History Of Pathan Cast : Pashtuns : Cast History In Pakistan

Pashtuns (Pashto: پښتون Paṣ̌tun, Pax̌tun, also rendered as Pushtuns, Pakhtuns, Pukhtuns), also called Pathans (in Urdu: پٹھان and Hindi: पठान Paṭhān)  or (ethnic) Afghans (in Persian: افغان; see also origin and History of the term),  are an Eastern Iranian ethno-linguistic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, which includes Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Balochistan. ThePashtuns are typically characterized by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, a traditional set of ethics guiding individual and communal conduct.  Their origin is unclear but historians have come across references to a people called Paktha (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, which is speculated to be the ancestors of today's Pashtuns. Since the 3rd century AD and onward, they are mostly referred to by the name "Afghan" ("Abgan", "Avgan" or "Awgan").

During the Delhi Sultanate era, a number of Pashtun Emperors (Sultans) have ruled the Indian subcontinent. Other Pashtunsfought the Safavids and the Mughal Empire before obtaining an independent state in the early-18th century, which began with a successful revolution by the Hotaki dynasty followed by military conquests by the Durrani Empire.  Pashtuns played a vital role during the Great Game from the 19th century to the 20th century as they were caught between the imperialist designs of the British and Russian empires. For over 300 years, they reigned as the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan with nearly all rulers being Pashtun. More recently, the Pashtuns gained global attention during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan and with the rise of the Taliban, since they are the main ethnic contingent in the movement. Pashtuns are also an important community in Pakistan, where they have attained the presidency and high positions in the military, and are the second-largest ethnic group in that country.

The Pashtuns are the world's largest (patriarchal) segmentary lineage ethnic group. The total population of the group is estimated to be as high 49 million  according to Ethnologue, but an accurate count remains elusive due to the lack of an official census in Afghanistan since 1979. There are an estimated 350 to over 400 Pashtun tribes and clans.

Demographics

The vast majority of Pashtuns are found in an area stretching from southeastern Afghanistan to northwestern Pakistan. Additional Pashtun communities are found in the Gilgit-Baltistan territory, the Mianwali and Attock districts of Punjab province in Pakistan, as well as in the Khorasan province of Iran. There is also a sizeable community in India, which is of largely putative ancestry. Smaller Pashtun communities are located in the countries of the Arabian Peninsula, Europe and the Americas, particularly in North America.

Important metropolitan centers of Pashtun culture include Kandahar, Quetta, Peshawar, Jalalabad, Kunduz and Swat. Kabul and Ghazni are home to around 25% Pashtun population while Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif has at least 10%. With as high as 7 million by some estimates, the city of Karachi in Pakistan has one of the largest Pashtun populations in the world. In addition, Rawalpindi, Islamabad, and Lahore also have sizable Pashtun populations.

Pashtuns comprise roughly 15.42% of Pakistan's 174 million population. In Afghanistan, they make up an estimated 42% of the 29 million population according to the CIA World Factbook. Some sources give 50-60% because the exact figure remains uncertain in Afghanistan, and are affected by the 1.7 million Afghan refugees that remain in Pakistan a majority of which are Pashtuns. Another 937,600 Afghans live in Iran according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). A cumulative population assessment suggests a total of around 49 million individuals all across the world.