Origins of the Afghans

Thank you many times my friend.

One question: I read that Pashtun is classified as Eastern Irani language.
What are your thoughts about this and what does this classification based on ?
I have many Pashtun friends and there are many common words in Pashtun with Parsi, Does it mean Pashtun is just another dialect or it was existed way before Parsi ?

Thank you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_people

Pashtun

Main article: Pashtun

Pashtun or Pakhtun, are a warlike, fierce, and independent people that reside mainly in southern and eastern Afghanistan and western Pakistan. Considerable pockets also exist throughout other parts of Afghanistan. Smaller groups of Pashtuns are also found in Iran and India as well. Pashtun culture is ancient and much of it is yet to be recorded in contemporary times. There are many conflicting theories, some contemporary, some ancient, about the origins of the Pashtun people, both among historians and the Pashtun themselves. Most scholars agree that the Pashtuns are of Iranian stock and speak an eastern Iranian language. According to the writer W.K. Frazier Tyler writing in his book Afghanistan, "The word Afghan� first appears in history in the Hudud-al-Alam, a work by an unknown Arab geographer who wrote in 982 AD." Until the advent of the modern Afghan state in the 18th century, the word Afghan had been synonymous with Pashtun.

Tajik

Main article: Tajiks

The Tajiks are amongst the oldest inhabitants of the region, and can trace their roots back to the original Iranian peoples that settled Central-Asia in ancient times, such as the Bactrians, Sogdians, and Parthians, as well as Persians who fled to Central-Asia during Arab Islamic expansion. The Tajiks also comprise the majority population of Tajikistan and are found in large numbers in Uzbekistan and Iran as well as the western Pakistan and Xinjiang province of China. A related group in Afghanistan known as the Farsiwan are often affiliated with the Tajiks, but are generally of the Shia sect and are mostly distinct from the Hazaras as the Farsiwans are a Mediterrean people and are basically almost identical to the Persians of Iran. Tajiks are, by contrast, considered the Persians of Central Asia.

Hazara

Main article: Hazara

Historically, the Hazara seem to have Turkic-Mongolian origins, but with some Caucasoid admixture from surrounding groups. Linguistically though the Hazara speak Dari, but their variant is interspersed with more Mongolian words, but this is also the case with many Turkic languages such as Uzbek. It may simply be the case that the Hazara are of Uighur Turkic origin as many Turks accompanied the Mongol armies or arrived in the region long before the Mongols. It is however commonly believed by many Afghans that the Hazara are descendants of Genghis Khan's army, which marched into the area during the 12th century. Proponents of this view hold that many of the Mongol soldiers and their family members settled in the area and remained there after the Mongol empire dissolved in the 13th century, converting to Islam and adopting local customs. The theory regarding a more Turkic origin for the Hazara has equal validity and the relatively small number of actual Mongols in comparison to Turks makes it more likely that the Hazara are descendents of Turkic invaders who were Persianized over time. Unlike most Afghans the Hazara are Shia, which has often set them apart from their neighbors.

Uzbek

Main article: Uzbek

The Uzbeks are the main Turkic people of Afghanistan and are found mainly in the northern regions of the country. Most likely the Uzbeks migrated with a wave of Turkic invaders and intermingled with local Iranian tribes over time to become the ethnic group they are today. By the 1500s the Uzbeks had settled throughout Central Asia and reached Afghanistan following the conquests of Muhammad Shibani. Most Uzbeks are Sunni Muslim and are closely related to the Turkmen who also can be found in Afghanistan.

Turkmen

Main article: Turkmen people

The Turkmen are the smaller Turkic group who can also be found in neighoring Turkmenistan. Largely Sunni Muslim, their origins are very similar to that of the Uzbeks.

Baluch

Main article: Baloch

The Baluch are another Iranian ethnic group that numbers around 200,000 in Afghanistan. The main Baloch areas located in Balochistan province in Pakistan and Sistan and Baluchistan province of Iran. Many also live in southern Afghanistan. They are most likely an offshoot of the Kurds and reached Afghanistan sometime between 1000 and 1300 BCE. Mainly pastoral and desert dwellers, the Baluch are also Sunni Muslim.

Nuristani

Main article: Nuristani

The Nuristani are an Indo-Iranian people, representing a third branch of independent of the Iranian and Indo-Aryan groups, who live in isolated regions of northeastern Afghanistan. Better known historically as the Kafirs of what was once known as Kafiristan (now called Nuristan), they were forcibly converted to Islam during the rule of "Iron" Amir Abdur Rahman and their country was renamed "Nuristan" or "Land of Light" as in the light of Islam. Many Nuristanis believe that they are the descendents of Alexander's Greeks, but there is a lack of genetic evidence for this and they are more than likely an isolated pocket of early Aryan invaders. They are largely Sunni Muslim.