AFGHANS, in History, a fierce and untractable peo ple, who inhabit the mountainous country on the borders of Persia, and occupy a region extending from the Cas pian Sc a to the Indus on the east, and from the same river to Cachmir on the west. This region comprehends four grand divisions of the Persian empire, Daghistan, Khorasan, Seghistan, and Candahar. S e PEnsi k.
It is generally supposed that the Afghans derived their origin from the Arabs, as they have little or no re semblance to the Tartars, in their persons, habits, or language. Sir William Jones, however, is inclined to think, that their descent may be traced with greater propriety from the Israelites ; and he adds, that the best informed of the Persian historians have adopted the same opinion. The Afghans have traditions among themselves, which render it very probable that this is the just account of their origin. It becomes still more likely, when we consider, that many of their families are really distinguished by the names of the Jewish tribes, though, since their conversion to the Islam, they conceal their descent with the most studious care; and the whole is confirmed by the circumstance, that the Pushro language has so near an affinity to the Chaldaic, that it may justly be regarded as a dialect of that tongue. But whether the Afghans originally sprung from the Israelites or not, they have long been confounded with the Arabs; and perhaps there may be no great mistake in supposing them to be descended from that numerous and powerful people.
The inaccessible nature of the country which the Af ghans inhabit, their poverty, and the fierceness of their disposition, have contributed to Secure their indepen dence. For though they have been nominally reduced to subjection, they were never conquered; and safe be hind their mountains, or having nothing to excite the ambition or the avarice of princes, they have retained many of their early customs, and preserved, with little deviation, their original character. It is known that the Arabs were acquainted with letters, and that they had made considerable progress in science, at a time V. lien its light was almost extinguished in Europe. From this it has been inferred by Dow, (lltst. of h/wan, vol. iii.) that the Afghans, whom he calls "a literary people. like the Arabs," must have among them records of an cient times, which have not yet been opened to the cu riosity of the learned; and sir William Jones recom mends an inquiry into their history and antiquities with great earnestness and expectation. There is undoubted evidence that such records exist. A Persian abridgment of a work written in the Pushto language, and entitled, " The Secrets of the Afghans," was communicated by Henry Vansittart, Esq. to sir 'William Jones, when the latter gentleman was president of the Asiatic Society ; and a specimen of the original tongue was added to the abridgment. But whatever records of antiquity the
Afghans may possess, they are represented as wholly illiterate at present, and strangers to the use of alpha betical characters, in all the transactions of life. Sec Forster's Journey from Bengal to England, &c.
The Afghans are more conspicuous for their warlike and restless disposition, than for their attainments in literature. Under Amir Vaez, a leader of a bold and en terprising spirit, they relinquished all connexion with Persia, and advanced into Candahar, about the year 1713 they murdered the Khan of that place, took his chid city, and afterwards kept possession of the whole pro vince. The Abdollees, another tribe of the Afghans, threw off the Persian yoke, A. D. 1717, and established themselves as an independent republic. Availing him self of the confusion to which that event had given rise, Mir Mahmud attempted to subdue the whole kingdom of Persia ; and having united his forces with those of the Abdollecs, and some other tribes, lie laid siege to Ispahan. The Persian ruler made a vigorous defence. The siege was long, and the famine great, through all parts of the capital; but Hossein was at last betrayed by his officers, and forced to resign the empire, after governing it 28 years, into the hands of Mahmud. " From this time," said he, to the victorious chief, " I will un dertake nothing without your advice." Alahmud was succeeded by Ashruff, under whose conduct the Ab donee Afghans obtained some advantages over the Turks ; but they concluded a peace with them in the year 1727, and acknowledged the Ottoman emperor as the lawful sovereign of Persia. They were afterwards routed in several great battles, and driven from many of their possessions by Kouli Khan, or Nadir Shah. This resistless leader, having taken Ispahan, pursued Ashruff from one province to another; and, notwithstanding the obstinate bravery of the Abdollees, they were totally de feated, and obliged to renounce all their claims to the government of the Persian empire. Nadir Shah then established himself on the throne A. D. 1736, and in vaded the Afghans ; but he lost so many of his troops in skirmishes with these hardy mountaineers, that he offer ed them peace, and invited them to enlist in his army. They arc still regarded as the chief strength of the Persian forces. See Science de l' Histoire par Chantreaux, tom. iii. pp. 40, 41. Dow's Hist. of vol. iii. Asiatic Researches, vol. ii. Hanway's Travels, vol. iii. p. 148. Frazer's Hist. of ?adir Shah, p. 91. Ravnal's Rcvolut. vol. ii. p. 68. Hanway's Hist. Acc. of the Bri: Lsh Trade, vol. lit. p. 27, Ecc. (h)