The name Afghānistān (, Afġānistān ; Afġānistān )Cowan, William and Jaromira Rakušan. Source Book for Linguistics. 3rd ed. John Benjamins, 1998. means "land of the Afghans", the name "Afghan" originally referred to a member of the Pashtuns. which originates from the ethnonym Afghan. Historically, Pashtuns were referred to as Afghans, the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan. The earliest reference to the name is found in the 10th-century geography book known as Hudud al-'Alam. 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.E. Huntington, "The Anglo-Russian Agreement as to Tibet, Afghanistan, and Persia", Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, Vol. 39, No. 11 (1907). 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

According to Ta'rikh-i Yamini (author being secretary of Mahmud of Ghazni), Afghans enrolled in Sabuktigin's Ghaznavid Empire in the 10th century as well as in the later Ghurid Kingdom (1148–1215). 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 Empire 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

The word Afghan is mentioned in the form of Abgan in the third century CE by the Sassanians and as Avagana (Afghana) in the 6th century CE by Indian astronomer Varahamihira. 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."

Al-Biruni referred to them in the 11th century as various tribes living on the western frontier mountains of the Indus River. Ibn Battuta, a famous Maghrebi 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."

Some of the earliest mentions of the term Afghanistan can be found in the 9th century History of the House of Artsruni by Armenian historian Tovma Artsruni (as Ապղաստան [Apłastan]) and the 13th century 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.

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

The name "Afghanistan" is also mentioned many times in the writings of the 16th-century historian, Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (Ferishta), and many others.

From a imperial register detailing letters of the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III to Ahmad Shāh Durrānī, the realm where Ahmad Shah started his reign is called as "Afghanistan" while still referring to the Durrani Empire itself as the "Afghan Sultanate".

In the travel account of George Forster, an English traveller, written during the reign of Timur Shah Durrani, and published during the reign of Zaman Shah Durrani, the Durrani Empire is referred to as 'Afghaniſtan' by identifying Kandahar as the designed capital of Afghanistan built by Ahmad Shah, while areas beyond the Indus are referred to as foreign possessions. Timur Shah is also referred to as the Prince of Afghanistan.

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.

Last Afghan empire

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, which was established by Mirwais Hotak who is regarded as "Mirwais Neeka" ("Mirwais the grandfather").

The Encyclopaedia of Islam states:M. Longworth Dames, G. Morgenstierne, R. Ghirshman, "Afghānistān", in Encyclopaedia of Islam, Online Edition 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 () () Pashto () () Uzbek Turkmen Urdu () () Balochi Brahui Kyrgyz () () Arabic () m. f. Chinese () () Hindi () () Punjabi / () Russian () () m. () f. Tajik () () Uyghur ()

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

Notes

References

es:Etimología de Afganistán lv:Afganistānas nosaukums