Name of Afghanistan

The name Afghānistān (Dari: افغانستان, Afġānistān Dari pronunciation: [afɣɑnɪsˈtʰɑn]; Pashto: افغانستان Afġānistān Pashto pronunciation: [avɣɒnisˈtɒn, abɣɒnisˈtɒn]^{[note 1]})^[1] means "land of the Afghans",^[2] the name "Afghan" originally referred to a member of the Pashtuns.^[3] which originates from the ethnonym Afghan. Historically, Pashtuns were referred to as Afghans, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan.^[2][4] The earliest reference to the name is found in the 10th-century geography book known as Hudud al-'Alam.^[5] The last part of the name, -stān is a Persian suffix for "place".

In the early 19th century, Afghan politicians adopted the name Afghanistan for the entire Durrani Empire after its English translation had already appeared in various treaties with Qajarid Persia and British India.^[6] The first time the word Afghanistan was officially used was during signing of Treaty of Gandamak, after defeat of Afghan Emir Yaqoob Khan during Second Anglo-Afghan War.

Afghan dynasties

Main articles: Khalji dynasty, Lodi dynasty, and Sur dynasty

The Afghan Lodi dynasty of North India

According to Ta'rikh-i Yamini (author being secretary of Mahmud of Ghazni), Afghans enrolled in Sabuktigin's Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century^[7] as well as in the later Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215).^[8] From the beginning of the Turko-Afghan Khalji dynasty in 1290, Afghans are becoming more recognized in history among the Delhi Sultanate of India. The later Lodi dynasty and Sur dynasty of Delhi were both made up of Afghans, whose rule stretched to as far as what is now Bangladesh in the east. Other Afghan dynasties emerged during the 18th century, namely the Hotak dynasty and the Durrani Empire which covered huge swathes of Central and South Asia.

Early references to Afghanistan

See also: Afghan (ethnonym)

The word Afghan is mentioned in the form of Abgan in the third century CE by the Sassanians^[9] and as Avagana (Afghana) in the 6th century CE by Indian astronomer Varahamihira.^[4] A people called the Afghans are mentioned several times in a 10th-century geography book, Hudud al-'Alam, particularly where a reference is made to a village: "Saul, a pleasant village on a mountain. In it live Afghans."^[10]

Al-Biruni referred to them in the 11th century as various tribes living on the western frontier mountains of the Indus River.^[11] Ibn Battuta, a famous Moroccan scholar visiting the region in 1333, 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."^[12]

The earliest mention of the term "Afghanistan" appears in the 13th century in Tarikh nama-i-Herat of Sayf ibn Muhammad ibn Yaqub al-Herawi, mentioning it as a country between Khorasan and Hind, paying tributes to the country of Shamsuddin.^[13]

Furthermore the name "Afghanistan" is mentioned in writing by the 16th century Mughal ruler Babur, referring to a territory south of Kabulistan.

"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 west, reside the Hazāras and Nukderis. Among the Hazāra and Nukderi tribes, there are some who speak the Moghul language. In the hill-country to the north-east lies Kaferistān, such as Kattor and Gebrek. To the south is Afghanistān.^[14]

— Babur, 1525

The name "Afghanistan" is also mentioned many times in the writings of the 16th century historian, Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (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 Muslims, they first came to the city of Patná, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows!"^[15]

— Ferishta, 1560-1620

The coined term of Afghanistan came into place in 1855, officially recognized by the British during the reign of Dost Mohammad Khan while he was forging his campaigns to re-unite Afghanistan following its 70 year civil war with the Barakzai-Durrani feud following the execution of Wazir Fateh Khan Barakzai.^[16]

Last Afghan empire

Main articles: Hotak dynasty and Durrani Empire

A Lithography collection made by James Rattray in the early 1800s shows the name Afghaunistan on the front cover.

Regarding the modern sovereign state of Afghanistan, Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Iranica and others explain that the political history of Afghanistan begins in 1709 with the rise of the Hotak dynasty,^[17][18][19] which was established by Mirwais Hotak who is regarded as "Mirwais Neeka" ("Mirwais the grandfather").^[20]

"The modern Afghan kingdom begins with the rise to supremacy first of the Ghalzais and shortly afterwards of the Durranis under Ahmed Shah."^[21]

— M. T. Houtsma

The Encyclopaedia of Islam states:^[22]

"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."^[23]

— M. T. Houtsma

British India eventually became what is now Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Modern names

Modern terms for Afghanistan and Afghan in relevant modern languages:

Language	Afghanistan	Afghan (noun)
Dari Persian	افغانستان (Afğânestân) [afɣɒːnɪstɒːn]	افغان (afğân) [afɣɒːn]
Pashto	افغانستان (Afġānistān) [afɣɑnɪstɑn]	افغان (afǧân) [afɣɑn]
Uzbek	Afgʻoniston	Afgʻon
Turkmen	Owganystan	Owganystanda
Urdu	افغانستان (Afġānistān) [əfɣaːnɪstaːn]	افغان (afġān) [əfɣaːn]
Balochi	افغانستان
Brahui	Aoģánistán
Kyrgyz	Ооганстан (Ooganstan)	ооган (oogan)
Arabic	أفغانستان (ʾAfḡānistān) [ʔafɣaːnistaːn]	أفغاني ʾafḡāniyy m. [ʔafɣaːnijj] أفغانية ʾafḡāniyya f. [ʔafɣaːnijja]
Chinese	阿富汗 (Āfùhàn) [á fû xân]	阿富汗人 (Āfùhànrén) [á fû xân ʐə̌n]
Hindi	अफ़ग़ानिस्तान (Afġānistān) [əfɡaːnɪstaːn]	अफ़्ग़ान (afġān) [əfɡaːn]
Punjabi	ਅਫ਼ਗ਼ਾਨਿਸਤਾਨ / افغانستان (Aphagānīstān)
Russian	Афганистан (Afganistan) [ɐvɡənʲɪˈstan]	афганец (afganets) m. [ɐvˈɡanʲɪt͡s] афганка (afganka) f. [ɐvˈɡankə]
Tajik	Афғонистон (Afġoniston) [afɣɔːnistɔːn]	афғон (afġon) [afɣɔːn]
Uyghur	ئافغانىستان (Afghanistan)

See also

• List of country-name etymologies
• History of Afghanistan
• Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Pashtunistan

Notes

1. The phoneme [f] ف occurs only in loanwords in Pashto, it tends to be replaced with [p] پ. [b] is also an allophone of [p] before voiced consonants; [v] is an allophone of [f] before voiced consonants in loanwords.

References

1. Cowan, William and Jaromira Rakušan. Source Book for Linguistics. 3rd ed. John Benjamins, 1998.
2. Banting, Erinn (2003). Afghanistan: The land. Crabtree Publishing Company. pp. 4, 32. ISBN 978-0-7787-9335-9.
3. "Afghanistan", The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 2023-06-06, retrieved 2023-06-11
4. Kieffer, Ch. M. (15 December 1983). "Afghan". Encyclopædia Iranica (online ed.). Columbia University. Archived from the original on 2013-11-16.
5. Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley Blackwell. p. 18. ISBN 0-631-19841-5. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
6. E. Huntington, "The Anglo-Russian Agreement as to Tibet, Afghanistan, and Persia", Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Vol. 39, No. 11 (1907).
7. "Ameer Nasir-ood-Deen Subooktugeen". Ferishta, History of the Rise of Mohammedan Power in India, Volume 1: Section 15. Packard Humanities Institute. Archived from the original on 2013-05-14. Retrieved 2012-12-31. The Afghans and Khaljies who resided among the mountains having taken the oath of allegiance to Subooktugeen, many of them were enlisted in his army, after which he returned in triumph to Ghizny.
8. Houtsma, M. Th. (1993). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. BRILL. pp. 150–51. ISBN 90-04-09796-1. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
9. "History of Afghanistan". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on 2012-11-20. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
10. Vogelsang, Willem (2002). The Afghans. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 382. ISBN 978-0-631-19841-3. Archived from the original on 2013-12-31.
11. Morgenstierne, G. (1999). "AFGHĀN". Encyclopaedia of Islam (CD-ROM v. 1.0 ed.). Koninklijke Brill NV.
12. Ibn Battuta (2004). Travels in Asia and Africa, 1325–1354 (reprint, illustrated ed.). Routledge. p. 180. ISBN 978-0-415-34473-9. Archived from the original on 2014-04-05.
13. "پیراسته تاریخنامه هرات - Page 39".
14. John Leyden, Esq. M.D.; William Erskine, Esq., eds. (1921). "Events Of The Year 910 (1525)". Memoirs of Babur. Packard Humanities Institute. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2012-11-14. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
15. 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. Archived from the original on 2013-07-26. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
16. Lee, Jonathan (2019). Afghanistan: A History from 1260 to the Present. Reaktion Books. p. 317. ISBN 9781789140101.
17. Louis Dupree, Nancy Hatch Dupree; et al. "Last Afghan empire". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
18. D. Balland (July 22, 2011) [December 15, 1983]. "AFGHANISTAN x. Political History". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
19. Otfinoski, Steven Bruce (2004). Afghanistan. Infobase Publishing. p. 8. ISBN 0-8160-5056-2. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
20. Bleaney, C. H.; María Ángeles Gallego (2006). Afghanistan: a bibliography. BRILL. p. 216. ISBN 90-04-14532-X. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
21. Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936. Vol. 2. BRILL. p. 157. ISBN 90-04-08265-4. Retrieved 2010-08-23.
22. M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition
23. Houtsma, Martijn Theodoor (1987). E.J. Brill's first encyclopaedia of Islam 1913-1936. Vol. 2. BRILL. p. 146. ISBN 90-04-09796-1. Retrieved 2010-08-23.