w:Pashtunistan

{{Further|Name of Afghanistan|Afghan (ethnonym)|Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa|Name of Pakistan}}

The name used for the region during the Middle Ages especially during the High Middle Ages and Late Middle Ages and up until the 20th century was Afghanistan. Afghanistan is a reference to this land by its ethnicity, which were the Afghans, while Pashtunistan is a reference to this land by its language. Mention of this land by the name of Afghanistan predates mention by the name of Pashtunistan,{{Cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Afghan_and_Afghanistan.htm |title=Afghan and Afghanistan |publisher=alamahabibi.com |work=Abdul Hai Habibi|year=1969|access-date=2010-10-24}} which has been mentioned by Ahmad Shah Durrani in his famous couplet, 14th-century Moroccan scholar Ibn Battuta, Mughal Emperor Babur, 16th-century historian Firishta and many others. While mention of Afghans have been mentioned of a community of people, chieftains of tribes of Bactria known as Abgan or Avagana ({{Transliteration|fa|Afğân}}) or {{langx|xbc|αβγανο}} ({{Transliteration|xbc|Abgân}}){{Cite journal|last=Sims-Williams|first=Nicholas|title=Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan. Vol II: Letters and Buddhist|url=https://www.khalilicollections.org/portfolio/bactrian-documents-from-northern-afghanistan-part-ii/|journal=Khalili Collections|pages=19}}{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7798/Afghanistan/129450/History?anchor=ref261360|title=History of Afghanistan|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=22 November 2010}}{{Cite web|url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=10|title=History of the Mohamedan Power in India|author=Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah (Firishta)|publisher=Packard Humanities Institute|work=Persian Literature in Translation|access-date=10 January 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211200506/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=06901021&ct=10|archive-date=11 February 2009|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/afghanglossary/afghanglossary.html|title=Afghanistan: Glossary|publisher=British Library|access-date=15 March 2008|archive-date=2 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100702122855/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/afghanistan/afghanistancollection/afghanglossary/afghanglossary.html|url-status=dead}} the exact origin or etymology of the term is not known with some scholars believe it to have been derived with the name Asvakan{{efn|Also known in various sources as Āśvakāyana, Āśvāyana, Assakenoi, Aspasioi,{{Cite journal |last=Tucci |first=Giuseppe|author-link=Giuseppe Tucci |date=1963 |title=The Tombs of the Asvakayana-Assakenoi |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29754697 |journal=East and West |volume=14 |issue=1/2 |pages=27–28 |jstor=29754697 |issn=0012-8376}} and Aspasii,{{citation needed|date=April 2025}} as well as several other Prakrit, Latin and Greek variants.}} who were a people living in the Swat valley's then in the regions of Bactria.{{Blockquote|The men of Kabul and Khilj also went home; and whenever they were questioned about the Musulmans of the Kohistan (the mountains), and how matters stood there, they said, "Don't call it Kohistan, but Afghanistan; for there is nothing there but Afghans and disturbances." Thus it is clear that for this reason the people of the country call their home in their own language Afghanistan, and themselves Afghans. But it occurs to me, that when, under the rule of Muhammadan sovereigns, Musulmans first came to the city of Patna, and dwelt there, the people of India (for that reason) called them Patans—but God knows!{{Cite web |url=http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199 |title=The History of India, Volume 6, chpt. 200, Translation of the Introduction to Firishta's History (p.8) |access-date=2010-08-22 |author=Muhammad Qasim Hindu Shah |work=Sir H. M. Elliot |publisher=Packard Humanities Institute |location=London |year=1560 |author-link=Firishta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726121158/http://persian.packhum.org/persian/pf?file=80201016&ct=199 |archive-date=2013-07-26 |url-status=dead }}|Firishta|1560–1620}}

The Pashto name Pakhtunistan or Pashtunistan ({{langx|ps|پښتونستان}} (Naskh)) evolved originally from the Indian word "Pathanistan" (Hindustani: {{nastaliq|پٹھانستان}} (Nastaleeq), पठानिस्तान (Devanagari)).{{cite web|url=http://www.pashtoonkhwa.com/?page=pashtoonkhwa&id=89|title = Pashtu Literature Part II|publisher = Pashtoonkhwa|quote=The name Pakhtunistan or in soft Pashtu dialect Pashtunistan evolved originally from the Indian word Pathanistan. The very concept of Pakhtunistan was taken from the old word Pakhtunkhwa. The British, Indian leaders and even the Khudai Khidmatgars were using Pathanistan for Pakhtunistan in the beginning, but later on they started using the word Pakhtunistan.|access-date = 2009-06-07}}{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2006/The_Problem_of_Pukhtunistan.shtml|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130415044837/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2006/The_Problem_of_Pukhtunistan.shtml|url-status=usurped|archive-date=April 15, 2013|title = The Problem of Pukhtunistan|publisher = Khyber Gateway |quote=The word Pathanistan is not Persian but Indian. It shows that the Khalifa had already acquired the consent of the Muslim leaders of India or these leaders might have motivated the Khalifa to first liberate the Pukhtuns' land (Pathanistan) to build up a strong base against the British Empire in India|access-date = 2009-06-07}} The concept of Pashtunistan was inspired by the term "Pakhtunkhwa". British Indian leaders, including the Khudai Khidmatgar, started using the word "Pathanistan" to refer to the region, and later, the word "Pashtunistan" became more popular.{{cite book|title=Faultlines, Volume 18|year=2007|publisher=Institute for Conflict Management|page=59|quote=The name Pakhtunistan or in soft Pashtu dialect Pashtunistan evolved originally from the Indian word Pathanistan. The very concept of Pakhtunistan was taken from the old word Pakhtunkhwa. Obaidullah Sindhi used Pashtania for Pashtu speaking area of his Proposed People's Republic of India or Saro-Rajia-i-Hind (Obaidullah's letter to Iqbal Shaidai on 22 June 1924), Muhammad Aslam, Maulana Obaidullah Sindhi Kay Siasi Maktubat, Lahore: Niduatal Musanifeen, 1966, p. 34}}

{{Main|Pashtuns|Pashtun tribes}}

File:Pashtuns.jpg children, indigenous to the Pashtunistan region]]

The native or indigenous people of Pashtunistan are the Pashtuns (also known as Pakhtuns, Pathans and historically as ethnic Afghans), an Iranic ethnic group. They are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan and the second largest in Pakistan. The Pashtuns are concentrated mainly in the south and east of Afghanistan but also exist in northern and western parts of the country as a minority group. In Pakistan they are concentrated in the west and north-west, inhabiting mainly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Balochistan. In addition, communities of Pashtuns are found in other parts of Pakistan such as Sindh, Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan and in the nation's capital, Islamabad. The main language spoken in the delineated Pashtunistan region is Pashto. Depending on the region other languages are also spoken such as Dari in Afghanistan and Gujari, Balochi, Hindko, and Urdu in Pakistan.

The Pashtuns practice Pashtunwali, the indigenous culture of the Pashtuns, and this pre-Islamic identity remains significant for many Pashtuns and is one of the factors that have kept the Pashtunistan issue alive. Although the Pashtuns are politically separated by the Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan, many Pashtun tribes from the FATA area and the adjacent regions of Afghanistan, tend to ignore the border and cross back and forth with relative ease to attend weddings, family functions and take part in the joint tribal councils known as jirgas.Ahmed, Feroz (1998) Ethnicity and politics in Pakistan. Karachi. Oxford University Press. Though this was common before the war on terror but after several military operations conducted in FATA, this cross border movement is checked via military and has become much less common in comparison to the past.

Depending on the source, the ethnic Pashtuns constitute 42-60% of the population of Afghanistan.{{Cite book|title=The Challenge of Democracy: Government in America|last1=Janda|first1=Kenneth |author2=Jeffrey M. Berry |author3=Jerry Goldman|edition=9|year=2008|publisher=Cengage Learning|quote=Even within the largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns (about 50 percent of the population)...|isbn=978-0-618-81017-8|page=46|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_WlzlY9dv74C&pg=PA46|access-date=2010-08-22}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qImZpu07_UEC&pg=PA10088 |title=Congressional Record |publisher=Government Printing Office |isbn=9780160118449 |page=10088 |access-date=2010-09-24}}{{Cite book|title=Asian Security to the Year 2000|last1=Taylor|first1=William J. Jr.|author2=Abraham Kim|year=2000|publisher=DIANE Publishing|isbn=1-4289-1368-8|page=58|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=peTWtThUljQC&pg=PA58|access-date=2010-09-24}}{{cite web|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/afghanistan-v-languages|title=AFGHANISTAN v. Languages|quote=Paṧtō (1) is the native tongue of 50 to 55 percent of Afghans...|publisher=Encyclopædia Iranica|work=Ch. M. Kieffer|access-date=2010-10-24}}{{Cite book|title=Concise encyclopedia of languages of the world|last1=Brown|first1=Keith|author2=Sarah Ogilvie|year=2009|publisher=Elsevie|quote=Pashto, which is mainly spoken south of the mountain range of the Hindu Kush, is reportedly the mother tongue of 60% of the Afghan population.|isbn=978-0-08-087774-7|page=845|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2SRqDzB50wC&pg=PA845|access-date=2010-09-24}}{{Cite book|title=September 11, 2001: feminist perspectives|last1=Hawthorne|first1=Susan|author2=Bronwyn Winter|year=2002|publisher=Spinifex Press|quote=Over 60 percent of the population in Afghanistan is Pashtun...|isbn=1-876756-27-6|page=225|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DwbfD_irV_AC&pg=PA225|access-date=2010-09-24}} In neighboring Pakistan they constitute 15.42 percent of the 200 million population, which does not include Pashtun diaspora in other Pakistani cities and provinces.{{Cite web |date=2018-06-25 |title=Why Pakistan's Pashtun Minority Won't Be Easily Crushed |url=https://www.aei.org/foreign-and-defense-policy/india-afghanistan-pakistan/why-pakistans-pashtun-minority-wont-be-easily-crushed/ |access-date=2022-06-12 |website=American Enterprise Institute - AEI |language=en-US}} In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan, Pashto speakers constitute above 73 percent of the population as of 1998.{{Cite web|url=https://www.census.gov.pk/MotherTongue.htm |title=Pakistan Census report 1998 |publisher=Government of Pakistan |year=1998 |access-date=2010-10-29 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912021653/http://www.census.gov.pk/MotherTongue.htm|archive-date=2011-09-12}}

{{Further|History of Afghanistan|History of Pakistan}}

File:Afghanistan region during 500 BC.jpg and inhabited by a people called the Pactyans.]]

Since the 2nd millennium BC, the region now inhabited by the native Pashtun people had been conquered by Ancient Iranian peoples, the Medes, Achaemenids, Greeks, Mauryas, Kushans, Hephthalites, Sasanians, Arab Muslims, Turks, Mughals, and others. In recent age, people of the Western world have nominally explored the area.{{Cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/profiles/Afghanistan.pdf |title=Country Profile: Afghanistan|work=Library of Congress|publisher=Library of Congress Country Studies on Afghanistan|date=August 2008|access-date=2010-09-10}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyfiles.co.uk/KingListsMiddEast/EasternAfghans.htm|title=Kingdoms of South Asia – Afghanistan (Southern Khorasan / Arachosia)|publisher=The History Files|access-date=2010-08-16}}{{Cite web |url=http://encarta.msn.com/text_761569370___42/Afghanistan.html |title=Afghanistan – VII. History |author=John Ford Shroder |access-date=2009-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091031052339/http://encarta.msn.com/text_761569370___42/Afghanistan.html |archive-date=October 31, 2009 }}

Arab Muslims arrived in the 7th century and began introducing Islam to the native Pashtun people. The Pashtunistan area later fell to the Turkish Ghaznavids whose main capital was at Ghazni, with Lahore serving as the second power house. The Ghaznavid Empire was then taken over by the Ghorids from today's Ghor, Afghanistan. The army of Genghis Khan arrived in the 13th century and began destroying cities in the north while the Pashtun territory was defended by the Khalji dynasty of Delhi. In the 14th and 15th century, the Timurid dynasty was in control of the nearby cities and towns, until Babur captured Kabul in 1504.

{{Further|Delhi Sultanate|Durrani Empire}}

File:Coronation of Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747 by Breshna.jpg of Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1747 by a 20th-century Afghan artist, Abdul Ghafoor Breshna.]]

During the Delhi Sultanate era, the region was ruled by mainly Afghan and various, largely Sunni, Hanafi-jurisprudential driven Turkic{{cite web|url=http://www.astrojyoti.com/medieval-history-39.htm|title=The Government of The Turko-Afghans In India,And Moral As Well As Material Conditions Of The Country During Their Rule|website=www.astrojyoti.com}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKlEXIVxwj4C&q=turko+afghan&pg=PA2001|title=Identity and Religion: Foundations of Anti-Islamism in India|first=Amalendu|last=Misra|date=30 August 2004|publisher=SAGE Publications|via=Google Books|isbn=9780761932260}} dynasties from Delhi, India. An early Pashtun nationalist was the "Warrior-poet" Khushal Khan Khattak, who was imprisoned by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb for trying to incite the Pashtuns to rebel against the rule of the Mughals. However, despite sharing a common language and believing in a common ancestry, the Pashtuns first achieved unity in the 18th century. The eastern parts of Pashtunistan were ruled by the Mughal Empire, while the western parts were ruled by the Persian Safavids as their easternmost provinces. During the early 18th century, Pashtun tribes led by Mirwais Hotak successfully revolted against the Safavids in the city of Kandahar. In a chain of events, he declared Kandahar and other parts of what is now southern Afghanistan independent. By 1738 the Mughal Empire had been crushingly defeated and their capital sacked and looted by forces of a new Iranian ruler; the military genius and commander Nader Shah. Besides Persian, Turkmen, and Caucasian forces, Nader was also accompanied by the young Ahmad Shah Durrani, and 4,000 well trained Abdali Pashtun troops from what is now Afghanistan.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jzafAAAACAAJ | title=Afghanistan: A History of Conflict | isbn=9780233050539 | last1=Griffiths | first1=John Charles | year=2001 | publisher=Andre Deutsch }}

After the death of Nader Shah in 1747 and the disintegration of his massive empire, Ahmad Shah Durrani created his own large and powerful Durrani Empire, which included all of modern-day Afghanistan, North east Iran, Sindh, Punjab, Baluchistan and Kashmir. The famous couplet by Ahmad Shah Durrani describes the association the people have with the regional city of Kandahar:

"Da Dili takht herauma cheh rayad kam zama da khkule Pukhtunkhwa da ghre saroona".

Translation: "I forget the throne of Delhi when I recall the mountain peaks of my beautiful Pukhtunkhwa."

The last Afghan Empire was established in 1747 and united all the different Pashtun tribes as well as many other ethnic groups. Parts of the Pashtunistan region around Peshawar was invaded by Ranjit Singh and his Sikh army in the early part of the 19th century, but a few years later they were defeated by the British Raj, the new powerful empire which reached the Pashtunistan region from the east.

{{Further|European influence in Afghanistan|British Raj}}

File:King Amanullah Khan.jpg, son of Habibullah Khan and grandson of Abdur Rahman Khan.]]

Following the decline of the Durrani dynasty and the establishment of the new Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan, the Pashtun domains began to shrink as they lost control over other parts of South Asia to the British, such as the Punjab region and the Balochistan region. The Anglo-Afghan Wars were fought as part of the overall imperialistic Great Game that was waged between the Russian Empire and the British. Poor and landlocked, newly born Afghanistan was able to defend its territory and keep both sides at bay by using them against each other. In 1893, as part of a way for fixing the limit of their respective spheres of influence, the Durand Line Agreement was signed between Afghan "Iron" Amir Abdur Rahman and British Viceroy Mortimer Durand. In 1905, the North-West Frontier Province (today's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) was created and roughly corresponded to Pashtun majority regions within the British domain. The FATA area was created to further placate the Pashtun tribesmen who never fully accepted British rule and were prone to rebellions, while the city of Peshawar was directly administered as part of a British protectorate state with full integration into the federal rule of law with the establishment of civic amenities and the construction of railway, road infrastructure as well as educational institutes to bring the region at par with the developed world.

File:Gandhi and Abdul Gaffa Khan.jpg (left) with Mahatma Gandhi and Kasturba Gandhi]]

During World War I, the Afghan government was contacted by the Ottoman Turkey and Germany, through the Niedermayer–Hentig Mission, to join the Central Allies on behalf of the Caliph in a Jihad; some revolutionaries, tribals, and Afghan leaders including a brother of the Amir named Nasrullah Khan were in favour of the delegation and wanted the Amir to declare Jihad. Kazim Bey carried a firman from the Khalifa in Persian. It was addressed to "the residents of Pathanistan." It said that when the British were defeated, "His Majesty the Khalifa, in agreement with allied States, will acquire guarantee for independence of the united state of Pathanistan and will provide every kind of assistance to it. Thereafter, I will not allow any interference in the country of Pathanistan." (Ahmad Chagharzai; 1989; pp. 138–139). However the efforts failed and the Afghan Amir Habibullah Khan maintained Afghanistan's neutrality throughout World War I.{{Cite web |title=باچا خان مرکز میں کلاسیکل محفل موسیقی' نامور گلوکاروں سمیت نئے چہروں نے آواز کا جادو جگایا |url=http://khyberwatch.com/cute/example2.php?subaction=showfull&id=1147384716&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1& |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819102616/http://khyberwatch.com/cute/example2.php?subaction=showfull&id=1147384716&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1& |archive-date=19 August 2011 |access-date=15 March 2023 |website=The Khyberwatch |language=ur}}

Similarly, during the 1942 Cripps Mission, and 1946 Cabinet Mission to India, the Afghan government made repeated attempts to ensure that any debate about the independence of India must include Afghanistan's role in the future of the NWFP. The British government wavered between reassuring the Afghan to the rejection of their role and insistence that NWFP was an integral part of British India.Roberts, J(2003) The origins of conflict in Afghanistan. Greenwood Publishing Group, {{ISBN|0-275-97878-8}}, {{ISBN|978-0-275-97878-5}}, pp. 92-94

During World War II, the government of Nazi Germany proposed an alliance with neutral Afghanistan in order to destabilize British control over the north-west of its domain in India. In return, the Afghans sought that NWFP and the Port of Karachi would be ceded to the Kingdom of Afghanistan with German military aid, so that it could gain valuable access to the Arabian Sea.{{Cite journal|last=Hauner|first=Milan L.|date=1982|title=Afghanistan between the Great Powers, 1938 - 1945|journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies|volume=14|issue=4|pages=481–499|doi=10.1017/S002074380005217X|jstor=162977|s2cid=161835556 |issn=0020-7438}} Such a plan would require annexation of NWFP, Baluchistan and Sindh provinces.

The Khudai Khidmatgars (also known as the "Red Shirts") were members of a civil rights movement. Its leader Bacha Khan claimed to have been inspired by the Indian activist Mahatma Gandhi. While the Red Shirts were willing to work with the Indian National Congress from a political point of view, the Pashtuns living in the NWFP desired independence from India. However, the Bacha Khan wanted the Pashtuns areas in British India to remain part of United India instead of gaining independence.

{{Main|Bannu Resolution}}

In June 1947, Mirzali Khan (Faqir of Ipi), Bacha Khan, and other Khudai Khidmatgars declared the Bannu Resolution, demanding that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun majority territories of British India, instead of being made to join the new state of Pakistan.{{cite web|url=https://nation.com.pk/25-Aug-2019/past-in-perspective|title=Past in Perspective|website=The Nation|date=August 25, 2019|access-date=August 25, 2019}} However, the British Raj refused to comply with the demand of this resolution.{{cite book |last=Ali Shah |first=Sayyid Vaqar |date=1993 |title=Afghanistan and the Frontier |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c05uAAAAMAAJ |location=University of Michigan |publisher=Emjay Books International |page=256 |editor1-first=Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan |editor1-last=Marwat}}{{cite book |last1=H Johnson |first1=Thomas |author-link1=Thomas Howard Johnson |last2=Zellen |first2=Barry |date=2014 |title=Culture, Conflict, and Counterinsurgency |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9ZZAgAAQBAJ |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=154 |isbn= 9780804789219}}

{{Main|1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum}}

The NWFP joined the Dominion of Pakistan as a result of the 1947 NWFP referendum, which had been boycotted by the Khudai Khidmatgar movement, including Bacha Khan and then-chief minister Dr. Khan Sahib, as they were ditched by the leadership of Congress. About (99.02%) of the votes were cast in favor of Pakistan and only 2,874 (0.98%) in favor of India.{{cite book |url=http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |title=Electoral History of NWFP |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810052331/http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2013 |url-status=dead}}{{cite book |author=Michael Brecher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NRsuDwAAQBAJ&q=referendum+nwfp+1947&pg=PA180 |title=A Century of Crisis and Conflict in the International System: Theory and Evidence: Intellectual Odyssey III |date=2017-07-25 |publisher=Springer |isbn=9783319571560 |access-date=25 July 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-12-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130810052331/http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/1159S-3.pdf |archive-date=10 August 2013 }}{{cite book|author=Jeffrey J. Roberts|title=The Origins of Conflict in Afghanistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Pj8DIT_bva0C&q=nwfp+referendum&pg=PA108|access-date=18 April 2015|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780275978785|pages=108–109|year=2003}}

{{Further|Pakistan Movement|Afghanistan–Pakistan relations}}

File:Muhammed Ayub Khan.JPG, President of Pakistan from 1958 to 1969, belonged to the Pashtun Tareen tribe of Haripur and fought against Pashtun rebellions for the British Crown|alt=]]

The concept of Pashtunistan has varying meanings across Pakistan and Afghanistan.{{cite book|author=Barnett R. Rubin|title=Afghanistan from the Cold War Through the War on Terror|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXIRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA367|date=25 March 2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-022927-6|pages=367–}}

In Afghanistan, Pashtun nationalists look after the interests of the Pashtun ethnic group and have support only from them.Zalmay Khalilzad, "The Security of Southwest Asia", University of Michigan, 2006, {{ISBN|0-566-00651-0}} They favor the ideas of Lōy Afghānistān or "Greater Afghanistan", and maintain an irredentist claim on the entire Pashtun-populated region.{{cite book |last=Caron |first=James M |date=2009 |title=Cultural Histories of Pashtun Nationalism, Public Participation, and Social Inequality in Monarchic Afghanistan, 1905-1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aGpYgEACAAJ}} The Pashtunistan demand also served the cause of domestic Afghan politics, where several successive governments used the idea to strengthen "Pashtun ethnic support" for the state. This policy intensified ethno-linguistic rivalry between Pashtuns and non-Pashtuns in the country. These claims are contested in Pakistan, where Pashtun politics centers on political autonomy rather than irredentist politics.

Since the late 1940s with the dissolution of British India and independence of Pakistan, some rigid Pashtun nationalists proposed merging with Afghanistan or creating Pashtunistan as a future sovereign state for the local Pashtun inhabitants of the area. At first, Afghanistan became the only government to oppose the entry of Pakistan into the United Nations in 1947, although it was reversed a few months later. On July 26, 1949, when Afghanistan–Pakistan relations were rapidly deteriorating, a loya jirga was held in Afghanistan after a military aircraft from the Pakistan Air Force bombed a village on the Afghan side of the Durand Line. As a result of this violation, the Afghan government declared that it recognized "neither the imaginary Durand nor any similar line" and that all previous Durand Line agreements were void.[http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+af0022) The Pashtunistan Issue], Craig Baxter (1997), Library of Congress Country Studies. Bacha Khan when took an oath of allegiance to Pakistan in 1948 in legislation assembly and during his speech he was asked by PM Liaquat Ali Khan about Pashtunistan to which he replied that it's just a name to the Pashtun province in Pakistan same like Punjab, Bengal, Sindh and Baluchishtan are the names of provinces of Pakistan as ethno-linguistic names,{{Cite book|last=Bukhari|first=Farigh|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I43pAAAAMAAJ|title=Taḥrīk-i āzādī aur Bācā K̲h̲ān|publisher=Fiction House|year=1991|pages=226}} contrary to what he believed and strived for Pashtunistan an independent state. During the 1950s to the late 1960s, Pashtuns were promoted to higher positions within the Pakistani government and military, thereby integrating Pashtuns into the Pakistani state and severely weakening secessionist sentiments to the point that by the mid-1960s, popular support for an independent Pashtunistan had all but disappeared.{{Blockquote|An important development in Pakistan during the Ayub period (1958–1969) was the gradual integration into Pakistani society and the military-bureaucratic establishment. It was a period of Pakistan's political history which saw a large number of ethnic Pashtuns holding high positions in the military and the bureaucracy. Ayub himself was a non-Pashto speaking ethnic Pashtun belonging to the Tarin sub-tribe of the Hazara District in the Frontier. The growing participation of Pashtuns in the Pakistani Government resulted in the erosion of the support for the Pashtunistan movement in the Province by the end of the 1960s.Rizwan Hussain. Pakistan and the emergence of Islamic militancy in Afghanistan. 2005. p. 74.|Rizwan Hussain|2005}}

Afghanistan and Pashtun nationalists did not exploit Pakistan's vulnerability during the nation's 1965 and 1971 wars with India, and even backed Pakistan against a largely Hindu India. Further, had Pakistan been destabilized by India, nationalists would have had to fight against a much bigger country than Pakistan for their independence.Paul Wolf. [http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/pakistan/pashtunistan.htm#precolonialroots "Pashtunistan."] Pakistan: Partition and Military Succession. 2004.

Sardar Daoud Khan, who was the-then prime minister of Afghanistan supported a nationalistic reunification of the Pashtuns in Pakistan with Afghanistan. He wanted Pashtun-dominated areas like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baloch-dominated areas like Balochistan to become part of Afghanistan. However, his policy of reunification of Pashtuns antagonized Non-Pashtuns like Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras living in Afghanistan. Non-Pashtuns believed that the aim of reunification of Pashtuns areas was to increase the population of Pashtuns in Afghanistan. As a result, Daoud Khan was extremely unpopular with Non-Pashtun Afghans.{{cite web|url=https://theglobepost.com/2018/11/07/afghanistan-daoud-ghani/|title=Daoud's Footprints: how Afghanistan's First President Influences Ghani|date=7 November 2018|access-date=1 March 2019|work=The Globe Post|last=Saeedi|first=Sayed Ziafatullah}} File:Bacha_Khan_and_Daoud_Khan.png with Abdul Ghaffar Khan, 1961]]

Bacha Khan stated that "Daoud Khan only exploited the idea of reunification of Pashtun people to meet his own political ends".{{cite magazine|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19800331-everything-in-afghanistan-is-done-in-the-name-of-religion-khan-abdul-ghaffar-khan-806546-2014-01-31|title=Everything in Afghanistan is done in the name of religion: Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan|access-date=13 January 2014|magazine=India Today}} In 1960 and later in 1961, Daoud Khan made two attempts to capture Bajaur District in Khyber Pakthunkhwa, Pakistan. However, all of Daoud Khan attempts failed as the Afghan army was routed with heavy casualties. Several Afghan army soldiers were also captured by Pakistani soldiers and they were paraded in front of international media which in turn caused embarrassment for Daoud Khan.{{cite book |last=Tomsen |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86w4DgAAQBAJ |title=The Wars of Afghanistan:Messianic Terrorism, Tribal Conflict, and the Failures of Great Powers |date=2013 |publisher=Hachette UK |isbn=9781610394123}} As a consequence of Daoud Khan's actions, Pakistan closed its border with Afghanistan which caused economic crisis in Afghanistan. Because of continued resentment against Daoud's autocratic rule, close ties with the Soviet Union and economic downturn caused by the blockade imposed by Pakistan, Daoud Khan was forced to resign by King Zahir Shah. Under King Zahir Shah rule, relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan improved and Pakistan opened its border with Afghanistan. However, later on in 1973, Daoud Khan seized power from King Zahir Shah in a military Coup d'état and declared himself the first president of Afghanistan. After seizing the power, the Daoud Khan's government started proxy war against Pakistan. Daoud Khan's government established several training camps for anti-Pakistani militants in Kabul and Kandahar with the aim of training and arming those militants to carry out their activities against Pakistan.{{cite journal |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/section-66a-it-act-supreme-court-bullies-censorship-rohan-venkataramakrishnan/1/271900.html |title=Send Section 66A bullies home |first=Rohan |last=Venkataramakrishnan |newspaper=India Today |date=19 May 2013 |access-date=24 October 2016}}

On the other hand, Mirzali Khan and his followers continued their guerilla war against the Pakistani government from their base in Gurwek.[https://tribune.com.pk/story/77388/the-faqir-of-ipi-of-north-waziristan/ The Faqir of Ipi of North Waziristan]. The Express Tribune. November 15, 2010.[https://tribune.com.pk/story/1086737/april-1891-1960-the-legendary-guerilla-faqir-of-ipi-unremembered-on-his-115th-anniversary/ The legendary guerilla Faqir of Ipi unremembered on his 115th anniversary]. The Express Tribune. April 18, 2016. In 1960, Afghan Prime Minister Mohammed Daoud Khan sent the Afghan military across the poorly-demarcated Durand Line into the Pakistani Bajaur Agency in order to manipulate events in the region and press the Pashtunistan issue; these plans ultimately came to nothing after the Afghan troops were defeated by Pakistani irregular forces. In support of the quasi-invasion, the Afghan government engaged in an intense propaganda war via radio broadcasts.{{Cite web |title=Afghanistan - Daoud as Prime Minister, 1953-63 |url=https://countrystudies.us/afghanistan/26.htm |access-date=2023-02-08 |website=countrystudies.us}}

Pakistani government decided to retaliate against the Afghan government's Pashtunistan policy by supporting Non-Pashtun opponents of the Afghan government including future Mujaheddin leaders like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Ahmad Shah Massoud.[http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/apr/babar.htm "Remembering Our Warriors: Babar 'the great'."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428172353/http://www.defencejournal.com/2001/apr/babar.htm |date=2016-04-28 }} Interview of Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Naseerullah Khan Babar, by A. H. Amin. Defence Journal. April 2001. Retrieved 15 April 2010. This operation was remarkably successful, and by 1977 the Afghan government of Daoud Khan was willing to settle all outstanding issues in exchange for a lifting of the ban on the National Awami Party and a commitment towards provincial autonomy for Pashtuns, which was already guaranteed by Pakistan's Constitution, but stripped by the Bhutto government when the One Unit scheme was introduced.{{Clarify|date=April 2010}}

Bacha Khan who previously strived greatly for Pashtunistan later on in 1980 during an interview with an Indian journalist, Haroon Siddiqui said that the "idea of Pashtunistan never helped Pashtuns. In fact it was never a reality". He further said that "successive Afghan governments have exploited the idea for their own political ends". It was only towards the end of Mohammed Daoud Khan regime that he stopped talking about Pashtunistan. Later on, even Nur Muhammad Taraki also talked about the idea of Pashtunistan and caused trouble for Pakistan. He also said that "Pashtun people greatly suffered because of all this."

In 1976, the then president of Afghanistan, Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan recognised Durand Line as international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He made this declaration while he was on an official visit to Islamabad, Pakistan.{{cite book|last=Rasanayagam|first=Angelo|title=Afghanistan: A Modern History|page=[https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00ange/page/64 64]|year=2005|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9781850438571|url=https://archive.org/details/afghanistan00ange|url-access=registration}}{{cite book|last=Dorronsoro|first=Gilles|title=Revolution Unending: Afghanistan, 1979 to present|page=84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FApipiENsgwC|publisher=Hurst & Co. Publisher|year=2005|isbn=9781850656838}}{{cite book|last=Nunan|first=Timothy|title=Humanitarian Invasion: Global Development in Cold War Afghanistan|page=125|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IL8wCwAAQBAJ|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2016|isbn=9781107112070}}

Daoud would be overthrown by Khalqist military officers in 1978 leading to the formation of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan which was dominated by Pashtun Khalqists who would go on to "reopen the Pashtunistan wound". In 1979 under General Secretary Nur Muhammad Taraki the Khalqists regime in Afghanistan changed the official map to include NWFP and Balochistan as new "frontier provinces" of the DRA.{{Cite book |last=Arnold |first=Anthony |title=Afghanistan’s Two-Party Communism: Parcham and Khalq |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |year=1983 |isbn=0-8179-7792-9 |pages=77}} The Khalqist regime also sought to make Pashto the sole language of the Afghan government and the lingua franca, they did so by undermining Dari.{{Cite journal |last=Ahady |first=Anwar-ul-Haq |date=1995 |title=The Decline of the Pashtuns in Afghanistan |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2645419 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=35 |issue=7 |pages=621–634 |doi=10.2307/2645419 |issn=0004-4687|url-access=subscription }} The Afghan anthem under the communist regime was only in Pashto and not Dari with non-Pashtuns being required to sing it in Pashto.{{Cite web |date=9 May 2012 |title=Afghanistan (1978–1992) |url=http://www.nationalanthems.info/af-92.htm |access-date=18 October 2017 |website=nationalanthems.info |language=en-US}} Up until the overthrow of Dr Najibullah's Homeland Party regime in 1992, Afghan governments had favored Pashto in the media and over 50% of Afghan media was in Pashto. After 1992 with the formation of the Tajik led Islamic State of Afghanistan, this number dropped drastically.

Following the outbreak of the Soviet-Afghan War in Afghanistan, millions of Afghans including non-Pashtun people fled to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.{{cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |title=The Troubled Afghan-Pakistani Border |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations |first=Jayshree |last=Bajoria |date=20 March 2009 |access-date=11 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525182142/http://www.cfr.org/publication/14905/ |archive-date=25 May 2010 |url-status=dead }}

File:Mulkanah Village-2012.jpg of Afghanistan]]

File:Khogyani district.jpg, Afghanistan]]

File:Sowy Nabi - panoramio.jpg, Afghanistan]]

File:Baba Saab.JPG of Hassan Abdal{{cite web|url=http://wondersofpakistan.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/punja-sahib-the-miracle-at-hassan-abdal/|title=Punja Sahib: The Miracle at Hassan Abdal|work=Wonders of Pakistan|date=13 April 2009|access-date=6 May 2016}} in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province in Afghanistan.]]

Pashtuns in Pakistan make up the second largest ethnic group after Punjabis with about 16% of the population, totaling over 30 million. This figure only includes the native Pashto speaking inhabitants of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Northern Balochistan, and does not include the Pathans settled in Punjab and Sindh who make up significant numbers alongside the native communities of these two provinces.{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html#pk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613003008/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2075.html#pk|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 13, 2007|title=Pakistan population: 187,342,721 [Pashtun (Pathan) 15.42%]|work=The World Factbook|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)|year=2011|access-date=2012-02-10}} In addition, there are 1.7 million Afghan refugees of whom majority are Pashtuns. These refugees, however, are expected to leave Pakistan and settle in Afghanistan in the coming years. Three Pakistani presidents belonged to the Pashtun ethnic group. Pashtuns continue to occupy important places in the military and politics, with the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan who leads Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Awami National Party led by Asfandyar Wali . In addition to this, some Pashtun media, music and cultural activities are based out of Pakistan, with AVT Khyber being a Pashto TV channel in Pakistan. Pashto cinema is based out of the Pakistani city of Peshawar. The Pakistani city of Karachi is believed to host the largest concentration of Pashtuns.

There are more than 19 million Pashtuns in Afghanistan, constituting 48% of the population. Other sources say that up to 60% of Afghanistan's population is made up of ethnic Pashtuns, forming the largest ethnic group in that country. Pashto is one of the official languages of Afghanistan,{{Citation |title=Afghanistan |date=2024-02-01 |work=The World Factbook |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/afghanistan/ |access-date=2024-02-14 |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en}} the Afghan National Anthem is recited in Pashto language and the Pashtun dress is the national dress of Afghanistan. Since the late 19th century, the traditional Pashtunistan region has gradually expanded to the Amu River in the north. However, most Pashtun living in north of the Helmand River tend to speak Dari instead of Pashto.{{Cite web |title=Afghan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO) |url=http://development-tracking-helmand.wikispaces.com/AGCHO+%28Afghan+Geodesy+and+Cartography+Head+Office%29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111124101550/http://development-tracking-helmand.wikispaces.com/AGCHO%2B%28Afghan%2BGeodesy%2Band%2BCartography%2BHead%2BOffice%29 |website=agcho.gov.af|archive-date=2011-11-24 }}

Important government positions in Afghanistan have historically been held by Pashtuns. The Afghan Armed Forces was also traditionally dominated by Pashtuns however the fall of the Najibullah regime in 1992 led to the creation of the Tajik dominated Islamic State of Afghanistan.

The majority of the Afghan Taliban{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/afghan-government-continues-lose-ground-taliban-sigar-181101082721510.html|title=Afghan government continues to lose ground to Taliban: SIGAR|website=www.aljazeera.com|access-date=2019-04-10}} are ethnic Pashtuns,{{Cite book|title=Decoding the new Taliban : insights from the Afghan field|date=2009|publisher=Columbia University Press|others=Giustozzi, Antonio.|isbn=9780231701129|location=New York|oclc=318971971|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/decodingnewtalib00anto}} with past Pashtun leaders such as Mullah Mohammed Omar, Mohammad Rabbani and Jalaluddin Haqqani. The current leaders of the Taliban include Pashtuns such as Abdul Kabir, Hibatullah Akhundzada and Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Afghanistan makes its claim on the Pashtun areas on the ground that it served as the Pashtun seat of power since 1709 with the rise of the Hotaki dynasty followed by the establishment of the Durrani Afghan Empire. According to historic sources, Afghan tribes did not appear in Peshawar valley until after 800 AD, when the Islamic conquest of this area took place.H. G. Raverty (1898) Tarikh-e-Farishtah; Notes on Afghanistan; Peshawar District Gazetteer 1897-98.

Agreements cited by the Afghan government as proof of their claim over the Pashtun tribes include Article 11 of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921, which states: "The two contracting parties, being mutually satisfied themselves each regarding the goodwill of the other and especially regarding their benevolent intentions towards the tribes residing close to their respective boundaries, hereby undertake to inform each other of any future military operations which may appear necessary for the maintenance of order among the frontier tribes residing within their respective spheres before the commencement of such operations."Olaf Caroe. The Pathans 1981. A supplementary letter to the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1921 reads: "As the conditions of the Frontier tribes of the two governments are of interest to the Government of Afghanistan. I inform you that the British government entertains feelings of goodwill towards all the Frontier tribes and has every intention of treating them generously, provided they abstain from outrages against the people of India."

{{Blockquote|The Durand Line and Pashtunistan issues have been raised by different Afghan regimes in the past. However, it may no longer be a concern. Pashtuns are now so well integrated in Pakistani society that the majority will never opt for Pashtunistan or Afghanistan. Afghan-Pashtun refugees have been staying in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for more than 30 years. Threat perceptions about Afghanistan need re-evaluation so that suitable changes are made in our Afghan policy.{{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/379175/re-evaluation-of-our-afghan-policy/|title=Re-evaluation of our Afghan policy|work=Express Tribune|date=15 May 2012|access-date=16 May 2012}}|Asad Munir|Retired brigadier who has served in senior intelligence postings in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA}}

{{Main|Names of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa}}

Prominent 20th century proponents of the Pashtunistan cause have included Khan Abdul Wali Khan and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Ghaffar Khan stated in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in 1948 that he simply wanted "the renaming of his province as Pashtunistan same like Punjab, Sindh and Baluchishtan are the names of provinces of Pakistan as ethno-linguistic names, Another name mentioned is Afghania where the initial "A" in Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan's theory stated in the "Now or Never" pamphlet stands for the second letter in "Pakistan". However, this name has failed to capture political support in the province.

There was support, however, to rename North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) as Pakhtunkhwa (which translates as "area of Pashtuns"). Nasim Wali Khan (the wife of Khan Abdul Wali Khan) declared in an interview: "I want an identity. I want the name to change so that Pathans may be identified on the map of Pakistan..."{{Cite book|last=Jaffrelot|first=Christophe|title=A History of Pakistan and Its Origins|publisher=Anthem Press|year=2002|isbn=1843310309|pages=312}}

On 31 March 2010, Pakistan's Constitutional Reform Committee agreed that the province be named and recognized as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.BBC News Online – [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8600447.stm Pakistan debates key amendment bill] Retrieved 5 April 2010Dawn News – [http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/12-consensus+reached+on+renaming+nwfp--bi-02 Consensus reached on renaming NWFP ] Retrieved 5 April 2010 This is now the official name for the former NWFP.

File:US soldiers patrolling the streets of Asadabad-6.jpg|Asadabad, capital of Kunar Province in Afghanistan

File:Fields in Pech River Valley-2011.jpg|Pech River Valley

File:A group of Banuchi Elders discussing in Jirga.jpg|A Group of Banuchi and Wazir Elders sitting in a Jirga, Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

File:Watapur district-2012.jpg|Watapur District of Kunar Province

File:Branches of the Kunar River meet in Kunar Province.jpg|Branches of the Kunar River meet in Nangarhar Province

File:Kabulriverinjaa1.jpg|Kabul River in Jalalabad, Afghanistan

File:2007 08 27 Pakistan Khyber Pass Torkham IMG 9729.jpg|Khyber Pass in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

File:US Navy 071121-O-0000X-001 Khost University professors and students pose for a group picture after one of many seminars held by Provincial Reconstruction Team Khost during the course of their deployment in Afghanistan.jpg|People attending Khost University in Khost, Afghanistan

File:Ghazni province in April 2010.jpg|Ghazni Province, Afghanistan

File:Defense.gov photo essay 110907-A-ZU930-022.jpg|Afghan Border Police (ABP) in Paktika Province

File:US specialist helping Afghan nomads.jpg|Kuchi people in Paktia Province of Afghanistan

File:Kayaking in front of Hanna Lake Bridge Wall.jpg|Hanna Lake in Quetta, Pakistan

File:Dahla Dam-2012.jpg|Dahla Dam in Kandahar Province

File:Arghandab River Valley between Kandahar and Lashkar Gah.jpg|Kandahar Province, Afghanistan

File:Aerial photograph of Kandahar Province in 2011.jpg|Helmand River in Helmand Province, Afghanistan

{{notelist}}

{{Portal|Afghanistan|Pakistan}}

• Afghan Millat Party
• Khalq
• Awami National Party
• Bacha Khan
• Bannu Resolution
• Durand Line
• Greater Iran
• Hazarastan
• Hazara nationalism
• Manzoor Pashteen
• Pashtun nationalism
• Pashtunization
• Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party
• Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
• Sidhanoti tribal area

{{clear}}

{{Reflist|33em}}

{{Contains special characters|Pashto}}

• Ahmed, Feroz (1998) Ethnicity and politics in Pakistan. Karachi: Oxford University Press.
• Ahmad, M.(1989) Pukhtunkhwa Kiyun Nahin by Mubarak Chagharzai. pp. 138–139.
• Amin, Tahir (1988) -National Language Movements of Pakistan. Islamabad Institute of Policy Studies.
• Buzan, Barry and Rizvi, Gowher (1986), South Asian Insecurity and the Great Powers, London: Macmillan. p. 73.
• Fürstenberg, Kai (2012) Waziristan: Solutions for a Troubled Region in Spotlight South Asia, No. 1, ISSN 2195-2787 (https://web.archive.org/web/20150907205431/http://www.apsa.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/SSA-1.pdf)
• Caroe, Olaf (1983) The Pathans, with an Epilogue on Russia. Oxford University Press. pp. 464–465.

{{Nationalism in South Asia}}

{{Pashtun nationalism}}

{{Irredentism}}

Category:Historical regions

Category:Durand Line

Category:Irredentism

Category:Pashto-speaking countries and territories

Category:Pashto words and phrases

Category:Regions of Afghanistan

Category:Regions of Pakistan

Category:Cultural regions