Table of Contents

• AFGHANISTAN iv. Ethnography

  L. Dupree

  In their ethnolinguistic and physical variety the people of Afghanistan are as diverse as their country is in topography. Except in rural areas off the main lines of communications, few peoples maintain racial homogeneity.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• AFGHANISTAN v. Languages

  Ch. M. Kieffer

  Best represented are the Iranian languages, followed by Turkish languages of recent import, and Indian languages which are either native (Nūrestānī and Dardic) or imported.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• AFGHANISTAN vi. Paṧto

  G. Morgenstierne

  Paṧtō is an Iranic language spoken in south and southeastern Afghanistan, by recent settlers in northern Afghanistan, in Pakistan (North-West Frontier Province and Baluchistan), and on the eastern border of Iran. 

• AFGHANISTAN vii. Parāčī

  G. Morgenstierne

  Parāčī is an Iranian language now spoken northeast of Kabul in the Šotol valley, north of Golbahār, and in the Ḡočūlān and Pačaḡān branches of the Neǰrao valley,  northeast of Golbahār. 

• AFGHANISTAN viii. Archeology

  N. H. Dupree

  The first careful reports on the antiquities of Afghanistan were provided by 19th-century travelers. Scientific exploration in Afghanistan began after September, 1922.                                      

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• AFGHANISTAN ix. Pre-Islamic Art

  F. Tissot

  Small, simple clay statues from the Neolithic period, which may be protective divinities, can be found in all sites from the Middle East to India.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• AFGHANISTAN x. Political History

  D. Balland

  The year 1747 marks the definitive appearance of an Afghan political entity independent of both the Safavid and Mughal empires. 

  This Article Has Images/Tables.

• AFGHANISTAN xi. Administration

  A. Ghani

  The form and function of Afghanistan’s administrative organizations have reflected the changing balance of power between centripetal and centrifugal forces. 

• AFGHANISTAN xii. Literature

  R. Farhādī

  Under Aḥmad Shah Dorrānī, Afghanistan continued to play its long-standing role as a center of Persian literature and a transmitter of literary currents between Transoxiana and Islamic India. 

• AFGHANISTAN xiii. FORESTS AND FORESTRY

  Xavier de Planhol

  The development of forests is limited in Afghanistan not only by the total quantity of rainfall, but also by its seasonal distribution with respect to the vegetative season.

• AFGHANISTAN xiv. AFGHAN REFUGEES IN IRAN

  Zuzanna Olszewska

  Afghan refugees make up a population of up to 3 million people of various ethnicities, who have settled in Iran since the communist coup of 1978 in Afghanistan.

• ĀFĪ, ALLĀHYĀR KHAN

  Z. Ahmad

  Poet, son of Nawwāb Amīr-al-dawla, the founder of the state of Tonk (b. 1233/1817-18, d. 21 Ramażān 1278/22 March 1861).

• ʿAFĪF

  N. H. Zaidi

  (d. ca. 1399), author of Tārīḵ-e Fīrūzšāhī, a Persian life of Fīrūz Shah Toḡloq (r. 1351-88).

• AFIFI, RAḤIM

  Jalal Matini

  (d. 1996), scholar and author of lexical guides and handbooks of mythology. 

• AFLĀKĪ

  T. Yazici

  author of texts on the virtues of Jalāl-al-dīn Rūmī and his disciples (13th-14th centuries).

• AFNĀN

  M. Momen

  (“twigs” or “branches”), term used in the Bahaʾi faith (initially by Bahāʾallāh) to designate certain lines of descent in the maternal family of the Bāb.

• AFRĀ

  A. Parsa

  Persian term for the maple tree (genus Acer), also embracing a few shrubs of the family Aceraceae.

• AFRAHĀṬ

  J. P. Asmussen

  name attested in Syriac (ʾfrhṭ) of a number of Iranian Christian churchmen.

• AFRAHĀṬ, YAʿQŪB

  J. P. Asmussen

  Persian bishop of the mid-4th century CE, author in Syriac.

• AFRĀSĪĀB

  E. Yarshater

  Turanian king and hero and Iran’s archenemy in its legendary history.

  This Article Has Images/Tables.