This is an accepted version of this page
130-688: Abdul Ghaffār Khān ( Pashto : عبدالغفار خان ; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan ( Pashto : باچا خان ) or Badshah Khan ( بادشاه خان , ' King of Chiefs '), was an Indian independence activist from the North-West Frontier Province , and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar resistance movement against British colonial rule in India . He was a political and spiritual leader known for his nonviolent opposition and lifelong pacifism ; he
260-552: A madrasa in his hometown of Utmanzai. In 1911, he joined the independence movement of the Pashtun activist Haji Sahib of Turangzai . By 1915, the British colonial authorities had shut down Khan's madrasa, deeming its pro- Indian independence activism to be a threat to their authority. Having witnessed the repeated failure of Indian revolts against British rule, Khan decided that social activism and reform would be more beneficial for
390-453: A royal decree of Zahir Shah formally granted Pashto the status of an official language, with full rights to use in all aspects of government and education – despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian. Thus Pashto became a national language , a symbol for Pashtun nationalism . The constitutional assembly reaffirmed the status of Pashto as an official language in 1964 when Afghan Persian
520-521: A buffer for the British Raj from Russian influence was of little benefit to its residents. Opposition to British colonial rule, the authority of the mullahs, and an ancient culture of violence and vendetta prompted Bacha Khan to want to serve and uplift his fellow men and women by means of education. At 20 years of age, Bacha Khan opened his first school in Utmanzai . It was an instant success and he
650-523: A daughter, Mehar Taj (25 May 1921 – 29 April 2012), and a son, Abdul Ali Khan (20 August 1922 – 19 February 1997). Tragically, in 1926 Nambata died early as well from a fall down the stairs of the apartment where they were staying in Jerusalem . Bacha Khan's political legacy is renowned amongst Pashtuns and those in modern Republic of India as a leader of a non-violent movement. Within Pakistan, however,
780-714: A device). Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from Persian and Hindi-Urdu , with Arabic words being borrowed through Persian, but sometimes directly. Modern speech borrows words from English, French , and German . However, a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto. Here is an exemplary list of Pure Pashto and borrowings: naṛә́i jahān dunyā tod/táwda garm aṛtyā́ ḍarurah híla umid də...pə aṛá bāra bolә́la qasidah Peshawar Peshawar ( / p ə ˈ ʃ ɑː w ər / ; Pashto : پېښور [peˈχəwər] ; Hindko : پشور ; [pɪˈʃɔːɾ] ; Urdu : پشاور [pɪˈʃɑːʋər] )
910-599: A devout Buddhist, the emperor built the grand Kanishka Mahavihara monastery. After his death, the magnificent Kanishka stupa was built in Peshawar to house Buddhist relics. The golden age of Kushan empire in Peshawar ended in 232 CE with the death of the last great Kushan king, Vasudeva I . Around 260 CE, the armies of the Sasanid Emperor Shapur I launched an attack against Peshawar, and severely damaged Buddhist monuments and monasteries throughout
1040-586: A five-day period of mourning in his honour. Although he had been repeatedly imprisoned and persecuted, tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral, described by one commentator as "a caravan of peace, carrying a message of love" from Pashtuns east of the Khyber to those on the west, marching through the historic Khyber Pass from Peshawar to Jalalabad. This symbolic march was planned by Bacha Khan, to affirmatively demonstrate his dream of Pashtun unification and to help that dream live on after his death. A cease-fire
1170-748: A member of the Congress Working Committee for many years, resigning only in 1939 because of his differences with the Party's War Policy. He rejoined the Congress Party when the War Policy was revised. Bacha Khan was a champion of women's rights and non-violence. He became a hero in a society dominated by violence; notwithstanding his liberal views, his unswerving faith and obvious bravery led to immense respect. Throughout his life, he never lost faith in his non-violent methods or in
1300-420: A productive agricultural region that provided much of north India's dried fruit. Timur Shah's grandson, Mahmud Shah Durrani , became king, and quickly seized Peshawar from his half-brother, Shah Shujah Durrani . Shah Shujah was then himself proclaimed king in 1803, and recaptured Peshawar while Mahmud Shah was imprisoned at Bala Hissar fort until his eventual escape. In 1809, the British sent an emissary to
1430-665: A promoter of the wealth and antiquity of Afghanistan's Pashto culture." From the 16th century, Pashto poetry become very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote in Pashto are Bayazid Pir Roshan (a major inventor of the Pashto alphabet ), Khushal Khan Khattak , Rahman Baba , Nazo Tokhi , and Ahmad Shah Durrani , founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Durrani Empire . The Pashtun literary tradition grew in
SECTION 10
#17327839392081560-454: A punitive tax levied on merchants by Ranjit Singh's forces. Singh's government also required Peshawar to forfeit much of its leftover agricultural output to the Sikhs as tribute, while agriculture was further decimated by a collapse of the dried fruit market in north India. Singh appointed Neapolitan mercenary Paolo Avitabile as administrator of Peshawar, who is remembered for having unleashed
1690-622: A reign of terror. His time in Peshawar is known as a time of "gallows and gibbets". The city's famous Mahabat Khan, built in 1630 in the Jeweler's Bazaar, was badly damaged and desecrated by the Sikh conquerors. The Sikh Empire formally annexed Peshawar in 1834 following advances from the armies of Hari Singh Nalwa —bringing the city under direct control of the Sikh Empire's Lahore Durbar . An 1835 attempt by Dost Muhammad Khan to re-occupy
1820-562: A secular Muslim he did not believe in religious divisions. He married his first wife Meharqanda in 1912; she was a daughter of Yar Mohammad Khan of the Kinankhel clan of the Mohammadzai tribe of Razzar, a village adjacent to Utmanzai. They had a son in 1913, Abdul Ghani Khan, who would become a noted artist and poet. Subsequently, they had another son, Abdul Wali Khan (17 January 1917 – 2006), and daughter, Sardaro. Meharqanda died during
1950-514: A stroke and was buried in his house at Jalalabad, Afghanistan . Over 200,000 mourners attended his funeral, including the Afghan president Mohammad Najibullah . The then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi went to Peshawar, to pay his tributes to Bacha Khan despite the fact that General Zia ul-Haq attempted to stall his attendance citing security reasons. Additionally, the Indian government declared
2080-454: A summer capital and Peshawar as a winter capital was reintroduced, with the practice maintained until the Sikh invasion. Peshawar's Bala Hissar Fort served as the residence of Afghan kings during their winter stay in Peshawar, and it was noted to be the main centre of trade between Bukhara and India by British explorer William Moorcroft during the late 1700s. Peshawar was at the centre of
2210-516: A total of 451 damaged shops and homes, primarily belonging to members of the Hindu community, while at least 4 Muslims and 6 Hindus were killed, alongside hundreds of injuries. Peshawar emerged as a centre for both Hindkowan and Pashtun intellectuals during the British era. Hindko speakers, also referred to as xāryān ("city dwellers" in Pashto), were responsible for the dominant culture for most of
2340-455: A trade centre is highlighted by the destruction of over one thousand camel-loads of merchandise following an accidental fire at Bala Hissar fort in 1586. Mughal rule in the area was tenuous, as Mughal suzerainty was only firmly exercised in the Peshawar valley, while the neighbouring valley of Swat was under Mughal rule only during the reign of Akbar . In July 1526, Emperor Babur captured Peshawar from Daulat Khan Lodi . During Babur's rule,
2470-522: A variety very similar to it, while others have attempted to place it closer to Bactrian . However, neither position is universally agreed upon. What scholars do agree on is the fact that Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language sharing characteristics with Eastern Middle Iranian languages such as Bactrian, Khwarezmian and Sogdian . Compare with other Eastern Iranian Languages and Old Avestan : Zə tā winə́m /ɐz dɐ wənən/ Az bū tū dzunim Strabo , who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that
2600-493: A weapon that the police and the army will not be able to stand against it. It is the weapon of the Prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it. The organisation recruited over 100,000 members and became influential in the independence movement for their resistance to the colonial government. Through strikes, political organisation and non-violent opposition,
2730-421: Is "one of the primary markers of ethnic identity" amongst Pashtuns. A national language of Afghanistan , Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact number of speakers is unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 45–60% of the total population of Afghanistan . In Pakistan , Pashto
SECTION 20
#17327839392082860-585: Is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family , natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan . It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ( افغانی , Afghāni ). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns , it is one of
2990-550: Is spoken by 15% of its population, mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province. It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab province , areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and in Islamabad . Pashto speakers are found in other major cities of Pakistan, most notably Karachi , Sindh, which may have the largest Pashtun population of any city in
3120-508: Is taught poorly in schools in Pakistan. Moreover, in government schools material is not provided for in the Pashto dialect of that locality, Pashto being a dialectically rich language. Further, researchers have observed that Pashtun students are unable to fully comprehend educational material in Urdu. Professor Tariq Rahman states: "The government of Pakistan, faced with irredentist claims from Afghanistan on its territory, also discouraged
3250-521: Is the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa . It is the sixth most populous city of Pakistan , with a district population of over 4.7 million in the 2023 census. It is situated in the north-west of the country, lying in the Valley of Peshawar . Peshawar is primarily populated by Pashtuns , who comprise the second-largest ethnic group in the country. Situated in
3380-460: Is the granddaughter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and was the second daughter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan's eldest son Abdul Ghani Khan. The All India Pakhtoon Jirga-e-Hind is chaired by Yasmin Nigar Khan, who claims to be the great-granddaughter of Abdul Ghaffar Khan. Awami National Party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan rejected the claim, though a cultural ministry official clarified that Yasmin Nigar Khan
3510-528: The Khudāyī Khidmatgār ( خدايي خدمتګار , 'Servants of God') movement, which would strongly advocate for the end of British colonial rule and establishment of a unified and independent India. In response to his inability to continue his own education, Bacha Khan turned to helping others start theirs. Like many such regions of the world, the strategic importance of the newly formed North-West Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , Pakistan), as
3640-464: The 1918 influenza epidemic . In 1920, Bacha Khan remarried; his new wife, Nambata, was a cousin of his first wife and the daughter of Sultan Mohammad Khan of Razzar. They had a daughter, Mehar Taj (25 May 1921 – 29 April 2012), and a son, Abdul Ali Khan (20 August 1922 – 19 February 1997). Tragically, in 1926 Nambata died early as well from a fall down the stairs of the apartment where they were staying in Jerusalem . In time, Bacha Khan's goal came to be
3770-566: The 1947 North-West Frontier Province referendum on whether the province should be merged with India or Pakistan, objecting that it did not offer options for the Pashtun-majority province to become independent or to join neighbouring Afghanistan . After the Partition of India by the British government, Khan pledged allegiance to the newly created nation of Pakistan, and stayed in the now-Pakistani North-West Frontier Province ; he
3900-584: The Bannu Resolution , which demanded that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun territories of British India, instead of being made to join either India or Pakistan. However, the British refused to comply with the demand of this resolution. The Congress Party refused last-ditch compromises to prevent the partition, like the Cabinet Mission Plan and Gandhi's suggestion to offer
4030-458: The Durrani Empire . Before that, the fort of Peshawar was being guarded by Durrani troops under Timur Shah Durrani and Jahan Khan. When Raghunathrao , Malhar Rao Holkar and Sikh alliance of Charat Singh and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia left Peshawar, Tukoji Rao Holkar was appointed as the representative in this area of the sub-continent. Ranjit Singh invaded Peshawar in 1818, but handed its rule to Peshawar Sardars as vassals. Following
Abdul Ghaffar Khan - Misplaced Pages Continue
4160-576: The Garhwal Rifles regiment under Chandra Singh Garhwali refused to fire on the non-violent crowd. They were later court-martialled and sentenced to a variety of punishments, including life imprisonment. Bacha Khan forged a close, spiritual, and uninhibited friendship with Gandhi, the pioneer of non-violent mass civil disobedience in India. The two had a deep admiration towards each other and worked together closely till 1947. Khudai Khidmatgar (servants of God) agitated and worked cohesively with
4290-693: The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom based in modern Afghanistan declared its independence from the Seleucid Empire, and quickly seized ancient Peshawar around 190 BCE. The city was then captured by Gondophares , founder of the Indo-Parthian Kingdom . Gondophares established the nearby Takht-i-Bahi monastery in 46 CE. In the first century of the Common era , Purushapura came under control of Kujula Kadphises , founder of
4420-651: The Hindu Shahis under their king, Anandpal. On 28 November 1001, Sabuktigin's son Mahmud Ghazni decisively defeated the army of Raja Jayapala , son of Anandpal, at the Battle of Peshawar , and established rule of the Ghaznavid Empire in the Peshawar region. During the Ghaznavid era, Peshawar served as an important stop between the Afghan plateau, and the Ghaznavid garrison city of Lahore . During
4550-577: The Indian National Congress (INC) , the leading national organisation fighting for independence, of which Bacha Khan was a senior and respected member. On several occasions when the Congress seemed to disagree with Gandhi on policy, Bacha Khan remained his staunchest ally. In 1931 the Congress offered him the presidency of the party, but he refused saying, "I am a simple soldier and Khudai Khidmatgar, and I only want to serve." He remained
4680-525: The Khudai Khidmatgar were able to achieve some success and came to dominate the politics of NWFP. His brother, Dr. Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (known as Dr. Khan Sahib), led the political wing of the movement, and was the Chief Minister of the province (from 1937 and then until 1947 when his government was dismissed by Mohammad Ali Jinnah of the Muslim League ). On 23 April 1930, Bacha Khan
4810-466: The Kushan Empire . The city was made the empire's winter capital. The Kushan's summer capital at Kapisi (modern Bagram , Afghanistan ) was seen as the secondary capital of the empire, while Puruṣapura was considered to be the empire's primary capital. Ancient Peshawar's population was estimated to be 120,000, which would make it the seventh-most populous city in the world at the time. As
4940-613: The Peshawar Museum ) in memory of Queen Victoria . The British introduced Western-style education into Peshawar with the establishment of Edwardes College and Islamia College in 1901 and 1913, along with several schools run by the Anglican Church . For better administration of the region, Peshawar and the adjoining districts were separated from the Punjab Province in 1901, The North-West Frontier Province
5070-631: The Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, some of their territories were captured by the British East India Company . The British re-established stability in the wake of ruinous Sikh rule. During the Sepoy Rebellion of 1857 , the 4,000 members of the native garrison were disarmed without bloodshed; the absence of conflict during the rebellion meant that Peshawar was not affected by the widespread devastation that
5200-573: The Seleucid–Mauryan war , the region was ceded to the Mauryan Empire in 303 BCE. Around 300 BCE, the Greek diplomat and historian Megasthenes noted that Purushapura (ancient Peshawar) was the western terminus of a Mauryan road that connected the city to the empire's capital at Pataliputra , near the city of Patna in the modern-day Indian state of Bihar . As Mauryan power declined,
5330-608: The 1930s, a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration, and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society Pashto Anjuman in 1931 and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy (Pashto Tolana) in 1937. Muhammad Na'im Khan, the minister of education between 1938 and 1946, inaugurated the formal policy of promoting Pashto as Afghanistan's national language, leading to
Abdul Ghaffar Khan - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-612: The 1980s, Peshawar served as a political centre for the CIA and the Inter-Services Intelligence -trained mujahideen groups based in the camps of Afghan refugees . It also served as the primary destination for large numbers of Afghan refugees. By 1980, 100,000 refugees a month were entering the province, with 25% of all refugees living in Peshawar district in 1981. The arrival of large numbers of Afghan refugees strained Peshawar's infrastructure, and drastically altered
5590-608: The 400s CE, the Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Faxian visited the structure and described it as "the highest of all the towers" in the "terrestrial world" , which ancient travelers claimed was up to 560 ft (170 m) tall, though modern estimates suggest a height of 400 ft (120 m). In 520 CE the Chinese monk Song Yun visited Gandhara and ancient Peshawar during the White Hun era, and noted that it
5720-770: The 8th century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana . Pə́ṭa Xazāná ( پټه خزانه ) is a Pashto manuscript claimed to be written by Mohammad Hotak under the patronage of the Pashtun emperor Hussain Hotak in Kandahar ; containing an anthology of Pashto poets. However, its authenticity is disputed by scholars such as David Neil MacKenzie and Lucia Serena Loi. Nile Green comments in this regard: "In 1944, Habibi claimed to have discovered an eighteenth-century manuscript anthology containing much older biographies and verses of Pashto poets that stretched back as far as
5850-555: The Afridi Revolt of the 1670s. The Afridis massacred a Mughal battalion in the nearby Khyber Pass in 1672 and shut the pass to lucrative trade routes. Mughal armies led by Emperor Aurangzeb himself regained control of the entire area in 1674. Following Aurangzeb's death in 1707, his son Bahadur Shah I , former Governor of Peshawar and Kabul, was selected to be the Mughal Emperor. As Mughal power declined following
5980-569: The Asamai Gate, when the Holi procession was en route to Dargah Pir Ratan Nath Jee , with a Hindu procession member stabbing a Muslim individual in the mob. Riots ensued for the following three days, involved individuals from outlying tribal regions who had entered the city, with a mob at Bara Bazar allegedly chanting " Maro Hindu Ko " (Kill the Hindus). Estimates detail the riots resulted in
6110-619: The Chinese equivalent of the Sanskrit name of the city, Purushapura. An ancient inscription from the Shapur era identifies a city in the Gandhara valley by the name pskbvr, which may be a reference to Peshawar. The Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi noted that by the mid-tenth century, the city was known as Parashāwar . The name was noted to be Purshawar and Purushavar by Al-Biruni . The city began to be known as Peshāwar by
6240-465: The Gandhara Plains in the broad Valley of Peshawar in 100 CE. It may have been named after a Hindu raja who ruled the city who was known as Purush. The city likely first existed as a small village in the fifth century BCE, within the cultural sphere of ancient India . Puruṣapura was founded near the ancient Gandharan capital city of Pushkalavati , near present-day Charsadda . In
6370-636: The Jindee-a, a branch of the Swat River , in what was then British India 's Punjab province . His father, Abdul Bahram Khan , was a land owner in Hashtnagar . Khan was the second son of Bahram to attend the British -run Edward's Mission School, which was the only fully-functioning school in the region and which was administered by Christian missionaries. At school, Khan did well in his studies, and
6500-451: The Mohammadzai tribe of Razzar, a village adjacent to Utmanzai. They had a son in 1913, Abdul Ghani Khan, who would become a noted artist and poet. Subsequently, they had another son, Abdul Wali Khan (17 January 1917 – 2006), and daughter, Sardaro. Meharqanda died during the 1918 influenza epidemic . In 1920, Bacha Khan remarried; his new wife, Nambata, was a cousin of his first wife and the daughter of Sultan Mohammad Khan of Razzar. They had
6630-529: The Pashto Movement and eventually allowed its use in peripheral domains only after the Pakhtun elite had been co-opted by the ruling elite...Thus, even though there is still an active desire among some Pakhtun activists to use Pashto in the domains of power, it is more of a symbol of Pakhtun identity than one of nationalism." Robert Nicols states: "In the end, national language policy, especially in
SECTION 50
#17327839392086760-681: The Pathan community in the city of Kolkata , often nicknamed the Kabuliwala ("people of Kabul "). Pashtun diaspora communities in other countries around the world speak Pashto, especially the sizable communities in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia . Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari Persian . Since the early 18th century, the monarchs of Afghanistan have been ethnic Pashtuns (except for Habibullāh Kalakāni in 1929). Persian,
6890-410: The Sanskrit name for "City of Flowers," Poshapura, a name found in an ancient Kharosthi inscription that may refer to Peshawar . Chinese Buddhist monk Xuanzang 's seventh-century account of a city in Gandhara called the city Po-la-sha-pu-lo ( Chinese : 布路沙布邏, bùlùshābùló ) , and an earlier fifth-century account by Fa-Hien records the city's name as Fou-lou-sha ( Chinese : 弗樓沙, fùlóshā ) ,
7020-532: The Sikh victory against Azim Khan at the Battle of Nowshera in March 1823, Ranjit Singh captured Peshawar again and reinstated Yar Mohammed as the governor. By 1830, Peshawar's economy was noted by Scottish explorer Alexander Burnes to have sharply declined, with Ranjit Singh's forces having destroyed the city's palace and agricultural fields. Much of Peshawar's caravan trade from Kabul ceased on account of skirmishes between Afghan and Sikh forces, as well as
7150-610: The Sikhs. British suzerainty over regions west of Peshawar was cemented in 1893 by Sir Mortimer Durand , foreign secretary of the British Indian government, who collaboratively demarcated the border between British controlled territories in India and Afghanistan. The British built Cunningham clock tower in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria , and in 1906 built the Victoria Hall (now home of
7280-432: The Society's annual meeting in 1927. In 1955, Pashtun intellectuals including Abdul Qadir formed the Pashto Academy Peshawar on the model of Pashto Tolana formed in Afghanistan. In 1974, the Department of Pashto was established in the University of Balochistan for the promotion of Pashto. In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language around of 15% of its population (per the 1998 census). However, Urdu and English are
7410-427: The Valley of Peshawar, a broad area situated east of the historic Khyber Pass , Peshawar's recorded history dates back to at least 539 BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in South Asia. The area encompassing modern-day Peshawar is mentioned in the Vedic scriptures; it was one of the principal cities of the ancient Gāndhāra . Peshawar served as the capital of the Kushan Empire during the rule of Kanishka and
7540-413: The Valley of Peshawar. Shapur's campaign also resulted in damage to the city's monumental stupa and monastery. The Kushans were made subordinate to the Sasanids and their power rapidly dwindled, as the Sasanids blocked lucrative trade routes westward out of the city. Kushan Emperor Kanishka III was able to temporarily reestablish control over the entire Valley of Peshawar after Shapur's invasion, but
7670-401: The backdrop to weakening Pashtun power following Mughal rule: Khushal Khan Khattak used Pashto poetry to rally for Pashtun unity and Pir Bayazid as an expedient means to spread his message to the Pashtun masses. For instance Khushal Khattak laments in : "The Afghans (Pashtuns) are far superior to the Mughals at the sword, Were but the Afghans, in intellect, a little discreet. If
7800-479: The capture of the city by the Sikh Empire in 1823. In 1849, the city was captured by the East India Company and subsequently became part of British Raj , under whose rule it remained until the Partition of British India and subsequent independence of Pakistan in 1947. The modern name of the city "Peshawar" is possibly derived from the [reconstructed] Sanskrit word "Purushapura" ( Sanskrit : पुरूषपुर Puruṣapura , meaning "City of Men" or "City of Purusha"). It
7930-497: The centennial celebrations of the Indian National Congress in 1985; he was awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding in 1967 and later Bharat Ratna , India's highest civilian award, in 1987. His final major political challenge was against the Kalabagh dam project, fearing that the project would damage the Peshawar valley. His hostility would eventually lead to the project being shelved after his death. Bacha Khan died in Peshawar in 1988 from complications of
SECTION 60
#17327839392088060-484: The city was known as Begram , and he rebuilt the city's fort. Babur used the city as a base for expeditions to other nearby towns in Pashtunistan . Under the reign of Babur's son, Humayun , direct Mughal rule over the city was briefly challenged with the rise of the Pashtun king, Sher Shah Suri , who began construction of the famous Grand Trunk Road in the 16th century. Peshawar was an important trading centre on Sher Shah Suri's Grand Trunk Road. During Akbar's rule,
8190-433: The city was then captured by the Central Asian Kidarite kingdom in the early 400s CE. The White Huns devastated ancient Peshawar in the 460s CE, and ravaged the entire region of Gandhara, destroying its numerous monasteries. The Kanishka stupa was rebuilt during the White Hun era with the construction of a tall wooden superstructure, built atop a stone base, and crowned with a 13-layer copper- gilded chatra . In
8320-429: The city was unsuccessful after being unable to breach the Peshawar fort's defenses. Sikh settlers from Punjab were settled in the city during Sikh rule. The city's only remaining Gurdwaras were built by Hari Singh Nalwa to accommodate the newly settled Sikhs. The Sikhs also rebuilt the Bala Hissar fort during their occupation of the city. Following the defeat of the Sikhs in the First Anglo-Sikh War in 1845–46 and
8450-514: The city's demography. Like much of northwest Pakistan, Peshawar has been severely affected by violence from the attacks by the terrorist group, Tehrik-i-Taliban . Local poets' shrines have been targeted by the Pakistani Taliban , a suicide bomb attack targeted the historic All Saints Church in 2013, and most notably the 2014 Peshawar school massacre in which Taliban militants killed 132 school children. Peshawar suffered 111 acts of terror in 2010, which had declined to 18 in 2014, before
8580-423: The city, notably in Andar Shehr and Karim Pura. On 21 March 1910, however, rumors of musicians from Amritsar and a dancing boy from Haripur being brought into the city for Holi celebrations, led to a group of individuals who were marking Barawafat into forming a mob with the intention of stopping the procession . Despite Muslim and Hindu community leaders calling for calm, both parties ultimately clashed at
8710-477: The colonial government to launch numerous crackdowns against Khan and his supporters; the Khudai Khidmatgar experienced some of the most severe repression of the entire Indian independence movement . Khan strongly opposed the proposal for the Partition of India into the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan and the Hindu-majority Dominion of India , and consequently sided with the pro-union Indian National Congress and All-India Azad Muslim Conference against
8840-539: The commission and publication of Pashto textbooks. The Pashto Tolana was later incorporated into the Academy of Sciences Afghanistan in line with Soviet model following the Saur Revolution in 1978. Although officially supporting the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing". King Zahir Shah (reigning 1933–1973) thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had decreed in 1933 that officials were to study and utilize both Persian and Pashto. In 1936
8970-449: The compatibility of Islam and non-violence. He recognised as a jihad struggle with only the enemy holding swords. He was closely identified with Gandhi because of his non-violence principles and he is known in India as the 'Frontier Gandhi'. One of his Congress associates was Pandit Amir Chand Boambwal of Peshawar. O Pathans! Your house has fallen into ruin. Arise and rebuild it, and remember to what race you belong. Khan strongly opposed
9100-402: The court of Shah Shujah in Peshawar, marking the first diplomatic meeting between the British and Afghans. His half-brother Mahmud Shah then allied himself with the Barakzai Pashtuns, and captured Peshawar once again and reigned until the Battle of Nowshera in March 1823. The Capture of Peshawar took place in spring of 1758 when Maratha Confederacy in alliance with the Sikhs , defeated
9230-429: The death of Emperor Aurangzeb, the empire's defenses were weakened. On 18 November 1738, Peshawar was captured from the Mughal governor Nawab Nasir Khan by the Afsharid armies during the Persian invasion of the Mughal Empire under Nader Shah . In 1747, Peshawar was taken by Ahmad Shah Durrani , founder of the Afghan Durrani Empire . Under the reign of his son Timur Shah , the Mughal practice of using Kabul as
9360-430: The demonstrators . In 1947, Peshawar became part of the newly created state of Pakistan, and emerged as a cultural centre in the country's northwest. The partition of India saw the departure of many Hindko-speaking Hindus and Sikhs who held key positions in the economy of Peshawar. The University of Peshawar was established in the city in 1950, and augmented by the amalgamation of nearby British-era institutions into
9490-410: The different tribes would but support each other, Kings would have to bow down in prostration before them" Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity . In Pashto, this means that the verb agrees with the subject in transitive and intransitive sentences in non-past, non-completed clauses, but when a completed action is reported in any of the past tenses, the verb agrees with
9620-443: The eighth century. It was an extraordinary claim, implying as it did that the history of Pashto literature reached back further in time than Persian, thus supplanting the hold of Persian over the medieval Afghan past. Although it was later convincingly discredited through formal linguistic analysis, Habibi's publication of the text under the title Pata Khazana ('Hidden Treasure') would (in Afghanistan at least) establish his reputation as
9750-511: The era of Emperor Akbar . The current name is said by some to have been based upon the Persian for "frontier town" or, more literally, "forward city", though transcription errors and linguistic shifts may account for the city's new name. One theory suggests that the city's name is derived from the Persian name "Pesh Awardan", meaning "place of first arrival" or "frontier city", as Peshawar was
9880-625: The establishment of National Awami Party provincial governments in North West Frontier Province and Balochistan . He was arrested by Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto 's government at Multan in November 1973 and described Bhutto's government as "the worst kind of dictatorship". In 1984, increasingly withdrawing from politics, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He visited India and participated in
10010-461: The ethnic Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan , which was to comprise all of the Pashtun territories of British India and not be included (as almost all other Muslim-majority provinces were) within the state of Pakistan —the creation of which was still underway at the time. However, the British government refused the demands of this resolution. In response, Khan and his elder brother, Abdul Jabbar Khan , boycotted
10140-756: The ethnic Pashtuns. This led to the formation of the Anjuman-e Islāh-e Afghānia ( Pashto : انجمن اصلاح افاغنه , 'Afghan Reform Society') in 1921, and the youth movement Pax̌tūn Jirga ( پښتون جرګه , ' Pashtun Assembly ') in 1927. After Khan's return from the Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca , Hejaz−Nejd (present-day Saudi Arabia ) in May 1928, he founded the Pashto-language monthly political journal Pax̌tūn ( پښتون , 'Pashtun'). Finally, in November 1929, Khan founded
10270-451: The field of education in the NWFP, had constructed a type of three tiered language hierarchy. Pashto lagged far behind Urdu and English in prestige or development in almost every domain of political or economic power..." Although Pashto used as a medium of instruction in schools for Pashtun students results in better understanding and comprehension for students when compared to using Urdu, still
10400-526: The first city in the Indian subcontinent after crossing the Khyber Pass . Akbar's bibliographer, Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak , lists the city's name as both Parashāwar , transcribed in Persian as پَرَشَاوَر , and Peshāwar ( پشاور ). Peshawar alongside the modern day Ghandara region were found in the Vedic Scripture as Pushkalavati. Peshawar was founded as the city of Puruṣapura , on
10530-640: The first session of the Pakistan Constituent Assembly . He pledged full support to the government and attempted to reconcile with the founder of the new state Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Although initial overtures led to a successful meeting in Karachi, a follow-up meeting in the Khudai Khidmatgar HQ never materialised, allegedly due to the role of NWFP Chief Minister, Abdul Qayyum Khan Kashmiri , who told Jinnah that Bacha Khan
10660-478: The formulation of a united, independent, secular India. To achieve this end, he founded the Khudai Khidmatgar ("Servants of God"), commonly known as the "Red Shirts" ( Surkh Pōsh ), during the 1920s. The Khudai Khidmatgar was founded on a belief in the power of Gandhi's notion of Satyagraha , a form of active non-violence as captured in an oath . He told its members: I am going to give you such
10790-399: The government of Pakistan has only introduced Pashto at the primary levels in state-run schools. Taimur Khan remarks: "the dominant Urdu language squeezes and denies any space for Pashto language in the official and formal capacity. In this contact zone, Pashto language exists but in a subordinate and unofficial capacity". Some linguists have argued that Pashto is descended from Avestan or
10920-587: The heavy fighting at the time due to the Soviet–Afghan War , both sides, namely the Soviet – Afghan government coalition and the Afghan mujahideen , declared an immediate ceasefire to allow Khan's burial. He was given military honors by the Afghan government. Abdul Ghaffar Khan was born on 6 February 1890 into a prosperous Sunni Muslim Muhammadzai Pashtun family from Utmanzai , Hashtnagar ; they lived by
11050-531: The late 15th and 16th centuries. The Ghoryakhel and Khashi Khel tribe pushed the Dilazak Pashtun tribes east of the Indus River following a battle in 1515 near the city of Mardan . Peshawar remained an important centre on trade routes between India and Central Asia. The Peshawar region was a cosmopolitan region in which goods, peoples, and ideas would pass along trade routes. Its importance as
11180-606: The latter joined the Central Cabinet of Muhammad Ali Bogra as Minister for Communications. Released from prison, he gave a speech again on the floor of the National Assembly, this time condemning the massacre of his supporters at Babrra . I had to go to prison many a time in the days of the Britishers. Although we were at loggerheads with them, yet their treatment was to some extent tolerant and polite. But
11310-413: The launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb , which further reduced acts of violence throughout Pakistan. A large attack on a Shiite mosque in the city killed dozens and injured 200 people on 4 March 2022. In January 2023, another terrorist attack occurred at Peshawar in which 100 people were killed. Peshawar is located in the broad Valley of Peshawar, which is surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides, with
11440-617: The literary language of the royal court, was more widely used in government institutions, while the Pashtun tribes spoke Pashto as their native tongue . King Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign (1926–1929) as a marker of ethnic identity and as a symbol of "official nationalism" leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. In
11570-544: The name of the city changed from Begram to Peshawar . In 1586, Pashtuns rose against Mughal rule during the Roshani Revolt under the leadership of Bayazid Pir Roshan , founder of the egalitarian Roshani movement , who assembled Pashtun armies in an attempted rebellion against the Mughals. The Roshani followers laid siege to the city until 1587. Peshawar was bestowed with its own set of Shalimar Gardens during
11700-475: The names of provinces of Pakistan as ethno-linguistic names, However, this compromise was apparently contrary to what he believed in and strived for before partition: Pashtunistan as an independent state after the failure of the idea of a united India. Later on in 1980, during an interview with an Indian journalist, Haroon Siddiqui, in Jalalabad, Abdul Ghaffar Khan said The idea never helped us. In fact, it
11830-483: The native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern Iranian languages . As noted by Josef Elfenbein, "Loanwords have been traced in Pashto as far back as the third century B.C., and include words from Greek and probably Old Persian". For instance, Georg Morgenstierne notes the Pashto word مېچن mečә́n i.e. a hand-mill as being derived from the Ancient Greek word μηχανή ( mēkhanḗ , i.e.
11960-465: The opportunity to follow his brother, Abdul Jabbar Khan , to study in London , England . After graduating from Aligarh Muslim University , Khan eventually received permission from his father to travel to London. However, his mother wasn't willing to let another son go to London, so he began working on his father's lands in the process of figuring out his next steps. At the age of 20 in 1910, Khan opened
12090-609: The partition of India . Accused as being anti-Muslim by some politicians, Khan was physically assaulted in 1946, leading to his hospitalisation in Peshawar. On 21 June 1947, in Bannu , a loya jirga was held consisting of Bacha Khan, the Khudai Khidmatgars, members of the Provincial Assembly, Mirzali Khan (Faqir of Ipi), and other tribal chiefs, just seven weeks before the partition. The loya jirga issueud
12220-562: The position of Prime Minister to Jinnah. When the July 1947 NWFP Referendum over accession to Pakistan was held, Bacha Khan, the Khudai Khidmatgars, the then Chief Minister Khan Sahib , and the Indian National Congress Party boycotted the referendum. Some have argued that a segment of the population was barred from voting. Bacha Khan took the oath of allegiance to the new nation of Pakistan on 23 February 1948 at
12350-465: The possessed in the genitive construction, and adjectives come before the nouns they modify. Unlike most other Indo-Iranian languages, Pashto uses all three types of adpositions —prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions. *The retroflex rhotic or lateral, tends to be a lateral flap [ 𝼈 ] at the beginning of a syllable or other prosodic unit, and a regular flap [ ɽ ] or approximant [ ɻ ] elsewhere. In Pashto, most of
12480-562: The pro-partition All-India Muslim League . When the Indian National Congress reluctantly declared its acceptance of the partition plan without consulting the Khudai Khidmatgar leaders, he felt deeply betrayed, telling the Congress leaders "you have thrown us to the wolves." In June 1947, Khan and other Khudai Khidmatgar leaders formally issued the Bannu Resolution to the British authorities , demanding that
12610-585: The region, the Dilazak Pashtuns began settling in the Valley of Peshawar, and are believed to have settled regions up to the Indus River by the 11th century. The Arab historian and geographer Al-Masudi noted that by the mid tenth century, the city had become known as Parashāwar . In 986–87 CE, Peshawar's first encounter with Muslim armies occurred when Sabuktigin invaded the area and fought
12740-589: The reign of Shah Jahan , which no longer exist. Emperor Aurangzeb 's Governor of Kabul, Mohabbat Khan bin Ali Mardan Khan used Peshawar as his winter capital during the 17th century, and bestowed the city with its famous Mohabbat Khan Mosque in 1630. Yusufzai tribes rose against Mughal rule during the Yusufzai Revolt of 1667, and engaged in pitched-battles with Mughal battalions nearby Attock . Afridi tribes resisted Mughal rule during
12870-468: The ruins of the former grand capital. Until the mid seventh century, the residents of ancient Peshawar had a ruling elite of Central Asian Scythian descent, who were then displaced by the Hindu Shahis of Kabul. Islam is believed to have been first introduced to the Buddhist , Hindu and other indigenous inhabitants of Puruṣapura in the later seventh century. As the first Pashtun tribe to settle
13000-416: The same interview that "I'll live here. I'm now (for all intents and purposes) an Afghan. I'm not even permitting my son, Khan Abdul Wali Khan, political leader of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, to visit me because he'll insist that I go with him to Pakistan. But I don't want to go." Bacha Khan married his first wife Meharqanda in 1912; she was a daughter of Yar Mohammad Khan of the Kinankhel clan of
13130-444: The subject if it is intransitive, but with the object if it is transitive. Verbs are inflected for present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect, and past perfect tenses. There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood . Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masculine and feminine), two numbers (singular and plural), and four cases (direct, oblique, ablative, and vocative). The possessor precedes
13260-712: The tenth–12th century, Peshawar served as a headquarters for Hindu Nath Panthi Yogis, who in turn are believed to have extensively interacted with Muslim Sufi mystics. In 1179–80, Muhammad Ghori captured Peshawar, though the city was then destroyed in the early 1200s at the hands of the Mongols . Peshawar was an important regional centre under the Lodi dynasty of Delhi Sultanate . The Ghoryakhel Pashtuns Khalil, Muhmands, Daudzai, Chamkani tribes and some Khashi Khel Pashtuns , ancestors of modern-day Yusufzai and Gigyani Pashtuns, began settling rural regions around Peshawar in
13390-559: The time that Peshawar was under British rule. Peshawar was also home to a non-violent resistance movement led by Ghaffar Khan , a disciple of Mahatma Gandhi . In April 1930, Khan, leading a large group of his followers, protested in Qissa Khwani Bazaar against discriminatory laws that had been enacted by the colonial government; hundreds were killed when a detachment of the British Indian Army opened fire on
13520-591: The treatment which was meted out to me in this Islamic state of ours was such that I would not even like to mention it to you. He was arrested several times after late 1948. In 1956 he was arrested for opposing the One Unit Scheme. The government attempted in 1958 to reconcile with him and offered him a ministry in the government, after the assassination of his brother, but he refused. He remained in prison till 1957 only to be re-arrested in 1958 until an illness in 1964 allowed for his release. In 1962, Bacha Khan
13650-417: The tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana . This was around the time when the area inhabited by the Pashtuns was governed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . From the 3rd century CE onward, they are mostly referred to by the name Afghan ( Abgan ). Abdul Hai Habibi believed that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri of the early Ghurid period in
13780-486: The two official languages of Afghanistan alongside Dari , and it is the second-largest provincial language of Pakistan , spoken mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the northern districts of Balochistan . Likewise, it is the primary language of the Pashtun diaspora around the world. The total number of Pashto-speakers is at least 40 million, although some estimates place it as high as 60 million. Pashto
13910-411: The two official languages of Pakistan. Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and north Balochistan . Yet, the primary medium of education in government schools in Pakistan is Urdu. The lack of importance given to Pashto and its neglect has caused growing resentment amongst Pashtuns. It is noted that Pashto
14040-532: The university. Until the mid-1950s, Peshawar was enclosed within a city wall and sixteen gates. In the 1960s, Peshawar was a base for a CIA operation to spy on the Soviet Union , with the 1960 U-2 incident resulting in an aircraft shot down by the Soviets that flew from Peshawar. From the 1960s until the late 1970s, Peshawar was a major stop on the famous Hippie trail . During the Soviet–Afghan War in
14170-577: The vast majority of society have questioned his stance with the All India Congress over the Muslim League as well as his opposition to the partition of India and Jinnah. In particular, people have questioned where Bacha Khan's patriotism rests. His eldest son Ghani Khan was a poet. Ghani Khan's wife, Roshan, was from a Parsi family and was the daughter of Nawab Rustam Jang, a prince of Hyderabad . His second son, Abdul Wali Khan ,
14300-616: The winter of 327–26 BCE , Alexander the Great subdued the Valley of Peshawar during his invasion of the Indus Valley , as well as the nearby Swat and Buner valleys. Following Alexander's conquest, the Valley of Peshawar came under the suzerainty of Seleucus I Nicator , founder of the Seleucid Empire . A locally-made vase fragment that was found in Peshawar depicts a scene from Sophocles ' play Antigone . Following
14430-658: The world. Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in India , Tajikistan , and northeastern Iran (primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen , near the Afghan border). In India most ethnic Pashtun (Pathan) peoples speak the geographically native Hindi-Urdu language rather than Pashto, but there are small numbers of Pashto speakers, such as the Sheen Khalai in Rajasthan , and
14560-847: Was a descendant of Abdul Ghaffar Khan's "adopted" son. Salma Ataullahjan is the great-grandniece of Abdul Ghaffar Khan and a member of the Senate of Canada . In 2008, a documentary, titled The Frontier Gandhi: Badshah Khan, a Torch for Peace , by film-maker and writer T.C. McLuhan, premiered in New York. The film received the 2009 award for Best Documentary Film at the Middle East International Film Festival (see film page ). Pashto language Pashto ( / ˈ p ʌ ʃ t oʊ / PUH -shto , / ˈ p æ ʃ t oʊ / PASH -toe ; پښتو , Pəx̌tó , [pəʂˈto, pʊxˈto, pəʃˈto, pəçˈto] )
14690-481: Was a devout Muslim and an advocate for Hindu–Muslim unity in the subcontinent . Due to his similar ideologies and close friendship with Mahatma Gandhi , Khan was nicknamed Sarhadi Gandhi ( सरहदी गांधी , 'the Frontier Gandhi';). In 1929, Khan founded the Khudai Khidmatgar , an anti-colonial nonviolent resistance movement. The Khudai Khidmatgar's success and popularity eventually prompted
14820-533: Was a young British Indian airforce officer and was Sikh by faith. Mariam later converted to Christianity . Mohammed Yahya , Education Minister of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa , was the only son-in-law of Bacha Khan. Asfandyar Wali Khan is the grandson of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and was the leader of the Awami National Party. The party was in power from 2008 to 2013. Zarine Khan Walsh, who lives in Mumbai,
14950-656: Was announced in the Afghan Civil War to allow the funeral to take place, even though it was marred by bomb explosions killing fifteen people. Abdul Ghaffar Khan took an oath of allegiance to Pakistan in 1948 in the legislation assembly. When during his speech he was asked by the PM Liaquat Ali Khan about Pashtunistan , he replied that it was just a name for the Pashtun province in Pakistan , just as Punjab , Bengal , Sindh , and Baluchistan are
15080-502: Was arrested during protests arising out of the Salt Satyagraha . A crowd of Khudai Khidmatgar gathered in Peshawar's Kissa Khwani (Storytellers) Bazaar . The colonial government ordered troops to open fire with machine guns on the unarmed crowd, killing an estimated 200–250. The Khudai Khidmatgar members acted in accord with their training in non-violence under Bacha Khan, facing bullets as the troops fired on them. Two platoons of
15210-558: Was awarded Bharat Ratna , India's highest civilian award, by the Indian government in 1987. Following his will upon his death in Peshawar in 1988, he was buried at his house in Jalalabad , Afghanistan . Tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral including Afghan President Mohammad Najibullah , marching through the Khyber Pass from Peshawar towards Jalalabad. It was marred by two bomb explosions that killed 15 people; despite
15340-513: Was experienced throughout the rest of British India and local chieftains sided with the British after the incident. The British laid out the vast Peshawar Cantonment to the west of the city in 1868, and made the city its frontier headquarters. Additionally, several projects were initiated in Peshawar, including linkage of the city by railway to the rest of British India and renovation of the Mohabbat Khan mosque that had been desecrated by
15470-476: Was frequently arrested by the Pakistani government between 1948 and 1954. In 1956, he was arrested for his opposition to the One Unit program, under which the government announced its plan to merge all the provinces of West Pakistan into a single unit to match the political structure of erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh ). Khan was jailed or in exile during some years of the 1960s and 1970s. He
15600-654: Was home to the Kanishka Stupa , which was among the tallest buildings in the ancient world. Peshawar was then ruled by the Hephthalites , followed by the Hindu Shahis , before the arrival of a variety of Muslim empires . The city was an important trading Centre of the Mughal Empire before becoming part of the Durrani Empire in 1747, after which it served as the Durrani winter capital from 1776 until
15730-415: Was in conflict with nearby Kapisa . The Chinese monk and traveler Xuanzang visited ancient Peshawar around 630 CE, after Kapisa victory, and expressed lament that the city and its great Buddhist monuments had decayed to ruin —although some monks studying Theravada Buddhism continued to study at the monastery's ruins. Xuanzang estimated that only about 1,000 families continued in a small quarter among
15860-600: Was inspired by his mentor, Reverend Wigram, into seeing the crucial role education played in service to the local community. In his tenth and final year of secondary school, he was offered a highly prestigious commission in the Corps of Guides regiment of the British Indian Army . Khan declined due to his observational feelings that even Guides' Indian officers were still second-class citizens in their own nation. He subsequently followed through with his initial desire to attend university, and Reverend Wigram (Khan's teacher) offered him
15990-666: Was named an " Amnesty International Prisoner of the Year". Amnesty's statement about him said, "His example symbolizes the suffering of upward of a million people all over the world who are prisoners of conscience." In September 1964, the Pakistani authorities allowed him to go to the United Kingdom for treatment. During the winter, his doctor advised him to go to United States. He then went into exile to Afghanistan, he returned from exile in December 1972 to popular support, following
16120-525: Was named so by Mughal Emperor Akbar from its old name Parashawar , the meaning of which Akbar did not understand. The ruler of the city during its founding may have been a Hindu raja (king) named Purush; the word pur means "city" in Sanskrit. Sanskrit, written in the Kharosthi script, was the literary language employed by the Buddhist kingdoms which ruled over the area during its earliest recorded period. The city's name may also be derived from
16250-472: Was never a reality. Successive Afghan governments just exploited it for their own political ends. It was only towards the end of his regime that Daoud Khan had stopped talking about it. And Taraki in the early part of his regime also didn't mention it. So when I met him, I thanked him for not raising the issue. But later, even he raised the issue because he wanted to continue the problem for Pakistan. Our people suffered greatly because of all this. He also said in
16380-579: Was officially renamed to Dari . The lyrics of the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto. In British India , prior to the creation of Pakistan by the British government, the 1920s saw the blossoming of Pashto language in the then NWFP : Abdul Ghafar Khan in 1921 established the Anjuman-e- Islah al-Afaghina (Society for the Reformation of Afghans) to promote Pashto as an extension of Pashtun culture; around 80,000 people attended
16510-562: Was plotting his assassination. Following this, Bacha Khan formed Pakistan's first national opposition party, on 8 May 1948, the Pakistan Azad Party. The party pledged to play the role of constructive opposition and would be non-communal in its philosophy. However, suspicions of his allegiance persisted and under the new Pakistani government, Bacha Khan was placed under house arrest without charge from 1948 till 1954. In 1954, Bacha Khan split with his elder brother Khan Sahib after
16640-628: Was separated from Punjab Province in 1901, after which Peshawar became capital of the new province. Communal riots broke out in the old city of Peshawar during the spring of 1910, when the annual Hindu festival of Holi coincided with Barawafat , the annual Muslim day of mourning, resulting in a considerable loss of life along with hundreds of looted businesses and injuries. A month prior, in February 1910, prominent community religious leaders met with officials and agreed that Holi would be solely celebrated in predominantly Hindu neighbourhoods of
16770-433: Was soon invited into a larger circle of progressively minded reformers. While he faced much opposition and personal difficulties, Bacha Khan worked tirelessly to organise and raise the consciousness of his fellow Pashtuns. Between 1915 and 1918 he visited 500 villages in all part of the settled districts of NWFP. It was in this frenzied activity that he had come to be known as Badshah (Bacha) Khan ("King of Chiefs"). Being
16900-835: Was the founder and leader of the Awami National Party from 1986 to 2006, and was the Leader of the Opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly from 1988 to 1990. His third son Abdul Ali Khan was non-political and a distinguished educator, and served as Vice-Chancellor of University of Peshawar . Ali Khan was also the head of Aitchison College in Lahore and Fazle Haq College in Mardan . His niece Mariam married Jaswant Singh in 1939. Jaswant Singh
#207792