The Khalaj (Bactrian χαλασσ Xalass; ; ) are a Turkic ethnic group who mainly live in Iran. Medieval Muslim scholars considered the tribe to be one of the earliest to cross the Amu Darya from Central Asia into present-day Afghanistan. The Khalaj were described as sheep-grazing nomads in Ghazni, Qalati Ghilji, and the surrounding districts, who had a habit of wandering through seasonal pastures. In Iran, they still speak Khalaj language although most of them are Persianized. In Afghanistan, the Ghilji tribe of Pashtuns very likely descends from the Khalaj people. Etymology According to linguist Gerhard Doerfer, Mahmud al-Kashgari was the first person mentioning the Khalaj people in his Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk: "The twenty twos call them "Kal aç" in Turkic languages. This means "Stay hungry". Later, they were called "Xalaj"." "Oguzs and Kipchaks translate "x" to k". They are a group of "Xalaj". They say "xızım", whereas Turks say "kızım" (my daughter). And again other Turks say "kande erdinğ", whereas they say "xanda erdinğ", this means "where were you?" Turkologist Yury Zuev stated that *Qalaç resulted from *Halaç, owing to the sound-change of prothetic *h- to *q-, typical in many medieval Turkic dialects, and traced Halaç'''s etymology back to ala, alač, alaça "motley, piebald". However, according to historian V. Minorsky, the ancient Turkic form of the name was indeed Qalaj (or Qalaç), but the Turkic /q/ changed to /x/ in Arabic sources (Qalaj > Xalaj). Minorsky added: "Qalaj could have a parallel form *Ğalaj." This word yielded Ğəljī in Pashto, which was used for the Pashtun Ghilji tribe centered around Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji. Origin Following al-Khwarizmi, Josef Markwart claimed the Khalaj to be remnants of the Hephthalite confederacy. The Hephthalites may have been Indo-Iranian, although the view that they were of Turkic Gaoju origin "seems to be most prominent at present". The Khalaj may originally have been Turkic-speaking and only federated with Iranian Pashto-speaking tribes in Medieval times. However, according to linguist Sims-Williams, archaeological documents do not support the suggestion that the Khalaj were the successors of the Hephthalites, while according to historian V. Minorsky, the Khalaj were "perhaps only politically associated with the Hephthalites." The Khalaj might have later been incorporated into the Western Turkic khaganate, as Hèluóshī (賀羅施), mentioned besides Türgesh (Tūqíshī 突騎施), before regaining independence after the collapses of the Western Turkic and the Türgesh khaganates. Groups of the Khalaj people migrated into Persia beginning