Chapter 2 Continues...

1. AFGHANISTAN: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE
The modern Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (Jomhuri-ye Eslami-ye Afghanistan), situated in South–west Asia, is a landlocked country of 647,500 square kilometers. It is surrounded by Pakistan in the south and east over 2,430 km, by Tajikistan (1,206 km), Uzbekistan (137 km), Turkmenistan (744 km) in the north and northwest and by the Islamic Republic of Iran (936km) in the west and China (76km) in the northeast2 (see Map on “Location of Afghanistan in the Region”). Due to the absence of reliable information and figures on Afghanistan it is impossible to reach accuracy and most estimates on population are based on pre- 1979 statistics. The massive outflow of the population to the neighbouring countries following the Soviet intervention in 1979 and the turmoil thereafter killing hundreds of thousands lead to furthur inaccuracy.3 However, estimates indicate a population figure of around 32,738,376.4
Conflicting theories about the origin (racial, historical and geographical) of the Afghans has been put forward by various scholars. Many Pashtun historians are of the opinion that the Pashtuns originated from Israelites. Neamat Ullah,5 the historiographer at the court of the Mughal emperor Jehangir traced the lineage of the Afghans to Yehooda, the elder of Yacoob Israel’s sons. Sir William Jones and Alexander Burnes also substantiate the Israeli origin of the Afghans. According to Jones, the Afghans are the lost ten tribes of Bani Israel mentioned by Prophet Isdras as having escaped from captivity and taken refuge in Asarah; identical with modern Hazarazat in Afghanistan.6 Alexander Burnes was also of the opinion that the Afghans had strong prejudices against the Jews and it was impossible, without a just cause if they desired to claim descent from the Hebrews.7 A later theory claimed the origin of the Afghans to Indo-Aryan tribes and argues that they were descendants of the ‘Pakhta’ tribes of north-western India (modern Afghanistan) to whom the Vedic scriptures also make reference.

To be continued...