Afghan Indians are Indian citizens and non-citizen residents born in, or with ancestors from, Afghanistan. As of early 2021, there are at least 15,806 Afghans temporarily residing in India under a special protection and care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Apart from citizens and expatriates, there are a number of communities in India who trace their ancestry back to Pashtun forefathers of Pashtunistan.
History
The earliest record of Afghans in India is during the late 13th century when they began migrating during the Khalji dynasty who formed an empire in Northern India. It was founded by Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji and became the second Muslim dynasty to rule the Delhi sultanate of India. The Lodi dynasty ruled Northern India until the invasion of Babur in 1526, at which point the Mughal Empire was created. During this period Afghans from Kabulistan began arriving to India for business and pleasure. The Sur Empire replaced the Mughal Empire from 1540 to 1557. Other Pashtuns began invading India until the Sikh Empire came to power. This formed a barrier between Afghanistan (Durrani Empire) and British India. Afghans were required visas to enter India after this period.
The Pashtun emperor Sher Shah Suri (Farid Khan) defeated the Mughal Empire in 1540. After his accidental death in 1545, his son Islam Shah became his successor. He first served as a private before rising to become a commander in the Mughal army under Babur and then as the governor of Bihar. In 1537, when Babur's son Humayun was elsewhere on an expedition, Sher Shah overran the state of Bengal and established the Sur Dynasty. A brilliant strategist, Sher Shah proved himself a gifted administrator as well as a capable general. His reorganization of the empire laid the foundations for the later Mughal emperors, notably Akbar, son of Humayun. He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in the frontiers of the province of Bengal in near eastern India to Kabul in Afghanistan in the far northwest of the country.
During the 19th century many Afghans migrated to India. Prominent among them were the families of Nawab of Sardhana and the Qizilbashi Agha family of Srinagar, Kashmir. Both the families had martial lineage and belonged to the feudal aristocracy.
Partition of India and the arrival of Afghan refugees
Before and after the partition of India in 1947, a number of Afghans left their native areas in order to take permanent residency in major Indian cities such as Mumbai and Bangalore. Some of those immigrants got involved in the Bollywood film industry, which had already been dominated by people originating from the Pashtunistan region. Some of the well-known Indian actors and producers of Afghan heritage are Feroz Khan, Salim Khan and Kader Khan. All of the early Afghans have acquired citizenship of India in accordance with Indian law. As such, they are widely recognized as Indians.
After the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979, approximately 60,000 Afghans took temporary residency in India, most of them being Hindu and Sikh Afghans. Many of them have subsequently immigrated to countries in Europe, North America and Oceania. Some have returned to their native areas in Afghanistan after the formation of the Karzai administration in late 2001. Those that remained in India have applied for citizenship of India.
On January 1, 2016, Adnan Sami became a citizen of India. He is a Pashtun from his father Arshad Sami Khan's side. Adnan's grandfather General Mehfooz Jan hailed from Herat in Afghanistan and was the governor of four provinces in that country, namely Herat, Kabul, Nangarhar and Balkh, under the reign of King Amanullah Khan. Adnan's great-grandfather General Ahmed Jan was the military adviser to King Abdur Rahman Khan. General Ahmed Jan was the conqueror of Kafiristan and named it Nuristan. However, at the time of the Habibullah Kalakani revolution in Afghanistan, Adnan's grandfather General Mehfooz Jan was assassinated. The family moved to Peshawar, which was a part of British India at that time.
According to UNHCR, India currently hosts at least 15,806 Afghan refugees within its borders. Religiously, they include Hindus, Sikhs, Muslims and Christians The majority of them reside in the capital Delhi, specifically in the neighborhoods of Lajpat Nagar, Bhogal and Malviya Nagar. In addition to the refugees, thousands of Afghan students study in Indian universities.