Pathans: Difference between revisions

'''Pathans in India''' are citizens or residents of [[India]] who are of ethnic [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] ancestry. "Pathan" is the local [[Hindi]]-[[Urdu]] term for an individual who belongs to the Pashtun ethnic group, or descends from it.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pashtun|title=Pashtun|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|access-date=29 May 2020|quote=Pashtun, also spelled Pushtun or Pakhtun, Hindustani Pathan, Persian Afghan, Pashto-speaking people residing primarily in the region that lies between the Hindu Kush in northeastern Afghanistan and the northern stretch of the Indus River in Pakistan.}}</ref><ref name="Fürer-Haimendorf-1985">{{cite book |last=von Fürer-Haimendorf |first=Christoph |author-link=Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf |title=Tribal populations and cultures of the Indian subcontinent |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRSOnRfPAq0C&pg=PA126 |series=Handbuch der Orientalistik/2,7 |year=1985 |publisher=[[E. J. Brill]]|location=Leiden|isbn=90-04-07120-2|pages=126|oclc=240120731|access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref> The term additionally finds mention among Western sources, mainly in the colonial-era literature of [[British India]].<ref name="Morton-Jack2015">{{cite book|author=George Morton-Jack|title=The Indian Army on the Western Front South Asia Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cczSCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA3|date=24 February 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-11765-5|pages=3–|quote='Pathan', an Urdu and a Hindi term, was usually used by the British when speaking in English. They preferred it to 'Pashtun', 'Pashtoon', 'Pakhtun' or 'Pukhtun', all Pashtu versions of the same word, which the frontier tribesmen would have used when speaking of themselves in their own Pashtu dialects.}}</ref><ref name="Spain1963">{{cite book|author=James William Spain|title=The Pathan Borderland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-8YNAAAAIAAJ|year=1963|publisher=Mouton|quote=The most familiar name in the west is Pathan, a Hindi term adopted by the British, which is usually applied only to the people living east of the Durand.}}</ref> Historically, the term "[[Afghan (ethnonym)|Afghan]]" was also synonymous with the Pathans.<ref name="Khyber"/> The Pathans originate from the [[Pashtunistan]] region straddling [[Pakistan]] and [[Afghanistan]].<ref name="Bombay"/> <ref name="CanfieldRasuly-Paleczek2010">{{cite book|author1=Robert L. Canfield|author2=Gabriele Rasuly-Paleczek|title=Ethnicity, Authority, and Power in Central Asia: New Games Great and Small|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wnXFBQAAQBAJ|date=4 October 2010|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-92749-2|pages=145, 153, 154, 212}}</ref>

Large-scale Pashtun migration into India began in the [[Medieval India|11th and 12th centuries]], as a result of the many Muslim [[List of Pashtun empires and dynasties|empires and dynasties founded by Pashtuns]] on the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="Khan2015"/> Pashtuns also arrived as traders, officers, administrators, diplomats, travelers, religious saints and preachers,<ref name="Green2012"/> students, and as soldiers serving in the armies of India's rulers. In many cases, migration and settlement occurred amongst whole [[Pashtun tribes|clans]].<ref name="Swarup">{{cite news|url=http://openthemagazine.com/art-culture/the-kingdom-of-khan/|title=The Kingdom of Khan|work=Open|date=27 January 2011|access-date=6 June 2020|first=Shubhangi|last=Swarup|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604000833/http://openthemagazine.com/art-culture/the-kingdom-of-khan/|archive-date=4 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Today, the Pathans are a collection of diversely scattered communities present across the length and breadth of India, with the largest populations principally settled in the plains of [[North India|northern]] and [[central India]].<ref name="Khan2015"/><ref name="Swarup"/><ref name="Alavi2008"/> Following the [[partition of India]] in 1947, many of them [[Muhajir people|migrated to Pakistan]].<ref name="Khan2015"/> The majority of Indian Pathans are [[Urdu-speaking people|Urdu-speaking communities]],<ref name="Khan2015"/> who have assimilated into the [[Culture of India|local society]] over the course of generations.<ref name="Green2017">{{cite book|author=Nile Green|title=Afghanistan's Islam: From Conversion to the Taliban|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6swDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|year=2017|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-29413-4|pages=18–}}</ref> Pathans have influenced and contributed to various fields in India, particularly politics, the entertainment industry and sports.<ref name="Alavi2008"/>

Pathans of India descend from different [[Pashtun tribes|tribes and clans]]. Some of the common Pashtun tribes found in India include the [[Afridi]]s, [[Ahmadzai (Wazir clan)|Ahmadzai]]s, [[Barakzai]]s, [[Bettani]]s, [[Durrani]]s, [[Kakar]]s, [[Khattak]]s, [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]]s, [[Orakzai]]s, [[Shirani (Pashtun tribe)|Shirani]]s and [[Yusufzai]]s.<ref name="Lentin"/><ref name="Khyber"/>

The term "Hindu Pathan" is often used as self-identification by some Indian [[Hindus]] who hailed from or were born in the predominately Pashtun regions of British India (now Pakistan),<ref name="Nanda2018">{{cite book|author=Reena Nanda|title=From Quetta to Delhi: A Partition Story|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Is1SDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT135|date=10 February 2018|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-93-86643-44-5|pages=135–}}</ref><ref name="KhoslaRai2005">{{cite book|author1=Romi Khosla|author2=Nitin Rai|title=The idea of Delhi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sRxuAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Marg Publications on behalf of the [[National Centre for the Performing Arts (India)]]|page=60|isbn=9788185026695|quote=One of the first popular beliefs that was challenged with this narrative was the ethnic description of refugees as "Punjabis." Leela Ram described himself and the group as Hindu Pathans with a distinct Derawali/Frontier identity. But curiously, this was not a sort of opening definition that preceded the rest of the account, rather an insistence that they were Punjabis like everybody else even though they spoke a different language/dialect from the Punjabis.}}</ref> as well as those who arrived from Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/indus-calling/from-hindukush-to-hindustan-no-place-for-the-hindus/|title=From Hindukush to Hindustan, no place for the Hindus?|work=Times of India|access-date=30 May 2020|date=11 December 2019|first=Tarun|last=Vijay|author-link=Tarun Vijay|quote=And Hindus, once a large majority in Afghanistan, the Afghan Hindus, the Pathan Hindus simply became extinct and turned refugees taking shelter in Germany and other countries. Hindustan never bothers about them. There are some Afghan Hindus living in Delhi. You can meet them to know what it cost them to be here.}}</ref> The 1947 [[partition of India]] led to an exodus of Hindus settled in the former [[North-West Frontier Province]] (NWFP) and [[Baluchistan (Chief Commissioner's Province)|Baluchistan]], which are part of modern Pakistan, into the newly independent India.<ref name="Hashmi"/><ref name="Hegde"/> Notable people from these regions, mainly Peshawar, who identified as Hindu Pathans include the Punjabi-origin independence activist [[Bhagat Ram Talwar]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/india/948392/why-did-winston-churchill-hate-the-hindus-and-prefer-the-muslims/|title=Why did Winston Churchill hate the Hindus and prefer the Muslims?|work=Quartz India|first=Mihir|last=Bose|date=4 April 2017|access-date=29 April 2020|quote=Bhagat Ram Talwar, later known as Silver, was the only quintuple spy in World War-II, working for the British, Russians, Germans, Italians, and the Japanese. Silver, who identified as a “Hindu Pathan,” was born and raised in the northwest region of the subcontinent bordering Afghanistan.}}</ref> and union minister [[Mehr Chand Khanna]];<ref name="Sabha1959">{{cite book|author=India. Parliament. Lok Sabha|title=Lok Sabha Debates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=23E3AAAAIAAJ|year=1959|page=4111|publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat.|quote=The Minister of Rehabilitation (Shri Mehr Chand Khanna): I never said that; I object to what has been said by the hon. Member. (Interruption). You live in U.P. and you talk of West Bengal! Shrf S. M. Banerjee: You belong to the Frontier Province and you talk of the whole country. Mr. Deputy-Speaker: Order, order. Shri Mehr Chand Khanna: Bengal. So will I, a Pathan, like to be in Pathan land. So will a Maharashtrian like to be, so will a Gujerati like to be in his own place.}}</ref><ref name="Sabha1970">{{cite book|author=India. Parliament. Lok Sabha|title=Lok Sabha Debates|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9VvVAAAAMAAJ|year=1970|publisher=Lok Sabha Secretariat.|quote=I asked, "What is the Pathan doing in Hindu Maha Sabha ?" He stood up and said, "I am a Hindu Pathan and I am trying to do what you and others are doing in Bengal." Then I said he must be Mehr Chand Khanna.}}</ref> [[Prithviraj Kapoor]],<ref name="BBC"/> the progenitor of Bollywood's Kapoor family (along with his sons [[Raj Kapoor|Raj]],<ref name="Jain2009">{{cite book|author=Madhu Jain|title=Kapoors: The First Family of Indian Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l3heZ8I-k9AC&pg=PT75|date=17 April 2009|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-81-8475-813-9|pages=75, 214|quote=Like his father, Raj Kapoor spent much of his childhood in Peshawar. Born in Samundari on 14 December 1924 he was the only one of Prithviraj's children to speak Pashto and imbibe Pathan culture directly... While Raj Kapoor spent many of his impressionable years in the North West Frontier, for Shashi Kapoor it was just a place his father had left behind when he went to Bombay to become an actor. It was somewhere he went for a holiday as a child, or to attend a family wedding. Being a Pathan was more central to the identity of the eldest brother. Pathaniyat for Shammi Kapoor did not go much beyond a Pathan servant of the family...}}</ref> [[Shammi Kapoor|Shammi]]<ref name="Ganti2013">{{cite book|author=Tejaswini Ganti|title=Bollywood: A Guidebook to Popular Hindi Cinema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Elj3r-nAOFwC&pg=PA183|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-58384-8|pages=183|quote=Shammi Kapoor, a successful star of the 1960s and the younger brother of Raj Kapoor (see chapter 3) reflects on the polyglot nature of Bombay and the Hindi film industry... "I, for one, belong to Peshawar. I'm a Pathan. Someone from Pakistan sent me an email and they said, "How do you qualify as a Pathan? Pathans are only Muslims." So I'm writing to him that Pathan is not a religious group, but a community of people. I come from there...}}</ref> and [[Shashi Kapoor]]),<ref name="Jain2009"/> also of Punjabi descent;<ref name="Lentin"/> his cousin, [[Surinder Kapoor]] (father of [[Anil Kapoor]]);<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBKP-rpQmGw&t=0m50s|title=TalkBack with Wajahat Khan and Anil Kapoor, Episode 33 Part 1|first=Wajahat S.|last=Khan|author-link=Wajahat Saeed Khan|work=TalkBack with [[Dawn News]]|date=8 October 2009|access-date=31 May 2020|via=YouTube|quote=I'm a Pathan's son. My father, my grandfather, they all were Pathans from Peshawar...}}</ref> actor [[Vinod Khanna]],<ref name="Swarup"/> and film producer F.C. Mehra (father of [[Umesh Mehra]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2018/jul/29/14690|title=FC Mehra: Suspended air force man who became a successful producer|work=Cinestaan|date=29 July 2018|access-date=31 May 2020|first=Keyur|last=Seta|quote=My family hailed from Peshawar [in the erstwhile North West Frontier Province, now in Pakistan] and we are what we call Hindu Pathans," FC Mehra's son, filmmaker Umesh Mehra, said.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730052126/https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2018/jul/29/14690|archive-date=30 July 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Pushpa Kumari Bagai writes that the Hindu Pathans in India, especially those who migrated from the [[Derawal|Derawali]]-speaking area of [[Dera Ismail Khan]], had their own unique [[vegetarian cuisine]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/909288/zaiqay-frontier-kay-cookbook-in-urdu-and-hindi-attempts-to-bring-pakistan-and-india-closer/|title=Zaiqay Frontier Kay: Cookbook in Urdu and Hindi attempts to bring Pakistan and India closer|work=The Express Tribune|date=25 June 2015|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Munnazzah|last=Raza|quote=Written by the late Pushpa Kumari Bagai, this book is a collection of her special culinary traditions – 80 vegetarian cuisine recipes, each one reflecting the history and culture of the Hindu Pathan community of Dera Ismail Khan.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/98937/award-winning-zaiqay-frontier-ke-presented-to-the-queen-of-bhutan/|title=Award-winning Zaiqay Frontier Ke presented to the queen of Bhutan|work=Daily Times|date=30 August 2015|access-date=29 May 2020|quote=...Pushpa Kumari Bagai, who herself was the custodian and exponent of a very special culinary tradition – the vegetarian cuisine of the Hindu Pathans of Dera Ismail Khan.}}</ref> In her historical magnum opus ''[[Aag Ka Darya|River of Fire]]'', writer [[Qurratulain Hyder]] makes reference to Hindu Pathans from the NWFP who were displaced by the partition and settled in India.<ref name="HyderḤaidar1999">{{cite book|author1=Qurratulain Hyder|author2=Qurratulʻain Ḥaidar|title=River of Fire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w28aAQAAIAAJ|year=1999|publisher=New Directions|isbn=978-0-8112-1418-6|page=272|quote=The citizens of Lucknow had never heard of Hindu Pathans who were now wandering the lanes of Aminabad, uprooted from the North West Frontier Province.}}</ref>

The city of [[Malerkotla]] is home to a significant population of [[Punjabi Muslims]], some of whom are of Pathan origin.<ref name="Bigelow2010">{{cite book|author=Anna Bigelow|title=Sharing the Sacred: Practicing Pluralism in Muslim North India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfexkkZbJ7AC&pg=PA199|date=4 February 2010|publisher=OUP USA|isbn=978-0-19-536823-9|pages=42, 43, 63, 93, 146, 199, 285}}</ref> It is notably the only Muslim-majority city in [[Punjab, India|Indian Punjab]], since the partition in 1947.<ref name="Malerkotla">{{cite news|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/why-punjab-s-malerkotla-did-not-boil-over-after-quran-desecration/story-GfayWywS2pmT1apXJuFOLN.html|title=Why Punjab's Malerkotla did not boil over after Quran desecration|work=Hindustan Times|date=30 August 2016|access-date=28 May 2020|first=Ananya|last=Bhardwaj}}</ref> The princely [[Malerkotla State]] was established and ruled by a Pathan dynasty of [[Shirani (Pashtun tribe)|Sherwani]] and [[Lodi (Pashtun tribe)|Lodi]] origins.<ref name="Malerkotla"/><ref name="Bigelow2010"/> The Pathans in Malerkotla were considered an influential group and were principally landowners. Their numbers dwindled after many of them migrated to Pakistan.<ref name="Bigelow2010"/> They are principally divided into the [[Yusufzai]], Lodi, Kakar and Sherwani tribes.<ref name="Bigelow2010"/> The rulers of the state historically shared a harmonious relationship with their Hindu and Sikh subjects, giving them protection and equal rights as minorities, which is one of the reasons why the city was mostly spared from violence during the partition.<ref name="Malerkotla"/> Even after independence, members of the royal Pathan family have continued to receive political support in state elections.<ref name="Bigelow2010"/>

Across North India, the Pathan population is chiefly spread over 74 [[Districts of India|districts]].<ref name="Khan2015"/> Beginning in the 17th century, tens of thousands of "[[Rohilla]]" Pashtuns migrated into modern Uttar Pradesh and settled in what became known as the [[Rohilkhand]] region.<ref name="CanfieldRasuly-Paleczek2010"/><ref name="Khyber">{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/Study_of_the_Pathan_Communitie.shtml|title=Study of the Pathan Communities in Four States of India|work=Khyber.org|first=Safia|last=Haleem|date=24 July 2007|access-date=1 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200229013803/http://www.khyber.org/articles/2007/Study_of_the_Pathan_Communitie.shtml|archive-date=29 February 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are Pathan families present in the city of [[Ranchi]].<ref name="Shah2010">{{cite book|author=Alpa Shah|title=In the Shadows of the State: Indigenous Politics, Environmentalism, and Insurgency in Jharkhand, India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oe8uYsl_GD8C&pg=PT42|date=2 August 2010|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-9293-4|pages=42–}}</ref><ref name="Singh1998">{{cite book|author=Kumar Suresh Singh|title=India's Communities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mt9G1e6JF-QC|year=1998|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-563354-2|page=2775, 2809|quote=In Bihar, the Pathan, also known as Khan, are distributed in the districts of Gaya, Nawada, Aurangabad, Patna, Munger, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Saran, Bhagalpur, [[Ranchi]] and Hazaribagh... In Karnataka, the Pathan are distributed in all districts...}}</ref><ref name="VidyarthiLal1969">{{cite book|author1=Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi|author2=Rajendra Behari Lal|author3=India. Planning Commission. Research Programmes Committee|title=Cultural Configuration of Ranchi: Survey of an Emerging Industrial City of Tribal India, 1960-62|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wociAAAAMAAJ|year=1969|publisher=J. N. Basu; &#91;distributor: Bookland|page=55|quote=Muslims, as indicated earlier, forms 17.8 % of the total number of families in Ranchi city. These Muslim families are divided into 22 castes. The principal castes are Pathan...}}</ref>

In India, the Muslim surname ''[[Khan (surname)|Khan]]'' is largely synonymous with and commonly used by Pathans as per [[Pashtun name|Pashtun naming]] conventions, although not all Khans are necessarily of Pathan descent.<ref name="Hamilton1994">{{cite book|author=James Sadler Hamilton|title=Sitar Music in Calcutta: An Ethnomusicological Study|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JP5Wzqq7I80C&pg=PR31|year=1994|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishe|isbn=978-81-208-1210-9|pages=31–}}</ref><ref name="Khan2015"/> The female equivalent used by Pathan women is [[Khanum]] or [[Bibi (title)|Bibi]].<ref name="Khan2015">{{cite book|author=Jasim Khan|title=Being Salman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2jgHCwAAQBAJ|date=27 December 2015|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-81-8475-094-2|pages=34, 35, 37, 38–|quote=Superstar Salman Khan is a Pashtun from the Akuzai clan...One has to travel roughly forty-five kilometres from Mingora towards Peshawar to reach the nondescript town of Malakand. This is the place where the forebears of Salman Khan once lived. They belonged to the Akuzai clan of the Pashtun tribe...}}</ref> In the [[Caste system among South Asian Muslims|caste system]] present among medieval [[Islam in India|Indian Muslim]] society, the Pathans (historically also known as [[Afghan (ethnonym)|ethnic 'Afghans']]) were classified as one of the ''[[ashraf]]'' castes – those who claimed descent from foreign immigrants,<ref name="Hamilton1994"/> and who claimed the status of [[nobility]] by virtue of conquests and [[Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent|Muslim rule in the Indian subcontinent]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Ghaus Ansari|title=Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh: A Study of Culture Contact |publisher=Ethnographic and Folk Culture Society|year=1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i0HRAAAAMAAJ|oclc=1104993|page=32-35}}</ref>

The earlier generations of Indian Pathans spoke their native language Pashto, while some still adhere to the traditional code and Pashtun way of life known as [[Pashtunwali]].<ref name="Bombay"/> The Pashtun empires in India historically used the [[Dari|Dari Persian]] language.<ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of Historical Research|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPre0_6JZ7gC|year=1959|publisher=Department of History, University of Bihar, Ranchi College|page=13|quote=Persian language which the Afghan rulers introducted into India was an Afghan product. The architect of Dari Persian was a Khorassani, Firdawsi. Khorasan was a part of Afghanistan at that time...}}</ref> As a result of [[cultural assimilation]] with Indians over the course of several centuries, most Pathans in India lost the ability to speak Pashto and instead adopted [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]] or other local dialects.<ref name="Green2017"/><ref name="Green2012"/>

The city of [[Peshawar]] in the North-West Frontier Province gave birth to several prominent actors in the Hindi film industry, [[Bollywood]].<ref name="Lentin"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/story/roots-of-bollywood-stars-in-peshawar-pakistan-dilip-kumar-shahrukh-khan-231934-2014-12-19|title=Uncovering the roots of Bollywood stars in Peshawar|work=India Today|date=19 December 2014|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref><ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-20440607|title=Bollywood's Shah Rukh Khan, Dilip Kumar and the Peshawar club|work=BBC News|date=29 November 2012|access-date=28 May 2020|first=M. Ilyas|last=Khan|quote=Kapoor's father, Prithviraj, was the first self-confessed Hindu "Pathan" from Peshawar to make a mark in Bollywood as an actor and producer.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Once-scorned-how-Peshawaris-became-Bollywood-kings/articleshow/50702059.cms|title=Once scorned, how Peshawaris became Bollywood kings|work=Times of India|date=27 January 2017|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Sameer|last=Arshad}}</ref> Some Indian actors also have ancestry in Balochistan<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/celebrities/story/bollywood-legends-kader-khan-amjab-khan-rajkumar-hail-from-baluchistan-336385-2016-08-21|title=Kader Khan to Amjad Khan, Bollywood legends who hail from Balochistan|work=India Today|date=6 September 2016|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Mayank Pratap|last=Singh}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dailyo.in/arts/sholay-gabbar-balochistan-amjad-khan-raaj-kumar-suresh-oberoi-kader-khan/story/1/12633.html|title=How Balochistan gave birth to the best of Bollywood|work=Daily O|date=29 August 2016|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Affan|last=Yesvi}}</ref> and Afghanistan.<ref name="Afghan">{{cite news|url=https://www.deccanherald.com/content/162005/khans-bollywood-afghan-traces-their.html|title=Khans in Bollywood: Afghan traces their Pathan roots|work=Deccan Herald|date=17 May 2011|access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref> The [[Qissa Khwani Bazaar]] area of Peshawar is the location of the ancestral homes [[Kapoor Haveli|of the Kapoor family]], [[House of Dilip Kumar, Peshawar|Dilip Kumar]] and Shah Rukh Khan.<ref name="Madhubala"/> Notably, the [[Hindkowans|Hindko]]-origin<ref>{{cite news|url=http://livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/the-strange-and-little-known-case-of-hindko-1562400834033.html|title=The strange and little-known case of Hindko|work=Live Mint|date=6 July 2019|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Karthik|last=Venkatesh}}</ref> [[Dilip Kumar]] (born Yusuf Khan)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/a-legend-by-any-definition/283297|title=A Legend By Any Definition|work=Outlook India|date=11 December 2012|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Mohammad|last=Taqi|quote=And perhaps Dilip Kumar does not know but in Peshawar his screen name is pronounced ‘Daleep’ with a thick Hindko accent.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://photogallery.indiatimes.com/celebs/bollywood/dilip-kumar/Happy-birthday-Dilip-Kumar/articleshow/27208157.cms|title=Hindi cinema's iconic hero Dilip Kumar turns a year older|work=Times of India|date=17 September 2013|access-date=29 May 2020|quote=Born into a Hindko-speaking Peshawari Pashtun family of 12 children, Dilip Kumar was born in Peshawar, now in Pakistan.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/805375/the-king-of-tragedy-dilip-kumars-92nd-birthday-celebrated-in-the-city/|title='The King of Tragedy': Dilip Kumar's 92nd birthday celebrated in the city|work=The Express Tribune|date=11 December 2014|access-date=29 May 2020|quote=Kumar was born as Yousuf Khan in the Hindko-speaking [[Awan (tribe)|Awan]] family on December 11, 1922 in Mohallah Khudadad, near Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Peshawar.}}</ref> and [[Shah Rukh Khan]],<ref name=ancestral>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/SRKs-ancestral-home-traced-to-Pakistan/articleshow/5701179.cms |title=SRK's ancestral home traced to Pakistan |author=Khan, Omer Farooq |work=The Times of India |date=19 March 2010 |access-date=19 October 2014 |quote=There is a strong misperception about Shah Rukh's identity who is widely considered as a Pathan. In fact, his entire family speaks Hindko language. His ancestors came from Kashmir and settled in Peshawar centuries back, revealed Maqsood. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701111712/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/SRKs-ancestral-home-traced-to-Pakistan/articleshow/5701179.cms |archive-date= 1 July 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/149454/shahrukh-s-cousins-eager-to-meet-him |title=Shahrukh's cousins eager to meet him |work=Dawn |date=26 July 2005 |access-date=4 November 2015 |quote=Mr Ahmed said that the celebrity understood Hindko and loved to speak in his mother-tongue despite having been born away from Hindko speaking area. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117025924/http://www.dawn.com/news/149454/shahrukh-s-cousins-eager-to-meet-him |archive-date=17 November 2015 }}</ref><ref name="Ahmed2013"/> or the Punjabi-origin [[#Hindu Pathans|Hindu Pathans]] like the [[Kapoor family]],<ref name="Lentin"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/what-if-prithviraj-kapoor-had-not-left-peshawar/224841|title=What If Prithviraj Kapoor Had Not Left Peshawar?|work=Outlook India|date=19 August 2004|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Dev|last=Anand}}</ref><ref name="CobbEwen2015">{{cite book|author1=Shelley Cobb|author2=Neil Ewen|title=First Comes Love: Power Couples, Celebrity Kinship and Cultural Politics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n6f2CQAAQBAJ&pg=PA111|date=27 August 2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-62892-120-5|pages=111–}}</ref> while not ethnically Pathans, are often referred to as "Pathans" due to their culture and origins in Peshawar.<ref name="Lentin"/><ref name="Gurovar2018">{{cite book|author=Rāj Gurovar|title=The Legends of Bollywood|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zd5qDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT51|year=2018|publisher=Jaico Publishing House|isbn=978-93-86867-99-5|pages=51–}}</ref> Actor [[Naseeruddin Shah]], along with his sons [[Imaad Shah|Imaad]], [[Vivaan Shah|Vivaan]] and nephew [[Mohommed Ali Shah|Mohommed Ali]], belong to the family of the 19th-century Afghan warlord [[Jan-Fishan Khan]], who was born in [[Paghman]] of [[Saiyid]] descent, and moved to India in the 1850s where he became the first [[Nawab of Sardhana]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://muslimmirror.com/eng/in-todays-india-i-fear-for-the-safety-of-my-children-naseerudin-shah/|title=In today's India I fear for the safety of my children: Naseerudin Shah|work=Muslim Mirror|date=21 December 2018|access-date=8 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Illustrated Weekly of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afu0zjd5DYoC|year=1989|publisher=Published for the proprietors, Bennett, Coleman & Company, Limited, at the Times of India Press|page=61|quote=The cherry-lipped cherub is obviously not as soft as he looks. The arrogant Pathan, Naseeruddin Shah, has suddenly turned very charming...}}</ref>

Most of the [[Khans of Bollywood]], however, belong to the Pathan community,<ref name="Lentin">{{cite web|url=https://www.gatewayhouse.in/khans-hindi-film-industry/|title=The Khans of Bombay's Hindi film industry|work=Gateway House|date=30 January 2020|access-date=28 May 2020|first=Sifra|last=Lentin|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422014410/https://www.gatewayhouse.in/khans-hindi-film-industry/|archive-date=22 April 2020}}</ref> including the Peshawar-born actor [[Jayant (actor)|Jayant]] (born Zakaria Khan) and his son [[Amjad Khan (actor)|Amjad Khan]];<ref name="Lentin"/> [[Kader Khan]], who belonged to the [[Kakar]] tribe with parents from [[Kandahar]] and [[Pishin, Pakistan|Pishin]];<ref>{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/1879057/4-kader-khan-kakar-balochistan-ruled-bollywood|title=Kader Khan: The Kakar from Balochistan who ruled Bollywood|work=The Express Tribune|date=1 January 2019|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Rafay|last=Mahmood}}</ref> the [[Tanoli]]-origin siblings [[Feroz Khan (actor)|Feroz]], [[Sanjay Khan|Sanjay]] and [[Akbar Khan (director)|Akbar Khan]], whose father settled in Bangalore from [[Ghazni]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/922791|title=Bollywood actor Firoz Khan dies at 70|work=Dawn|date=27 April 2009|access-date=6 June 2020}}</ref><ref name="Afghan"/> and their descendants [[Fardeen Khan|Fardeen]] and [[Zayed Khan]];<ref name="Lentin"/> the renowned screenwriter [[Salim Khan]] and his sons [[Salman Khan|Salman]], [[Arbaaz Khan|Arbaaz]] and [[Sohail Khan]] (see [[Salim Khan family]]), whose [[Alakozai]]<ref name="Swarup"/> or [[Akazai]]<ref name="Khan2015"/> ancestors migrated to Indore from the [[Swat District|Swat]] region;<ref name="Lentin"/> the director-cum-producer siblings [[Nasir Hussain|Nasir]] and [[Tahir Hussain]] – the former being the father of [[Mansoor Khan]] and maternal grandfather of [[Imran Khan (Bollywood actor)|Imran Khan]], and the latter known as the father of [[Aamir Khan|Aamir]], [[Faisal Khan|Faisal]] and [[Nikhat Khan]] – along with their nephew [[Tariq Khan (actor)|Tariq Khan]], whose Pathan ancestors hailed from [[Herat]];<ref name="open">{{cite news|url=https://openthemagazine.com/art-culture/my-name-is-mohammed-aamir-hussain-khan/|title='My Name is Mohammed Aamir Hussain Khan'|work=[[Open (Indian magazine)|Open]]|date=27 January 2011|access-date=1 June 2020|first=Shubhangi|last=Swarup|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531193450/https://openthemagazine.com/art-culture/my-name-is-mohammed-aamir-hussain-khan/|archive-date=31 May 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Lentin"/><ref name="Afghan"/><ref name="Swarup"/> [[Saif Ali Khan]],<ref name="Ahmed2013"/> along with his sister [[Soha Ali Khan]] and daughter [[Sara Ali Khan]], who, of royal [[Pataudi family|Pataudi lineage]], have relatives in Pakistan and ancestors that migrated from Afghanistan;<ref name="Pataudi"/><ref name="Cricket"/> and [[Irrfan Khan]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/irrfan-khan-the-man-the-dreamer-the-star-review-kite-runner-to-actor/article31008269.ece|title='Irrfan Khan The Man, The Dreamer, The Star' review: Kite runner to actor|work=The Hindu|date=7 March 2020|access-date=29 April 2020|first=Sathya|last=Saran|quote=We read with some surprise about the boy who preferred to fly kites than go hunting with his father, prompting his father to tell him he was a Brahmin born in the family of Pathans.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308180638/https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/irrfan-khan-the-man-the-dreamer-the-star-review-kite-runner-to-actor/article31008269.ece|archive-date=8 March 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> Actress [[Madhubala]], who is sometimes called the "Marilyn Monroe of Bollywood," was a [[Yusufzai]] Pathan.<ref name="Madhubala">{{cite news|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1157403|title=Madhubala: From Peshawar with love ...|work=Dawn|date=18 January 2015|access-date=29 May 2020|first=Javed|last=Khan}}</ref> There have also been other Pathan film directors, producers and scriptwriters, such as [[Zia Sarhadi]];<ref name="Lentin"/> [[Farah Khan|Farah]] and [[Sajid Khan (director)|Sajid Khan]], who have Pathan ancestry from Peshawar;<ref name="Afghan"/> and in recent times, [[Kabir Khan (director)|Kabir Khan]].<ref name="Lentin"/>

[[Pashto literature and poetry|Pashto literature]] thrived in [[North India]] from the early 16th century up until the turn of the 19th century, even while [[Persian language in the Indian subcontinent|Persian]] remained the dominant language of the region during the [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] period.<ref name="Pelevin">{{cite web|url=https://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/centralasia/event/13112|title=Pashto Literature in North India in the 16th-18th Centuries|work=UCLA Program on Central Asia|first=Mikhail|last=Pelevin|date=16 April 2018|access-date=2 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200602093738/https://www.international.ucla.edu/apc/centralasia/event/13112|archive-date=2 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://jstor.org/stable/41933263|title=The Learning of Pashto in North India and Pakistan: An Historical Account|first=Tariq|last=Rahman|author-link=Tariq Rahman|access-date=5 June 2020|journal=Journal of Asian History|volume=35|issue=2|pages=158–187|date=2001|jstor=41933263|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605175214/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41933263|archive-date=5 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> It was a provincial language spoken mainly by Pashtun administrative and military elites, and other Pashtun settlers and temporary dwellers in India.<ref name="Pelevin"/> Extant manuscripts have provided evidence of Pashto [[Verse (poetry)|verses]] and poetry emerging from the [[Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb|Ganges region]].<ref name="Pelevin"/> [[Pir Roshan]], a [[Sufism|Sufi]] who is regarded as one of the earliest Pashto writers, was a Pashtun from [[Waziristan]] who was born in [[Jalandhar]].<ref name="Siddique">{{cite book|author=Abubakar Siddique|title=The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key to the Future of Pakistan and Afghanistan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PkVeBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA26|year=2014|publisher=Hurst|isbn=978-1-84904-292-5|pages=26–}}</ref> He inspired the [[Roshani movement]] which, during the late 16th and 17th centuries, gave rise to prominent Pashto poets and writers in the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="Siddique"/><ref name="Pelevin"/> The area forming modern-day [[Uttar Pradesh]] was among the few regions in India where Pashto literature continuously developed; Pashtun litterateurs from the [[Rohilla]] community produced works in the language up until the late 18th century.<ref name="Pelevin"/>

[[Abdul Ghaffar Khan]] was a [[Pashtun nationalism|Pashtun nationalist]] and close friend of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] who, as leader of the [[Indian National Congress|Congress]]-allied [[Khudai Khidmatgar]], was one of the prominent members of the [[Indian independence movement]] against British rule before the partition.<ref name="Easwaran1999">{{cite book|author=Eknath Easwaran|title=Nonviolent Soldier of Islam: Badshah Khan, a Man to Match His Mountains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Du3rCgAAQBAJ|date=8 November 1999|publisher=Blue Mountain Center of Meditation|isbn=978-1-888314-00-7}}</ref><ref name="Swarup"/> After 1947, he became a Pakistani citizen.<ref name="Jaffrelot2015">{{cite book|author=Christophe Jaffrelot|author-link=Christophe Jaffrelot|title=The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5GMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA153|year=2015|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-023518-5|pages=153}}</ref> [[Zakir Husain (politician)|Zakir Husain]], an Afridi Pathan, was an economist and politician who served as the third [[president of India]] from 1967 to 1969. Prior to that, he was the second [[Vice President of India|vice president of India]], and also served as the [[governor of Bihar]].<ref name="Ahmed2013">{{cite book|author=Akbar Ahmed|title=The Thistle and the Drone: How America's War on Terror Became a Global War on Tribal Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=n_YMKlVfFLkC&pg=PA34|date=27 February 2013|publisher=Brookings Institution Press|isbn=978-0-8157-2379-0|pages=34–}}</ref> His maternal grandson [[Salman Khurshid]] served as India's minister for minority affairs, law and justice, and [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|external affairs]] in successive terms.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2018/08/04/all-the-best-my-fellow-pathan.html|title=All the best, my fellow Pathan|work=The Week|date=12 August 2018|access-date=31 May 2020|first=Salman|last=Khurshid|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830235819/https://www.theweek.in/theweek/cover/2018/08/04/all-the-best-my-fellow-pathan.html|archive-date=30 August 2018|url-status=live|quote=We both belong to the Pathan (called Pashtuns in Afghanistan) tribes of the North-West Frontier who migrated to different parts of undivided India. His clan settled in what is now Pakistan and my clan of Afridi Pathans, including Pakistani cricketer Shahid Afridi’s ancestors, settled in Rohilkhand.}}</ref><ref name="Ahmed2013"/> [[Mohammad Yunus (diplomat)|Mohammad Yunus]] was a career diplomat who served as India's ambassador in various countries, and also became a nominated member of the [[Rajya Sabha]] in 1989.<ref name="Masood">{{cite web|url=http://twocircles.net/2011jun19/mohammed_yunus_19162001_migrant_pakistan.html|title=Mohammed Yunus (1916-2001): The Migrant from Pakistan|work=[[Two Circles]]|date=19 June 2011|access-date=9 June 2020|first=Naved|last=Masood|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410072929/http://twocircles.net/2011jun19/mohammed_yunus_19162001_migrant_pakistan.html|archive-date=10 April 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>