Afghan (Pashto/Persian: افغان) refers to someone or something from Afghanistan, in particular a citizen of that country.
The pre-nation state, historical ethnonym Afghan was used to refer to a member of the Pashtuns. Originating from the name of the Aśvakan or Assakan, ancient inhabitants of the Hindu Kush region where the Pashtuns largely still live today. The word ‘Afghan’ is of Persian origin to refer to the Pashtun People
As an adjective, the word Afghan also means “of or relating to Afghanistan or its people, language or culture”. According to the 1964 Constitution of Afghanistan, all Afghans citizens are equal in rights and obligations before the law. The fourth article of the current Constitution of Afghanistan states that citizens of Afghanistan consist of Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Turkmen, Baloch, Pashayi, Nuristani, Aimaq, Arab, Kyrgyz, Qizilbash, Gurjar, Brahui, and members of other ethnicities. There are political disputes regarding this: there are members of the non-Pashtun ethnicities of Afghanistan that reject the term Afghan being applied to them, and there are Pashtuns in Pakistan that wish to have the term Afghan applied to them.
Afghani
The term afghani refers to the unit of Afghan currency. The term is also often used (and appears in some dictionaries) for a person or thing related to Afghanistan, although some have expressed the opinion that this usage is incorrect. The term “Afghani” (or more usually “al-Afghani”) is also a common surname among Afghans – for example, Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī and Jamila Afghani.
The Afghani currency unit was created in 1925. Between 1925 and 1993 varieties of Afghani coins and banknotes were in circulation through Afghanistan. Coins issued during this period consisted of: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 25 puls in bronze, brass, copper nickel, and aluminum-bronze; silver ½, 1, and 2½ afghanis; and gold ½, 1, and 2½ amani. Banknotes issued were in: 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 afghanis. In 1958 bank notes of 2 and 5 afghanis were switched with coins.