Gandhara, a region located in the south-eastern part of Afghanistan, experi

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15-Jul-2026 09 pm

Gandhara, a region located in the south-eastern part of Afghanistan, experienced the influence of Vedism from the post-Vedic Period onward. During the era of the Turk Shahis, later forms of Hinduism also thrived in this south-eastern area, evidenced by the excavation of Khair Khaneh, a Hindu temple in Kabul, and the discovery of a statue of Gardez Ganesha in Paktia province. The majority of the archaeological remains, including marble statuettes, are dated to the seventh–eighth century, coinciding with the Turk Shahi period. The Ganesha statue from Gardez is now recognized as belonging to the era of Turk Shahis in the 7th-8th century CE, rather than being attributed to their successors, the Hindu Shahis of the 9th-10th century, as has been previously proposed. In addition to the Hindkowans, the native Indo-Aryan inhabitants of the region, such as the Pashayi and Nuristanis, were also known to practice what scholars describe as a form of Indo-Iranian, Vedic- or Hindu-like religion. The Pashtuns, who constitute the majority ethnic group in Afghanistan, possess a lineage that includes Vedic ancestors from the Pakthas. The Pakthas, along with the Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas, formed five frontier tribes. The Pakthas resided in the hills from which the Kruma river originates, and scholars associate them with present-day eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with the modern Pakthun. Hinduism experienced further growth under the rule of the Hindu Shahis but faced a significant decline with the rise of Islam through the Ghaznavids, who ultimately defeated the Shahis. Nevertheless, Hinduism persisted as a notable minority in Afghanistan until the 21st century, when its adherents dwindled to a few hundred. Before the onset of the contemporary conflict in 1978, Hindus were distributed throughout Afghanistan, with significant populations in major urban centers such as Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, Herat, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz, Ghazni, and Khost. Furthermore, substantial concentrations of rural populations in villages have historically been noted in the eastern regions of the country, as recorded by British travelers Jonas Hanway and George Forster in the 18th century. However, throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, various waves of migration and exodus towards urban areas and eastward to British India occurred, driven by sporadic violence and conflict. The European Union Agency for Asylum reports a consistent decline in the Hindu population in Afghanistan over recent decades. In the mid-20th century, specifically during the 1970s, the Hindu population in Afghanistan was approximately 280,000. By 1992, just before the government-collapse, this number had decreased to around 88,000. By early 2021, only about 160 Hindus remained, and by the end of that year, the population had reportedly fallen to below 50 individuals. #History

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