Pakhthas
/ËpĂŚkθÉz/noun
An ancient people mentioned in the Rigveda, commonly associatedâthough not conclusivelyâwith the ancestors of the Pashtuns.
Did you know?The Pakhthas are listed in the Rigveda among the tribes defeated in the Battle of the Ten Kings, one of the earliest recorded conflicts in South Asian literature.
Etymological Timeline
c. 1500â1200 BCE
Vedic Sanskrit
Paktha
âThe name of a tribal people mentioned in the Rigveda.â
c. 1500â1200 BCE
Vedic Sanskrit
PakthÄs
âThe Pakhthas, described as one of the tribes involved in the Battle of the Ten Kings.â
5th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
Pactyans
âA Greek rendering associated by some scholars with the Pakhthas and later Pashtun populations.â
1st Millennium BCE
Old Iranian
*PaxtÄna
âA reconstructed Iranian form sometimes proposed as an ancestor of later names connected with the Pashtuns; the identification remains debated.â
Medieval Period
Persian and Arabic
AfghÄn
âA widespread historical designation for Pashtun peoples, increasingly used in Islamic-era sources.â
Modern English
English
Pakhthas
âA scholarly transliteration of the ancient Vedic ethnonym, usually discussed in connection with the early history of the Pashtuns.â