List of Afghans
Encyclopedia
The following is a list of prominent Afghan people
, which includes all the ethnic groups
of the modern state
of Afghanistan
.
Demography of Afghanistan
The population of Afghanistan is around 29,835,392 as of the year 2011, which is unclear if the refugees living outside the country are included or not. The nation is composed of a multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, reflecting its location astride historic trade and invasion routes between...
, which includes all the ethnic groups
Ethnic groups in Afghanistan
Afghanistan is a multiethnic society. The population of the country is divided into a wide variety of ethnolinguistic groups. The ethnic groups of the country are as follow: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimak, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashai, Nuristani, Arab, Brahui, Pamiri and some others.-Ethnic...
of the modern state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
of Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Presidents
- Mohammed OmarMohammed OmarMullah Mohammed Omar , often simply called Mullah Omar, is the leader of the Taliban movement that operates in Afghanistan. He was Afghanistan's de facto head of state from 1996 to late 2001, under the official title "Head of the Supreme Council"...
, spiritual leader of the Taliban
Poets
- Nazo Tokhi (1651 – 1717)
- Khushal Khan KhattakKhushal Khan KhattakKhushal Khan Khattak was a prominent Pashtun malik, poet, warrior,A charismatic personality and tribal chief of the Khattak tribe. He wrote a huge collection of Pashto poems during the Mughal Empire in the 17th century, and admonished Pashtuns to forsake their divisive tendencies and unite...
(1613 – 1689) - Khalilullah Khalili (1907 – 1987)
- Maulana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi
- Rumi (1207 - 1273)
- Hakim Sanai (1080 - 1131)
- JamiJamiNur ad-Dīn Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī also known as DJāmī, Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti who is commonly known as Jami , is known for his achievements as a scholar, mystic, writer, composer of numerous lyrics and idylls, historian, and one of the greatest...
(1414 - 1492) - Rahman BabaRahman BabaAbdul Rahman Baba is popularly known as Rahman Baba , was a Pashtun Muslim poet from Peshawar in modern-day Pakistan who remains the most popular poet among the Pashtuns...
(1650 - 1715)
Historians
- Abdul Hai Habibi (1910 - 1984)
- Ghulam Mohammad GhobarGhulam Mohammad GhobarMir Ghulam Mohammad Ghobar was a famous historian, journalist, political figure, and a poet from Afghanistan. He is the author of a number of books, including Afghanistan's history book called Afghanistan in the Course of History...
(1898 - 1978) - Abdul Shakoor RashadAbdul Shakoor RashadProfessor Abdul Shakoor Rashad was born on November 14, 1921 in in Kandahar City, Afghanistan.- Early life :Abdul Shakoor Rashad graduated from school at the age of 12 in 1933...
(1921 - 2004)
Filmmakers and actors
- Siddiq BarmakSiddiq BarmakSiddiq Barmak in Panjshir, Afghanistan, is a film director and producer. He received an M.A degree in cinema direction from the Moscow Film Institute in 1987.He has written a few screenplays and has made a few short films...
(born 1962), Osama - Mithaq KazimiMithaq KazimiMithaq Kazimi is a film director and producer, mostly known for his documentary film 16 Days in Afghanistan and founding member of Dawn Breakers International Film Festival...
, 16 Days in Afghanistan16 Days in Afghanistan16 Days in Afghanistan is a groundbreaking documentary about the journey of Afghan-American Anwar Hajher traveling to his homeland Afghanistan after 25 years to rediscover his country. The film is produced by Mithaq Kazimi and is the first documentary since the fall of Taliban to be shot in those... - Abdul Wahid NazariAbdul Wahid NazariAbdul Wahid Nazari is an Afghan film writer, director and producer. He is presently the director of Radio Television Afghanistan.-Early life:...
(born 1953) - Latif AhmadiLatif AhmadiAbdul Latif Ahmadi is an Afghan film director. He is currently the president of Afghan Film, the state-run Afghan film company.-External links:* *...
, director of Afghan FilmAfghan FilmAfghan Film also known as Afghan Film Organization is Afghanistan's state-run film company. It was established in 1968 and the current president is Latif Ahmadi.-External links:* http://www.afghanmagazine.com/2004_07/photoessay/afghanfilm.shtml... - Aryan Khan(born 1980)
- Haji KamranHaji KamranHaji Kamran is an Afghan actor, best known for his comedic roles in film and television. He became famous in Afghanistan and in the West with his series Shirin Gul and Sheragha, directed by Latif Ahmadi. He currently lives in Virginia and does television advertisements and small roles for Ariana...
- Mamnoon MaqsoodiMamnoon MaqsoodiMamnoon Maqsoodi is a well known Afghan actor. He made his acting debut with the film De Konday Zoy playing the role of a simple minded villager named Shadgul.-Early life & education:...
(born 1966)
Writers and journalists
- Khaled HosseiniKhaled HosseiniKhaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
(born 1965) - Sakena YacoobiSakena YacoobiSakena Yacoobi is the founder of the .Dr. Sakena Yacoobi is Executive Director of the Afghan Institute of Learning , an Afghan women-led NGO she founded in 1995. The organization was established to provide teacher training to Afghan women, to support education for boys and girls, and to provide...
- Ashraf HaidariAshraf HaidariM. Ashraf Haidari is the Deputy Assistant National Security Advisor of Afghanistan, as well as serving as the Senior Policy & Oversight Advisor of the Office of the National Security Council at the ARG-Presidential Palace...
- Nelofer PaziraNelofer PaziraNelofer Pazira is an award-winning Afghan-Canadian director, actress, journalist and author. She grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, where she lived through ten years of Soviet occupation before escaping with her family to Pakistan...
- Mahmud TarziMahmud TarziMahmūd Bēg Tarzī was one of Afghanistan's greatest intellectuals. He is known as the father of Afghan journalism...
(1865 - 1933) - Mohammad Shafiq Hamdam
- Sultan MunadiSultan MunadiSultan Mohammad Munadi was an Afghan journalist, reporter, production manager and translator. He worked for the International Red Crescent, The New York Times and Afghan state radio at various times during his career in journalism...
(1976 - 2009) - Fariba NawaFariba NawaFariba Nawa is an Afghan-American freelance journalist who grew up in both Herat and Lashgargah in Afghanistan as well as Fremont, California. She was born in Herat, Afghanistan to a native Afghan family. Her family fled the country during the Soviet invasion in the 1980s. She is trilingual in...
(born 1973)
Women activists
- Meena Keshwar KamalMeena Keshwar KamalMeena Keshwar Kamal , commonly known as Meena, was an Afghan feminist, women's rights activist and founder of RAWA, who was assassinated in 1987.-Biography:...
(1956 - 1987), leader of the first Afghan feminist group, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of AfghanistanRevolutionary Association of the Women of AfghanistanThe Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan is a women's organization based in Quetta, Pakistan, that promotes women's rights and secular democracy...
(RAWA) - Khadija AhrariKhadija AhrariKhadija Ahrari along with Dr. Anahita Ratebzad, Roqia Abubakr and Masuma Esmati Wardak were the first four women elected to the Afghan Parliament in 1965 following the Constitution of Afghanistan of 1964 which granted women the right to vote....
- Dr. Anahita Ratebzad (born 1930)
- Roqia AbubakrRoqia AbubakrRoqia Abubakr, along with Khadija Ahrari, Masuma Esmati Wardak, and Anahita Ratebzad, became the first four women elected to parliament in 1965 following the Constitution of 1964 granting women in Afghanistan the right to vote....
- Masuma Esmati Wardak
- Malalai JoyaMalalai JoyaMalalai Joya is an activist, writer and a former politician from Afghanistan. She served as a Parliamentarian in the National Assembly of Afghanistan from 2005 until early 2007, after being dismissed for publicly denouncing the presence of what she considered to be warlords and war criminals in...
(born 1978) - Fatema Akbari
Others
- Sharbat GulaSharbat GulaSharbat Gula is an Afghan woman who was the subject of a famous photograph by journalist Steve McCurry. Gula was living as a refugee in Pakistan during the time of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan when she was photographed...
(born 1972) - Abdul Majid ZabuliAbdul Majid ZabuliAbdul Majid Zabuli was the founder of Afghanistan's banking system. He founded the Ashami company in 1932, which eventually became the Afghan National Bank .-Personal history:...
(1896 - 1998), founder of Bank-e-Melli Afghanistan