"The Pakthas, Bhalanases, Vishanins, Alinas, and Sivas were the five frontier tribes. The Pakthas lived in the hills from which the Kruma originates. Zimmer locates them in present-day eastern Afghanistan, identifying them with the modern Pakthun."[20]
Gandhara, a region encompassing the South-east of Afghanistan, was also a center of Hinduism since the time of the Vedic Period (c. 1500 – c. 1200 BCE),[21][22] along with Buddhism.[23] Later forms of Hinduism were also prevalent in this south-eastern region of the country during the Turk shahis, with Khair Khaneh, a Brahmanical temple being excavated in Kabul and a statue of Gardez Ganesha being found in Paktia province.[24] Most of the remains, including marble statuettes, date to the 7th–8th century, during the time of the Turk Shahi.[25][26][27] The statue of Ganesha from Gardez is now attributed to the period of Turk Shahis in the 7-8th century CE, rather than to their successors the Hindu Shahis (9th-10th century) as has also been suggested.[28] The dating is essentially based on stylistic analysis, as the statue displays great iconographical and stylistic similarities with the works of the Buddhist monastery of Fondukistan, which is also dated to the same period.[28]Hinduism further flourished under the rule of Hindu Shahis, but went into sharp decline with the advent of Islam through the Ghaznavids, who defeated the Shahis. Nonetheless, it continued as a significant minority in Afghanistan until the 21st century, when its number of followers fell to a few hundred.[29][30][31]