The theory that the Pashtun people originate from the exiled Lost Tribes of Israel was widely held as recently as the 19th century. They are the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan, virtually all Muslims. Language(s) Pashto (plus second languages from countries of residence) Religion(s) Islam (predominantly Sunni) Pashtuns (Pashto/Urdu/Persian: or پختون , also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns), also called Pathans (Urdu: پٹھان, Hindi: पठान ) or ethnic Afghans (Pashto: افغان )[9][10] are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in eastern and... Lost Ten Tribes, also referenced as the Ten Lost Tribes or the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, usually refers to ten of the tribes of the ancient Kingdom of Israel that were reported lost after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ...

It is based on a variety of ancient historical texts and oral traditions of the Pashtun people. No scientific studies by any accredited organisations, or scholars, have upheld the claim. It continues to be believed by many Pashtuns, and has found advocates among some contemporary Muslim and (to a lesser extent) Jewish scholars. There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ...

Theories and debates on Pashtun origins

Those who advocate the theory cite oral history and the names of various clans, which resemble the names of the Israelite tribes that were exiled by the Assyrian Empire 2,700 years ago, as evidence for this claim. This evidence, however, has not substantiated by a genetic studies, such as the study by Sengupta et al. (2006) and Firasat et al. (2007) which found no substantial connection between Jewish populations and the Pashtuns. Numerous ancient texts, such as the Rig Veda, composed before 1200 BCE, which mentions the "Paktha" as an enemy group (e.g. in 4.25.7c), and Herodotus in his Histories composed circa 450 BCE which mentions the Pashtuns as "Paktyakai" (Book IV v.44) and as the "Aparytai" = Afridis (Book III v.91) in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan, yet no sources before the before the conversion of the Pashtuns to Islam mention any Israelite or Jewish connection, nor is the Eastern Iranian language of the Pashtuns taken into account when examining the claims of Hebrew ancestry. This article concerns the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom. ... The Rig Veda ऋग्वेद (Sanskrit ṛc praise + veda knowledge) is the earliest of the four Hindu religious scriptures known as the Vedas. ... Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: HÄ“rodotos Halikarnāsseus) was a Greek historian from Ionia who lived in the 5th century BC (ca. ... The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family. ...

It could be concluded that these claims appear to have emerged amongst the Pashtuns following the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan; it is conceivable that many tribes have created elaborate ancestral lineages to link themselves to prominent peoples mentioned in the Qur'an such as Jews, Greeks (see Alexander the Great in the Qur'an), and Arabs, all of whom have come to the region, but appear to have contributed a very small genetic input into the population rather than drastically altering the demographics of Afghanistan. The Qur’ān [1] (Arabic: , literally the recitation; also sometimes transliterated as Quran, Koran, or Al-Quran) is the central religious text of Islam. ... For the film of the same name, see Alexander the Great (1956 film). ... Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predominantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Alawite Islam, Druzism, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism Footnotes a Mainly in Antakya. ...

Pashtun Medieval texts

Main article: Nimat Allah al-Harawi

Some anthropologists lend credence to the oral traditions of the elder Pashtun tribes themselves. For example, according to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites is traced to Maghzan-e-Afghani, a history compiled for Khan-e-Jehan Lodhi in the reign of Mughal Emperor Jehangir in the 16th century CE. The Maghzan-e-Afghani's Bani-Israel theory has been somewhat discounted by modern authorities, due to some historical and linguistic inconsistencies. Nimat Allah al-Harawi[1] (fl. ... The Encyclopaedia of Islam (EI) is the standard encyclopaedia of the academic discipline of Islamic studies. ... “The Twelve Tribes” redirects here. ... Nimat Allah al-Harawi[1] (fl. ... The Mughal Empire (alternative spelling Mogul, which is the origin of the word Mogul) of India was founded by Babur in 1526, when he defeated Ibrahim Lodi, the last of the Delhi Sultans at the First Battle of Panipat. ... Nuruddin Jahangir (August 31, 1569 - October 28, 1627) was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until 1627. ...

Some sources state that the Maghzan-e-Afghani, from an oral tradition, may be a myth which grew out of a political and cultural struggle between Pashtuns and the Mughals. This explains the historical backdrop for the creation of the myth, the inconsistencies of the mythology, and the linguistic research that refutes any Semitic origins.^[1] In linguistics and ethnology, Semitic (from the Biblical Shem, Hebrew: שם, translated as name, Arabic: سام) was first used to refer to a language family of largely Middle Eastern origin, now called the Semitic languages. ...

There are also other groups who disagree strongly with the hypothesis of the Pashtun having Israelite origins, such as the British Israelites. ^[2] Anglo-Israelism (Sometimes called British-Israelism) is a complex set of theories that are not identical nor are they necessarily compatible with each other. ...

Origin accounts in other sources

Bukhtawar Khan in his most valuable universal history Mirat-ul-Alam – The Mirror of the World – gives a vivid account of the journeys of the Afghans from the Holy Land to Ghor, Ghazni, and Kabul. Similarly Hafiz Rahmat bin Shah Alam in his Khulasat-ul-Ansab and Fareed-ud-Din Ahmad in Risala-i-Ansab-i-Afghana provide the history of the Afghans and deal with their genealogies. Ghowr province (sometimes spelled Ghor) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Ghazni (Persian: غزنی , ÄžaznÄ«) is a city in eastern Afghanistan, with an estimated population of 149,998 people. ... For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ...

Two of the most famous historical works on the subject are Tarikh-i-Afghana – History of the Afghans – by Niamatullah, which was translated by Bernard Dorn in 1829, and Tarikh-i-Hafiz Rahmatkhani, by Hafiz Muhammad Zadeek which he wrote in 1770. These books deal with the early history of the Afghans, their origin and wanderings in general. They particularly discuss the Yusuf Zyes (the Yusefzai, "Sons of Joseph") and their occupation of Kabul, Bajoor, Swat, and Peshawar. Nimat Allah al-Harawi[1] (fl. ... Johannes Albrecht Bernhard Dorn, also cited as Boris Andreevich Dorn (born April 29, 1805 in Scheierfeld, Saxe-Coburg, Germany; died May 19, 1881 in St. ... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... The Yusufzai (also Youssofzay, Yousafzai, Esapzey, or Yusufi) (Urdu: یوسف زئی) are one of the largest Pashtun tribes. ... Swat (Pashto/Urdu: سوات) is a valley and a district in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. ...   (Urdu: پشاور; Pashto: پښور) literally means City on the Frontier in Persian and is known as Pekhawar in Pashto. ...

Additional authors Sayyid Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (Tarikh-i-Afghana, the History of Afghans), and Syed Abdul Jabbar Shah (Mun'ameen-i-Bani Israel, MS.), ex-Ruler of Swat, discuss the question exhaustively and come to the conclusion that the Afghans represent the Lost Tribes of Israel as viewed from the perspective of the Jewish world. Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, also known as Sayyid Jamāluddīn Asadābādī and Sayyid Muhammad Ibn Safdar al-Husayn (1838[1]-1897), was one of the founders of Islamic modernism,[2] and a political activist and Islamic nationalist in Afghanistan, Iran (then Persia), Egypt... Writer of many books i. ... Lost Ten Tribes, also referenced as the Ten Lost Tribes or the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, usually refers to the tribes of the ancient Kingdom of Israel that disappear from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. ...

European explorers and researchers

Anglo-Western writers during the time of the British Empire we find that they also have come to the same conclusion. The first to reach such is Henry Vansittart. In a letter which appeared in Indian Researches he commented on the Israelite's descent of the Afghans. He expressed the opinion that the claim of the Afghans to be Bani Israel are more than justified given his own observations of their indigenous traditions. [Indian Researches, 1788, Vol. 2: 69] The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... Henry Vansittart (June 3, 1732 - 1770 or 1771) was Governor of Bengal and a notorious rake. ...

Sir Alexander Burnes in his Travels into Bokhara, which he published in 1835, speaking of the Afghans said: "The Afghans call themselves Bani Israel, or the children of Israel, but consider the term Yahoodi, or Jew, to be one of reproach. They say that Nebuchadnezzar, after the overthrow of Israel, transplanted them into the towns of Ghore near Bamean and that they were called after their Chief Afghan they say that they lived as Israelites till Khalid summoned them in the first century of the Muhammadans Having precisely stated the traditions and history of the Afghans I see no good reason for discrediting them… the Afghans look like Jews and the younger brother marries the widow of the elder. The Afghans entertain strong prejudices against the Jewish nation, which would at least show that they have no desire to claim – without just cause – a descent from them. [Sir Alexander Burnes, Travels into Bokhara, Vol. 2:139-141.] Sir Alexander Burnes (1805 - November 2, 1841) was a British traveller and explorer. ... For other uses, see Bukhara (disambiguation). ... Nebuchadnezzar (or Nebudchadrezzar) II (ca. ... A Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. ...

Burnes was again in 1837 sent as the first British Envoy to the Court of Kabul. For some time he was the guest of King Dost Mohammad Khan. He questioned the King about the descent of the Afghans from the Israelites. The King replied that "his people had no doubt of that, though they repudiated the idea of being Jews". Dost Mahommed Khan (1793 - June 9, 1863) founded the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. ...

William Moorcroft traveled during 1819 to 1825 through various countries adjoining India, including Afghanistan. "The Khaibarees," he says, "are tall and have a singularly Jewish cast of features." At Push Kyun, within Afghan territory, he came across a very old copy of the Old Testament in Hebrew. [Moorcroft, Travels in Himalayan Provinces of Hindustan and the Punjab; in Ladakh and Kashmir, in Peshawar, Kabul, Kunduz and Bokhara, 12] William Moorcroft (c. ... Do you mean: The Khyber Pass, which links Pakistan to Afghanistan Carry On Up the Khyber, the 1966 Carry On film about the British on the Northwest Frontier ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Note: Judaism... Hebrew redirects here. ... The term Hindustan (Hindi: हिन्दुस्तान [Hindustān], Urdu: [Hindustān], from the (Persian) Hindu + -stān, often formerly rendered Hindoostan) and the adjective Hindustani may relate to various aspects of three geographical areas (see Names of India): The modern Republic of India. ... This article is about the geographical region. ... , Ladakh (Tibetan script: ལ་དྭགས་; Wylie: la-dwags, Ladakhi IPA: , Hindi: लद्दाख़, Hindi IPA: , Urdu: لدّاخ; land of high passes) is a region in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in Northern India sandwiched between the Kuen Lun mountain range in the north and the main Great Himalayas to the south, inhabited by people... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... President Celal Bayar, King Zahir and Lord Serwar Nasher inspecting the once world-renown cotton of Kunduz Spinzar factory Kunduz (قندوز) is a city in Afghanistan; the name has also sometimes been rendered as Kûnduz, Qonduz, Qondûz, Konduz, Kondûz, Kondoz, or Qhunduz. ...

J. B. Frazer in his book, An Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia and Afghanistan, which he published in 1843, says: "According to their own tradition they believe themselves to be descendants from the Hebrews… they preserved the purity of their religion until they met with Islam." [J.B. Frazer, A Historical and Descriptive Account of Persia and Afghanistan, 298] This article is about the Hebrew people. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ...

Joseph-Pierre Ferrier wrote his History of the Afghans in 1858. It was translated by Capt. W. M. Jesse. He too was disposed to believe that the Afghans represented the Ten Tribes of Israel. In support of his view he recorded, among others, a very significant fact: “When Nadir Shah marching to the conquest of India arrived at Peshawar, the chief of the tribe of Yoosoof Zyes (Sons of Joseph) presented him with a Bible written in Hebrew and several other articles that had been used in their ancient worship and which they had preserved. These articles were at once recognized by the Jews who followed the camp.” – J.P. Ferrier, History of the Afghans, 4.

Writings of explorers

George Moore published his famous work The Lost Tribes in 1861. He gave numerous facts to prove that these tribes are traceable to the Afghans. After giving details of the character of the wandering Israelites, he said: "And we find that the very natural character of Israel reappear in all its life and reality in countries where people call themselves Bani Israel and universally claim to be the descendants of the Lost Tribes. The nomenclature of their tribes and districts, both in ancient Geography, and at the present day, confirms this universal natural tradition. Lastly, we have the route of the Israelites from Media to Afghanistan and India marked by a series of intermediate stations bearing the names of several of the tribes and clearly indicating the stages of their long and arduous journey." [George Moore, The Lost Tribes] George Moore may refer to: George Moore (American Radio Presenter) George Edward Moore (1873–1958), G.E. Moore, British philosopher George Moore (Australian Radio Presenter) George Moore (jockey), Australian jockey George Moore (MLB pitcher) George Moore (Jumpers), fictional philosopher, lead character in Tom Stoppards play Jumpers George Moore (Medal...

Moore goes on to say: "Sir William Jones, Sir John Malcolm and the missing Chamberlain, after full investigation, were of the opinion that the Ten Tribes migrated to India, Tibet, and Cashemire [Kashmir] through Afghanistan." [George Moore, The Lost Tribes] This article is about historical/cultural Tibet. ...

Moore has mentioned only three eminent writers on the subject. But reference can also be made to General Sir George Macmunn (Afghanistan from Darius to Amanullah, 215), Col. G.B. Malleson (The History of Afghanistan from the Earliest Period to the outbreak of the War of 1878, 39), Col. Failson, (History of Afghanistan, 49), George Bell (Tribes of Afghanistan, 15), E. Balfour (Encyclopedia of India, article on Afghanistan), Sir Henry Yule (Encyclopædia Britannica, article on Afghanistan), and the Hon. Sir George Rose (Rose, The Afghans, the Ten Tribes and the Kings of the East, 26). They, one and all, independently came to the same conclusion. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. ...

Another, Major H. W. Bellew, went on a political mission to Kandahar and published his impressions in his Journal of a Mission to Kandahar, 1857-8. He then wrote in 1879 his book Afghanistan and Afghans. In 1880 he was sent, once again on another mission to Kabul, and in the same year he delivered two lectures before the United Services Institute at Simla: "A New Afghan Question, or "Are the Afghans Israelites?" and "Who are the Afghans?" He then published another book: The Races of Afghanistan. Finally he collected all his facts in An Enquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, which was published in 1891. Henry Walter Bellew MRCP (1834-1892) was an Indian-born British medical man and author. ... This article is about the city in Afghanistan. ... , Shimla   (Hindi: शिमला), originally called Simla, is a city in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. ...

In this work he mentions Killa Yahoodi ("Fort of the Jews") (H.W. Bellew, An Enquiry into the Ethnography of Afghanistan, 34), as being the name of the eastern boundary of their country, and also speaks of Dasht-i-Yahoodi ("Jewish plain") (ibid., 4), a place in Mardan District. He concludes: "The Afghan’s accounts of Jacob and Esau, of Moses and the Exodus, of the Wars of the Israelites with the Amalekites and conquest of Palestine, of the Ark of the Covenant and of the election of Saul to the Kingdom, etc., etc., are clearly founded on the Biblical records, and clearly indicate a knowledge of the Old Testament, which if it does not prove the presence of the Christians at least corroborates their assertion that the Afghans were readers of the Pentateuch up to the time of the appearance of Mohammad." (Ibid., 191) Location of Mardan District (highlighted in yellow) within the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan. ... Esaw redirects here. ... This article is about the second book in the Torah. ... According to the Book of Genesis and 1 Chronicles, Amalek (עֲמָלֵק; Standard Hebrew ʿAmaleq, Tiberian Hebrew ʿĂmālēq) was the son of Eliphaz and the grandson of Esau (Gen. ... A 2003 satellite image of the region. ... The Ark of the Covenant (ארון הברית in Hebrew: aron habrit) is described in the Hebrew Bible as a sacred container, wherein rested the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments as well as other sacred Israelite objects. ... Saul (שאול המלך) (or Shaul) (Hebrew: שָׁאוּל, Standard Tiberian  ; asked for or borrowed) is a figure identified in the Books of Samuel and Quran as having been the first king of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. ... This Gutenberg Bible is displayed by the United States Library. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is... Look up Pentateuch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Note, it is well understood and undisputed that there have never been Christian communities in Afghanistan pre- or for many centuries after the dawn of Islam.

Thomas Ledlie wrote an article in the Calcutta Review, which he subsequently elaborated and published in two volumes. He expressed his views on the subject very clearly: "The Europeans always confuse things, when they consider the fact that the Afghans call themselves Bani Israel and yet reject their Jewish descent. Indeed, the Afghans discard the very idea of any descent from the Jews. They, however, yet claim themselves to be of Bani Israel." [Thomas Ledlie, More Ledlian, Calcutta Review, January, 1898] The Calcutta Review is a bi-annual periodical, now published by the Calcutta University press, featuring scholarly articles from a variety of disciplines. ...

Ledlie goes on to explain: "Israelites, or the Ten Tribes, to whom the term Israel was applied – after their separation from the House of David, and the tribe of Judah, which tribe retained the name of Judah and had a distinct history ever after. These last alone are called Jews and are distinguished from the Bani Israel as much in the East as in the West." [Ibid., 7]

Modern writers

Among more contemporary writers Dr. Alfred Edersheim says: "Modern investigations have pointed to the Nestorians and latterly, with almost convincing evidence (so far as it is possible) to the Afghans as descendants from the Lost Tribes." [Dr. Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah, 15] Alfred Edersheim (March 7, 1825 – March 16, 1889) was a Jewish convert to Christianity and a biblical scholar, known especially for his book The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (1883). ... The term Nestorianism is eponymous, even though the person who lent his name to it always denied the associated belief. ...

Sir Thomas Holditch in his The Gates of India says: "But there is one important people (of whom there is much more to be said) who call themselves Bani Israel, who claim a descent from Cush and Ham, who have adopted a strange mixture of Mosaic Law in Ordinances in their moral code, who (some sections at least) keep a feast which strongly accords with the Passover,… and for whom no one has yet been able to suggest any other origin than the one they claim, and claim with determined force, and these people are the overwhelming inhabitants of Afghanistan." – Sir Thomas Holditch, The Gates of India, 49. Cush (כּוּשׁ Black, Standard Hebrew Kuš, Tiberian Hebrew Kûš) was the eldest son of Ham, brother of Canaan and the father of Nimrod, mentioned in the table of nations in the Book of Genesis (x. ... Ham (חָם, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew , , Geez Kam), according to the Genealogies of Genesis, was a son of Noah and the father of Cush, Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. ... Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be used in the general sense to also include both the Written... This article is about the Jewish holiday. ...

There are many additional references, recorded incidents, manuscripts and artifacts related to the Hebraic history of the Pashtuns for the dedicated objective researcher who seeks them out.

In his 1957 classic The Exiled and the Redeemed, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, second President of Israel, writes that Hebrew migrations into Afghanistan began, "with a sprinkling of exiles from Samaria who had been transplanted there by Shalmaneser, King of Assyria (719 BC). From the recurrent references in the Book of Esther to the "one hundred and twenty seven dominions" of King Ahasuerus, the deduction is permissible that eastern Afghanistan was among them." [The Exiled and the Redeemed, 176] External link http://www. ... “Shomron” redirects here. ... Shalmaneser is a name of Assyrian Kings: Shalmaneser I Shalmaneser II Shalmaneser III Shalmaneser IV Shalmaneser V Shalmaneser is also the name of a powerful computer system in John Brunners novel Stand on Zanzibar. ... For other uses, see Assyria (disambiguation). ... Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 760s BC 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC - 710s BC - 700s BC 690s BC 680s BC 670s BC 660s BC Events and Trends Judah, Tyre and Sidon revolt against Assyria 719 BC - Zhou Huan Wang of the... Megillah redirects here. ... Xerxes I of Persia (sometimes known as Xerxes the Great, in old Persian, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠[2]) was a king of Persia (reigned 486–465 BC) of the Achaemenid dynasty. ...

Ben-Zvi continues,

"The Afghan tribes, among whom the Jews have lived for generations, are Moslems who retain to this day their amazing tradition about their descent from the Ten Tribes. It is an ancient tradition, and one not without some historical plausibility. A number of explorers, Jewish and non-Jewish, who visited Afghanistan from time to time, and students of Afghan affairs who probed into literary sources, have referred to this tradition, which was also discussed in several encyclopedias in European languages. The fact that this tradition, and no other, has persisted among these tribes is itself a weighty consideration. Nations normally keep alive memories passed by word of mouth from generation to generation, and much of their history is based not on written records but on verbal tradition.

This was particularly so in the case of the nations and the communities of the Levant. The people of the Arabian Peninsula, for example, derived all their knowledge of an original pagan cult, which they abandoned in favor of Islam, from such verbal tradition. So did the people of Iran, formerly worshipers of the religion of Zoroaster; the Turkish and Mongol tribes, formerly Buddhists and Shamanists; and the Syrians who abandoned Christianity in favor of Islam. Therefore, if the Afghan tribes persistently adhere to the tradition that they were once Hebrews and in course of time embraced Islam, and there is not an alternative tradition also existent among them, the matter certainly deserves careful and critical examination." [The Exiled and the Redeemed] Arabia redirects here. ... Pagan and heathen redirect here. ... Zoroaster (Greek Ζωροάστρης, Zōroastrēs) or Zarathustra (Avestan: Zaraθuštra), also referred to as Zartosht (Persian: ; Kurdish: ), was an ancient Iranian prophet and religious poet. ... Honorary guard of Mongolia. ... A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India. ... The shaman is an intellectual and spiritual figure who is regarded as possessing power and influence on other peoples in the tribe and performs several functions, primarily that of a healer ( medicine man). The shaman provides medical care, and serves other community needs during crisis times, via supernatural means (means...

Ben-Zvi continues to give first hand Jewish witness accounts of the Pashtuns, and other interesting information.

Today, one of the most pre-eminent living Western researchers in this area is Rabbi Avichail of Israel.

See also

• Bnai Israel
• Ten Lost Tribes
• History of Arabs in Afghanistan

The Children of Israel (Hebrew: בני ישראל Bnai Yisrael or Bnei Yisrael or Bnei Yisroel) is a Biblical term for the Israelites. ... The phrase Ten Lost Tribes of Israel refers to the ancient Tribes of Israel that disappeared from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. ... Ethnic Arab fighters who battled or migrated to the area now known as Afghanistan during conflicts dating back from the 7th century[1] till the recent Soviet-Afghan War when they assisted fellow Muslims in fighting the Soviets and pro-Soviet Afghans. ...

Endnotes

References

References refuting the theory of Pashtun Jewish descent

• Bani-Israelite Theory of Paktoons Ethnic Origin on the site of World Afghan Jirgah. Archived February 6, 2005.

is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References advocating the theory of Pashtun descent from the Israelites

• Hebrew Pashtun Article 1 Dangoor Supporting Connection with Jews
• Hebrew Pashtun Article 2 Dangoor Supporting Connection with Jews
• Pashtun Israelite Origins

• Bellew: Races of Afghanistan
• Yu. V. Gankovsky, Syed Bahadur Shah Zafar Kaka Khel: Pukhtana
• Sir Olaf Caroe (1958), The Pathans

Two recent articles summarizing the rejection of this theory by contemporary anthropoligists are: Sir Olaf Kirkpatrick Kruuse Caroe KCSI, KCIE (1892-1981) was a British administrator in India. ...

• Yossi Klein Halevi, "In Search of the Ten Lost Tribes", The Jerusalem Report, Jun 13, 1991, 18.
• Shalva Weil, "Our Brethren the Taliban?", The Jerusalem Report, Oct 22, 2001, 22.

Other references

• Alden Oreck, The Virtual Jewish History Tour: Afghanistan from Jewish Virtual Library
• Is One of the Lost Tribes the Taliban?
• Taliban may have origin in ancient tribe of Israel: Anthropologist finds many similarities