Theory of Coptic origin of Pashtuns

By Khan Barmazid



Ferishta, on the authority of the "Matla-il-Anwar", states that the Afghans are of the race of the Pharaohs. Whilst Fareed-ud-Din Ahmad mentions, that in standard works , as in the "Tareekh-i-Ghori" and others, it is asserted that the Afghans were, for the greater part, Israelites , and some Copts.

Abu Fazal says,

"Some Afghans consider themselves to be of Egyptian extraction ; asserting that when the children of Israel returned to Jerusalem from Egypt, this tribe emigrated to India"

Ferishta writes :-

"I have read in the Matla-ul-Anwar, a work written by a respectable author and which i procured at Burhanpur , a town in Khandesh in the Deccan, that the Afghans were Copts of the race of the Pharaohs ; and that when the Prophet Moses got the better of the infidels , who were overwhelmed in the Red sea, many of the Copts became converts to the Jewish faith ; but other stubborn and self-willed , refusing to embrace the true faith , leaving their country came to India and eventually settled in the Soolimany mountains , where they bore the name of Afghans."