PUKHTOONS

Among historians, anthropologists, and the Pashtuns themselves, there is some debate as to who exactly is a Pashtun. The most prominent views are:

• Pashtuns are predominantly an Eastern Iranian people who are speakers of the Pashto language and live in a contiguous geographic location across Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is the generally accepted academic view.^[55]
• Pashtuns are Muslims who follow Pashtunwali, speak Pashto and meet other criteria.^[56]
• In accordance with the legend of Qais Abdur Rashid, the figure traditionally regarded as progenitor of the Pashtun people, Pashtuns are those whose related patrilineal descent may be traced back to legendary times.

These three definitions may be described as the ethno-linguistic definition, the religious-cultural definition, and the patrilineal definition, respectively.