Jesus In India — Page 136
126 JESUS IN INDIA Maalib; Maalib's Farlai; Farlai's Qais, Qais' Talut; Talut's Armea, and Armea's son was Afghan whose descendants are the Afghan people and after whom the latter are named. Afghan, a contem- porary of Nebuchadnezzar, was known as a descendant of Israel, and had forty sons. In the 34th generation of his genealogical tree, after some 2000 years, was born Qais who lived in the time of Muhammad (Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). His descendants multiplied down to 64 generations. ¹ Afghan's eldest son, Salm, migrated from his Syrian home and settled in Ghor Mashkoh, near Herat, and his descend- ants spread into Afghanistan. 2 In A Cyclopedia of Geography by James Bryce, F. G. S. (London, 1856), on page 11, it is stated that the Afghans trace their geneal- ogy to Saul, the Israelite King, and call themselves the descend- ants of Israel. Alexander Burns says that the Afghans state that they are of Jewish origin; that the King of Babel captured them and settled them in the territory of Ghor which lies to the north- west of Kabul; that up to 622 A. D. they continued to hold on to the Jewish faith, but that Khalid bin Abdullah (Abdullah has been written mistakenly instead of Walid) married the daughter of a chief of this tribe and made them accept Islam in that year. ³ On page 39 of Col. G. B. Malleson's book History of Afghanistan (London 1878), it is stated that Abdullah Khan of Herat, the French traveller named Ferrier, and Sir William Jones (a recognised Orientalist), agree that the Afghan people are 1. It should be read as 66. [Publisher] 2. See Appendix, extract 17. [Publisher] 3. See Appendix, extract 18. [Publisher]