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.

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• 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.

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• 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.                                      

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• 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.

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• 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. 

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• 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.