pukht

Pukht, also spelled Pakht, Pukhtu, or Pushto in older transliterations, is a term connected to the Pashtun people and their language. The form Pukht appears in the language’s endonym Pukhtu and in some English transliterations of the ethnonym Pakhtun. In contemporary usage, Pashtun and Pashto are the standard terms.

The Pashtuns are an Indo-Iranian ethnic group primarily resident in Afghanistan and Pakistan, with smaller communities in Iran, India, and global diasporas. They are organized into many tribes and clans, yielding rich regional diversity.

Pukhtu (Pashto) is an Eastern Iranian language spoken by Pashtuns. It uses the Perso-Arabic script and has dialects such as Northern and Southern Pashto. It has official status in Afghanistan and in parts of Pakistan where Pashto is spoken.

Culturally, the term Pukht is linked to Pukhtunwali, the traditional unwritten code of Pashtuns emphasizing hospitality, honor, and asylum.

Etymology: The origin of the form Pukht is debated, but it is closely related to the ethnonym Pakhtun and the language name Pukhtu, with various historical spellings across languages.