DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.31218#0192
THE CASTE SVSTEM OF NORTHERN INDIA
Turkman is little more than a generic term for an inhabit-
ant of Central Asia who is of Tartar descent. Finally,
Qizilbash1 are supposed to be a tribe of Tartar horsemen
from the Eastern Caucasus, who formed the best troops
in the Persian armies, and of the force with which Nadir
Shah conquered Delhi. In fact, it would seem that the
name ‘Moghul’ must be regarded as used in the wide
sense, which, according to Bernier, was prevalent in the
17th century in India—namely, any foreigner who pro-
fessed Islam and had a fair complexion, such as Persians,
Turks, Arabs, and Uzbegs, or their descendants.
The word ‘Pathan’ is a Hindi corruption of a Persian
word ‘Pakhtana’ or ‘Pashtana’, which
28. Pathan means ‘speakers of the Pashtu language’.
It is popularly applied to all tribes whose
present or original homes are on or near the north-west
boundaries of India. A synonym is Afghan, a Persian
word of which the meaning is uncertain; another is Roh-
i 11a or Ruhela, which means ‘highlander’. Of these
three, Afghan is much the oldest term ; for Pathan is not
found in literature till the 16th century, and Rohilla till
the 18th. Both Afghan and Rohilla are now used with
restricted meanings. Afghan is a polite designation in
favour with educated persons, or those who are proud
of their descent; Rohilla is either a generic term for the
Pathan inhabitants of the tract called Rohilkhand, or the
name of a separate Pathan clan, descended from the
original Pathan settlers in that tract.2
Pathan or Afghan ethnology has formed the subject
of many books,3 and given rise to many
2g. Pathan eth- theories. Afghan tradition traces both
nology name and descent to Afghana, grandson
of King Saul of Israel, and relates that
1 ‘Red-heads’ from the red caps that they wore.
2 The clan, if it really exists as a separate entity, is of recent origin.
The great majority of Rohilkhand Pathans can and do claim descent
from older clans.
3 Bellew, Races of Afghanistan; Ibbetson, Punjah Ethnology; Malle-
son, History of Afghanistan; Raverty, Translation of Tabaqat-i-Nasiri;
Longworth-Dames, ‘Afghanistan’ in the Encyclopaedia of Islam—are only
some of these.
Turkman is little more than a generic term for an inhabit-
ant of Central Asia who is of Tartar descent. Finally,
Qizilbash1 are supposed to be a tribe of Tartar horsemen
from the Eastern Caucasus, who formed the best troops
in the Persian armies, and of the force with which Nadir
Shah conquered Delhi. In fact, it would seem that the
name ‘Moghul’ must be regarded as used in the wide
sense, which, according to Bernier, was prevalent in the
17th century in India—namely, any foreigner who pro-
fessed Islam and had a fair complexion, such as Persians,
Turks, Arabs, and Uzbegs, or their descendants.
The word ‘Pathan’ is a Hindi corruption of a Persian
word ‘Pakhtana’ or ‘Pashtana’, which
28. Pathan means ‘speakers of the Pashtu language’.
It is popularly applied to all tribes whose
present or original homes are on or near the north-west
boundaries of India. A synonym is Afghan, a Persian
word of which the meaning is uncertain; another is Roh-
i 11a or Ruhela, which means ‘highlander’. Of these
three, Afghan is much the oldest term ; for Pathan is not
found in literature till the 16th century, and Rohilla till
the 18th. Both Afghan and Rohilla are now used with
restricted meanings. Afghan is a polite designation in
favour with educated persons, or those who are proud
of their descent; Rohilla is either a generic term for the
Pathan inhabitants of the tract called Rohilkhand, or the
name of a separate Pathan clan, descended from the
original Pathan settlers in that tract.2
Pathan or Afghan ethnology has formed the subject
of many books,3 and given rise to many
2g. Pathan eth- theories. Afghan tradition traces both
nology name and descent to Afghana, grandson
of King Saul of Israel, and relates that
1 ‘Red-heads’ from the red caps that they wore.
2 The clan, if it really exists as a separate entity, is of recent origin.
The great majority of Rohilkhand Pathans can and do claim descent
from older clans.
3 Bellew, Races of Afghanistan; Ibbetson, Punjah Ethnology; Malle-
son, History of Afghanistan; Raverty, Translation of Tabaqat-i-Nasiri;
Longworth-Dames, ‘Afghanistan’ in the Encyclopaedia of Islam—are only
some of these.