HINDKI

hindki, the name given to the hindus who inhabit afghanistan. they are of the khatri class, and are found all over the country even amongst the wildest tribes. bellew in his _races of afghanistan_ estimates their number at about 300,000. the name hindki is also loosely used on the upper indus, in dir, bajour, &c., to denote the speakers of punjabi or any of its dialects. it is sometimes applied in a historical sense to the buddhist inhabitants of the peshawar valley north of the kabul river, who were driven thence about the 5th or 6th century and settled in the neighbourhood of kandahar.