The Pashtuns are intimately tied to the history of modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. Following
Muslim conquests from the 7th to 10th centuries, Pashtun
ghazis (warriors) invaded and conquered much of the
Indian subcontinent during the
Ghaznavids (963–1187),
Ghurid dynasty (1148–1215),
Khilji dynasty (1290–1321),
Lodhi dynasty (1451–1526) and
Suri dynasty (1540–1556). Their modern past stretches back to the
Hotaki dynasty (1709–1738) and the
Durrani Empire. The Hotakis were
Ghilzai tribesmen, who defeated the
Persian Safavids and seized control over much of Persia from 1722 to 1738.
This was followed by the conquests of
Ahmad Shah Durrani who was a former high-ranking military commander under
Nader Shah of
Khorasan. He created the last
Afghan empire that covered most of what is today Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Kashmir,
Indian Punjab, as well as the
Kohistan and
Khorasan provinces of Iran.
After the decline of the Durrani dynasty in the first half of the 19th century under
Shuja Shah Durrani, the
Barakzai dynasty took control of the empire. Specifically, the
Mohamedzai subclan held Afghanistan's monarchy from around 1826 to the end of
Zahir Shah's reign in 1973. This legacy continues into modern times as the
state is led by the
Karzai administration under President
Hamid Karzai, who is from the
Popalzai tribe of
Kandahar.
The Pashtuns in Afghanistan resisted
British designs upon their territory and kept the
Russians at bay during the so-called
Great Game. By playing the two super powers against each other, Afghanistan remained an independent
sovereign state and maintained some autonomy (see the
Siege of Malakand). But during the reign of
Abdur Rahman Khan (1880–1901),
Pashtun regions were
politically divided by the
Durand Line, and what is today western Pakistan was claimed by
British in 1893. In the 20th century, many politically-active Pashtun leaders living under British rule in the then
NWFP province supported
Indian independence, including
Bacha Khan and son
Wali Khan (both members of the
Khudai Khidmatgar, popularly referred to as the
Surkh posh or "the Red shirts"), and were inspired by
Mohandas Gandhi's
non-violent method of resistance.
Some Pashtuns also worked in the
Muslim League to fight for an independent Pakistan, including
Yusuf Khattak and
Abdur Rab Nishtar who was a close associate of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
The Pashtuns of Afghanistan attained complete independence from British intervention during the reign of King
Amanullah Khan, following the
Third Anglo-Afghan War. The Afghan monarchy ended when
President Daoud Khan seized control of Afghanistan from his cousin King Zahir Shah in 1973. This opened the door to
Soviet intervention and the rise of
Afghan communists, who demonstrated their power when they assassinated Daoud Khan and his family in the 1978
Saur Revolution. After this, many Pashtuns joined the
mujahideen opposition against the 1979
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. In the meantime, millions of them began fleeing their country to live among other
Afghan refugees in neighboring
Pakistan and
Iran, while thousands of them proceeded to
North America, the
European Union, the
Middle East,
Australia and other parts of the world.
In the late 1990s, they became known for being the primary ethnic group that comprised the
Taliban, which was a religious government based on Islamic
sharia law formed to end the
civil war.
On the other hand, the
Taliban opposition also included Pashtuns. Among them were
Abdul Qadir and his brother
Abdul Haq,
Abdul Rasul Sayyaf,
Gul Agha Sherzai, the
Karzais,
Abdullah Abdullah,
Asadullah Khalid and many others. The Taliban were ousted in late 2001 during the US-led
Operation Enduring Freedom and replaced with the current
Karzai administration, which is
dominated by Pashtun ministers.
Some of these include:
Foreign Minister Zalmay Rasoul,
Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak,
Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal,
Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak,
Commerce Minister Anwar ul-Haq Ahady,
Agriculure Minister Mohammad Asef Rahimi and
Communication Minister Amirzai Sangin. The
list of current governors of Afghanistan, as well as the
parliamentarians in the
House of the People and
House of Elders, include large percentage of Pashtuns. The
Chief of staff of the
Afghan National Army,
Sher Mohammad Karimi, and
Commander of the
Afghan Air Force,
Mohammad Dawran, as well as
Chief Justice of Afghanistan Abdul Salam Azimi and Attorney General
Mohammad Ishaq Aloko also belong to the Pashtun ethnic group. Several prominent Pashtun families include the
Tarzis,
Gilanis, and the
Karzais.
They not only played an important role in
South Asia but also in
Central Asia, including the Middle East. The Afghan
royal family, which was represented by king
Zahir Shah, is of ethnic Pashtun origin. Other prominent Pashtuns include the 17th-century poets
Khushal Khan Khattak and
Rahman Baba, and in contemporary era
Afghan Astronaut Abdul Ahad Mohmand, former
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad,
Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai,
Ali Ahmad Jalali,
Hedayat Amin Arsala and
Mirwais Ahmadzai among many others.
Ethnic Pashtuns of Pakistan, notably
Ayub Khan,
Yahya Khan and
Ghulam Ishaq Khan, attained the Presidency. Many more held high government posts, such as
Army Chief Gul Hassan Khan,
Abdul Waheed Kakar,
Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao, and etc. Others became famous in sports (i.e.
Shahid Afridi,
Imran Khan,
Jahangir Khan, and
Jansher Khan) and literature (i.e.
Ghani Khan,
Ameer Hamza Shinwari,
Munir Niazi, and
Omer Tarin). The
Awami National Party (ANP) of Pakistan is represented by Pashtun nationalist
Asfandyar Wali Khan, grandson of Bacha Khan, while the chairman of the
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) is
Mahmood Khan Achakzai, son of
Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai.
One of
India's former presidents,
Zakir Hussain, had Pashtun origin of the
Afridi tribe who came from an upper middle class Pashtun family settled in
Farrukhabad.
Mohammad Yunus, India's former ambassador to Algeria and advisor to
Indira Gandhi, is an ethnic Pashtun related to the legendary Bacha Khan
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