During the Mughal Era, there was a tradition of the Afghans (the Pashtun people) being descended from the exiled lost tribes of Israel.This tradition was referenced in 19th century western scholarship and was also incorporated in the "Lost Tribes" literature popular at the time (notably George Moore's The Lost Tribes of 1861).Recently (2000s), interest in the topic has been revived by Jerusalem anthropologist Shalva Weil, who was quoted in the popular press to the effect that "Taliban may be descended from Jews".The traditions surrounding the Afghans (Pashtuns) being remote descendants of the "Lost Tribes of Israel" is to be distinguished from the historical Jewish community in Afghanistan which flourished from about the 7th to the early 20th century, but which has essentially disappeared due to emigration to Israel since the 1950s.