Pathans in India

Pathans in India are citizens or residents of the Indian Republic who are of ethnic Pashtun ancestry. "Pathan" is the local Hindi-Urdu term for an individual who belongs to the Pashtun ethnic group, or descends from it. The term additionally finds mention among Western sources, mainly in the colonial-era literature of British India. Historically, the term "Afghan" was also synonymous with the Pathans. The Pathans originate from the Eastern Afghanistan and Northwestern Pakistan regions, ethnolinguistically known as Pashtunistan.

There are varying estimates of the population of Pathan descent living in India, ranging from 3.2 million people per the All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind to "twice their population in Afghanistan" as per Khan Mohammad Atif, an academic at the University of Lucknow. In the 2011 Census of India, 21,677 individuals reported Pashto as their mother tongue.

Large-scale Pashtun migration began in the 11th and 12th centuries, as a result of the many Muslim empires and dynasties founded by Pashtuns on the Indian subcontinent. Pashtuns also arrived as traders, officers, administrators, diplomats, travelers, religious saints and preachers, students, and as soldiers serving in the armies of India's rulers. In many cases, migration and settlement occurred amongst whole clans. Today, the Pathans are a collection of diversely scattered communities present across the length and breadth of India, with the largest populations principally settled in the plains of northern and central India. Following the partition of India in 1947, many of them migrated to Pakistan. The majority of Indian Pathans are Urdu-speaking communities, who have assimilated into the local society over the course of generations. Pathans have influenced and contributed to various fields in India, particularly politics, the entertainment industry and sports.