Ethnic Groups in Afghanistan - Ethnic Identity

Ethnic Identity

Further information: Afghan, Afghan (ethnonym), and Name of Afghanistan

The term "Afghan" has been mentioned as early as the 3rd century AD referring to the indigenous peoples inhabiting the lands between the Amu Darya and the Indus River, mainly south of the Hindu Kush around the Sulaiman Mountains. Believed to be synonymous with "Afghani speaker" (Pashto speaker), the name eventually became the national identity of Afghanistan in modern times. Despite being of various ethnic groups, in a research poll that was conducted in Afghanistan in 2009, 72% of the population labelled their identity as Afghan first, before ethnicity.

The modern Afghan national identity is derived from the rise of the Pashtun Hotaki and Durrani dynasties, especially with the establishment of the Durrani Empire (Afghan Empire) in the early-18th century. From 1747 until 1826, Ahmad Shah Durrani and his descendants held the monarchy in direct session. They were the first rulers of a Pashtun dominated sovereign state and were later replaced by the Pashtun Barakzai dynasty.

While national culture of Afghanistan is not uniform, at the same time, the various ethnic groups have no clear boundaries between each other and there is much overlap. Additionally, ethnic groups are not racially homogenous. Due to their higher number, the Pashtun culture is perhaps the most dominant culture within the country, creating some uniformity. A lot of national and cultural aspects of the country reflect the Pashtun culture. For example, among others things, the Pashtun attan dance, performed to Pashto music, has become the Afghan national dance; the Pashtun dress has become a symbol of the national outfit; and the Afghan National Anthem is in the Pashto language.

Since Afghan history is fraught with regional cleavages any notion of an Afghan nation state is absent until the rise of the Hotakis and Durranis in the early-18th century. Important Persian figures from the past such as Avicenna and Rumi are generally not identified as ethnic Afghans, at least according to academics, while they are generally included within the context of the collective history of the modern nation-state in the geographic sense.