AfghansAfghans (افغانان; Persian/افغان ها; افغانستانی) or Afghan people are nationals or citizens of Afghanistan, or people with ancestry from there. Afghanistan is made up of various ethnicities, of which Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks are the largest. The two main languages spoken by Afghans are Pashto and Dari (the Afghan dialect of the Persian language), and many Afghans are bilingual in speaking fluent Pashto and Dari.
ZunbilsZunbil, also written as Zhunbil, or Rutbils of Zabulistan, was a royal dynasty south of the Hindu Kush in present southern Afghanistan region. They ruled from circa 680 AD until the Saffarid conquest in 870 AD. The Zunbil dynasty was founded by Rutbil (Turkic: Iltäbär), the elder brother of the Turk Shahi ruler (either Barha Tegin or Tegin Shah), who ruled over Hephthalite kingdom from his capital in Kabul. The Zunbils are described as having Turkish troops in their service by Arabic sources like Tarikh al-Tabari and Tarikh-i Sistan.
SabuktiginAbu Mansur Nasir al-Din Sabuktigin (ابو منصور سبکتگین) ( 942 – August 997), also spelled as Sabuktagin, Sabuktakin, Sebüktegin and Sebük Tigin, was the founder of the Ghaznavid dynasty, ruling from 367 A.H/977 A.D to 387 A.H/997 A.D. In Turkic the name means beloved prince. Sabuktigin lived as a slave during his youth and later married the daughter of his master Alptigin, the man who seized the region of Ghazna (modern Ghazni Province in Afghanistan).
Afghan (ethnonym)The ethnonym Afghan (Dari/Pashto: افغان) has been used historically to refer to the Pashtuns. Since the second half of the twentieth century, the term "Afghan" evolved into a demonym for all residents of Afghanistan, including those outside of the Pashtun ethnicity. The earliest mention of the name Afghan (Abgân) is by Shapur I of the Sassanid Empire during the 3rd century CE. In the 4th century, the word "Afghans/Afghana" (αβγανανο) as a reference to a particular people is mentioned in the Bactrian documents found in Northern Afghanistan.
Kabul UniversityKabul University (KU; دانشگاه کابل; د کابل پوهنتون) is one of the major and oldest institutions of higher education in Afghanistan. It is in the 3rd District of the capital Kabul, near the Ministry of Higher Education. It was founded in 1931 by King Mohammed Nadir Shah, whose prime minister at the time was his younger brother, Sardar Mohammad Hashim Khan. Approximately 22,000 students attend Kabul University. In August 2021, before the Taliban takeover, nearly half were female.
QarlughidsThe Qarlughids were a tribe of Turkic origin that controlled Ghazni, lands of the Bamyan, the Kurram Valley (Ghazna, Banban, and Kurraman), and established a short-lived Muslim principality and dynasty that lasted between 1236 and 1266. The Qarlughids (or Karluk Turks) arrived from the north to settle in the regions of Hazarajat together with the armies of Muhammad II of Khwarezm, the Shah of Khwarezm. Throughout most of its existence, the Qarlugh Kingdom functioned as a buffer state between its two powerful neighbors, the Delhi Sultanate to the east and south and the Mongol Empire to the north and west.
