Qais Abdur Rashīd or Qays ʿAbd ar-Rashīd (قيس عبد الرشيد‎)

Qais Abdur Rashīd or Qays ʿAbd ar-Rashīd

(The Founding Father of Pashtun)

Qais Abdur Rashid (Imaginatory sketch)

Qais Abdur Rashid (575 – 661) (قيس عبد الراشد’ ) also known as Kesh, Qesh and Imraul Qais  is said to be the legendary founding father of the Pashtun people. He was born in Zhob region of modern day Baluchistan, Pakistan. Qais Abdur Rashid is thirty-seventh in descent from King Saul or Malik Talut (Hazrat Talut A.S.).

There are doubts about the historicity and existence of such a figure: as the Pashtun ethnicity began taking shape in the Bronze age  and Islam spread through Afghanistan over a period time as opposed to people changing faith in a single day. It is likely the conception of such a figure was promoted to bring harmony between religious identity and ethnic identity.

He was sent by his tribe to Medina in Saudi Arabia. He met the Prophet of Islam Muhammad P.B.U.H. and embraced Islam there, and was given the name ‘Abdur Rashid’ by Muhammad P.B.U.H.

In introducing Qais Abdur Rashid, the Messenger of Allah P.B.U.H. mentioned to his companions, here is a prince of the line of the kings of Israel to witch both Qais and the companions attested.

The Prophet also gave him the ominous and truly prophetic title of Batan from which the word Pathan (modern day usage) has descended. It is also important to note here that Pathan is also the name of one of the progenitors of Qais (Kish) and a a grandson of Abraham (Hazrat Ibrahim A.S.) mentioned in the bible.

Qais returned to the region of Afghanistan (ghazni, Ghour and Zhob) and introduced Islam to his tribe.

According to the folk tale, Qais had three sons: Sarbaṇ (سربڼ), Beṭ (بېټ), and Gharghax̌t (غرغښت). His sons founded three tribal confederacies named after them: Sarbani, Bettani, and Gharghashti. Qais also had an adopted son, Karlani Ormur Baraki who is progenitor of the Karlani tribe.There are multiple versions of the legend, including several regional variants that mention only one, two, or three of the four legendary brothers.

Some Afghan genealogies list Qais as the 37th descendant of King Talut (or Saul, reigned c. 1050 BC–1010 BC) through Malik Afghana, a legendary grandson of Talut.

The British Indian administrator Muhammad Hayat Khan, in his book Hayāt-e Afghānī (حیات افغانی; orig 1865, English translation 1874), writes that Qais was the 101st  descendant of Saul through Saul's son Yehonatan.

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the theory of Pashtun descent from the ancient Israelites is traced to Tārīkh-e Khān Jahānī wa Makhzan-e Afghānī (تاریخ خان جهانی ومخزن افغانی), a history compiled by Nimat Allah al-Harawi during the reign of the Mughal emperor Jahangirin the 17th century. The Makhzan-e Afghānī's Israelite theory, however, has been dismissed by modern authorities due to numerous historical and linguistic inconsistencies.

Legend has it that Qais was born in the Ghor region of present-day central Afghanistan. Upon hearing about the advent of Islam, his tribe sent him to Medina in the Arabian Peninsula, in present-day Saudi Arabia. He met the Prophet Muhammad and embraced Islam there, and was given the name Abdur Rashīd by the Prophet. He then returned to Ghor and introduced Islam to his tribe. According to Mountstuart Elphinstone, in legend the famous military leader and companion of Muhammad, Khalid ibn al-Walid, introduced Qais to the Prophet Muhammad.

The Afghan historians proceed to relate that the Jewish tribe, both in Ghor and in Arabia, preserved their knowledge of the unity of God and the purity of their religious belief, and that on the appearance of the last prophet and messenger, Prophet Muhammad, the Afghans of Ghor listened to the invitation of their Arabian brethren, the chief of whom was Khalid ibn al-Waleed, so famous for his conquest of Syria, and marched to the aid of the true faith, under the command of Kyse, afterwards surnamed "Abdul Rasheed"

One legend has it that when Qais felt his time was near, he asked his sons to take him from Ghor to the Sulaiman Mountains and bury him at the spot where his ancestor Malik Afghana was buried, and he was buried on top of Takht-e-Sulaiman ("Throne of Solomon"), also called Da Kasī Ghar (د کسي غر, "Mount of Qais"), located near the village of Darazinda in Frontier Region Dera Ismail Khan of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, close to Frontier Region Dera Ismail Khan's borders with both South Waziristan and Zhob District, Balochistan. Some people visit the place, mostly in the summer, since in winters the snowfall makes it difficult to climb, and sacrifice an animal, usually a sheep or a goat at the tomb of Qais.

According to another legend, however, Qais settled in the Balkh region of present-day northern Afghanistan. From there, his different descendants migrated south, west, and east.



Nearly all of the major Pashtun tribes are linked or associated with Qais Abdur Rashid and his descent from King Saul (Hazrat Talut) through Malik Afghan.

Though Qais Abdur Rashid is not the direct ancestor or progenitor of all Afghans Pashtun/Pukhtuns), he was the grand leader of the Afghans at the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H. and the first Muslim Afghan.

Afghans refer to him as Qais the father and all tribes associate themselves with him out of respect for he is recognized as the 1st Afghan who reverted to Islam. Therefore even though Afghans lived and existed long before him ever since the destruction of the Temple of Solomon in ~ 587 BCE by Nebuchadnezzar II, in essence he is the 1st Afghan.

It is said that Qais Abdur Rashid (Kish) is that he is the blood father of all modern day Afghan (Pashtun) people and that all tribes are descended from him.

In fact, he was only a leader (Chieftain) of the group of seven Tribal elders (Tribal leaders) sent along with a group of 76 Afghans (Pashtuns) to meet the Prophet Muhammad in Medina.

There is, however, no strong evidence to show any genealogical connection between the present-day Pashtuns and the ancient Semitic-speaking Israelites. DNA shows that Pashtuns have several Y-haplogroups, although R1a makes up about 51% among Pashtuns. Hence, Pashtuns have a significant affinity with their neighboring Indo-European speaking ethnic groups, and most present-day Pashtuns descended from the original Indo-European population who have lived in the territory by other names, such as Arachosians, (Indo-Iranians), and their forebears.

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Posted in: History