[B]Impact of Afghanistan on India, Pakistan[/B]

[ludin_racer]

Impact of Afghanistan on India, Pakistan


No country has had such a big impact on the Indo-Pak subcontinent than
Afghanistan. The Aryans settled in Afghanistan between 400 BC-300 BC
and
from here one branch went to Europe and another branch settled in the
Indo-Pak subcontinent. Afghanistan was also the route through which
many
armies invaded the Indo-Pak subcontinent, but all the invaders were not
Afghans: some were Greeks; some were Turks; some were White Huns; some
were
Arabs; some were Mughals. Among the famous invaders were Alexander the
Great; Mahmood of Ghazni; Muhammad Ghori, Alauddin Khilji, Zahiruddin
Babur;
Muhammad bin Qasim; the Lodis; Sher Shah Suri, Nadir Shah Afshar and
Ahmad
Shah Abdali. The non-Afghan invaders first settled in Afghanistan
before
invading the Indo-Pak subcontinent and all the invaders made use of
Afghan
soldiers to carry out their military campaigns. These non-Afghan
invaders
made use of Afghan soldiers simply because the Afghans were famous for
their
acts of heroism; and this explains why the original name of Afghanistan
was
Ashvagan, meaning land of the heroes and from Ashvagan the name evolved
into
Afghanistan.

Many of the Afghan soldiers who helped the invaders were impressed with
the wealth of the subcontinent, so they decided to settle here
permanently;
many inter-married among the locals and became part of the
subcontinent's
soil. A large number of Afghan soldiers settled in the Punjab,
inter-married
among the Punjabis and so the area in the Punjab between the Beas and
the
Sutlej came to be known as Chota Afghanistan or mini-Afghanistan. Some
of
the leading families in the Punjab such as the Nawabs of Mamdot are
originally Afghans. Another lot of Afghans settled in other parts of
the
subcontinent and the more enterprising ones among them became rulers of
states such as Bhopal, Rampur, Palanpur. And the Afghan family of
Haidar Ali
and his son Tipu Sultan established a state in Mysore.

Afghanistan has been the mother of many tribes in the Indo-Pakistan
subcontinent: for example, the leading tribes in Balochistan are
Afghans:
these tribes include the Sheranis, Raisanis, Tarins, Pannis, Achakzais,
Kasis etc, etc. And in the NWFP, 70 per cent of the population consists
of
Pakhtun tribes whose mother is Afghanistan: these tribes include the
Mohmands, Masuds, Yousafzais, Barakzais, Waziris, Shinwaris, Afridis,
Durranis etc, etc.

Afghanistan is the mother of Hinduism in the subcontinent, as it was in
Afghanistan that the most sacred books of Hinduism, the Vedas, were
composed; and Afghanistan is the mother of all the Parsees in the
subcontinent because the prophet Zoroaster was born here; and
Afghanistan is
the mother of all those saints and sufis who introduced Islam in the
subcontinent. And Afghanistan has some very important and sacred sites
for
those of the Buddhist faith.

Afghan dynasties such as the Lodis and Suris contributed a lot in the
development of the Indo-Pak subcontinent but also worked for
Hindu-Muslim
unity, so much so that many Hindus were impressed with their behaviour
that
they voluntarily accepted Islam. Sher Shah Suri, a remarkable Afghan
King,
within only five years, measured the entire area of the Indo-Pak
subcontinent; he made land reforms, developed a good currency system
and
built a road from one end to the other end of the subcontinent. It is
interesting to note that he became king after dethroning Humayun, a
Mughal;
but on his premature death, even Humayun was grieved.

Some of the invaders from Afghanistan conquered some parts of the
subcontinent but there were a few who conquered the whole of the
subcontinent. For example, Alauddin Khilji spread the authority of
Afghanistan and its culture throughout the Indo-Pak subcontinent, right
up
to Cape Comorin. And after defeating the Marhattas in the third Battle
of
Panipat, Ahmad Shah Abdali brought the whole of the subcontinent under
the
influence of Afghanistan; and Kashmir also became part of the Afghan
empire.
Afghanistan's influence was so great in Kashmir that many Kashmiri
Pundits
proudly associated their names with various Afghan tribes. It was not
unusual to find Kashmir Pundits with such names as Pundit Anand Kaul
Banzai
or Pundit Omkar Nath Yusufzai. It was because of Afghan influence that
Persian became popular among Kashmiris.

Throughout history the Afghans had been invading the Indo-Pak
subcontinent
but then a day came when Afghanistan herself became a victim of foreign
invasions. A number of times the British tried to establish their rule
in
Afghanistan but every time they failed. The political leaders in the
Indo-Pak subcontinent were witnessing how a small, poorly armed
country, was
able to challenge the mighty British empire. These political leaders
thought
that if a small country could challenge British authority, why could a
huge
subcontinent not do the same. And so Afghanistan provided inspiration
to the
political leaders of the Indo-Pak subcontinent to fight for their
political
freedom which they eventually won in 1947.

Today no country offers better investment opportunity to investors in
the
Indo-Pak subcontinent, than Afghanistan. Besides this, the oil and gas
pipeline projects from Central Asia via Afghanistan can have a big
impact on
the lives of the people of the Indo-Pak subcontinent. But all this will
remain a dream unless there is stability in Afghanistan. And this is
only
possible if those interested in solving Afghanistan's problems realise
that
Afghanistan is the world's largest tribal society and in such a
society, all
big and small decisions are made by tribes and not individuals. Century
after century, right from the Aryan period, the jirga system has been
used
to solve the problems of the country. To change such an ancient system
overnight is just like changing horses in mid-stream. Those who have
recently drafted the constitution for Afghanistan have overlooked the
fact
that Afghanistan, for the last so many centuries, enjoyed stability
because
of following the tribal system, its most vital components being a king
whose
role was to unite all the tribes; a prime minister (Sadar-i-Azam) whose
job
was to administer the country; and a Loya Jirga whose job was to elect
a
king, draft constitutions, decide vital issues. Those who have drafted
the
present constitution of Afghanistan have not given option to the tribes
whether they desire their centuries old tribal system of monarchy with
which
they are familiar or the unfamiliar system of western republicanism
which
has repeatedly failed to restore stability after the monarchy was
derailed.
Anything short of this arrangement will never restore stability in
Afghanistan and instead of the country proving a blessing for the
Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, it can create only problems for it and for
the
US.



The writer is great grandson of late Afghan King Dost Muhammad Khan,
founder of the Muhammadzai Dynasty

[Prideandsurvival]

True that. Well explained insight at the Afghan history. Truely, we did influence the sub-continent more than anything else. We were their invaders and their protectors from outside forces.

[Kushaan]

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Are the Pathans Hindu Rajputs ?By Khaled Ahmad



Both Pathans and Rajputs are warlike people. Their bravery and sense of honour are legendary. But are they also the same people? At least one person thought so.

A British doctor Henry Walter Bellew (1834-1892) thought in 1864 that most Pakhtun tribal names were actually Rajput names which had undergone changes over time. This actually gave rise to the theory that Hindus had occupied the region called Afghanistan before the ‘foreigners’ took it over.


As civil surgeon in Peshawar Bellew perfected his knowledge of the local languages. He was chief political officer in Kabul during the Second Afghan War. When he retired as India’s surgeon-general he was already an authority on oriental languages.

In a nutshell, Bellew’s thesis is that all Afghan tribal names can be traced to Greek and Rajput names, which posits the further possibility of a great Greek mixing with the ancient border tribes of India. Some of this survives in Punjab’s Jhang district today where local inhabitants are conscious of homophonous similarities between their names and the great Greek tribes.

Bellew looks at the zai and khel suffixes indicating Pakhtun bloodlines. He thinks that zai is from Persian zaadan (to give birth) which is the same as Sanskrit jan; and khel is clearly Sanskrit kul (family). The Hindu name Kuldip means lamp of the family. The Pakhtun use zai and khel interchangeably.

Bellew starts with the mythology of the origin of the Afghans — perhaps the most detailed story given anywhere. Then he goes to the great Greek historian Herodotus when he discusses the Greek-Bactrian tribes North of Afghanistan.

The Lydoi (Greek ‘y’ is actually ‘u’) are the Lodis, Maionoi are the Miyanis, Mysoi are the Afghan tribes taking Musa as prefix, Thynoi and Bithynoi are Tanis and Bitanis, the Karoi are Karo, Ionoi are Yunus, Doroi are Dor, and Aioloi are Ali.

It should be noted that wherever possible the Afghans will try to convert their pagan names to Muslim ones, as Isapzais have become Yusufzais. This also inclines them to trace themselves to Jewish roots. Bellew gives us the other dimension: all these Greek-sounding names are also Rajput, meaning that Greek intermixing was with the Rajput races when they lived in the
region now occupied by the Afghans.

Bellew thinks prefix Suleman is derived from Rajput Solan which is today visible in Solanki. Daud, as it appears in Daudzai and Daudputra among Muslims, is actually Rajput Dadi or Dadika.

Utmankhel or Utmanzai (to which the family of Wali Khan belongs) are mentioned by Herodotus as a Greek tribe Utoi. Utmanzais have sub-tribes like Baddo (Rajput Yaddo, the tribe of Krishna), Ballo is Rajput Bhalla khatri,

Bura is Bora (Vohra) mercantile Rajput, a name taken by Bohras, the Ismailis of Gujrat, Mandal is the Jat tribe Mada, its version Mandanr, live along Jadun or Gadun tribes (of Hazara which is Sanskrit Abhisara), which names are variant of the Jadu Rajput tribe. These are Yadavas of India.

Gaduns established Gajni which is today Ghazni. The Afghan Batanis are ancient Bhattis, the elite of the Rajputs serving at the court as ministers.

Mahmand actually means ‘the great Mand’. They are in Peshawar but their Rajput relatives are now found near Bombay. Pliny calls them Mandriani of Afghanistan; they are the Wends of Austria. A branch of them called the Bai-zai are located in Kohat which was an old Greek city.

The Suri Pakhtun were people brought from Syria by the son of Seleukus who ruled that part of Alexander’s eastern empire. The Afridis are mentioned by Herodotus as Aparytai brought to their present abode by Ghaznavi, but they came from the Afghan province of Maimana.

Similarly, the Orakzai are mentioned by Arrian as Arasakoi, and their rivals Bangash came originally from Ghazni. The Bangash are also called Bangak which relates to Bangat Chohan Rajputs. Their neighbours the Turis are the same as Tiwari Rajputs of India. Thus the story of Pakhtun tribes goes on.

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[Feroz Afridi]

great writup