædia Of Islam explains:^[19]

The country now known as Afghanistan has borne that name only since the middle of the 18th century, when the supremacy of the Afghan race became assured: previously various districts bore distinct apellations, but the country was not a definite political unit, and its component parts were not bound together by any identity of race or language. The earlier meaning of the word was simply "the land of the Afghans", a limited territory which did not include many parts of the present state but did comprise large districts now either independent or within the boundary of British India (Pakistan).^[20]

Ashvaka

The etymological view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name Afghan evidently derives from Sanskrit Aśvakas, qv. the Assakenoi of Arrian.^[21] This view was propounded by scholars like Christian Lassen,^[22] J. W. McCrindle,^[23] M. V. de Saint Martin,^[24] and É. Reclus,^[25] and has been supported by numerous modern scholars.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

In Sanskrit, the word ashva (Iranian aspa, Prakrit assa) means "horse", and ashvaka (Prakrit assaka) means "horseman",^[31] "horse people",^[32] "land of horses",^[33] as well as "horse breeders".^[34] Pre-Christian times knew the people of the Hindukush region as Ashvakas (horsemen), since they raised a fine breed of horses and had a reputation for providing expert cavalrymen. The fifth-century-BCE Indian grammarian Pāṇini calls them Ashvakayana^[35] and Ashvayana.^[36][37] Mahabharata mentions them as Ashvaka(na). Classical writers, however, use the respective equivalents Aspasioi (or Aspasii, Hippasii) and Assakenoi (or Assaceni/Assacani, Asscenus) etc. The Aspasioi/Assakenoi (Ashvakas = Cavalrymen) is stated to be another name for the Kambojas of ancient texts because of their equestrian characteristics.^[38] Alexander Cunningham and a few other scholars identify these designations with the modern name Afghan.^[39]

The Indian epic Mahabharata speaks about Kambojas among the finest horsemen,^[40] and ancient Pali texts describe their lands as the land of horses.^[41][42][43] Kambojas spoke Avestan language and followed Zoroastrianism.^[44][45] Some scholars believe Zoroastrianism originated in land of Kambojas.^[46]

The former Aspins of Chitral and Ashkuns (Yashkuns) of Gilgit are identified as the modern representatives of the Pāṇinian Aśvakayanas (Greek: Assakenoi); and the Asip/Isap (cf. Aspa-zai > Yusufzai) in the Kabul valley (between the rivers Kabul and Indus) are believed to be modern representatives of the Pāṇinian Aśvayanas (Greek: Aspasioi) respectively.^{[47][48][49][50][51]}

Historical suggestions

There are a number of other hypotheses suggested for the name historically, all of them obsolete.

• The "Maḫzan-e Afġān" by Nimat Allah al-Harawi, written in 1612 at the Mughal court, traces the name Afghan to an eponymous ancestor, an Afghana, identified as a grandson of Saul. Afghana was supposedly a son of Irmia (Jeremia), who was in turn a son of Saul (Talut). Afghana was orphaned at a young age, and brought up by David. When Solomon became king, Afghana was promoted as the commander-in-chief of the army. Neither Afghana nor Jeremia son of Saul figure in the Hebrew Bible. Some four centuries after Afghana, in the sixth century BCE, Bakhtunnasar, or Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babil, attacked the Kingdom of Judah and exiled the descendants of Afghana, some of whom went to the mountains of Ghor in present-day Afghanistan and some to the neighborhood of Mecca in Arabia. Until the time of Muhammad, the deported Children of Israel of the east continually increased in number in the countries around Ghor which included Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni, and made wars with the infidels around them. Khalid bin Walid is said to belong to the tribe of descendants of Afghana in the neighborhood of Mecca, although actually he was from the tribe of Quraysh. After conversion to Islam, Khalid invited his kinsmen, the Children of Israel of Ghor, to Islam. A deputation led by Qais proceeded to Medina to meet Muhammad, and embraced Islam. Muhammad lavished blessings on them, and gave the name Abdur Rashid to Qais, who returned to Ghor successfully to propagate Islam. Qais had three sons, Sarbanr, Batan and Ghourghusht, who are progenitors of the various Pashtun tribes.^[52]
• Samuel G. Benjamin (1887) derived the name Afghan from a term for 'wailing', which the Persians are said to have contemptuously used for their plaintive eastern neighbors.^[53]
• H. W. Bellew, in his 1891 An Inquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, believes that the name Afghan comes from Alban which derives from the Latin term albus, meaning "white", or "mountain", as mountains are often white-capped with snow (cf. Alps); used by Armenians as Alvan or Alwan, which refers to mountaineers, and in the case of transliterated Armenian characters, would be pronounced as Aghvan or Aghwan. To the Persians, this would further be altered to Aoghan, Avghan, and Afghan as a reference to the eastern highlanders or "mountaineers".
• Michanovsky suggests the name Afghan derives from Sanskrit Avagana, which in turn derives from the ancient Sumerian word for Badakhshan - Ab-bar-Gan, or "high country".^[54][55]
• There are also a few people^[who?] who have attempted to link "Afghan" to an Uzbek word "Avagan" said to mean "original".^[56]

See also

• Afghan (disambiguation)
• Afghanistan
• Pashtun people
• List of country name etymologies

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} History Of The Mohamedan Power In India by Muhammad Qāsim Hindū Šāh Astarābādī Firištah, The Packard Humanities Institute Persian Texts in Translation.
2. ^ Morgenstierne, G. (1999). "AFGHĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 
3. ^ M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, and R. Ghirshman (1999). "AFGHĀNISTĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM Edition v. 1.0 ed.). Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "History of Afghanistan". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360. Retrieved 2010-11-22. 
5. ^ 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 (retrieved 10 January 2007).
6. ^ ^{a b} "Afghan and Afghanistan". Abdul Hai Habibi. alamahabibi.com. 1969. http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm. Retrieved 2010-10-24. 
7. ^ Noelle-Karimi, Christine; Conrad J. Schetter, Reinhard Schlagintweit (2002). Afghanistan -a country without a state?. University of Michigan, United States: IKO. p. 18. ISBN 3889396283. http://books.google.com/?id=eo3tAAAAMAAJ. Retrieved 2010-09-24. "The earliest mention of the name 'Afghan' (Abgan) is to be found in a Sasanid inscription from the third century AD, and it appears in India in the form of 'Avagana'..." 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Afghan". Ch. M. Kieffer. Encyclopædia Iranica Online Edition. December 15, 1983. http://www.iranica.com/articles/afgan-in-current-political-usage-any-citizen-of-afghanistan-whatever-his-ethnic-tribal-or-religious-affiliation. Retrieved 2010-09-27. 
9. ^ "Pashtun: also spelled Pushtun, or Pakhtun, Hindustani Pathan, Persian Afghan". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9374656?query=Herder&ct=. Retrieved 2010-09-10. "The origins of the Pashtun are unclear. Pashtun tradition asserts that they are descended from Afghana, grandson of King Saul of Israel, though most scholars believe it more likely that they arose from an intermingling of ancient Aryans from the north or west with subsequent invaders." 
10. ^ Dawn News, The cradle of Pathan culture
11. ^ ^{a b c} Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0631198415. http://books.google.com/books?id=9kfJ6MlMsJQC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA18#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
12. ^ R. Khanam, Encyclopaedic ethnography of Middle-East and Central Asia: P-Z, Volume 3‎ - Page 18
13. ^ A Glossary Of The Tribes And Castes Of The Punjab And North-West Frontier Province Vol. 3 By H.A. Rose, Denzil Ibbetson Sir Published by Atlantic Publishers & Distributors, 1997, Page 211, ISBN 8185297703, 9788185297705
14. ^ Houtsma, M. Th. (1993). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. BRILL. pp. 611. ISBN 9004097961, 9789004097964. http://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA150#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
15. ^ Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325-1354 (reprint, illustrated ed.). Routledge. 2004. p. 180. ISBN 0415344735. http://books.google.com/books?id=zKqn_CWTxYEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA180#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
16. ^ extract from "Passion of the Afghan" by Khushal Khan Khattak; translated by C. Biddulph in "Afghan Poetry Of The 17th Century: Selections from the Poems of Khushal Khan Khattak", London, 1890
17. ^ Zahir ud-Din Mohammad Babur (1525). "Events Of The Year 910 (p.5)". Memoirs of Babur. Packard Humanities Institute. http://persian.packhum.org/persian//pf?file=03501051&ct=92. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
18. ^ Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (1560-1620). "The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 200, Translation of the Introduction to Firishta's History (p.8)". Sir H. M. Elliot. London: Packard Humanities Institute. http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199. Retrieved 2010-08-22. 
19. ^ M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition
20. ^ Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. 2. BRILL. p. 146. ISBN 9004097961, 9789004097964. http://books.google.com/books?id=GEl6N2tQeawC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA146#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-23. 
21. ^ Arrian writes them Assakenoi. Strabo also calls them Assakanoi, but Curtius calls them Assacani.
22. ^ Indische Alterthumskunde, Vol I, fn 6; also Vol II, p 129, et al.
23. ^ "The name Afghan has evidently been derived from Asvakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian... " (Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180. See also: Alexander's Invasion of India, p 38; J. W. McCrindle).
24. ^ Etude Sur la Geog Grecque & c, pp 39-47, M. V. de Saint Martin.
25. ^ The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83, Élisée Reclus - Geography.
26. ^ "Even the name Afghan is Aryan being derived from Asvakayana, an important clan of the Asvakas or horsemen who must have derived this title from their handling of celebrated breeds of horses" (See: Imprints of Indian Thought and Culture abroad, p 124, Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan).
27. ^ cf: "Their name (Afghan) means "cavalier" being derived from the Sanskrit, Asva, or Asvaka, a horse, and shows that their country must have been noted in ancient times, as it is at the present day, for its superior breed of horses. Asvaka was an important tribe settled north to Kabul river, which offered a gallant resistance but ineffectual resistance to the arms of Alexander "(Ref: Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1999, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society).
28. ^ "Afghans are Assakani of the Greeks; this word being the Sanskrit Ashvaka meaning 'horsemen' " (Ref: Sva, 1915, p 113, Christopher Molesworth Birdwood).
29. ^ Cf: "The name represents Sanskrit Asvaka in the sense of a cavalier, and this reappears scarcely modified in the Assakani or Assakeni of the historians of the expedition of Alexander" (Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases, and of kindred terms, etymological..by Henry Yule, AD Burnell).
30. ^ See few more references on Asvaka = Afghan: The Numismatic Chronicle, 1893, p 100, Royal Numismatic Society (Great Britain); Awq, 1983, p 5, Giorgio Vercellin; Der Islam, 1960, p 58, Carl Heinrich Becker, Maymūn ibn al-Qāsim Tabarānī; Journal of Indian History: Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, Trivandrum, India (City), University of Kerala. Dept. of History; Literary History of Ancient India in Relation to Its Racial and Linguistic Affiliations, 1970, p 17, Chandra Chakraberty; Stile der Portugiesischen lyrik im 20 jahrhundert, p 124, Winfried Kreutzen.; See: Works, 1865, p 164, Dr H. H. Wilson; The Earth and Its Inhabitants, 1891, p 83; Chants populaires des Afghans, 1880, p clxiv, James Darmesteter; Nouvelle geographie universelle v. 9, 1884, p.59, Elisée Reclus; Alexander the Great, 2004, p.318, Lewis Vance Cummings (Biography & Autobiography); Nouveau dictionnaire de géographie universelle contenant 1o La géographie physique ... 2o La .., 1879, Louis Rousselet, Louis Vivien de Saint-Martin; An Ethnic Interpretation of Pauranika Personages, 1971, p 34, Chandra Chakraberty; Revue internationale, 1803, p 803; Journal of Indian History: Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, Trivandrum, India (City). University of Kerala. Dept. of History; Edinburgh University Publications, 1969, p 113, University of Edinburgh; Shi jie jian wen, 1930, p 68 by Shi jie zhi shi chu ban she. Cf also: Advanced History of Medieval India, 1983, p 31, Dr J. L. Mehta; Asian Relations, 1948, p 301, Asian Relations Organization ("Distributed in the United State by: Institute of Pacific Relations, New York."); Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1892, p 275, Royal Scottish Geographical Society - Geography; The geographical dictionary of ancient and mediaeval India, 1971, p 87, Nundo Lal Dey; Nag Sen of Milind Paṅhö, 1996, p 64, P. K. Kaul - Social Science; The Sultanate of Delhi, 1959, p 30, Ashirbadi Lal Srivastava; Journal of Indian History, 1965, p 354, University of Kerala Dept. of History, University of Allahabad Dept. of Modern Indian History, University of Travancore - India; Mémoires sur les contrées occidentales, 1858, p 313, fn 3, Stanislas Julien Xuanzang - Buddhism.
31. ^ Ref: Hindu Polity: A Constitutional History of India in Hindu Times, 1915, p 140, Dr K. P. Jayaswal; Sva, 1915, p 113, Christopher Molesworth Birdwood); Imprints of Indian Thought and Culture Abroad, 1980, p 124, Vivekananda Kendra; Stile der portugiesischen Lyrik im 20. Jahrhundert, 1980, p 124, Winfried Kreutzer.
32. ^ Al-Hind, The Making of Indo-Islamic World, 2002, p 84, Andre Wink; The Rise of the Indo-Afghan Empire, C. 1710-1780, 1995, p 16, JJL Gommans; Journal of Indian History Golden Jubilee Volume, 1973, p 470, University of Kerala, Department of History; A Geographical Introduction to the History of Central Asia, 1944, K. B. Codrington.
33. ^ Historical Geography of Madhya Pradesh, From Early Records, 1977, p 3, Dr P. K. Bhattacharya; Proceedings of the World of Sanskrit Conference. 1985, p 783, International association of Sanskrit.
34. ^ Encyclopedia of Religions of Faiths of Man, Part I, 2003, p 554, J. G. R. Forlong.
35. ^ Ashtadhyayi, Nadadi gana IV-1, 99
36. ^ Ashtadhyayi Sutra IV-1, 110
37. ^ History and Culture of Indian People, the Age of Imperial Unity, Vol II, p 45, Dr A. D. Pusalkar, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr Munshi etc; Panjab Past and Present, pp 9-10, Dr Buddha Parkash; See also: History of Porus, pp 12, 38; Ancient India, 2003, pp 260-61, Dr V. D. Mahajan; India as Known to Pāṇini, pp 456-57, Dr V. S. Aggarwala; Preliminary Notes on the Excavation of the Necropolises found in Western Pakistan and The Tombs of the Asvakayana-Assakenoi, Antonini, Chiara Silvi & Tucci, Giuseppe, pp 13 to 28; 'Asvakayana-Assakenoi', East and West, NS,. 14 (Roma, t963), pp 27-28.
38. ^ Political History of Ancient India, 1996, p 133 fn 6, pp 216-20, (Also Commentary p 576 fn 22), Dr H. C. Raychaudhury, Dr B. N. Mukerjee; Historie du bouddhisme Indien, p110, Dr E. Lammotte; History of Poros, 1967, p 89; East and West, 1950, pp 28, 149, 158, Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Editor, Prof Giuseppe Tucci, Co-editors Prof Mario Bussagli, Prof Lionello Lanciotti; History of Indian Buddhism: From the Origins to the Saka Era, 1988, P 100, History; Panjab Past and Present, pp 9-10, Dr Buddha Parkash. J. W. McCrindle says that the modern Afghanistan -- the Kaofu (Kambu) of Hiun Tsang was ancient Kamboja, and the name Afghan evidently derives from the Ashavakan, the Assakenoi of Arrian (Alexandra's Invasion of India, p 38; Megasthenes and Arrian, p 180, J. McCrindle); Ancient Kamboja, People and Country, 1981, pp 271-72, 278, Dr J. L. Kamboj; These Kamboj People, 1979, pp 119, 192, K. S. Dardi; Kambojas, Through the Ages, 2005, pp 129, 218-19, S Kirpal Singh; Sir Thomas H. Holdich, in the his classic book, (The Gates of India, p 102-03), writes that the Aspasians (Aspasioi) represent the modern Kafirs. But the modern Kafirs, especially the Siah-Posh Kafirs (Kamoz/Camoje, Kamtoz) etc are considered to be modern representatives of the ancient Kambojas. Other noted scholars supporting this view are Dr Romilla Thapar, Dr R. C. Majumdar etc.
39. ^ The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, Including the Campaigns of Alexander, p 87, Alexander Cunningham; India as Seen in the Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira, 1969, p 70, Dr Ajay Mitra Shastri.
40. ^ Journal of American Oriental society, 1889, p 257, American Oriental Society; Mahabharata 10.18.13.
41. ^ Kambojo assa.nam ayata.nam i.e Kamboja the birthplace of horse......(|| Samangalavilasini, Vol I, p 124||).
42. ^ Aruppa-Niddesa of Visuddhimagga by Buddhaghosa describes the Kamboja land as the base of horses (10/28)
43. ^ In the Anushasnaparava section of Mahabharata, the Kambojas are specifically designated as Ashava.yuddha.kushalah (expert cavalrymen).

    tatha Yavana Kamboja Mathuram.abhitash cha ye |

    ete 'ashava.yuddha.kushalahdasinatyasi charminah. || 5 ||.

44. ^ Jataka, Vol VI, pp 208, 210 (trans Fausboll); The Jataka, VI, p 110, (Trans. E. B. Cowell) + Videvati XIV.5-6 + Herodotus (I.140); Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, 1912, p 256, Dr Grierson; Das Volk Der Kamboja bei Yaska, First Series of Avesta, Pahlavi and Ancient Persian Studies in honour of the late Shams-ul-ulama Dastur Peshotanji Behramji Sanjana, Strassberg & Leipzig, 1904, pp 213 ff, Dr Ernst Kuhn
45. ^ *Dr V. S. Agarwala writes: "As shown in the Jataka and Avestic literature, the Kamboja was the center of ancient Iranian civilization as is evidenced by the peculiar customs of the country " (Ref: The Kamboja Janapada, January 1964, Purana, Vol VI, No 1, p 229; Jataka edited by Fausboll, Vol VI, p 210.)
    • Dr Michael Witzel: "The Kambojas, located somewhere in east Afghanistan, spoke Iranian language and followed Zoroastrian habits of killing lower animals." (Early Eastern Iran and the Atharvaveda, Persica-9, 1980, fn 81, p 114; Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies, Vol. 7 (2001), issue 3 (May 25), Art. 9).
    • Dr D. C. Sircar: "The Kambojas were of Iranian extractions .. they were settled in Afghanistan region in Uttarapatha. Their numbers were occasionally swelled by new migrants from Iran, especially during age of Achaemenians." (Purana, Vol. V, No. 2, July 1963, p 256, Dr D. C. Sircar).
    • Willem Vogelsang: "The name Kamboja was commonly applied in Indian sources to the Iranian population of the borderlands i.e Afghanistan." (The Afghans (Peoples of Asia), 2001, p 127).
    • Dr R. Thapar: "The Kambojas were a tribe of the Iranians " (History of India, Vol. I, 1997, p 276).
    • E. Benveniste: "The Kambojas ... were known in Indian traditions as a foreign people, with peculiar customs, ... raised celebrated horses, spoke - as the Nirukata (II,2.8) tells us - a language with Iranian words in it ... and had, according to Buddhist Jataka (VI.206, 27-30), a certain religious practice - the killing of insects, moths, snakes and worms - which we may recognize as Mazdean from the passages in Mazdean books like the Videvati (XIV.5-6) as well as from the remark of Herodotus (I.140) about the Persian religion " (Journal Asiatique, CCXLVI 1958, I, pp 47-48, E. Benveniste).
46. ^ Cf: "Zoroastrian religion had probably originated in Kamboja-land (Bacteria-Badakshan)....and the Kambojas spoke Avestan language" (Ref: Bharatiya Itihaas Ki Rup Rekha, p 229-231, Jaychandra Vidyalankar; Bhartrya Itihaas ki Mimansa, p 229-301, J. C. Vidyalankar; Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 217, 221, J. L. Kamboj).
47. ^ The Quarterly Review, 1873, p 537, William Gifford, George Walter Prothero, John Gibson Lockhart, John Murray, Whitwell Elwin, John Taylor Coleridge, Rowland Edmund Prothero Ernle, William Macpherson, William Smith.
48. ^ An Inquiry Into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, 1893, p 75, Henry Walter Bellew.
49. ^ The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as Described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodoros, 1893, p 334, John Watson M'Crindle, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Marcus Junianus Justinus, Plutarch, Arrian, Diodorus.
50. ^ Evolution of Heroic Tradition in Ancient Panjab, 1971, p 72; History of Punjab, Publication Bureau Punjabi University Patiala, 1997, p 225, Dr Buddha Prakash .
51. ^ A Comprehensive History of India, Vol II, p 118, Dr Nilkantha Shastri.
52. ^ Olaf Caroe, The Pathans: 550 BC - AD 1957, Link
53. ^ Persia, p 142, Samuel G. Benjamin.
54. ^ John Charles Griffiths, Afghanistan, pg 13
55. ^ Gary W. Bowersox, Bonita E, Gemstones of Afghanistan, pg 27
56. ^ Gankovsky, Yu. V., et al. "A History of Afghanistan." Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1982. 8vo. Cloth. 359 p. USD 22.50