Xuanzang, a Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, visiting the Afghanistan region several times between 630 and 644 CE also speaks about them. In Shahnameh 1-110 and 1-116, it is written as Awgaan. Ancestors of many of today's Turkic-speaking Afghans settled in the Hindu Kush area and began to assimilate much of the culture and language of the Pashtun tribes already present there. Among these were the Khalaj people who are known today as Ghilji. According to several scholars such as V. Minorsky, the name Afghan is documented several times in the 982 CE Hudud-al-Alam.