Afghans (Re: Kinship systems)

[Yashwant Malaiya]

>> "V.C.Vijayaraghavan" <vijay at VOSSNET.CO.UK> wrote:

>> As the Afghanis regard themselves as a lost tribe of Israel, does
>> that make them Near-Eastern or Jewish? Their language still
>> is E. Iranian and thus Indo-Iranian... And, they are Muslim.

The book Makhzan-i-Afghani by Niamatullah (AD 1613) gives the
account of Afghans being descended from the Jews.

Historically his view is clearly incorrect, although there
has been Jewish presence in Afghanistan since ancient times.
Generally they were communities of Iranian Jews, with little
connection with the Afghans.

It is possible that some of the Khatri clans may be related
to some of the Afghan tribes. Common Afghans today are largely
unaware of their Hindu/Buddhist/Zoroastrian past.

One of the earliest mentions of the term "Afghan" (avgANa) occurs
in  BRihat-samhitaa of Varaahamihira.

Yashwant