Pukhtana Da Tareekh Pa Ranra Ke was written by Syed Bahadur Shah Zafar Kakakhel. This book described the history of Afghanistan and the Pashtun nation from 550 BC to 1964 in the Pashto language. History is a long story of various aspects of human life and human achievements in the broadest sense. It began when a human came out of the animal world and entered the realm of humanity. This long story of human life and achievements is enjoyable on the one hand and beneficial on the other. It describes the strange events of revolutions and the rise and fall of nations. And reading it increases the love of nations for their countries and for the wonderful works of their elders. History is a mirror of the successes and failures of those who fought for power and authority in different eras.
The rise and fall of nations is a big part of national history. It is the duty of nations to be aware of their national traditions and the deeds of their forefathers, to be acquainted with the courage, bravery, foresight, and struggle of their leaders. Because every nation of the world learns from the great deeds of its leaders and desires to move forward.
As the most famous nations in the world, the Pashtuns are also an ancient nation with a long history. Unfortunately, the ancient history of this nation is shrouded in darkness, for obvious reasons. Pashtun society is based on the tribal system and tribal lifestyle is an effective part of Pashtun social life. The natural environment and geographical location of their area have created some special features in them.
Because of the tribal system, the loyalty and love of the people of each tribe are attached to the head of their tribe. They do not even accept the rule of any other tribe over them. It is also a historical fact that in different periods of history, the Pashtuns were the first to face the invading nations coming towards India. Due to the geographical location of their area, they have always stood for their freedom and they did not really accept anyone’s oppression. Moreover, they did not turn their attention to other nations, nor did other nations come close to them. Now, if it is true that man is a slave to the environment, then it would not be wrong to say that the history of Pashtuns is a product of the natural environment, geographical location, and lifestyle of their tribe. In other words, they preferred to protect their freedom over other matters of life. And that is why we do not get a written record of their ancient achievements.
When the Mughals wrested power from the Pashtuns in India in the mid-sixteenth century, some court historians wrote histories about the Pashtuns at the behest of the Mughal court. Since these histories are written under the influence of a particular biased point of view, therefore, no aspect of the image is visible in its original form.
In the early nineteenth century, some Orientalists turned their attention to the Eastern nations and their languages. In this connection, some scholars started writing histories of Pashtuns and started research on the Pashto language. The research and scholarly work of these scholars is highly commendable. In fact, it is thanks to the research of these Orientalists that a new path has emerged in the light of research and curiosity on the history of the Pashtuns.
I think there are some special difficulties in writing the history of the Pashtun nation. One problem is that the ancient history of this nation is based on speculation and partial information. The second issue is the actual ethnicity of the Pashtuns. Although the issue of ethnic research of Pashtuns is a purely scientific and historical subject. Unfortunately, what has been written about this nation has made matters even more complicated. The third problem in the history of Pashtuns, I think, is that everyone, whether their own or not, has used the words Afghan and Pathan for them, in other words, in the outside world these people are known as Afghans and Pathans. However, Pashtuns do not call themselves Afghans or Pathans but Pakhtuns.
These are some of the difficulties a writer may face in writing a history of Pashtuns. As far as Pashto history books in the Pashto language are concerned, to my knowledge, many books have been written so far, two of which are noteworthy, one is the Pashto translation of the English author Mr. Milson’s “Tareekh e Afghanistan” which has translated by Khan Bahadur Munshi Ahmad Jan from English into Pashto.
The second history is the history of the late Qazi Ataullah Khan “Da Pukhtano Tareekh” but these two books are incomplete. Although the history of Qazi Ataullah Khan Sahib consists of three volumes, however, it covers a very short period of Pashtun history. Munshi Ahmad Jan’s history “Tareekh e Afghanistan” is much better and more complete.
It is a historical fact that Pashtuns have been in power in India for more or less 300 years but the above histories are devoid of any mention of the political rise and fall of Pashtuns in India. Another major shortcoming of these histories is that they are completely devoid of mention of the ancient historical period of the Pashtuns which is about 15 hundred years old. In this respect, the history of Mr. Syed Bahadur Shah Zafar Kakakhel is certainly complete and comprehensive. The book chronicles the history of the Pashtun tribes from 550 BC to 1964 with authentic references.
Due to the importance and usefulness of the book “Pukhtana Da Tareekh Pa Ranra Ke”, it is being offered online for the readers of Pakistan Virtual Library. The book is available for online reading and free download in a high-quality Pdf document. Check out the following links to read online or download the complete book in Pdf format and enjoy reading on your computer and smartphone.
