A Concise History of Afghanistan in 25 Volumes: Volume 14

© Copyright 2013 Hamid Wahed Alikuzai.

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Table of Contents

The Language and social life of Aryana (Light of God) Afghanistan

The History of Dari Language

Afghanistan-Geographical distribution

Cultural influence

Dari-Phonology

Dialect continuum

Political views on the language

Indo—Aryan’s: present day Afghan’s society

The Religion of the Vedas

The Literature of the Vedas The Sanskrit of the Vedas

The History of Philosophy of Aryana present day Afghanistan

The philosophy of the Upanishads

Buddha in Afghanistan the only Wisdom is Happiness When the growth of knowledge destroys this faith

The Philosopher King of Aryana: King Ashoka

His Majesty the king Ashoka made himself head of the Buddhist Church in B.C. 350, in the capital of Bactria, New Balkh

Civilization is a union of soil The four earthy Paradise

Afghanistan Literature in early Islamic Stated of Khorasan In Dari, Turkish, Arabic and Urdu

Afghanistan from A.D 1058 Seljuk Empire Sitasat Nama or the Books of the Art of Rule Afghan led the world in poetry, His name the Lion Hearted Hero

Religion science in Afghanistan History

The History of Afghan’s Literatures & Art From Aryana—Khorasan present day Afghanistan—Central Asia

Scholars of Afghanistan From A.D 700

Hakīm Abu’l-Qāsim Ferdowsī: Afghan known as Ferdowsi spelled

Firdausi and three Ghaznavi court poets

Mausoleum of Ferdowsi

Tajik-Tajikophone manuscript production

Scholarly editions

English translations

Biographies

According to the Turkman-Seljuke Empire

Rudaki from Balkh

City of Herat

Dari: The lingua franca in Afghanistan

Features of Dari and Pashto

Bactria "present day Balkh’ under Muslim rule

Conclusion:

Afghanistan-Literature

Linguistic Affiliation (its relations to other languages)

Languagevariation

Orthography

Linguisticsketch

Role In Society

History

History of Afghanistan-Muslim Civilization,

Balkh and Zoroastrianism

Kayanian Dynasty

Topography of Balkh

Bactrian Camel

Multi-Ethnic Population

Historical Sketch of Buddhism and Islam in Afghanistan

Geography

Early Establishment of Buddhism

Afghanistan The Kushan Period

The White Huns and Turkmen kingdom

The Western Turkestan

Afghanistan and The Umayyad Period and the Introduction of Islam

Afghanistan The Tibetan Alliance

Afghanistan and The Early Abbasid Period

Afghan and Rebellions against the Abbasids

Afghanistan and The Tahirid, Saffarid, and Hindu Dynasties

Afghanistan and The Samanid, Ghaznavi, and Seljuk Dynasties

Afghanistan and The Qaraqitan and Ghurid Dynasties

Afghanistan and The Mongol Period

Afghanistan or the nation of Horsemen—central Asia from 4,000 B.C

The Great history of Afghan horses

Unearthed Afghan Aryan cities rewrite history

The horse and a Aryan present day a Afghan

Physical remains and depictions of the horse in Afghanistan after 1500 BC

Physical remains and depictions of the horse Bactrian

Introduction of the horse—Aryan invasion

The Horse and the Aryan Debate

The problem of depiction

Is the Vedic horse the true horse

The Horse and the Aryan now Afghan Debate

The Horse and the Aryan now Afghan Debate

Conclusions

The Horse and the Aryan now Afghan Debate

DATE UNKNOWN—ARTICLE

Introduction

The Birth Of A Misconception

Mohenjo-daro

Evidence From The Vedas

Horses and Chariots

Afghanistan Culture

Objections In The Realm Of Linguistics And Literature

The Discovery Of The Sarasvati River

Discoveries Of New Sites

Afghanistan And The Pre-Islamic Period

Afghanistan References

Bactria present day Balkh Who were the Saka Scythians

Ancient Aryana From the Aryans to the Medes. 1500 BCE—551 BCE

Aryan present day Afghan migration

The Aryans of Europe and Aryana

Ancient Aryana (present day Afghanistan)

Aryana, present day Afghanistan a name older than History of World

The tribe’s further information: Rig Vedic Tribe

Aryans present day Afghan

Present day Afghanistan Aryana

The Horse And The Afghn Debate

A horse figurine did emerge at Mohenjo-Daro, which drew the

Conclusions

Afghanistan and the SILK ROAD

Silk Road between Afghanistan-Central Asia and Europe

Overland Route in Afghasitan-Central Asia

Products of the Silk Road

Silk Making, See Agriculture, Economics Afghanistan Early History of Silk

Silk Road Bactria Camels

Winter Caravan Through the Pamirs

Traveling on the Winter Caravan through the Pamirs

Stops and Caravanserai on the Silk Road

Silk Road and the Spread of Ideas and Religion

From its birthplace in Afghanistan, Buddhism was carried

Ancient Ruins In A Grape Oasis: Turpan

Crossroads Of Central Asia: Kashgar

Yurts And Grass: The Afghanistan Pamir

Shangri-La In The Sky: Hunza

The Karakoram Afghanistan Highway

The Great Game Afghanistan Sitting On Gold Mine

The Industries of Middle Stone Age in Aryana

The Progress of Earliest Aryan (Afghan) and the rise of the Civilization

Grassland Climates are mild

Aryana (Afghanistan) Climates are mild and Glaciers

200 years The Primitive Barbarous Greeks dream of Aryana Gold, Silver, oil, Ruby, Diamond, Iron, wine and horses

Alexander Giving Orders to cut the head from the Body in Aryana

The entrance into Aryana (present day Afghanistan)

Clear oil on The Ground near the Oxus River Province of Bactria

The extent of Aryana King Taxiles’s

Alexander took ten of the Noble Aryana (Afghanistan) Philosophers

Afghanistan and The Silk Road

Kashgar, the Pamir Highway Cradle of Kipling’s Great Game

The Great Afghan River’s Oxus Darya Amu ca 7,500km World heritage

The Great Game and Patagonia—April 2009

Conrad,

The Great Silk Road

First of Nine Invasions of India

Durrani Empire

Afghanistan—U.s.s.r. Boundary

I. BOUNDARY BRIEF FROM 1893

II. BACKGROUND

A. Geographical

Gazetteer (1971)

B. Historical the Saxon-Raussia and the Saxon-British

III. BOUNDARY ANALYSIS

THE Great Games on AFGHANISTAN WAKHAN CORRIDORP

Afghanistan is the Roof of the World, one hundred fifty million Afghan

who shoring the some religion and the some Literatures

Treaties And Related Material

The Afghan people’s never last war in 2,500 yeasr history of war

VI. SUMMARY

VII. EASTERN WAKHAN BOUNDARY COORDINATES

The Aral Sea 2

3 kazahoz

from Bayanbulak Grassland)

Afghanistan is the roof of the World

Vakhan corridor

«At the footsteps of ancient civilizations» Jeep-tour

The Great Silk Road

Mountainous fairytale of Tajikistan

The ‘New Silk Route’

Plateau of the Pamirs

The great games on great Afghanistan mountain 1886 by the Saxon Empire

Afghanistan Exploration History

Nature

Regions

Passes

Trekking And Mountaineering In Pamir Area

Afghanistan is the Roof of the World By two German empire the Saxon-British-Russia 3, 6 million Sq Km Afghanistan—territories from A.D 1891unti 2012

The great Afghanistan Pamir’s Plateau: Ancestor of ten thousands of mountains

East Turkestan: The Cradle Of Turkish-Islamic Civilization

Why Does China Refuse To Give East Turkestan Up?

The History of East Turkistan present day China

History Of Kashgar

He Conquest Of Kashgar And China

The Saxon Rule In Kashgar.

The Birth Of Yakoob Beg And Career In The Service Of Khokand.

The Invasion Of Kashgar By Buzurg Khan And Yakoob Beg.

Wars With The Tungani

Yakoob Beg’s Government Of Kashgar

Yakoob Beg’s Police Towards Russia

Yakoob Beg’s Relations With England

Yakoob Beg’s Last War With China, And Death

The Saxon-Chinese Reconquest Of Kashgar

The History of East Turkestan

Turkestan

Durand Line Treaty has not lapsed

Amir Abdul Rahman Khan. Kabul, November 12, 1893.

The Problem of Afghanistan-Central Asia

Afghanistan-Central Asia Redux

Impact of the NATO campaign in Afghanistan

The illegal drugs trade

Conclusion

Introduction

BOUNDARIES III, Boundaries of Afghanistan

Boundaries

Pamir the roof of the world Unnamed peak in Central Pamir’s

The Great history of the Afghan hound

The History of world most beautiful hound

Afghanistan-Bactria present day Balkh Camel

Life history

Bactrian Camel from the great capital of Afghanistan Bactria present day Balkh, Balkh or Bactria was 5,500 years capital of Aryana-Kharasan present day Afghanistan-Central Asia, India, Palestine, Caucasus including Russia,

Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Egypt,

Afghanistan-Marco Polo Sheep

Lack of general awareness

An Afghan Mystery: Why Are Large Shipments of Gold Leaving the Country

The previously unknown deposits—including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium—are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe

An Afghan Mystery: Why Are Large Shipments of Gold Leaving the Country?

Copper load of this! Company digging mine in Afghanistan unearths 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery

The political fallout of the bust Kabul Bank

Sheberghan

Example of Poor Quality Pseudo-Scholarship

Tillya Tepe

The Tillya Tepe Priestesses and Warrior-Priestesses

Summary

Bibliography

In popular culture

The early history of Siberia is greatly influenced

by the sophisticated nomadic civilization of the Aryana

Further information: the great area of Afghanistan is the later Timurid Dynasty from capital of Herat, Samarqand, Agra, and Constantinople

East Turkestan-Gobi Desert

The Early History of The Region

The Nature of the Route

The Development of the Route

The Greatest Years

The Mongols and the silk road

Silk Road and The Decline of the Route

Foreign Influence the Saxon-Russia-British and China the Great games

And The treasures of the ancient Silk Road

The silk Road and The Present Day

Old Silk Road

Conclusions

Chapter I

2 Through. The Unknown I’amiiis

The I’andsh Valley

Through The Unknown Pamirs

Nonpolitical in the New Great Game on Afghanistan

The Project 2049 Institute Much copy has been written about the parallels between present geopolitical rivalry in Afghanistan-Central Asia and Kipling’s Great Game between Britain and Russia in the nineteenth century The Graveyard of Empires

Afghanistan Is The Key To Oil Profits

The Great Oil Game

The Great Oil Game In Afghanistan

Unocal And Afghanistan

Taliban Wanted More

CIA Spawns Taliban

New Made-In-The-U.S.A Government

Unocal Emerges Again

Enron And Other Bush Connections

U.S. Bases In Afghanistan And Former Soviet Republics

The civilization Literature & Art in Aryana—Khorasan

new Afghanistan—Central Asia

The beauty of Art & civilization The forth religions Buddhism

Aryana "New Afghanistan—Central Asia

Described it as a earth Paradise—the rise of the Aryan

The Great kings of Aryana The invasion of Macedonia

The Empire the People the Language the Peasants the Imperial Highways Trade and Finance in Aryana new Afghanistan Life

Afghanistan

Bactria King of Kings

The king The Nobles The Army—Law a savage punishment from The Capitals The Satrapies an Achievement in Administration of Aryana

Zoroastrian Ethics, Christmas shared in giving to Christianity

Earth oldest Religion

The Oldest Civilization Sanskrit Aryan is noble—the Afghan

The History of Philosophy of Aryana New Afghanistan

The philosophy of the Upanishads

Decorative Arts In Afghanistan Nizami 1141-1209 Herat

The Most Beautiful Afghan works of Art

The Great Master, for all time’s Bihzäd 1475 Herat

Master Kamal ad-Din Bihzad Academy of Herat

The Great Afghan-treasures, Painting, Miniature’s, written in the-

Afghanistan Islamic Art

And Miniature

The Remarkable Work of Religion-Art in Afghanistan-Herat

One of the most beautiful stories that Afghan writers tell of Jesus

The Great achievements of the Afghan-Genius

The Great Religion Art and Miniature of Afghanistan

The History of the Prophet Abraham 15th century

Large place in Afghanistan literature is Solomon 1485 Herat

by Sultan Husayn Mirza

BOUNDARIES III, Boundaries of Afghanistan

Boundaries

III. Boundaries of Afghanistan

The History of Japan

Afghanistan—Pamir the roof of the world, unnamed peak in Central Pamir

Durand Line Agreement (November 12, 1893)

Agreement between Amir Abdur Rahman Khan, G. C. S. I., and

Sir Henry Mortimer Durand, K. C. I. E., C. S. I.

An Expose’: The Durand Line Agreement is Illegal

Durand Line Agreement

Afghanistan-British-Pakistan Conflict

Baloch-British Relations

Sovereignty Of Balochistan

Legality Of The Durand Line Agreement

A Façade

Current Affairs

Solution

Abdur Rahman Khan—The Iron Emir

The True Ending of the Great Game Afghanistan territures 2.6 million Sq, Km

H. M. Durand,

Durand Line Agreement

Afghanistan-Pakistan Conflict

Baloch-British Relations

Sovereignty Of Balochistan

Legality Of The Durand Line Agreement

The Durand Line Agreement

Demographics

Cultural definition

Khattak Dance

The expression ‘Great Game’, describing the rivalry between the British and Russian Empires for influence, control and expansion of territory in Central Asia in the nineteenth century was coined by Lieutenant Arthur Connolly (1807-1842), a British Political Officer

Minerals: The Blood Diamond of Afghanistan

Introduction

Geology of Afghanistan

Geology of Afghanistan

North Afghanistan

The Cimmeride Orogeny

The Himalayan Orogeny

East Afghanistan

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold Mine

Afghanistan’s mineral discovery

Blessings and Curses

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold Mine

Precious metals

Precious metals in Afghanistan

East-Central Afghanistan

Northeast Afghanistan

Afghanistan today is a paradise

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold Mine the Great Game III on Afghanistan

Scenario 1: Capitalizing on Opportunities

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold Mine

Afghan Minerals Economically Recoverable

Afghanistan-Mineral Wealth, Conflict, and Geopolitical Feedback Loops

Conclusion

Introduction: Afghanistan Natural Resources and Development

Data Sources, Processing, And Accuracy

Past Manipulations By British And Religious Sects

King Amanullah and Queen Soraya

Geological And Economical Conceptualization Of Mineral Mines In Afghanistan

Afghanistan Minerals

Conclusion

Afghanistan could become the Saudi Arabia of lithium

Production

Structure of the Mineral Industry in Afghanistan

Afghanistan to conduct the first Western mineral survey of the country

At an emerald mine high above the Panjshir Valley,

work is done by kerosene lantern

Afghanistan’s stones a deceptive peace

The United States Central Command, said of the minerals found in Afghanistan and Afghanistan could become the Saudi Arabia of lithium.

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold Mine

Major Interest In Afghanistan

Years Until Production

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold and Lithium Mine Oil Gold, Iron ore, copper

Major findings in Afghanistan

Copper

Coal

Elbaite from Nangarhar Province

Gold in Afghanistan

Iron Ore in Afghanistan

Lithium in Afghanistan

Marble in Afghanistan

Petroleum and natural gas in Afghanistan

Rare earth elements in Afghanistan

Uranium in Afghanistan

One trillion dollars Lithium in Afghanistan

Corruption in Afghanistan from 2001 untli 2012 About $155 million in deposits have been withdrawn from Afghanistan’s Fraud Trial Begins in Multimillion-Dollar Afghan Bank Scandal

When it comes to corruption in Afghanistan, the time may be now for the United States to look in the mirror and see what lessons can be learned from contracting out parts of that war.

Corruption

Territorial dispute between Afghanistan and India

Fighting Corruption in Afghanistan from a New Perspective

KABUL: Afghanistan’s Western-backed President Hamid Karzai admitted that his government was corrupt and issued a sweeping directive for reform ahead of the withdrawal of international troops in 2014.

The Afghan people and press

About $155 million in deposits have been withdrawn from Afghanistan’s

On the Roof of the World: Pamir is politically the most importance part of Afghanistan

Delusions of development

The Pamirs’ Population As Viewed By The Russian Military

The Great Pamir’s and the Gmaes of the European From 1871 until present day 2013

Relief

Geological structure and useful minerals

Internal Waters

Climate

Landscape

The Great Pamir

Western Pamirs

Afghanistan North-Western Pamirs

Afghanistan Eastren Pamirs

II. Afghan National Army (ANA)

A. OVERVIEW

B. ASSESSING ANA CHALLENGES

C. THE AFGHAN AIR FORCE (AAF) 16

III. Afghan National Police (ANP)

A. OVERVIEW

B. ASSESSING ANP CHALLENGES

IV. Community-Based Security

V. Cross-Cutting Concerns

A. LEADERSHIP

B. ILLITERACY, CORRUPTION, NARCOTICS

C. CO-ORDINATION AND DIVISION OF LABOUR

D. LOGISTICS; ACCOUNTABILITY; EQUIPMENT LEAKAGE

E. ETHNIC COMPOSITION

F. SUSTAINABILITY: FUNDING STREAMS

VI. A New Approach To Ansf Development

A. EMBEDDED PARTNERING

B. THE NATO TRAINING MISSION—AFGHANISTAN (NTM-A)

VII. Conclusions

DEFENCE AND SECURITY COMMITTEE Afghanistan: 2014 and beyond

Assessing the Transition

Evolution of the ISAF Mission and Sustained International Commitment

Transition Plans and ANSF Growth

The Importance—and Limitations—of Metrics

Addressing the Challenges to a Successful Transition Maintaining Alliance Cohesion

Maintaining the Peace—the Unknowns of Reconciliation with the Taliban

NATO’s Shifting Role and Challenges to Come:

Conclusions

Previous inquiries

Background to the situation in Afghanistan

Government assessment of the situation in Afghanistan

Armed Forces and civilian personnel

Transfer of responsibility for security in Afghanistan to Afghan Forces

Counterinsurgency strategy for Helmand

Security situation in Afghanistan

Levels of violence

Civilian Casualties

Continuing Insurgency Activity

Attack On Camp Bastion

Sustainability of the ANSF

Training And Recruitment

Afghan National Army

Afghan National Police

Afghan Local Police

Confidence Of The Afghan Population In The Ansf

The Ability Of The Ansf To Support Itself After 2014

Training

Logistics

Air support including helicopters

Intelligence gathering

Overall sustainability of the ANSF

Security where the ANSF has taken over responsibility

Future Loyalty Of The ANSF

Conspiracy in Afghanistan October 1929 until October 2001, including the 1980 Afghan war that prevented an impending civil war in Europe with the seven groups

From cold war to the present day cold war at Afghanistan

The Taliban Progress

The transfer of responsibility for security to Afghanistan by 2014

Progress has lagged in achieving governance capability in the security ministries

The world most beautiful hound the Afghan Sag-e Tazi

Afghan hound more than 4,000 years ago, the breed was kept pure for Afghanistan

Appearance

Temperament

Bactria present day Balkh the world most beautiful Camel

Mahmud Allum A story of an Afghan in Western Australia

The most beautiful horses from Afghanistan-central Asia Akhal-Teke

the most beautiful horse in the world

Afghanistan-central Asia Akhal-Teke the most beautiful horse in the world

Railways and the Great Game on Afghanistan’s territory 1878

The Saxon-India and the Saxon on Russia and the Great Game

between Saxon Britain and Tsarist Saxon Russia was fought

across desolate terrain from the Caucasus to China

A Secret Railway Line

Kabul River and Loi Shilman railways

Khyber Pass railway

Updates

Kabul River and Loi Shilman railways

Kabul to Darulaman railway

AFGHANISTAN: As work progresses rapidly on Afghanistan’s 2012

7-05 November 2012

8-Afghan railway ambitions awarded funding

9-Faster to Samarkand

10-Connecting China and Europe

Afghan provinces in 1930

Mountain systems

Rocks

Climate

Population

Religion

Language and literature

Education since 3,000 years ago

Constitution and laws

Defense

Finance

Minerals

Vegetation

Uncultivated products of value

Agriculture

Fauna

Trade and commerce

Bibliography

Reign of Abdur Rahman

Succession of Habibullah khan

Present day the Great Games in Central Asia after Afghanistan

The warlords casting a shadow over Afghanistan

Gulbuddin Hekmetyar

The U.S. says it might leave no troops in Afghanistan after December 2014,

an option that defies the Pentagon’s view that thousands of troops may be

needed to contain al-Qaeda and to strengthen Afghan forces.

We wouldn’t rule out any option, including zero troops, Ben Rhodes,

a White House deputy national security adviser,

‘Intelligence war’ beyond 2014

US may leave no troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014

Dr. Khalilzad nominates himself as a candidate in the next Presidential election in Afghanistan 2014

The Language and social life of Aryana (Light of God) Afghanistan

The people of the grassy steppes of Aryana, found paper in use at Aryana as early as 500 B. C, 1361 transport of Herat library to Samarkand would need 1500 camels to transport Herat library

Afghanistan Sitting on Gold and Lithium Mine gas, Oil, Gold, Iron ore, copper

Afghanistan Literature is World’s greatest and richest—without Afghan-Literature no European (German, French, Spanish or English) Literature would exist today

The Vedas, Zoroastrian, and Buddhist, among the oldest known Literature of Afghanistan, originating from the Great capital of Bactria present day Balkh, and Aria present day Herat, Sanskrit is the reference to the original history of Afghanistan

Dari: from B.C 960 the origin of Dari comes from the middle Bactria which was spoken during the rule of the Bactrian and Sassanid dynasty. Dari is an Afghan language belonging to the Indo-Afghan branch of the Indo-European family of languages. In general, Aryana-Khorasan" in meddle of the nineteenth century Afghanistan languages are known from three periods, usually referred to as Old, Middle, and New (Modern) periods. These correspond to three eras in Afghanistan history; Old era being the period from sometime before Achaemenids, the Achaemenid era and sometime after Achaemenids (that is to 300 BC), Middle era being the next period, Sassanid era and part of the post-Sassanid era, and the New era being the period afterwards down to present day. Pronounced Dari refers to the dialects of modern Dari spoken in Afghanistan and is hence also known as Dari in some Western sources. It is the term officially recognized and promoted in 1980s by the Afghan government for the Dari language. As defined in the Afghanistan, it is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan; the other is Pashto, Dari is the most widely spoken language in Afghanistan and the mother-tongue of approximately 50% of the population serving as the country’s franca The Afghan dialects of Dari are highly mutually intelligible, with differences found primarily in the vocabulary and phonology. But in historical usage, Dari refers to the court language of the Sassanid’sDari, spoken in Afghanistan, should not be confused with Dari or Gabri of Afghanistan a language of the Central Afghanistan sub-group, spoken in some Zoroastrian communities.

The History of Dari Language

The Saxon Europeans’ influence during the Great Games of the mid nineteenth century affected the Afghan language, religion and Territories’ size, which previously had extended from India to North Africa at 2.6 million square kilometers. The Great Games continued at any cost evolving into present-day conflicts of 2013.

Dari is the name given to the Afghanistan literary since 3,000 years ago B.C 960, language at a very early age and was widely used in Arabic (cf. Al-Estakhri Al-Muqaddasi and Hawqal and Dari texts.

There are different opinions about the origin of the word Dari. The majority of scholars believe that Dari refers to the Afghan word dar or darbār meaning Court, from the 9th century in Khorasan present day Afghanistan-Central Asia, India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, and Caucasia including Russia as it was the formal language of the Sassanid’s the original meaning of the word Dari is given in a notice attributed to Ibn Muqaffa (cited by Ibn al-Nadim in Al-Fehrest). According to him, "Dari was the language spoken by priests, scholars, and the like; it is the language of Afghanistan" It is obvious that this language refers to the Middle Afghanistan as for Dari, he says, it is the language of the cities of Madā’en; it is spoken by those who are at the king’s court. Its name is connected with presence at court. Among the languages of the people of Khorasan {present day Afghanistan-Central Asia, India, Iraq, and Iran} and the east, the language of the people of Balkh is predominant.

The origin of Dari comes from the middle Bactria which was spoken during the rule of the Bactrian and Sassanid dynasty in Aryana-Khorasan is an Afghan language belonging to the Indo-Afghan branch of the Indo-European family of languages. In general, Afghanistan languages are known from three periods, usually referred to as Old, Middle, and New (Modern) periods. These correspond to three eras in Afghanistan history; Old era being the period from sometime before Achaemenids, the Achaemenid era and sometime after Achaemenids (that is to 300 BC), Middle era being the next period, Sassanid era and part of the post-Sassanid era, and the New era being the period afterwards down to present day. Afghanistan languages have been and are still widely used in Central Asia both by native speakers and as trade languages. Whereas in the past, East Afghanistan languages, such as Bactrian Sogdian and Khotanese, and West Afghanistan languages notably Parthian and Middle Bactria were prominent. New Afghanistan (Dari) has supplanted most of these languages. Note that the term Afghanistan as used here is a linguistic term and does not refer to the nation of Afghanistan.

Afghanistan-Geographical distribution

Dari, which is by its native-speakers, is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan (the other being Pashto). In practice though, it serves as the de facto lingua franca among the various ethno-linguistic groups. Dari is spoken by ca. 50% of the population as a first language. Tajiks who comprise approximately 27% of the population are the primary speakers, followed by Hazaras (9%) and Aymāqs (4%). Moreover, many Pashtuns living in Tajik and Hazara concentrated areas also use Dari as a first language. About and 55 million Pashtun people in also India speak Dari, and Pashto as one of their primary languages. Dari dominates in the northern, western and central areas of Afghanistan, and is the common language spoken in cities such as Kabul, Herat, Balkh, Fayzabad, Panjshir, Bamiyan, East Turkestan and Central Asia, Smaller Dari-speaking communities also exist in southern Pashtun-dominated areas such as in the cities of Kandahar, and Dari is sometimes the primary language even in regions dominated by Pashtuns, such as Farah, due to the regional history and influence of Aryana culture. Dari is also widely spoken in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, province and by a sizable population in Baluchistan, and various communities in Western Punjab.

Cultural influence

Dari has contributed to the majority of Afghanistan borrowings in other Central Asian languages, such as Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati, etc., as it was the administrative, official and cultural language of the Persocentric Kabuli Empire and served as the lingua franca, throughout the South Asian subcontinent, for centuries. The sizeable Afghanistan component of the Saxon-Indian loan words in English and in Urdu Urdu is found by Afghan in 17 century the called the language for the Army all over the Central Asia for one million Lashekar Army for the Kabulis Empire therefore reflects the Dari pronunciation. For instance dopiaza or pyjama come from the Dari pronunciation, while in the Afghanistan Dari they’re pronounced do-piyāzeh and pey-jāmeh. Dari lexemes and certain morphological elements (e.g. the ezāfe) have often been employed to coin political, cultural etc. concepts, items or ideas that were historically unknown outside the South Asian region, as it is the case with the aforementioned borrowings.

Dari-Phonology

Phonetically, Dari generally resembles a more archaic form of Dari. The differences in pronunciation of Afghan can be considerable, on par with Scottish and Cockney English, although educated speakers generally have no difficulty understanding each other (except in the use of certain lexical items or idiomatic expressions). The principal differences between standard Afghanistan Dari, based on the dialect of the capital Afghanistan-India Dari, as based on the Kabul dialect, are:

1. The merging of majhul vowels ē / ī and ō / ū into ī and ū respectively in Dari, whereas in Afghan, they are still kept separate. For instance, the identically written words ‘lion’ and ‘milk’ are pronounced the as [šīr], but [šēr] for ‘lion’ and [šīr] for ‘milk’ in Afghan. The long vowel in زود ‘quick’ and زور ‘strong’ is realized as [ū] in, these words are pronounced as [zūd] and [zōr] respectively by Dari speakers in Afghanistan.

2. The treatment of the diphthongs of early Classical Dari aw (as ow in Engl. cow) and ay (as I in English ice), which are pronounced as [ow] (as in Engl. low) and [ey] (as in English day) in. Dari, on the other hand, is more archaic, e.g. نوروز ‘Dari New Year’ is realized as [nowrūz] in Afghan Dari, and نخیر ‘no’ is uttered as [naχejr] in Afghan.

3. The high short vowels I and u tend to be lowered in Dari, as e (similar to I in English fit, hit), and o (as in British English Ron).

4. The pronunciation of the labial consonant و, which is realized as a voiced labiodentals fricative [v], but Afghan Dari still retains the (classical) bilabial pronunciation [w].

5. The convergence of voiced uvular stop (ق) and (presumably under the influence of Turkmen languages like Azeri), is still kept separate in Dari

Dialect continuum

The dialects of Dari spoken in Northern, Central and Eastern Afghanistan, for example in Kabul, Mazar and Badakhshan have distinct features compared. However, the dialect of Dari spoken in Western Afghanistan stands in between the Afghan. For instance, the Herat, dialect shares vocabulary and phonology with both Dari Likewise, the dialect in Eastern, for instance is quite similar to the Herat dialect of Afghanistan. The Kabuli dialect has become the standard dialect of Dari in Afghanistan, as has dialect in relation to the has been broadcasting its Dari programs in the Kabuli dialect, which ensured the homogenization between the Kabuli dialect and other dialects of Dari spoken throughout Afghanistan. Since 2003, the media, especially the private radio and television broadcasters, have carried out their Dari programs in the Kabuli dialect.

Political views on the language

The native-speakers of Dari usually call their language However, the term Dari has been officially promoted by the government of Afghanistan for political reasons, and enjoys equal official status alongside Pashto in Afghanistan. The local name for Dari language was officially Dari in 1980. In respective linguistic boundaries, Dari is the medium of education with Pashto, The word Dari refers to the language that is popularly known as Dari. These different names have been synonymously in use throughout history and refer to the same one language. There are two theories regarding the origin of the word Dari. One states that the word Dari came from the word Darbar which means court, courts of kings. It argues that this language was the very respected and chosen language for communications at royal courts of kings. Thus it came to be known as the language of courts or Darbari. Later in time the word Darbari was shortened and evolved to Dari which still has the same meaning as Darbari. The second theory relates the origin of word Dari to the word Dara or valley. Many accomplished language researchers, admit that the language Dari or Farsi itself was born in Khorasan, a mountainous land where people live in numerous valleys (Dara). Therefore, the name Dari came to refer to the language spoken by people of the valleys (Dara) or in the valleys. Dari is a widely used language in Central Asia and India. It is the official language India, Tajikistan and what is known as Afghanistan. Dari is a branch of the Indo-Afghan (Indo-Aryan) languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. There are three different phases in the development of Aryan languages: Old, Middle, and Modern. Old Dari and the Avestan language represent the old stage of development and were spoken in ancient Bactria. The Avestan language is called Avestan because the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism, Avesta, were written in this old form. Avestan died out long before the advent of Islam and except for scriptural use not much has remained of it. Old Dari however, survived and there are many written records of old Dari, in cuneiform called Maikhi, in Khorasan. Old Dari was spoken until around the 960 BC. It was a highly inflected language. Middle Dari was spoken from 3rd century to 9th and is related to several other Central Asian-India tongues such as Sogdian, Chrosmian and also Parthian languages. Parthian was the language of the Parthian Empire (Arsacid). Parthian, though left some influences on middle Dari, declined when the Sassanian power expanded. Middle Dari had a simpler grammar and was written in multivalent letters. Middle Dari declined after conquest of Arabs in the 7th century and much of its rich literature was lost or destroyed by the Arabs. However, a lot of it was also translated into Arabic. Modern Dari began to develop by 9th century. It is a continuation of the Khorasanian standard language which had considerable Parthian and Middle Dari elements. It has much simpler grammar than its ancestral forms. After the conquest of Arabs in 7th century, it is written in Arabic script, with few modifications, and has absorbed a vast Arabic vocabulary.

Dari literature is one of the richest in the world and composed of the body of writings in Modern Dari. After the Arab conquest of 7th century Islam replaced Zoroastrianism and the Arabic became the language of law, religion and culture in Khorasan. However with the rise of Samanids and political revival of Khorasan, Dari emerged as a literary medium and became the established literary form of Dari language. During the period of Samanids a new era of literary began. The ancient tradition of Aryana-Khorasan and Islam merged together. Dari was especially instrumental in freeing Islam from an exclusive Arabic attachment and universalized Islam thus helping to preserve it.

Emperor Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi in the 9th century the term Dari has been officially promoted by the Empire "that Dari refers to the Afghan word Dari or darbār meaning Court", from the 9th century in Khorasan "present day Afghanistan-Central Asia, India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Egypt, and Caucasia including Russia, has been officially promoted in Court of the Khorasan Emperor

Dari poetry had begun sporadically in Khorasan in 9th century. The earliest main genres are the epic, qasida (Purpose poem), masnavi (long narrative poem), and ghazal (lyric). By 10th century Dari had become an important and melodious medium—as the remaining works of Rudaki, a versatile poet, indicate. He is regarded as the father of Dari poetry. After Rudaki’s death the epic tradition, with its sources in Avesta and Middle Dari texts, began. The first epic poet was Marvazi Samarqand who composed a Shah Nama (Book of Kings) in 910. Daqiqi Balkhi another poet of tenth century wrote a better known Shah Nama in 975. However, Firdausi, Tusi composed another Shah Nama (1010) which became the very best known epic in Dari literature. Qasida, another form of poetry, was also first written by Rudaki. Mostly qasidas are panegyrics, sometime elegiac, didactic and occasionally they deal with philosophical or biographical literature. The average length of qasida is between sixty and hundred lines and they are written in couplets. Qasidas that are more than two hundred lines are also frequently written. The earliest exponents of this form of poetry Ansuri Balkhi, Asjadi, and Farrukhi were the greatest poets of their time. Of many panegyrists in the history of Dari literature, Anvari Balkhi was regarded as the foremost. In philosophical qasidas Naser-e Khosrow was very well respected. Omar Khayyan was another poet of this era who is considered to be of astonishing originality. During the Samanid era the foundation of Dari prose was also laid. Several pieces of literature demonstrated the suitability of Dari language for sacred texts. Bal’ami, one of the vizier (high government official) of Mansur I Samanid, published a translation of the annals of Tabari. Also, in the same time, a group of theologian, made a Dari copy of Tabari’s commentary on the Quran. These works and works of similar nature produced a clear demonstration that Dari was very suitable for religious works. In fact these works brought to an end the absolute domination of Arabic language over religious literature. Mansur I Samanid also commissioned the pharmacopeia of Abu Mansur Muvaffaq of Herat, the first Dari book on medicine. An extensive technical vocabulary, applicable to philosophy and science were also coined with the patronage of Samanids.

Thirteenth and fourteenth century was also a period when great poets lived and it is often called the golden age of Dari poetry. In this period, three great poets, Moulana Balkhi (Rumi), Sadi and Hafiz lived. They were excellent in a form o poetry called ghazal, a passionate mystical lyric form that is composed on a single rhyme. Ghazals were usually consists of five to fifteen couplets and they could be of variety of meters. The first mystic masnavi is believed to be written by Hakim Sanai of Ghazni and is known as Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (The Enclosed Garden of Truth). He was followed by Attar and Rumi. Rumi’s Masnavi-e-Manavi consists of six books that contain 30,000 couplets. Masnavi’s basic theme is love and Rumi in this book, is concerned with problems bearing on the conduct, meaning and purpose of life and the longing of the human soul for union with God. The Masnavi of Mawlana of Balkh is considered to be the most profound and the greatest work of Dari literature, and perhaps of all the Islamic literature. The Masnavi is often called Quran-e-Sani meaning the second Quran. Every page of it moves, absorbs and surprises the reader. Masnavi form of poetry was also suitable for epic and romantic stories. Of romantic masnavis the Khosrow—O-Shirin (Khosrow and Shirin) of Nezami is the best known. The word Dari refers to the language that is popularly known as Dari. These different names have been synonymously in use throughout history and refer to the same one language. There are two theories regarding the origin of the word Dari. One states that the word Dari came from the word Darbar which means court, courts of kings. It argues that this language was the very respected and chosen language for communications at royal courts of kings. Thus it came to be known as the language of courts or Darbari. Later in time the word Darbari was shortened and evolved to Dari which still has the same meaning as Darbari. The second theory relates the origin of word Dari to the word Dara or valley. Many accomplished language researchers, admit that the language Dari itself was born in Aryana-Khorasan, a mountainous land where people live in numerous valleys (Dara). Therefore, the name Dari came to refer to the language spoken by people of the valleys (Dara) or in the valleys.

Dari is a widely used language in Afghanistan-Central Asia and India. It is the official language today of, Tajikistan and what is known as Afghanistan. Dari is a branch of the Indo-Aryan (Indo-Aryan now Afghan) languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European languages. There are three different phases in the development of Aryan languages: Old, Middle, and Modern. Old Dari and the Avestan language represent the old stage of development and were spoken in ancient Bactria. The Avestan language is called Avestan because the sacred scriptures of Zoroastrianism, Avesta, were written in this old form. Avestan died out long before the advent of Islam and except for scriptural use not much has remained of it. Old Dari, however, survived and there are many written records of old Dari, in cuneiform called Maikhi, in Khorasan. Old Dari was spoken until around the third century BC. It was a highly inflected language. Middle Dari was spoken from 3rd century to 9th and is related to several other Central Asian tongues such as Sogdian, Chrosmian and also Parthian languages. Parthian was the language of the Parthian Empire (Arsacid). Parthian, though left some influences on middle Dari, declined when the Sassani power expanded. Middle Dari had a simpler grammar and was written in multivalent letters. Middle Dari declined after conquest of Arabs in the 7th century and much of its rich literature was lost or destroyed by the Arabs. However, a lot of it was also translated into Arabic. Modern Dari began to develop by 9th century. It is a continuation of the Khorasani standard language which had considerable Parthian and Middle Dari elements. It has much simpler grammar than its ancestral forms. After the conquest of Arabs in 7th century, it is written in Arabic script, with few modifications, and has absorbed a vast Arabic vocabulary. Dari literature is one of the richest in the world and composed of the body of writings in Modern Dari. After the Arab conquest of 7th century Islam replaced Zoroastrianism and Arabic became the language of law, religion and culture in Khorasan. However with the rise of Samanids and political revival of Khorasan, Dari emerged as a literary medium and became the established literary form of Dari language. During the period of Samanids a new era of literary began. The ancient tradition of Khorasan and Islam merged together. Dari was especially instrumental in freeing Islam from an exclusive Arabic attachment and universalized Islam thus helping to preserve it. Dari poetry had begun sporadically in Khorasan in 9th century. The earliest main genres are the epic, qasida (Purpose poem), masnavi (long narrative poem), and ghazal (lyric). By 10th century Dari had become an important and melodious medium—as the remaining works of Rudaki, a versatile poet, indicate. He is regarded as the father of Dari poetry. After Rudaki’s death the epic tradition, with its sources in Avesta and Middle Dari texts, began. The first epic poet was Marvazi Samarqand who composed a Shah Nama (Book of Kings) in 910. Daqiqi Balkhi another poet of tenth century wrote a better known Shah Nama in 975. However, Firdausi Tusi composed another Shah Nama (1010) which became the very best known epic in Dari literature. Qasida, another form of poetry, was also first written by Rudaki. Mostly qasidas are panegyrics, sometime elegiac, didactic and occasionally they deal with philosophical or biographical literature. The average length of qasida is between sixty and hundred lines and they are written in couplets. Qasidas that are more than two hundred lines are also frequently written. The earliest exponents of this form of poetry Ansuri Balkhi, Asjadi, and Farrukhi were the greatest poets of their time. Of many panegyrists in the history of Dari literature, Anvari Balkhi was regarded as the foremost. In philosophical qasidas Naser-e Khosrow was very well respected. Omar Khayyam was another poet of this era who is considered to be of astonishing originality.

During the Shamanic era the foundation of Dari prose was also laid. Several pieces of literature demonstrated the suitability of Dari language for sacred texts. Bal’ami, one of the Minister (high government official) of Mansur I Samanid, published a translation of the annals of Tabari. Also, in the same time, a group of theologian, made a Dari copy of Tabari’s commentary on the Quran. These works and works of similar nature produced a clear demonstration that Dari was very suitable for religious works. In fact these works brought to an end the absolute domination of Arabic language over religious literature. Mansur I Samanid also commissioned the pharmacopeia of Abu Mansur Muvaffaq of Herat, the first Dari book on medicine. An extensive technical vocabulary, applicable to philosophy and science were also coined with the patronage of Samanids. Thirteen and fourteen century were also a period when great poets lived and it is often called the golden age of Dari poetry Balkh or Bactria was the great capital of literature same 5,500 years. In this period, three great poets, Moulana Balkhi (Rumi), Sadi and Hafiz lived. They were excellent in a form o poetry called ghazal, a passionate mystical lyric form that is composed on a single rhyme. Ghazals were usually consists of five to fifteen couplets and they could be of variety of meters. The first mystic masnavi is believed to be written by Hakim Sanai of Ghazni and is known as Hadiqat al-Haqiqa (The Enclosed Garden of Truth). He was followed by Attar and Rumi. Rumi’s Masnavi-e-Manavi consists of six books that contain 30,000 couplets. Masnavi’s basic theme is love and Rumi in this book, is concerned with problems bearing on the conduct, meaning and purpose of life and the longing of the human soul for union with God. The Masnavi of Mawlana of Balkh is considered to be the most profound and the greatest work of Dari literature, and perhaps of all the Islamic literature. The Masnavi is often called Quran-e-Sani meaning the second Quran. Every page of it moves, absorbs and surprises the reader. Masnavi form of poetry was also suitable for epic and romantic stories. Of romantic masnavis the Khosrow—O-Shirin (Khosrow and Shirin) of Nezami is the best known.

Indo—Aryan’s: present day Afghan’s society

Herders Tillers of the soil Craftsmen Traders Coinage and credit Morals Marriage Woman how did these Afghan’s and Indians live? At first by war and exploitation; then by herding, tillage and industry in a rural routine not unlike that of medieval Aryan; for until the industrial revolution in which we live the basic economic and political life of man had remained essentially the same since Neolithic days, the Indo—Aryans raised cattle, used the cow without considering it sacred, and ate meat when they could afford it, having offered a morsel to priests or gods; Buddha, after nearly starving himself in his ascetic youth, seems to have died from a hearty meal of pork. They planted barley, but apparently knew nothing of rice in Vedic times, the fields were divided by each village community among its constituent families, but were irrigated in common; the land could not be sold to an outsider, and could be bequeathed only to the family heirs in direct male line. The majority of the people were yeomen owning their own soil; the Aryans held it a disgrace to work for hire. There were, we are assured, no landlords and no paupers, no millionaires and no slums. In the towns handicrafts flourished among independent artisans and apprentices, organized, half a thousand years before Christ, into powerful guilds of metal—workers, wood—workers, stone—workers, leather—workers, ivory—workers, basket—makers, house—painters, decorators, potters, dyers, fishermen, sailors, hunters, trappers, butchers, confectioners, barbers, shampooers, florists, cooks—the very list reveals the fullness and variety of Aryan’s life in India, the guilds settled intra guild affairs, even arbitrating difficulties between members and their wives. Prices were determined, as among ourselves, not by supply and demand but by the gullibility of the purchaser; in the palace of the king, however, was an official Valour who, like European secretive Bureau of Standards, tested goods to be bought, and dictated terms to the makers. Trade and travel had advanced to the stage of Afghan—Horse and two wheeled wagon, but were still medieval difficult; caravans were held up by taxes at every petty frontier, and as like as not by highwaymen at any turn. Transport Between Bactria and Agra by river and sea was more developed: about B.C 860 ships with modest sails and hundreds of oars carried to Mesopotamia, and Egypt such typical Aryan’s products as perfumes and spices, cotton and silks, shawls and muslins, pearls and rubies, ebony and precious stones, and ornate brocades of silver and Gold. Trade was stunted by clumsy methods of exchange at first by barter, then by the use of Gold as currency; later a heavy gold, silver and copper coinage was issued, guaranteed, however, there were no banks; money was hidden in the house, palace royal treasury and buried in the ground, or deposited with a friend. Out of this in Buddha’s age, grew a credit system: merchants in different towns facilitated trade by giving one another letters of credit; loans could be obtained from such Rothschild’s at eight per cent, and there was much talk of promissory notes. The coinage was not sufficiently inconvenient to discourage gambling; already dice were essential to civilization. In many cases gambling halls were provided for his subjects by the king, in the fashion, if not quite in the style, of Monaco, and a portion of the receipts went to the royal treasury. It seems a scandalous arrangement to us, who are not quite accustomed to having gambling institutions contribute so directly to the support of public officials. Commercial morality stood on a high level between Bactria and Agra. The Macedonian historian of Alexander’s campaigns describes the Aryan’s as remarkable for integrity, so reasonable as seldom to have recourse to lawsuits, and so honest as to require neither locks to their doors nor writings to bind their agreements; they are in the highest degree truthful. The Rig—Veda speaks on incest, seduction, prostitution, abortion and adultery, but the general picture that we derive from Vedas and the epics is one of high standards in the relations, and the life of the family. Nevertheless, woman enjoyed far greater freedom in the Vedic period than in later in India. She had more to say in the choice of her mate than the forms of marriage might suggest. She appeared freely at feasts and dances, and joined with men in religious sacrifice; she could study, and might, like Gargi, engage in philosophic disputation. If she was left a widow there no restrictions upon her remarriage, In the Heroic Age woman seems to have lost something of this liberty. She was discouraged from mental pursuits, on the ground that for a woman to study the Vedas indicates confusion in the realm, the remarriage of widows became uncommon; Purdah the seclusion of women began; and the practice of suttee, almost unknown in Vedic, increased. The ideal woman was now typified in the heroine of the Ramayana that faithful Sita who follows and obeys her husband humbly, through every test of fidelity and courage, until her death.

The Religion of the Vedas

Pre Vedic religion Vedic gods Moral gods the Vedic story of Creation Immortality the Horse sacrifice, the oldest known religion in Afghanistan, which the invading Afghan’s India with there religion, found among the Nagas, and which still survives in the ethnic nooks and crannies of the great peninsula, was apparently an animistic and totemic worship of multitudinous spirits dwelling in stones and animals, in trees, and streams, in Mountains called Hindu Kush, and stars. Snakes and serpents were divinities idols and ideals of virile reproductive power; and the sacred Buddha tree of Buddha’s time was a vestige of the mystic but wholesome reverence for the quiet majesty of trees. Naga, the dragon—god, Hanuman the monkey god Nandi the divine bull, and the Yakshas or tree gods passed down into the religion of Historic. Since some of these spirits were good and some evil, only great skill in magic could keep the body from being possessed or tortured, in sickness or mania, by one or more of the innumerable demons that filled the air. Hence the medley of incantations in the Atharava—Veda, or the Book of the knowledge of Magic; one must recite spells to obtain children to avoid abortion, to prolong life to ward off evil to woo sleep, to destroy or harass enemies. The earliest gods of the Vedas were the forces and elements of nature herself sky—Sun, earth, fire, light, wind, water and sex. By that poetic license which makes so many deities, these natural objects were personified; the sky, for example, became a father, Samin ; the earth became a mother, Prithivi; and vegetation was the fruit of their union through the rain was the god Parjanya, fire was Agni, the wind was Vayu, the pestilential wind was Rudra, the storm was Indra, the dawn was Ushas, the furrow in the field was Sita, the sun was Surya, Mitra, or Vishnu; and the sacred soma plant, whose juice was at one holy and intoxicating to gods and men, was itself a god, a Hindu Dionysus, inspiring man by its exhilarating essence to charity, insight and joy, and even bestowing upon him eternal life. A nation like individual begins with poetry, and ends with prose. And as things became persons, so qualities become objects, adjectives became nouns, epithets became deities. The life giving sun became a new sun—god, Savitar the Life—Giver; the shining sun became Vivasvat, Shining God; the life generating sun became the great god Prajapati, Lord of all living things.

For a time the most important of the Vedic gods was Agni—fire; he was the sacred flame that lifted the sacrifice to heaven, he was the lightning that pranced through the sky, he was the fiery life and spirit of the world. But the most popular figure in the pantheon was Indra, wielder of thunder and storm. Foe Indra brought to the Indo—Aryans that precious rain which seemed to them even more vital that the sun; therefore three made him the greatest of the gods, invoked the aid of his thunderbolts in their battles, and pictured him enviously as a gigantic hero feasting on bulls by the hundred and lapping up lakes of wine. His favourite enemy was Krishna, who in the Vedas was as yet only the local god of the Krishna tribe. Aftou, the sun who covered the earth with his strides, was also a subordinate god, unaware that the future belonged to him and to Krishna, his avatar. This is one value of the Vedas to us, that through them we see religion in the making, and can follow the birth, growth and death of gods and beliefs from animism to philosophic pantheism, and from the superstition of the Atharava—Veda to the sublime monism of the Upanishads. Some of them, however, rose in later Vedic days to a majestic moral significance. Varuna, who began as the encompassing heaven, whose breath was the storm and whose garment was the sky, grew with the development of his worshipers into the most ethical and ideal deity of the Vedas watching over the world through his great eye, the sun, punishing evil, rewarding good, and forgiving the sins of those who petitioned him. In this aspect Varuna was the custodian and executor of an eternal law called Rita; this was at first the law that established and maintained the stars in their courses; gradually it became also the law of right, the cosmic and moral rhythm which every man must follow if he would not go astray and be destroyed. As the number of the gods increased the question arose as to which of them had created the world. this primal role was assigned now to Agni, now to Indra, now to Soma, now Prajapati, one of the Upanishads attributed the world to an irrepressible Pro—creator: verily, he had no delight; one alone had no delight; he desired a second, he was indeed, as large as a woman and a man closely embraced. He caused that self to fall v pat into two pieces; there from arose a husband Shui and a wife san therefore… one’s self is like a half fragment, . . . . Therefore this space is filled by a wife. He copulated with her. Therefore human beings were produced, and she bethought herself: how, now does he copulate with me after he has produced me just from himself come, let me hide myself she became a cow. He became a bull. With her he did indeed copulate, and then cattle were born. She became a mare, he a stallion, she became a female ass, he a male ass; with her he copulated of a truth. Thence were born slid hoofed animals, she became a she—goat, he a he—goat; she a ewe, he ram, with her he did verily copulate. Therefore were born goats and sheep. Thus indeed he created all, whatever pairs there are, even down to the ants. He knew: I indeed am this creation, for I emitted it all from myself thence arose creation. In this unique passage we have the germ of pantheism and transmigration: the Creator is one with his creation, and all things, all forms of life, are one; every form we as once another form and is distinguished from it only in the prejudice of perception and the superficial separateness of time, this view, though formulated in the Upanishads, was not yet in Vedic days a part of the popular creed; instead of transmigration the Indo—Aryans, Like the Aryans of Afghanistan, accepted a simple belief in personal immortality. After death the soul entered into eternal punishment or happiness; it was thrust by Verona into a dark abyss, half Hades and half hell, or was raised by Yama into a heaven where every earthly joy was made endless and complete. Like corn decays the mortal said the Katha Upanishad, Like corn is he born again? In the earlier Vedic religion in Bactria there were, so far as the evidence goes, no temples and no images; altars were put up anew for each sacrifice as in Zoroastrian, and sacred fire lifted the offering to heaven. Vestiges of human sacrifice occur here, as at the outset of almost every civilization; but they are few and uncertain. Again as in Afghanistan, the horse was sometimes burnt as an offering to the gods. The strangest ritual of all was the Ashvamedha, or Sacrifice of the Horse, in which the Queen of the Afghan—Tribe seems to have copulated with the sacred horse after it had been killed. The usual offering was a libation of soma juice, and the pouring of liquid butter into the fire, the sacrifice was conceived for the most part in magical terms; if it were properly performed it would win its reward, regardless of the moral deserts of the worshiper. The priests charged heavily for helping the pious in the ever more complicated ritual of sacrifice: if no fee was at hand, the priest refused to recite the necessary formulas, his payment had to come before that of the god. Rules were laid down by the clergy as to what the remuneration should be for each service how many cows or horses, or how much gold; gold was particularly efficacious in moving the priest, the Brahman as, written by the Brahmans, instructed the priest how to turn the prayer or sacrifice secretly to the hurt of those who had employed him if they had given him an inadequate fee.

The Literature of the Vedas The Sanskrit of the Vedas

Sanskrit writing the four Vedas the Rig-Veda a hymn of Creation, the language of the Aryan’s New Afghan’s should be of special interest to European, for Sanskrit is one of the oldest in that Aryan’s group of languages to which Indo—European own speech belongs. We feel for a moment a strange sense of cultural continuity across great stretches of time and space when we observe the similarity in Sanskrit, German, Latin, and Greek, of the numerals, the family terms, and those insinuating little words that by some oversight of the moralists, have been called the copulative verb. It is quite likely that this ancient tongue should have been the spoken language of the Afghan Aryan invaders. What that speech was we know; we can only presume that it was a near relative of the early Afghan dialect in which the Avest was composed. The Sanskrit of the Vedas and the epics has already the earmarks of a Afghan’s—classic and Literary tongue, used only by scholars and priest; the very word Sanskrit means prepared, pure, perfect, sacred the language of the Afghan’s—People in the Vedic age was not one but many; each Afghan—tribe had own Aryan dialect. Afghanistan has never had one language. The Vedas contain no hint that writing was known to their authors. It was not until the eighth or ninth century B.C that Hindu—probably Dravidian merchants brought from Central Asia a Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician; and from this Brahma script as it came to be called all the later alphabets of Aryana was derived. For centuries writing seems to have been confined to commercial and administrative purposes, with little thought of using it for Literature merchants, not priests, developed this basic Art even the Buddhism canon does not appear to have been written down before the third century B.C the oldest extant inscriptions in Bactria are those of Ashoka, we who until the air about us was filled with words and music were for century made eye—minded by writing and print, find it hard to understand how contentedly Aryana long after she had learned to write, clung to the old ways of transmitting Afghan—history and Literature by recitation and memory. The Vedas and the epics were songs that grew with the generations of those that recited them; they were intended not for sight but for sound. From this indifference to writing comes Europe dearth of knowledge about early Aryana. What then, were these Vedas from which nearly all understanding of Aryan is derived, the word Veda means Knowledge; † a Veda is literally a Book of knowledge. Vedas is applied by the Hindus o all the sacred lore of their early period; like Christ Bible it indicates a Literature rather than a book. Nothing could be more confused that the arrangement and division of this collection, of the many Vedas that once existed only four have survived:

1. The Rig—Veda, or knowledge of the Hymns of Afghanistan

2. The Sama—Veda, or knowledge of the Melodies

3. The Yajur—Veda, or knowledge of the Sacrificial Formulas; and

4. The Atharva—Veda or knowledge of the Magic Formulas

Each of these four Vedas is divided into four sections:

1. The Hymns

2. The Manuals of ritual, prayer and incantation for the priests

3. The forest—texts for hermit saints; and

4. The confidential conferences for philosophers. ‡

Only one of the Vedas belongs to Literature rather than to religion, philosophy or magic. The Rig—Veda is a king of religious anthology, composed of 1028 hymns, or psalms of praise to the various objects of Indo—Aryan worship sun, moon, sky, stars, wind, rain, fire dawn, earth, etc. "point of unintelligibility;