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PATHAN

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Originally appearing in Volume V20, Page 913 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PATHAN , the name applied throughout See also:

India to the Afghans, especially to those permanently settled in the See also:country and to those dwelling on the borderland. It is apparently derived from the Afghan name for their own See also:language, See also:Pushtu or Pukhtu, and may be traced back to the Paktues of See also:Herodotus. In Igor the See also:total number of Pathans in all India was nearly 31 millions, but the speakers of Pushtu numbered less than l t millions. The name is frequently, but incorrectly, applied to the See also:Mahommedan dynasties that preceded the Moguls at See also:Delhi, and also to the See also:style of See also:architecture employed by them; but of these dynasties only the Lodis were Afghans. The Pathans of the See also:Indian borderland inhabit the mountainous country on the See also:Punjab frontier, stretching northwards from a See also:line See also:drawn roughly across the See also:southern border of the Dera See also:Ismail See also:Khan See also:district. See also:South of this line are the Baluchis. The Pathans include all the strongest and most warlike tribes of the See also:North-See also:West frontier of India, such as the Afridis, Orakzais, Waziris, Mohmands, Swatis and many other clans. Those in the settled districts of the North-West Frontier See also:Province (in 1901) numbered 883,779, or more than two-fifths of the See also:population. Each of the See also:principal divisions is dealt with separately in this See also:work under its tribal name. The Pathans are split up into different tribes, each tribe into clans, and each See also:clan into sections, so that the nomenclature is often very puzzling. The tribe, clan and See also:section are alike distinguished by patronymics formed from the name of the See also:common ancestor by the addition of the word zai or khel; zai being a corruption of the Pushtu word we, meaning son, while khel is an Arabic word meaning an association or See also:company. Both terms are used indifferently for both the larger and smaller divisions.

Pathans enlist largely in the native See also:

army of India; and since the frontier risings of 1897 they have been formed with increasing frequency into class-regiments and regiments of native See also:militia. They make excellent soldiers. The greater partof the Pathan country was placed under See also:British See also:political See also:control by the See also:Durand agreement made with the See also:Amir of See also:Afghanistan in 1893.

End of Article: PATHAN

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PATHOLOGY (from Gr. raBos, suffering)

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