Punjabis in Afghanistan were residents of Afghanistan who were of Punjabi ancestry. There was historically a small Punjabi community in the country, mainly consisting of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.[3]
Afghan Sikh history is considered to stretch back 200 to 500 years.[6][7] Not all Sikhs are of Punjabi origin however; a small minority include locals whose ancestors adopted Sikhism during Guru Nanak's 15th century expeditions to Kabul.[7] In the 18th century, Hindu Khatri merchants from Punjab settled in Afghanistan and dominated regional trade.[8][9] The Sikh and Hindu population in Afghanistan may have numbered as much as 250,000 in the 1940s.[7] Both communities were particularly well-represented in business and government positions. The reign of Zahir Shah was considered prosperous.[7] Some of them were wealthy landowners.[10] In 1947, some Sikhs from Potohar in northern Punjab arrived in Afghanistan while fleeing violence during the partition of India.[7]
The population of Punjabi Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan stood up to 100,000 prior to the 1990s.[10] The Soviet invasion in 1979 and the ensuing Afghan civil wars sparked a mass exodus and the community declined drastically. Most migrated to Pakistan or India, while others resettled in North America and Europe.[11] The population in 2014 was around 3,000.[6][3] The majority lived in Kabul.[9] During the Taliban regime, Sikhs and Hindus were forced to wear yellow armbands for identification as well as hang yellow flags over their homes.[6] Some discrimination still persists as they are often barred from government jobs, viewed as immigrants or threatened for ransom because they are considered rich.[7]
Most of the Afghan Sikhs and Hindus adopted Afghan customs and assimilated into the local culture, speaking Pashto or Dari.[7] However, Punjabi is still spoken by some at home.[10] There have been efforts to teach Punjabi to the younger generation, as it is also the language of Sikh religious texts.[9] The Afghan government opened two Punjabi schools in Kabul and Jalalabad, facilitating the Sikh community.[3]
^Effendi, M.Y. (2007). Punjab Cavalry: Evolution, Role, Organisation and Tactical Doctrine 11 Cavalry, Frontier Force, 1849-1971. Oxford University Press. p. 30. ISBN9780195472035. Before 1894, the Afghan border ran along the boundary of the trans-Indus frontier districts, formerly occupied by the Sikhs, and was virtually defined by the extreme limits of the Indus plain's westward extension.
^Manchanda, Rita (2010). States in Conflict with Their Minorities: Challenges to Minority Rights in South Asia. SAGE Publications India. p. 182. ISBN9788132105985.
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