Afghāns (or Pathāns) in India reflect a history and identity inextricably bound to the history of Afghān migration, settlement, and state-formation in India. 1. Migration The Indo-Afghān histories depict a highly romanticised picture of iconoclastic Afghān mujāhidīn who, in loyal service to the Ghaznavid, Ghūrid, Tīmūrid, and Durrānī conquerors, fight their way into Indian "heathendom." As important as jihād , however, is the theme of ineffable Indian riches to be gained in it. In the early accounts of Muslim geographers and historians, we find the Afghāns first emerging as