History of Afghans (Articles and Pictures)

[Kabira]

The genetic tests of Ghilzai afghans show that their closest gentic cousins are Durranis/abdalis , they are genetically almost indistinguishable from durranis/abdalis. The same genetics of the two tribes shows that Abdalis and Ghilzais are descended from the same tribes. The recent genetic analysis of Pamiri tajiks of Badakhshan and Ishkisham whose ancestral languages are closest to pashto language are genetically the closest group to both Durranis and Ghilazais.
The pakistani pashtuns/pathans of kpk are mostly pashtunized populations of local geographical origins of those areas. This shows that the original pashtuns were most probably the genetic ancestors of Durranis and Ghilazis only.

Pamir Tajiks is same group who have been isolated in mountains and with very little Mongol ancestry if at all?

 

[Shahmir]

Their learned men claim descent from a Mughal general of Babur, but some Afghani wikipedia and twitterati try to give them lodhi or ghilzai origin all the time. The only truly Pashtun origin Hazarewal are the Tareens, Chachis and maybe Jadoons. About the Chachis of Attock, they only moved in 100 years ago as economic migrants during the British raj. They're said to have come from Kandahar etc.

I have doubt about pashtun origin of "Jadoon" tribe, their name resemble too much with the ancient indo-aryan tribe of "Yadu" mentioned in vedic age, Yadu to "Jadu" and later "Jadun" shift is linguistically quite plausible.

 

[Samandri]

The genetic tests of Ghilzai afghans show that their closest gentic cousins are Durranis/abdalis , they are genetically almost indistinguishable from durranis/abdalis. The same genetics of the two tribes shows that Abdalis and Ghilzais are descended from the same ancestors. The recent genetic analysis of Pamiri tajiks of Badakhshan and Ishkisham (whose ancestral languages are closest to pashto language) have shown that these pamiri tajiks are genetically the closest group to both Durranis and Ghilazais afghani pashtuns.
The pakistani pashtuns/pathans of kpk are mostly pashtunized populations of local geographical origins and have only some genetic input from ancestral pashtun tribes such as durranis and ghilzais. This shows that the original pashtuns were most probably the genetic ancestors of Durranis and Ghilazis only.

Thats interesting, Abdalis are also thought to be descended from hepthalites , i would stick with theory that khiljis/ghilzais are also hephthalites of turkmenistan.
I am not expert on the genetics but can you also tell me what are results of karlani tribes of FATA who are thought to be of unknown origin but oldest in the region?

 

[Shahmir]

Pamir Tajiks is same group who have been isolated in mountains and with very little Mongol ancestry if at all?

Yes it is surprising that though they inhabit an area very close to mongoloid people they have managed to preserve their genetic heritage over the millennia which is remarkable, I was actually expecting them to have mongoloid influence though less than the regualr tajiks of tajikistan, their genetic results have indeed surprised me a lot.
Never the less the pamiri tajiks culture is totally different than that of pashtuns of afghanistan despite the two groups having same ancient east-iranic linguistic and genetic heritage. Pamiri tajiks of badakhshan prefer persian/dari language over their ancient east iranic dialects. Pamiri tajiks are culturally far more closer to people of chitral, hunza and gilgit in northern pakistan than they are to pashtuns or other afghani groups.

Those who don't know who pamiri tajiks of afghanistan are or how they look like can have an idea of them from the following music videos from badakhshan and ishkisham area of north east afghanistan. The music artists and singers in the following videos are all from badakhshan Pamir afghanistan.

Thats interesting, Abdalis are also thought to be descended from hepthalites , i would stick with theory that khiljis/ghilzais are also hephthalites of turkmenistan.
I am not expert on the genetics but can you also tell me what are results of karlani tribes of FATA who are thought to be of unknown origin but oldest in the region?

After modern genetic findings the importance of historical and mythological origins has greatly decreased because genetics is science and exactly tells you who is who and with whom is he related to not only at this point in time but also ancient relationship with other populations. So the genetics has debunked the theory of ghilzais having anything to do with turkic people of central asia, I will take genetics on history or mythology books on any day.

 

[Kabira]

Thats interesting, Abdalis are also thought to be descended from hepthalites , i would stick with theory that khiljis/ghilzais are also hephthalites of turkmenistan.
I am not expert on the genetics but can you also tell me what are results of karlani tribes of FATA who are thought to be of unknown origin but oldest in the region?

I doubt any genetic tests has been done on Karlani.

 

[Samandri]

Yes it is surprising that though they inhabit an area very close to mongoloid people they have managed to preserve their genetic heritage over the millennia which is remarkable, I was actually expecting them to have mongoloid influence though less than the regualr tajiks of tajikistan, their genetic results have indeed surprised me a lot.
Never the less the pamiri tajiks culture is totally different than that of pashtuns of afghanistan despite the two groups having same ancient east-iranic linguistic and genetic heritage. Pamiri tajiks of badakhshan prefer persian/dari language over their ancient east iranic dialects. Pamiri tajiks are culturally far more closer to people of chitral, hunza and gilgit in northern pakistan than they are to pashtuns or other afghani groups.

Those who don't know who pamiri tajiks of afghanistan are or how they look like can have an idea of them from the following music videos from badakhshan and ishkisham area of north east afghanistan. The music artists and singers in the following videos are all from badakhshan Pamir afghanistan.

After modern genetic finding the importance of historical and mythological origins has greatly decreased because genetics is science and exactly tells you who is who and with whom is he related to not only at this point in time but also ancient relationship with other populations. So the genetics has debunked the theory of ghilzais having anything to do with turkic people of central asia, I will take genetics on history or mythology books on any day.

You are right but many scholars are saying that hepthalites were not turks but east indo-iranians, it might explain why abdalis and ghilzais have same racial composition.

 

[Shahmir]

Thats interesting, Abdalis are also thought to be descended from hepthalites , i would stick with theory that khiljis/ghilzais are also hephthalites of turkmenistan.
I am not expert on the genetics but can you also tell me what are results of karlani tribes of FATA who are thought to be of unknown origin but oldest in the region?

The genetic results of Karlani pashtuns from Kurram agency of FATA shows that they are genetically quite similar to Kalash people of chitral.

 

[Kabira]

Yes it is surprising that though they inhabit an area very close to mongoloid people they have managed to preserve their genetic heritage over the millennia which is remarkable, I was actually expecting them to have mongoloid influence though less than the regualr tajiks of tajikistan, their genetic results have indeed surprised me a lot.
Never the less the pamiri tajiks culture is totally different than that of pashtuns of afghanistan despite the two groups having same ancient east-iranic linguistic and genetic heritage. Pamiri tajiks of badakhshan prefer persian/dari language over their ancient east iranic dialects. Pamiri tajiks are culturally far more closer to people of chitral, hunza and gilgit in northern pakistan than they are to pashtuns or other afghani groups.

Those who don't know who pamiri tajiks of afghanistan are or how they look like can have an idea of them from the following music videos from badakhshan and ishkisham area of north east afghanistan. The music artists and singers in the following videos are all from badakhshan Pamir afghanistan.

.

Also other Tajiks seem indigenous even if we discount recent mongol admixture, they are pretty distinct from Iranis genetically.

The genetic results of Karlani pashtuns from Kurram agency of FATA shows that they are genetically quite similar to Kalash people of chitral.

On harappadna?

 

[Shahmir]

I doubt any genetic tests has been done on Karlani.

HGDP sample of 25 pashtuns was taken from kurram agency of FATA which is predominantly inhabited by Karlani pashtuns of Bangash, turi, orakazai tribes etc.

Also other Tajiks seem indigenous even if we discount recent mongol admixture, they are pretty distinct from Iranis genetically.



On harappadna?

Yes on harappadna you can look into individual results of all the HGDP kalash, Brusho and kurram pashtun samples. Most kurram pashtuns have their results quite similar to kalash under almost all components. Zack posted their individual results in separate posts on harappdna one or two years ago , you just need to google them.

 

[Kabira]

HGDP sample of 25 pashtuns was taken from kurran agency of FATA which is predominantly inhabited by Karlani pashtuns of Bangash, turi, orakazai tribes etc.



Yes on harappadna you can look into individual results of all the HGDP kalash, Brusho and kurram pashtun samples. Most kurram pashtuns have their results quite similar to kalash under almost all components.

Oh ok now i remember. I was confusing them with some other group. Also last year some Afghan pashtuns submitted their raw data to harappadna. And this latest study.

Afghan Dataset | Harappa Ancestry Project

The difference is obvious.

 

[Samandri]

I doubt any genetic tests has been done on Karlani.

During Jahingeer time, Khan e jehan lodi sent various men to each tribe to record their history. Tribes could only tell their history to a certain period but were not able to trace their history to ancient times, they never kept written records. In the data collected, indian Afghans found out that many tribes are connected to each other. E.g A wazir could tell that mehsud is his cousin. Or Marwat is cousin of Miankhel. But no definite history was available that all tribes are of single race. So indian Afghan historian connected all the tribes , connected all the dots by inventing a character by name of Qais abdul rasheed , making us all descendents of him. Lodhis were expelled from their ancestral homeland by their enemies ghilzais , so ghilzai was declared elder brother of lodhi who was born out of wedlock.
Any tribe of obscure origin, not connected to the tree, was labelled karlani and the story was fabricated that karlan was adopted son of Qais, that he was found on the way.
It would be interesting to find out the genetic results of karlani tribes, each one is different from another in looks and occupy the belt which is more of a barrier. In addition to FATA , they live in loy paktiya. Karlanis are most probably ancient pakhtas who are mentioned in greek and sanskrit sources.

The genetic results of Karlani pashtuns from Kurram agency of FATA shows that they are genetically quite similar to Kalash people of chitral.

Thats interesting. It might explain why there are no hindu or budhist ruins in regions of karlani tribes. And it also means they are indeed very ancient inhabitants of the region.

 

[Kabira]

During Jahingeer time, Khan e jehan lodi sent various men to each tribe to record their history. Tribes could only tell their history to a certain period but were not able to trace their history to ancient times, they never kept written records. In the data collected, indian Afghans found out that many tribes are connected to each other. E.g A wazir could tell that mehsud is his cousin. Or Marwat is cousin of Miankhel. But no definite history was available that all tribes are of single race. So indian Afghan historian connected all the tribes , connected all the dots by inventing a character by name of Qais abdul rasheed , making us all descendents of him. Lodhis were expelled from their ancestral homeland by their enemies ghilzais , so ghilzai was declared elder brother of lodhi who was born out of wedlock.
Any tribe of obscure origin, not connected to the tree, was labelled karlani and the story was fabricated that karlan was adopted son of Qais, that he was found on the way.
It would be interesting to find out the genetic results of karlani tribes, each one is different from another in looks and occupy the belt which is more of a barrier. In addition to FATA , they live in loy paktiya. Karlanis are most probably ancient pakhtas who are mentioned in greek and sanskrit sources.


Thats interesting. It might explain why there are no hindu or budhist ruins in regions of karlani tribes. And it also means they are indeed very ancient inhabitants of the region.

Here are their results

Pathan/Pashtun Admixture Results | Harappa Ancestry Project

Another interesting thing is their Gedrosia/Baloch component is also higher which is charasteristic of people living in indus valley. This component peak in Brahui/Baloch thats why its named Baloch. I remember at first Zac named this component ''Pakistani'' before changing to Baloch.

 

[Shahmir]

Thats interesting. It might explain why there are no hindu or budhist ruins in regions of karlani tribes. And it also means they are indeed very ancient inhabitants of the region.

From looks alone sometimes I have an impression that at least some of the Wazirs might be related to the ghilazais of the neighboring paktika province, for other karlanis it looks like they are indeed very ancient tribes of their respective regions and most probably are the people as you mentioned the "pactiyans" of greek historians and "pakthas" of ancient vedic sanskrit texts.

 

[ghoul]

I have doubt about pashtun origin of "Jadoon" tribe, their name resemble too much with the ancient indo-aryan tribe of "Yadu" mentioned in vedic age, Yadu to "Jadu" and later "Jadun" shift is linguistically quite plausible.

Interestingly, "Jadaun" is a bhatti rajput clan in Rajasthan.

The genetic tests of Ghilzai afghans show that their closest gentic cousins are Durranis/abdalis , they are genetically almost indistinguishable from durranis/abdalis. The same genetics of the two tribes shows that Abdalis and Ghilzais are descended from the same ancestors. The recent genetic analysis of Pamiri tajiks of Badakhshan and Ishkisham (whose ancestral languages are closest to pashto language) have shown that these pamiri tajiks are genetically the closest group to both Durranis and Ghilazais afghani pashtuns.
The pakistani pashtuns/pathans of kpk are mostly pashtunized populations of local geographical origins and have only some genetic input from ancestral pashtun tribes such as durranis and ghilzais. This shows that the original pashtuns were most probably the genetic ancestors of Durranis and Ghilazis only.

Man genetics become the same after mass mixing. Like Baloch and Brahvi have no genetic differences at all today, even though one of the groups speak a Dravidian language. Not to mention that Baloch people only moved into Balochistan within the past 1000 years(fairly recently). They claim they moved from Aleppo Syria, and I have no reason to doubt that claim considering Balochi is a sister language of Kurdish, which is spoken in Aleppo. My point being, the local dravidian and baloch tribes mixed to such an extent that any difference has disappeared in their DNA results. Then there's a thing called genetic founder effect, which reduces genetic variation within a population in a geographically isolated region. Hence Ghilzais and Durranis might be different originally, but they have mixed so much as of yet, that there's no way to tell the two apart.

 

[Shahmir]

Interestingly, "Jadaun" is a bhatti rajput clan in Rajasthan.



Man genetics become the same after mass mixing. Like Baloch and Brahvi have no genetic differences at all today, even though one of the groups speak a Dravidian language. Not to mention that Baloch people only moved into Balochistan within the past 1000 years(fairly recently). They claim they moved from Aleppo Syria, and I have no reason to doubt that claim considering Balochi is a sister language of Kurdish, which is spoken in Aleppo. My point being, the local dravidian and baloch tribes mixed to such an extent that any difference has disappeared in their DNA results. Then there's a thing called genetic founder effect, which reduces genetic variation within a population in a geographically isolated region. Hence Ghilzais and Durranis might be different originally, but they have mixed so much as of yet, that there's no way to tell the two apart.

Genetics of Hazara clearly differentiates them from all other ethnic groups of afghanistan despite their heavy intermixing with other afghani ethnicities in afghanistan over the centuries, same is the case with most of the uzbeks and turkmens too. It is not as simple as many people like to believe, we are talking about a very large tribe of Ghilazis whose numbers are twice the total population of Hazaras in afghanistan, the genetics of such a huge huge tribe cannot just change to the genetics of another equal size tribe like durranis/abdalis due to intermixing, if it was the case then both of them should show at least high levels of east eurasian component contributed by the massive tribe of supposedly "turkic" origin from central asia but that is not the case which means that the mythological claim of turkic origin of ghilzai tribe is simply put a BS of history books . I have totally stopped taking the origins of the tribes based on history books seriously , we live in modern age we can ascertain the origin of each tribe and ethnic group quite easily by modern scientific genetic tests. I am a student of science so my belief is always in science rather than in history books because I understand "science" in its "real" form and know how it works.

As far as Baloch and Brahvi question is concerned it is purely a text book case of elite dominance, the vast majority of so-called modern Baloch are simply balochi speaking Brahvis due to elite dominance of small but dominant baloch tribe that penetrated in their region and imposed their balochi language on some of the brahvi tribes who speak balochi today. The actual tribe is Brahvi whereas balochi is a construct on top of it and their genetic results are confirming it.

As far as founder effect is concerned it is relevant only for the "frequency" of certain haplogroups in isolated populations due to natural or sexual selection over the centuries. It has little influence on the "autosomal" genetic heritage of that population since autosomal ancestary tracks all your ancestors from the beginning of human race who are responsible for your existence today. For example a person's existence is not entirely restricted to his immediate parents but his grand parents too and parents of the grand parents too and so on, it never ends until we reach back to genetically first modern human being.