Pashtuns (Pashto: پښتانه Pax̌tānə, also spelled Pushtuns, Pakhtuns or Pukhtuns), also known as ethnic Afghans (Persian: افغان) or Pathans (Urdu: پٹھان, Hindi: पठान Paṭhān), are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterised by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is a traditional set of ethics guiding individual and communal conduct. Their origins are unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called Paktha (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, who inhabited the region between the Hindu Kush and Indus River and may be the early ancestors of Pashtuns. Since the 3rd century AD and onward, they have been referred to by the ethnonym "Afghan".
Pashtuns (Pashto: پښتانه Pax̌tānə, also spelled Pushtuns, Pakhtuns or Pukhtuns), also known as ethnic Afghans (Persian: افغان) or Pathans (Urdu: پٹھان, Hindi: पठान Paṭhān), are an Eastern Iranian ethnic group with populations primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Pashtuns are typically characterised by their usage of the Pashto language and practice of Pashtunwali, which is a traditional set of ethics guiding individual and communal conduct. Their origins are unclear but historians have come across references to various ancient peoples called Paktha (Pactyans) between the 2nd and the 1st millennium BC, who inhabited the region between the Hindu Kush and Indus River and may be the early ancestors of Pashtuns. Since the 3rd century AD and onward, they have been referred to by the ethnonym "Afghan".