Origins of the name Afghan

 literally means the "Land of Afghans". In this case, Afghan is synonymous with .

Mainstream theories
view supported by numerous noted scholars is that the name Afghan evidently derives from  ' or ' (q.v), the  of. This view was propounded by scholars like, Dr J. W. McCrindle ,  M. V. de Saint Martin etc, and has been supported by numerous modern scholars . In, word ashva ( aspa, assa) means "horse", and ashvaka (Prakrit assaka) means "horseman" , "horse people" , "land of horses" as well as "horse breeders". Pre- times knew the people of eastern as Ashvakas, since they raised a fine breed of horses and had a reputation for providing expert. The fifth-century-BCE n  calls them Ashvakayana and Ashvayana respectively. By the time of Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira (6th century A.D), Ashvakayana of Panini or the Ashvaka(na) of got transmuted to Avagānā, the 0-po-kien or A-po-kien of  which term   and other sholars identify with name of Afghan. writers, however, use the respective equivalents Aspasios (or Aspasii, Hippasii) and Assakenois (or Assaceni/Assacani, Asscenus) etc. The Aspasios/Assakenois (Ashvakas = Cavalrymen) is stated to be another name for the of Ancient texts  because of their  characteristics. In ancient texts, the Kamboja land is described as the land of horses. The former Kafirs like Aspins of and Ashkuns or Yashkuns of  are identified as the modern representives of the  Aśvakayanas (Greek: ); and the Asip/Isap or  (< Aspazai) in the Kabul valley (between river Kabul and ) are believed to be modern representatives of  the Paninian Aśvayanas (Greek: ) respectively.

From the 3th century, when the Kushano-Sassanian civilization rose, we meet on the term Abagân. . Persian Abagan is same as Sanskrit Avagan (Avagana) referred to in the Brhat Samhita by Varaha Mihira. The Abagân lived in north-west frontiers on both sides of the. They are known to belong both to the Zoroastrian as well as the Hinduistic world. The were predominantly  *Dr V. S. Agarwala writes: "As shown in the  and  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).


 * W. J. Vogelsang and 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 lndia, 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 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)., besides a small population also being  who had  and  as the highest gods.

The began to use the term as a self-designation some time in the. In this regard, the states : From a more limited, ethnological point of view, "Af gh ān" is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-Paštō-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the Paštūn. The equation [of] Afghan [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.

It further explains:

The term "Af gh ān" 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 in his Brahat-samahita. The Sanscrit mention the people of and later it turn into Upa-Gun and Âpa-Gân.

This information is supported by traditional, for example in the writings of the Pashto poet  :

Pull out your sword and slay any one, that says Pashton and Afghan are not one! Arabs know this and so do Romans: Afghans are Pashtons, Pashtons are Afghans!

The last part of the name "" is an suffix for "place", prominent in many languages of the region. The term "Afghanistan", meaning the "Land of Afghans", was mentioned by the   in his, referring to the territories south of  that were inhabited by Pashtuns (called "Afghans" by Babur).

Regarding the modern nation or country "Afghanistan", the states: Af gh ānistān has borne that name only since the middle of the, 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 Pakistan.

Until the, the name was only used for the traditional land of the Pashtuns, while the kingdom as a whole was known as the Kingdom of , as mentioned by the statesman and historian. . Later, Afghan authorities adopted and extended the name "Afghanistan" to the entire kingdom, after its English translation, "Afghanland", had already appeared in various treaties between and, referring to the lands that were subject to the   of Kabul. By the middle of the 19th century, the name "Afghanistan" had become the established name of the country, as evidenced by the writings of German philosopher, who wrote in the year : Afghanistan, an extensive country of Asia, north-west of. It lies between and the, and in the other direction between the and the. It formerly included the Persian provinces of and Kohistan, together with, , , and e, and a considerable part of the. "Afghanistan" became fully recognized by the world community in, after the country re-gained independence over its from the British, and was confirmed as the country's official name in the nation's  constitution.

Earlier references to the region
Before being called Afghanistan, the region had gone through several name changes in its long history of over 5,000 years.

One of the most ancient names, according to historians and scholars, was Aryana - the Greek pronunciation of the ancient Aryānām Vaejā,  Aryānām Xšaθra or the  "Aryavarta", Realm of the . Today this Old-Persian, and expression is preserved in the name ' and it is noted in the name of the Afghan national airlines, '. The term Aryānā Afghānistān is still popular amongst Persian speakers in the country.

Many centuries later, large parts of the region were known as, and hence present-day Afghanistan along with regions centered around and  was recognized with the name   (: Xorâsân), which in  means "Land of the Rising Sun".

In the Persian literature modern Afghanistan is mentioned as well as Erân-e Xorâsâni or Xorâsân-e Erâni or Xorâsân-e Kabir or Xâvar-e Erân (East of Iran).

In 19th century, Afghanistan was also known as The Kingdom of  to the Europeans. In many books and maps published in 19th century in the and, Afghanistan is called as Caboul.

Other theories
There are various other theories about the origins of the name Afghanistan. However, they are not accepted by mainstream scholars.


 * 1) Pashtun legend places Afghana, the professed ancestor of the Afghans or s, as a contemporary of . On hearing about the new faith of Islam, Qais from Aryana travelled to  to see Muhammad, and returned to Aryana as a Muslim. Qais Abdur Rashid purportedly had many sons, one of whom was Afghana. Afghana, in turn, had four sons who set out to the east to establish their separate lineages. The first son went to, the second to  and , the third to , and the last one to . This legend is one of many traditional tales amongst the Pashtuns regarding their disparate origins. Again, it was this legendary Afghana who is stated to have given the Pushtuns their current name. It is notable that the Afghan of this legend is separated from the Afghana of 's times by at least 11 centuries.
 * 2) The "Ma kh zan-e Af gh ān" by, written in 1612 CE at the in , traces the Afghan or Pakhtun origin from . It states that  had a son Irmia (Jeremia), who had a son called Afghana. Upon the death of King Saul, Afghana was raised up by , and was later promoted to the chief command of the army during the reign of . The progeny of this Afghana multiplied numerously, and came to be called Bani-Israel. In the sixth century BCE, Bakhtunnasar, or  king of , attacked  and exiled the progeny of Afghana to Ghor located in the center of what is now Afghanistan. In course of time, the exiled community came to be addressed as Afghan after the name of their ancestor, and the country got its name as Afghanistan. This traditional view has some critics who refer to insufficient historical records.
 * , in his book An Enquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, believes that the name Afghan derives from the term Alban, used by  as Alvan or Alwan, which refers to mountaineers, and in the case of transliterated Armenian characters, would be pronounced as  or Aghwan. To the, this would further be altered to Aoghan, Avghan, and Afghan as a reference to the highlanders or "mountaineers" of the eastern.
 * 1) There are also a few people who tend to link "Afghan" to an word "Avagan" said to mean "original".
 * 2) By another authority, the name Afghan is said to mean wailing which the Persians are said to have contemptuously used for their plaintive eastern neighbors.

Modern usage
The used the phrase "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" to refer to their country. Between the fall of the Taliban after the and the, Afghanistan was referred to by the Government of the  as the Transitional Islamic State of Afghanistan. Under its new, the country is now officially named the  of Afghanistan.

Informations about Afghans in the medieval period
The term "Afghanistan", meaning the "Land of Afghans", was mentioned by the sixteenth century Mughal Emperor in his memoirs, referring to the territories of Peshawar-Valley (Kohistan) that were inhabited by Pashtuns (called "Afghans" by Babur).

''...“Don't call it Kohistan, but Afghanistan; for there is nothing there but Afghans and dis­turbances.” Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghanistan, and themselves Afghans. The people of India call them Pathān; but the reason for this is not known. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmans first came to the city of Patna, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patáns—but God knows! When the peace between the Raja of Lahore and the infidel Gakkhars ended in war, the Gakkhars formed an alliance with their neighbours the Afghans against the Samanians...''

''...The Afghans erected a fort in the Kohistan (mountains) of Peshawar, which they called Khaibar; and they took possession of the country of Roh. During the ascendancy of the Samanians, these (Afghans and Gakkhars) prevented them from doing any injury to the territories of Lahore.This is why it was that the incursions of the Samanians from first to last were made by way of Sind and Bhatiya. Roh is the name of a particular mountain, which extends in length from Swad and Bajaur to the town of Siwi, ...''

He is as well referring to the territories south of Kabulistan and north of Kandahar in the area of Ghazna that were inhabited by nomadic Khilijs (Ghilzais) (Kuchis) who travelling from Sindh to Khorasan and from Khorasan to Sindh (today: Pakistan) (Khilijs are called as well as "Afghans" by Babur). The places or areas they settle are called Afghanistan, too.''