Jesus In India — Page 147
J e s u s i n I n d i a 147 ‘Afghan,’ some have written, that they, after their expulsion, ever bearing in mind their wonted abode, uttered bewailings and lamentations ( اﻓﻐـــﺎن Afghan ), and were on that account called ‘Afghan. ’” See Sir J. Malcolm’s History of Persia, Vol. I. p. 101, where the same derivation of this word is mentioned…. Farid Uddeen Ahmed mentions, that in standard works, as in the Tareekh Afghani, Tareekh Ghori, and others, it is asserted that the Afghans were, for the greater part, Israelites, and some Copts. See also Abul Fazl , P. ii. p. 178: “Some Afghans consider themselves to be of Egyptian extraction; asserting, that when the Children of Israel returned from Jerusalem to Egypt, this tribe emigrated to Hindoostan. ” Page 65. ‘The Afghans, according to almost all the Oriental historians, believe themselves to be descended from the Jews; an opinion that was even adopted, or considered probable, by some modern writers…… The use of Jewish names, which the Afghans employ, is undoubtedly attributable to their being Mussulmans…. . The only proof that might be adduced in favour of their pretended Jewish extraction, is the striking likeness of the Afghan features to the Jewish; which has been admitted, even by such as do not pay the least attention to their claim to a Jewish origin. Sir John Malcolm’s words on this subject are: “Although their right to this proud descent (from the Jews) is very doubtful, it is evident, from their personal appearance, and many of their usages, that they are a distinct race from the Persians, Tartars, and Indians; and this alone seems to give some credibility to a statement which is contradicted by many strong facts, and of which no direct proof has been produced. If an inference could be drawn from the features of a nation resembling those of another, the Cashmirians would certainly, by their Jewish features, prove a Jewish origin, which not only Bernier, but Forster, and perhaps others, have remarked. ” Pages 65-66. ‘Now, although Forster does not approve of the opinion of Bernier, tracing the descent of the Cashmirians to the