AFGÚAÚN, in current political usage, any citizen of Afghanistan, whatever his ethnic, tribal, or religious affiliation. According to the 1977 constitution of the Republic of Afghanistan (1973-78), all Afghans are equal in rights and obligations before the law. In an attempt to alleviate the inevitable tensions and conflicts of an ethnically diverse state, the republic discouraged reference to ethnic or tribal origin and prohibited the use of personal names that evoke an ethnic group (such as Afr^d^, Ahámadzay, OÚrmurá, Nu@rzay, Po@palzay, Wardak, etc.).

From a more limited, ethnological point of view, “Afg@a@n” is the term by which the Persian-speakers of Afghanistan (and the non-PaÞáto@-speaking ethnic groups generally) designate the PaÞátu@n. The equation Afghans = PaÞátu@n has been propagated all the more, both in and beyond Afghanistan, because the PaÞátu@n tribal confederation is by far the most important in the country, numerically and politically. The Afghans or PaÞátu@n are characterized by: (1) Their language, PaÞáto@, the most important Iranian language of the east, with a remarkably rich literature. (2) Their clan structure, which clearly distinguishes them from the Tajik of Afghanistan who generally have none at all (see PaÞátu@n). (3) Their social code, paÞátu@nwal^ (see PaÞátu@n) or simply paÞáto@, that governs relations among some PaÞátu@n, as a code of honor, and defines the essential principles of the individual ethic and the national virtues. (4) Certain characteristics, both social and cultural, extinct or living, (e.g., we@Þ, the periodic redistribution of lands; nomadism, etc.). The term “Afg@a@n” has probably designated the PaÞátu@n since ancient times. Under the form Avaga@náa, this ethnic group is first mentioned by the Indian astronomer Vara@ha Mihira in the beginning of the 6th century A.D. in his Bráhat-samáhita@.

See Afghanistan: iv. Ethnography; v. Languages.

Bibliography : D. M. Do@st, Da Afg@a@nesta@n `™be@ aw to@k™muna, Kabul, 1354 ˆ./1975. L. Dupree, Afghanistan, Princeton, 1973. ¿A. H®ab^b^, “Afg@a@n va Afg@a@nesta@n,” Afg@a@n, Kabul, 22 Sonbola 1350/13 September 1971, pp. 1-3. W. Kraus, ed., Afghanistan, Zurich, 1974. W. Steul, Paschtunwali. Ein Ehrenkodex und seine rechtliche Relevanz, Wiesbaden, 1981.

(Ch. M. Kieffer)