Page "History of Afghanistan" Paragraph 20
from
Wikipedia
Two of the four main capitals of Khorasan ( Balkh and Herat ) are now located in modern Afghanistan.
The country of Kandahar, Ghazni and Kabul formed the frontier region between Khorasan and Hindustan.
The land inhabited by the Afghan tribes ( i. e. ancestors of Pashtuns ) was called Afghanistan, which loosely covered a wide area between the Hindu Kush and the Indus River, principally around the Sulaiman Mountains.
The earliest record of the name " Afghan " (" Abgân ") being mentioned is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE which is later recorded in the form of " Avagānā " by the Indian astronomer Varāha Mihira in his 6th century CE Brihat-samhita.
It was used to refer to a common legendary ancestor known as " Afghana ", grandson of King Saul of Israel .< Hiven Tsiang, a Chinese pilgrim, visiting the Afghanistan area several times between 630 to 644 CE also speaks about them.
Ancestors of many of today's Turkic-speaking Afghans settled in the Hindu Kush area and began to assimilate much of the culture and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there.
Page 1 of 1.
1.969 seconds.