For more than four years, the Taliban have systematically erased Persian words and expressions from schools, universities, and even city streets. In recent days, images shared on social media have revealed a new phase of this effort. Taliban authorities have removed urban signboards in Kabul, rearranged text, replaced Persian with Pashto, and gone so far as to translate proper names. In one striking example, “Shahr-e Naw Kabul” appears as “Nawi Shar,” while “Bagh-e Daoud” has been changed to “Daoud Ban.” These changes have triggered strong reactions from many citizens. Around the same time, the group removed Persian and Uzbek signboards from Samangan University.
One image installed by the Taliban municipality in Kabul clearly shows a proper name rendered into two other languages. “Bagh-e Daoud,” a well-known landmark in the city, now appears in Pashto and English. In these images, the familiar name has been replaced with “Daoud Ban” and “Daoud Garden,” altering how the place is recognized and remembered.
Omid, a resident of Ghazni who asked to remain anonymous, describes this practice as deeply misguided. “Translating proper place names is a fundamental mistake,” he says. “No standard grammar anywhere in the world allows the translation of a geographical name into another language. Anyone who believes they are serving Kabul by translating its well-known names from Persian into Pashto should rethink this. Such actions do a disservice even to the Pashto language itself. The Academy of Sciences and other responsible institutions should step in and stop this.”
He adds that the newly installed signboards, which Taliban officials claim are meant to improve navigation, are instead creating fresh confusion across Kabul. Rather than helping residents find their way, these changes disrupt familiar references and daily routines.
Nariman, a resident of Kabul, sees these actions as part of a broader pattern. Over the past four years, he says, the Taliban have repeatedly targeted the linguistic and ethnic identities of the country’s people, pushing ethnic exclusivity and monopolizing language. Despite this pressure, he notes, Persian has remained the shared language of the People of Afghanistan and has never been erased through force at any point in history.
“The Taliban’s extremism has closed both their eyes and their minds,” Nariman says. “Everywhere else in the world, proper names remain untouched, yet they insist on translating them. This shows how determined they are to cling to ignorance and fabrication. No logic or standard can justify this behavior. It fuels ethnic and linguistic hatred, and one day it will come back to harm the group itself.”
Azizullah Aral, a member of the Afghanistan Academy of Sciences and a professor of Uzbek language and literature at Tashkent State University, explains the issue from a linguistic perspective. “Proper names cannot be translated,” he says. “They are names, not ordinary words. When ‘Shahr-e Naw’ becomes ‘Nawi Khar,’ it loses its identity. When ‘Bagh-e Daoud’ turns into ‘Daoud Garden’ or ‘Daoud Ban,’ it becomes a historical distortion. Linguistics allows only the original form or, at most, transliteration. Translation violates linguistic trust.”
These changes follow earlier measures taken by the Taliban across the country’s universities. Over the past four years, they have removed the word “Daneshgah” from all higher education institutions and replaced it with “Pohantoon” in both Persian and Pashto. In universities where the term had appeared in Uzbek, it was removed as well.
Most recently, Taliban authorities eliminated both Uzbek and Persian from the signboard of Samangan University and replaced them with Pashto and English. Speakers of the excluded languages criticized the move and demanded that Uzbek and Persian be restored. Earlier, in October 2023, the Taliban removed Uzbek from the signboard of Jawzjan University. Public pressure and protests by Uzbek cultural figures eventually forced its reinstatement.
Reacting to the Samangan decision, Matiullah Tural, a young Uzbek activist, wrote, “I do not understand why the emotions of the indigenous people of this country are repeatedly toyed with. The Uzbek language is rooted in the history, culture, and literature of this land. Millions of people live with it, think with it, and express their feelings through it. Removing its name from walls does nothing to reduce its true value.”
Earlier, the Hasht-e Subh Daily reported that the Taliban head at Takhar University had struck out the Persian words “Daneshjo” and “Daneshgah,” dismissed or demoted around seventeen staff members, and replaced them with individuals loyal to him.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
پاکسازی زبانی از خیابان تا دانشگاه؛ طالبان چگونه نامهای خاص را ترجمه میکنند؟
