Theory of Pashtun descent from Rajputs

Contrary to the theory of Pashtun descent from Israelites, the British doctor and authority on oriental languages, Henry Walter Bellew, accredited for writing the first Pushtu dictionary,[1] suggested that the Pashtuns (Pathans) are actually a mixture of the Greek and Indian Rajput peoples.[2][3] Bellew’s theory was that all Pashtun tribal names could be traced to Greek and Rajput names, which posits the further possibility of a great Greek mixing with the ancient border tribes of India.[4][5] In addition, the renowned Arab historian Masudi wrote that Kandahar, the city in which most Pashtuns were concentrated at the time, "is a country of Rajputs" and was a separate kingdom with a non-Muslim ruler.[6]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ The Pathans – 550 BC - AD 1957 by Sir Olaf Caroe, The South Asian - Reprinted Oxford University Press, 2003 (retrieved 04 May 2007).
2. ↑ Are the Pathans in fact Rajputs? By Khaled Ahmad, Daily Times (retrieved 04 May 2007).
3. ↑ Swatis and Afridis, By T. H. Holdich, The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 29, No. 1/2 (1899), pp. 2-9 (retrieved 04 May 2007).
4. ↑ Are the Pathans Hindu Rajputs? By Khaled Ahmad, Khyber Gateway (retrieved 04 May 2007).
5. ↑ Where do the Chach Pathans originate from? By Dilawar Khan, Dilawar Khan (retrieved 04 May 2007).
6. ↑ About Pakhtuns, By Syed Zubir Rehman, Pakhtun.com (retrieved 04 May 2007).