Description
When using Persian terminology I have given preference to the Kabuli (Dari) dialect rather than Iranian Persian since the former is the official language of Afghanistan. The commonly accepted Dari meanings for technical terms have also been preferred to their Iranian usages. I do not differentiate between the several Arabic consonants which are included in the Persian alphabet since Afghans do not do so in their pronunciation, hence ‘s’, ‘z’, ‘t’ refer to various Arabic characters. Where the final ‘h’ (heh) is silent it is not transliterated (hence Maimana not Maimanah; daula not daulah), though I have used accepted English forms where they exist, for example mullah rather than mullā; caliph not khalīfa; shaikh not shaykh; Kandahar not Qand(a)har. However, I have preferred wazīr to the anglicized vizier and the Mongol transliteration of Chinggis Khan rather than Genghis Khan.