Insights into the Bitter Truths of Khushhol Khan Khatak

Abdurahim M. Mannonov

Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Keywords: Khanate of Khataklar, Shahboz Khan, Pashto (Afghan), Safavid dynasty, Khushhol Khan Khatak, Avranzeb,

Yusufzai, Babur Mirza.

Abstract: This article discusses Khushhol Khan Khatak and his bitter truths. During the period when Khushhol Khan

Khatak lived in the Afghan society, the system of tribalism was eroding, while tribal relations existed, the

manifestations of the feudal production system which was growing and developing in its bosom, were rapidly

forming. It was a period when some independent “states” - khanates - were emerging quickly instead of tribal

orders under the influence of other large feudal states around the region.

1 INTRODUCTION

Khushhol Khan Khatak is a great representative of

Pashto (Afghan) classical literature, a poet and writer

recognized as the founder, and “father” of this

literature, deeply mastered the traditions of Persian-

Tajik, Arabic classical literature. He is closely

familiar with the ancient Indian culture and he is a

great statesman of his time, a sage, a thinker, a

scientist and a highly enlightened person.

During his 78 years of life, Khushhol Khan not

only completely formed the genre system of Pashto

classic literature through his thousands of lyrical and

lyrical poems, a number of historical, philosophical,

religious, and moral works written in spiritual and

prose, but the revelations that appeared before him

were in the religious-mystical direction unlike the

literature, he consistently introduced a wide range of

secular-humanist motives to it. He was one of the first

in Pashto literature to describe the development of the

Afghan society at that time in terms of fighting

against foreign invaders, nationalism, patriotism,

getting rid of patriarchal tribalism as soon as possible,

and another world-scientific-educational, socio-

political, moral, many of the environment in which he

lived. He gained fame as a writer who started worldly

topics with a sharp criticism of negative vices.

https://orcid.org/0009-0009-3570-3455

2 DISCUSSIONS

At the time when Khushhol Khan Khatak lived, the

tribal system was eroding in Afghan society, while

there were tribal relations, the manifestations of the

feudal production system, which grew and developed

in its bosom, were rapidly forming. It was the period

when “states” - khanates were emerging.

The society in which the poet lived - on the one

hand, could not get out of the mire of endless tribal

wars and quarrels, fighting each other for land,

meadows, and caravan routes, killing each other,

demanding others, selling captives as slaves, on the

other hand, his As a result of such a disorderly,

scattered life, the absence of a single regular army,

the society became a vassal of foreign large feudal

states - the Iranian Safavid dynasty from the West, the

state founded by Babur Mirza from the East, and the

level of production, consequently, science, and the

consciousness of most of its inhabitants are low.

According to Khushhol Khan Khatak in his

autobiographical poems, he was born in the year 1022

Hijri (1613 AD) in a place called Saroye Akurai

between Kabul and Obo-Sind rivers. At that time,

Khushhol Khan Khatak’s father, Shahbaz Khan, was

considered the Khan of the Khatak tribe living around

Peshawar, which was dependent on the great Babur

state, and he inherited this position from his

ancestors. Khushholkhan Khatak grew up in this

khan's family. From a young age, he diligently

studied horsemanship, wrestling and hunting, and

980

Mannonov, A.

Insights into the Bitter Truths of Khushhol Khan Khatak.

DOI: 10.5220/0012935800003882

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies (PAMIR-2 2023), pages 980-990

ISBN: 978-989-758-723-8

military arts. It is not known where and from whom

the poet received his education. However, a person

who has read the poet’s literary legacy, translation

work and other sources of that time, has no doubt that

he was well-versed in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and

Indian languages, had high erudition, had great talent,

and was a knowledgeable person of his time.

According to the poet’s own admission, he studied

philosophy, medicine, astrology, pharmacology,

social issues, mysticism, ethics, artistic sciences, and

poetry with interest from his youth.

In 1641, the poet’s father, Shahboz Khan, was

seriously wounded in a battle with the Yusufzai tribe,

the biggest enemy of the Khanate of Khataklar

(originating from tribal relations) and died soon after.

28-year-old Khushhol Khan was left to rule the

Khatak tribe, or rather, he was appointed as the

official Khan of the Khataks by King Shahjahan, a

descendant of Babur. A poet writes about it:

ﺩ ﻪﻐﻫ ﺭﻭﺩ ﻩﺎﺷﺩﺎﺑ ﻭ – ﻥﺍﺩﺭﺪﻗ ﻩﺎﺷ ﻥﺎﻬﺟ

ﺩ ﺭﻼﭘ یﺎ ﯽﻳ ﺎﻣﻭ ﮐﺍﺭ  – ﻪﭘ ﺲﻟﻭ ﻡﻮﺷ ﻥﺍﺮﻤﮑﺣ ...

ﻩړﺍﻭ ﺩﺵﺮﻳ ﻩﺭﺯ ﺧﮏ ﺩ ی – ﺖﺳﺭﺩ ﺎﻣﺯ ﻭﻭ ﻪﭘ ﻥﺎﻣﺮﻓ .

(At that time there was a king, Shahjahan,

He was very dear to me.

Give me the place of my father,

I became the ruler of the nation.

There were thirty thousand hataks,

All passed to my command).

It is known from historical facts that Khushhol

Khan's ancestors were in close friendly relations with

the kings of the Babur state and served them

impartially. Khushhol Khan’s great-grandfather

Malik Akurai was entrusted with the protection of the

great caravan route from Atok to Peshawar, which has

been strategically important since the time of Akbar.

Even after becoming the Khan of the Khataks,

Khushhol Khan, like his ancestors, continued to

maintain good relations with the Delhi court and

served the Baburites faithfully. Shahjahan, who

greatly appreciated art and poetry, praised

Khushholkhan’s military talent and high skill in the

field of poetry, calling him “the lion of the battlefield

and the master of the pen”.

Khushhol Khan, the leader of Khataks, stood in

one line with the armies of King Shahjahan and

participated in battles against the enemies of the

kingdom in Eastern Punjab, Balkh, Badakhshan, and

even on the banks of the Amudarya.

In particular, Khushhol Khan conquered the

fortress called Turugod in the battle of Ajmir and

gave this fortress to Shahjahan. According to the

information, none of the chiefs of Delhi could

conquer this fort. In return for this victory, Shahjahan

gave Khushhol Khan a reward of 4 lakhs and also a

gift (jagir) of fertile land worth two and a half

thousand rupees around Lahore. It is also known that

Khushhol Khan was a personal friend of one of

Shahjahan’s sons - Muradbakhsh.

In the 50s of the 17th century, fierce armed

conflicts took place between the Yusufzais and the

Khatak tribes, who disobeyed the Delhi kingdom, for

the ownership of land, water, and meadows, and for

gaining leadership and dominance among the Afghan

tribes. After several hard-fought battles, in the end,

the Khataks are victorious. After that, with

Shahjahan’s permission, Khushhol Khan annexed

several villages belonging to the Yusufzais in the

north of the Sind River to the lands of Khataks.

After Khushhol Khan managed to expand the

territory belonging to the Khataks, he carried out a

series of reforms. Historical facts show, among other

things, that he cancelled the existing community

lands in the area of Khataks, which were distributed

from time to time on a per capita basis and passed

from hand to hand. According to the information

written down by the English orientalist Raverty (19th

century), Khushhol Khan ordered to determine the

boundaries of all the lands belonging to the Khataklar

tribe and clearly divided the boundaries of these

lands, according to the number of members of each

family and he arranged their land and entered it into

the list, separate pastures for herds .

Khushhol Khan, a well-known officer and captain

of Shahjahan had great prestige and attention among

the courtiers of Delhi. But the continuation of the

events that took place in the palace in 1657 made a

dramatic turn in the life and literary activity of 44-

year-old Khushhol Khan Khatak, who once chose the

nickname “Khushhol” meaning “Happy”, “Bakhtli”,

“always happy”. The truth of his bitter fate begins this

year.

In 1657, Shahjahan fell ill and became unfit for

state work. Among his three sons, Doroshukuh,

Muradbakhsh, and Avrangzeb, there are first secret

and then open conflicts for the throne, and in the end,

Aurangzeb wins these conflicts, exiles Muradbakhsh,

and accuses his brother Doroshukuh of treason and

beheads him, and imprisons his sick father Shahjahan

and takes the throne of Delhi in 1658.

From the first days of his accession to the throne,

Aurangzeb began to look suspiciously at Khushhol

Khan, a brave and brave general who participated in

many military campaigns together with Murad

Bakhsh. Khushhol Khan, in his turn, felt that

Aurangzeb started to pursue a policy that was not

similar to Shahjahan's policy, that is, he practically

sought to subjugate the Khataks as well as other

Afghan tribes, and became angry.

Insights into the Bitter Truths of Khushhol Khan Khatak

981

This internal conflict between Khushhol Khan

and Aurangzeb, which started immediately, and a

series of conspiracies organized by Aurangzeb to

distance Khushhol Khan from the Khanate of the

Khataks, eventually led to several battles between the

kingdom and the Khataks. Aurangzeb brought an

army against the Khatak tribe. But Khushholkhan will

not give up. With strong resistance, Aurangzeb, who

did not see that he could suppress the resistance of the

Khataks led by Khushholkhan with the force of the

army, tried to capture Khushholkhan by trickery.

Saying that he does not have good intentions towards

Khushhol Khan, he calls him to Peshawar for

negotiations. Khushhol Khan goes to Peshawar alone

but is quickly chained and imprisoned.

Here he is detained in a special room for some

time. Meanwhile, the governor of Peshawar told him

to release him if he paid a bribe of 50,000 rupees,

otherwise, he would send him to jail in Delhi.

Khushholkhan does not fall for this trick and kicks out

the governor who asked him for a bribe. After that,

heavy shackles of several pounds were put on his

hands and feet and he was brought to Delhi as a

dangerous prisoner. According to some accounts, the

“stubborn and proud” tribal leader and poet Khushhol

Khan was interrogated by Avranzeb himself and told

to give him fertile land around Delhi if he renounced

his tribal leadership. But Khushhol Khan, realizing

that the king's promises were nothing but a trick,

refused the conditions.

Khushhol Khan was summoned to Peshawar and

on the eve of his capture, he temporarily appointed

his eldest son, a talented poet, Afzal Khan Khatak, as

khan in his place. After learning of his father’s

capture, Afzal Khan raises the Khatak tribe against

the Delhi kingdom to free him. Heavy battles will

take place in between. But there is no way to free

Khushhol Khan. In the meantime, Aurangzeb sent his

experienced spies among the Khatak tribe and

succeeded in breaking the tribe from within and

capturing one of Khushhol Khan’s sons, the pious

Bahram Khan. During Aurangzeb’s reign, Bahrom

Khan betrayed his father Khushhol Khan and his

relatives as a Khan of the Khatak tribe and went to the

service of the Delhi Sultanate. Due to his betrayal, his

brother Ashraf Khan Hijri was also imprisoned and

kept in prison under harsh conditions in Delhi.

Ashraf Khan Hijri, who was thrown into prison

with his support, first in Delhi, then in Gwalior Fort

and in several other prisons, experiences suffering

and humiliation, but he does not bow down to the

Baburites. He was held in prison for almost 14 years

and died there, or rather, he committed suicide.

Ashraf Khan left a large collection of poetry and most

of his poems were written in prison and were

extremely painful. Exciting and painful poetic letters

written to each other between Khushhol Khan and his

son Ashraf Khan, who were in captivity at the same

time, have also been preserved. Khushholkhan

mentions such a poetic correspondence between

father and son in one of his ghazals as follows:

ﻪﭘ ﻥﺩﺮﻣ ﻪﻧﺭﺍﺩﺍﻭﺮﭘ ﻢﻳ – ﻪﭘ ﻥﺍﺪﻧﺯ ﺮﭘ ﺍﻭ ﺭﺍﺩ ﻪ ﻢﻳ

ﻩﻮﻳ ﻪﺼﻏ ﻭﺩﻢﻳ ﺑﻥﻮﺘﻠﻴ ﺩی – ﻪﭼ ﻪﭘ ﺭﻭﺍ

ﻪﭘ ﻪﺑﻭﺍ ﻩﺯ ﻢﻳ

ﻑﺮﺷﺍ ﻥﺎﺧ ﺩی ﺍﺭ ﮑﻧﯽﻠ – ﻩﺯ ﻮﺧ ﻮﺧښ ﻪﭘ ﻂﺧ ﻩﺩﺩ ﻢﻳ

ﻪﻨﭘ ﻣ ﯽﺘﺷﺎﻴ ﻢﻳ ﻪﭘ ﺪﻨﺑ ﮐﯥ – ﺎﺑﺎﺑ ﺮﻳډ ﻩډﺍډ ﻪﭘ ﺯﻩړ ﻢﻳ

ﻪﻳﻭﺯ ﺎﻣ ﻢﻏﻮﺧ ﺩ ﮐﺎﺗ – ﻪﭼ ﻪﺗ ﻪ ﯽﻳ ﻩﺯ

ﻮﺧﻪ ﻢﻳ

ﻪﭼ ﮏﻠﻓ ﻩﺮﺳ ﺳﺎﺑﺮﺳﯽ – ﻪﭘ ﺖﻤﻫ ﮐﯽ ﻪﻐﻫ ﻩﺯ ﻢﻳ

(I don’t care, I'm not afraid of death,

Why am I now afraid of the dungeon!

One is anger and one is separation [here].

I am between fire and water.

Ashraf Khan, my son, you wrote to me:

“I was glad to receive your letter” [father]

I have been in prison for five months.

I always think of you, father.

- “Oh, my son, I am in your sorrow,

If you are good, I would be good.

I’m the one who’s holding the sky

I’m that brave [Khushhol] father)[1.76].

After two and a half years, Khushhol Khan was

sent to Agra, where he was released from prison and

sent back to Delhi. But he is not allowed to return to

his homeland. He was forced to spend two years in

Delhi under strict house arrest, where he could not go

anywhere, and had to report to the guards every day.

The poet expresses his sufferings in prison, deep

loneliness, feelings of helplessness, dreams of

freedom, and his humiliating life in prison in one

mode as follows:

ﺪﻨﻫ ﻪﭘ ﺎﻣ ﺪﻧﺎﺑی ﺥﺯﻭﺩ ﻮﺷ – ﻪﮐ ﻢﻟﺎﻋﺭﻮﻧ ﺖﻨﺟ ﺩ ی

ﻩﺮﻫ ﺭﻭځ ﻪﻠﺗﺭﻭ ﻪﺗﺭﺎﺑﺭﺩ – ﻩﺭﻮ ﺍﺩ ﻪ ﺖﻘﺸﻣ ﺩ ی

ﺩ ﻞﺑ ﻢﮑﺣ ﺮﭘی ﻥﺍﺪﻧﺯ ﺷ ﯽ – ﻪﭼ ﻪﭘ ﻞﭙﺧ ﻢﮑﺣ ﺕﺩﺎﻋ ﺩی

ﻪﻧ ﺷ ﻦﻳﺮﻴ ﺍﻮﺧ ﻩږ ﻥﺍﺭﺎﻳ ﻪﺘﺷ – ﻪﻧ ﺎﭼﺩ ﻩﺮﺳ ﺖﺒﺤﺗ ﺩی

ﻪﻧ ﻞﭙﺧ ﮐﺭﻭﺗ ﺗﻮﻴﻧﺍﺭ ﻪﺘﺷ – ﻪﻧ ﻞﭙﺧ ﻢﮑﺣ ﻮﮑﺣ ﺖﻣ ﺩ ی

ﺪﻨﺑﻥﺍﻮﻳ ﻩﺮﻟﺭﻭ ﻢﻠﻏﺍﺭ – ﺍﺩ ﻮﻳ

ﻮ ﺎﻴﻣ ﺘﺷﯽ ﺖﺗﺮﻓ ﺩ ی

(India has been hell for me,

Although paradise is other countries

Going to the court every day to give an account -

See how hard it is.

To the one who walks free with his judgment,

It is a prison under the judgment of others.

You don’t have sweet talk or friends,

You can’t have a conversation [from the heart]

with someone.

Either you give something to someone or you take

it, You can’t walk freely on your own.

For a few months,

PAMIR-2 2023 - The Second Pamir Transboundary Conference for Sustainable Societies- | PAMIR

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I came here with a bandi)

The series of poems and verses written by

Khushhol in prison was later named “Habsiya’, that

is, “poems written in prison”. We witness the fact that

the poet described the “conspiratorial” policies of

Aurangzeb and other “Mongol” officials towards him

in a number of prison poems with inner anger and that

he was under deep mental anguish in the prison:

ﺐﻳﺰﮕﻧﺭﻭﺍ ﭼﯽ ﺍﺭﺁﺶﻳ ﺩ ﺖﺨﺗ ﻭ ﺝﺎﺗ ﺎﮐ

ﺖﺨﺗ ﻭ ﺝﺎﺗ ﻪﺑ ﯽﻳ ﻞﺟﺍ ﻩﺮﺳ ﺝﺍﺭﺎﺗ ﺎﮐ

ﻩﺯ ﻦﺠﻤﻏ ﻪﭘ ﻩﺪﻴﻋ ﻪﭘ ﻦﺸﺟ ﻪﻧﺮﺒﺧ ﻡﻮﺷ

ﻪﮐ ﺖﺳﺭﺩ ﻖﻠﺧ ﻩﺩ ﻲﻴﻠﻫﺩ ﺝﺎﻬﺘﺑﺍ ﺎﮐ

ﻪﺑﻭﺍ ﺮﺘﺳﻩﺮﻟﻮ ﻻیړ ﺩﺭﻭﺍ ﺯﻩړ ﻮﺷ ی

کﻮ ﻪﺑ

ﻪﻧﺮ ﻥﻭﺪﻧﻭژ ﻪﭘ ﺍﺩ ﺝﺍﺰﻣ ﺎﮐ

(Aurangzeb rests on the throne,

[But] He turned to rob the crown.

Although everyone laughs, in Delhi

I am sitting sad, unaware of the holiday.

Water from my eyes, my heart turned into fire,

After all, who can endure this life) [1. 654-655].

Khushhol Khan’s “prison” verses, especially

among the series of poems in “Firoqnoma” created in

Rantehbur, sharply criticized Aurangzeb as the most

tyrannical, deceitful, tyrant, conspirator and

murderous king of his time:

ﺩ ﺰﮕﻧﺭﻭﺍﺐﻳ ﺗﺪﻋ ﻠﺸﺨﺑﯽ – ﺩﻮﺧ ﺩ ﺗﺪﻋ ﺭﺎﮐ ﺧ ﯽﻠ

ﺍﺪﺧی ﺮﺒﺧ ﻪﻧ ﻪﭘ ﺍﺩ ﻩﺎﺷﺩﺎﭘ ﺩ ی – ﭼﯽ ﻩﺍﺮﻤ ﺩی ﺮﻳډ ﻩﺍﺮﻤ ﺩ ی

ﻪﮐ ﺭﺎﻴﺘ ﻢﻳﺍﻭ ﺲﻠﺑﺍ ﺩی

– کډ ﻪﭘ ﺮﮑﻣ ﻪﭘ ﺒﻠﺗﺲﻴ ﺩ ی

ﺭﺍﻭﺍﺰﺳ ﺩی ﺗﻮﺣﻻﺩ– ﻪﻧ ﻮﺳﺪﻨ ﻱﺮﻟ ﻪﻧ ﺗﻮﻗ

ﻪﭘ ﺐﻳﺮﻓ ﻪﭘ ﻕﺎﺗﺮﮑﻣ ﺩی – ﺩ ﻮﺳﺎﻨﺧ ﻪﭘ ﻕﻼﺧﺍ ﺩ ی

ﻢﻠﻅ ﺩﺭﺎﮐی ﻢﺘﺳ یﺩﺭﺎ – ﻪﻧ ﻪﭘ ﻭﺯﻪﻳ ﻪﻧ ﻪﭘ ﺩﺭﻻ ی

(Aurangzeb was given justice,

But he himself destroyed justice.

My God has no news of this,

Because of the king’s pride, very pride.

Honestly, he's a devil,

The whole body is full of deceit.

He deserves the wrath of God.

He has neither a promise nor a word,

He is the only one in fraud and deceit,

His morals are devilish.

He is cruel and unjust,

He spared neither his father [Shahjahan] nor his

son.)

ﺭﻼﭘ ﺗ ﯽﻟ ﻫﺎﺷﺩﺎﭘ ﯽ ﺎﮐ – ﻞﺳ ﻪﻘﺣﺎﻧ ﯽﻫﺍﺮﻤ ﺎﮐ

ﺭﺯ ﺯﺎﺳﺎﻧ ی ﻩﺩﺎﺴﻓﺭﺯ – ﻡﺩ ﻪﻫﻭ ﻪﻟ ﻪﻟﺪﻋ ﻩﺩﺍﺩ

ﻪﭘ ﺍﺩ ﻩﺮﻣﻮﻫ ﺖﺣﺎﺒﻗ – ﻡﺩ ﻪﻫﻭ ﻪﻟ ﺖﻌﻳﺮﺷ

ﺍﺩ ﻩﺎﺷﺩﺎﺑ ﻪﻧ ﺩی ﻼﺑ ﺩی – ﭼﯽ ﻠﻏﺍﺭﯽ ﻪﭘ ﻧﺩﺎﻴ ﺩ

(He reigned, chained his father,

A hundred times injustice, he cheated.

A thousand failures, corruptions

It is fair to say.

His anger is such that

He did these things in the name of Sharia.

Not a king, but a scourge,

He came to this world, he.

Among the poems written by Khushholkhan

Khatak while in captivity, there are also hundreds of

verses, verses, ghazals and odes written in memory of

his motherland, its beautiful garden scenery, happy

youth, and moral, philosophical, and romantic

content.

After four years of captivity, the poet is finally

freed from prison, physical torture and humiliation

and returns to his homeland and tribe. But in this

sadness, the remaining 21 years of the poet’s life are

filled with heavy worries, unrest, battles against the

Delhi kingdom, escapes and suras.

When Khushhol Khan returned from prison, the

struggle of not only the Khataks but also other

mountainous Afghans against the Babur state had

intensified. As a result of Aurangzeb’s aggressive

policy, many Afghan tribes rebelled. As soon as

Khushhol Khan returned to his tribe, he stood at the

head of his tribe, which rebelled against the kingdom

of Delhi. Pashtun tribes in the area from Peshawar to

Kandahar rebelled against Aurangzeb’s tyranny.

Aurangzeb begins to inflict heavy casualties. In

1674, the Afridi tribes of Khushhol Khan, Khatak,

and Aymal Khan, joined together and attacked

Navshahr and captured it completely.

ﻪﮐ ﺮﻤﻋ ﻪﭘ ﻩﺭﺎﻤﺷ ﭙﺷﺮﺗﻪﺘﻴ ﺗ ﺮﻴ ﺩ ی – ﺩ ﺭﺍﻮﺳ ۍ ﻪﭘ ﺭﺎﮐ ﮐ ﯽ ګﻨﻴ

ﻪﮑﻟ ﮏﺑﺯﺍ ﻢﻳ

ﻥﺎﻐﻓﺍﺩ ﻪﭘ ﮓﻨﻧ ﻣﯽ ﺗﻭﻪﻟ ﻩﺭﻮﺗ– ﮕﻨﻧﯽﻟﺎﻴ

ﺩ ﻧﺎﻣﺯﯽ ﺗﺎﺤﺷﻮﺧ

ﺧﮏ ﻢﻳ

(Although I am over sixty years old,

I am not behind the Uzbek in horse riding.

I took a sword for Afghan honour,

Khushhol Khatakiman is the hero of my time) [1.

411].

The poet who wrote these verses with pride spares

no effort in the fight with pen and sword against the

common enemy, the kingdom, and constantly writes

fiery verses against the enemy. He calls the tribes to

unite and fight for freedom. The uprising of the

Afghan tribes became so strong and widespread that

Aurangzeb himself came to Peshawar from his throne

in Delhi in the summer of 1674 to personally lead his

troops.

However, the personal participation of the

emperor of Delhi in the Sultanate and Afghan wars

did not make a sharp turn in the war. As Avrangzeb

Khushhol Khan Khatak said, “He is confused, his

memory is confused, his language is afgor” and he

returned to Delhi in 1675.

It is known from the poet’s biography that he

dedicated his more than fifty years of life and work to

the freedom and independence of his people and

Insights into the Bitter Truths of Khushhol Khan Khatak

983

homeland, eliminating the existing tribalism, making

the Afghans live as a union, and thus fighting against

foreign enemies and on this way, the poet experiences

very difficult and difficult, dramatic events.

Khushholkhan Khatak's ghazals and several other

works severely criticized all actions against the ideas

of Afghans to unite and live in harmony, leaving a

deep mark on Afghan literature. That is why, the

books and articles of many Afghan scientists, attach

great importance to the patriotic motives in the work

of the poet. Khushholkhan Khatak’s entire work often

tries to determine his place in Afghan literature

through his poems written in this patriotic spirit.

In fact, the idea of uniting Pashtun tribes and

turning them into a united nation occupies a very

important place in Khushholkhan’s socio-political

lyrics. The poet writes:

ﻪﮐ ﻓﻮﺗ ﻖﻴ ﺩ ﻕﺎﻔﺗﺍ ﭘ ﻪﻧﺎﺘ ﻣﻮﻣ ﯽ

ړﻭﺯ ﺗﺎﺤﺷﻮﺧ ﻪﺑ ﻭﺩ ﻩﺭﺎﺑ ﺷﯽ ﻥﺍﻮ

(If the Afghans have a union,

Old Khushholkhan was young again) [1. 96]

The idea that the Afghan tribes should be united

is a great idea that permeates the entire poetry of the

poet. Because the poet sees all the negative aspects of

the Afghan society, its dependence on countries like

Iran and India, behind the relatively well-developed,

centralized military feudal states, it is precisely this

disunity and mutual discord.

One can cite dozens of examples of

Khushholkhan’s poems written with deep inner

passion, reflecting his patriotism and his struggle for

the happiness of his people. However, in all the

poems related to these motives, the poet’s great ideal

and failure to achieve this ideal, that is, his bitter

tragedy and bitter truths, are embodied in the human

imagination. How many times did the poet inflict

losses on the Sultanate of Delhi, Avrangzeb, “cut off

their chests”, this skilful commander, a brave man

who bled for the future of his people, suffered in

prison, urged the tribes to fight, advised them, but did

not happen. They did not listen to his calls. The poet

is tired. The “arbitrary” tribes continued to be busy

fighting and fighting each other:

ﻕﺎﻔﺗﺍ ﻪﭘ ﭘﻪﻧﺎﺘ ﮐﯥ ﭘﺍﺪﻴ ﻮﺸﻧ

ﻪ ﺎﻣ ﺩ ﻞﻐﻣ ﺮﮔﻥﺍﻮﻳ ﻩﺭﺎﭘ ﮐ



ﻩﺮﺳ ﻮﻳ ﻪﻠﺑﺮﺗ ﻪﺘﺧﺍ ﺩی ﻪﭘ ﻞﭙﺧ ﺭﻮﮐ ﮐﯽ

ﻪﭘ ﻗﺎﻔﻧﯽ ﺋﯥ ﻢﻏ ﻭ ﺎﻣ ﻪﻧ ﻩﺭﺎﺟﺍ ﮐ 

(Alas, the alliance did not appear in the Afghans,

And I tore the Mongolian breast to pieces.

Afghans are busy with disputes among

themselves.

And I was the grief of their lack of union)

The Afghan tribes did not achieve complete

victory in the uprisings against Aurangzeb. Not

understanding the main (internal and external)

reasons for the defeats in these uprisings, Khushhol

Khan and others like him sometimes put the blame on

Aurangzeb and accused him of tyranny, invasion, and

fraud, and sometimes they accused the Afghan tribes

of lack of will and leadership. They could not and

could not show a clear path.

Emperor Aurangzeb, as already mentioned, after

failing to suppress the uprisings of the Pashtun tribes

by force of arms, turned to the trick again. Using gold

and silver, he gives positions to tribal chiefs, buys

them or replaces them with the power of money. By

sending his spies among the tribes, they sow seeds of

discord and manage to make them war with each

other. The poet writes:

ﯽﻧﻮﻴﻟ ﺗﻮﺷ ﭘﻪﻧﺎﺘ ﻪﭘ ﻮﻧﻮﺒﺼﻨﻣ

ﻪﻳﺍﺪﺧ ﺎﻣ ﻩﺭﻮﻏژ ﻪﻟ ﺴﻫﯽ ﻮﻧﻮﺒﻀﻏ ...

ﻪﻧﺎﺘﭘ ﻮﻟ ی ﻋ ﺐﻴ

ﺩی ﻪﮐ ﯽ

ﻳ ﺭﻮﮔ ی

ﯽﭼ ﺯﺎﻧیﭔ ﺩ ﻞﻐﻣ ﻪﭘ ﻮﻧﻮﺒﻘﻟ

ﻡﺮﺷ ﻨﻧګ ﻡﺎﻧ ﺱﻮﻣﺎﻧﻭ ﯽﻳ ﻪﭘ ﺩﺎﻳ ﻪﻧ ﺩ ی

ﻮﺧ ﻭﻞﻳ ﺎﮐ ﺩ ﺐﺼﻨﻣ ﺩ ﻮﻧﻮﺒﻫﺫ

(Pashtuns are crazy about career.

O God, save me from such anger.

The biggest fault of Afghans, you know,

They are proud of their Mongolian nicknames.

They have forgotten shame, dishonor, and

bravery.

After all, they say that the position was [bought].

We can see that the poet's sufferings, painful

laments, complaints about the national unity of

Pashtun society and tribes, and the low level of

consciousness are expressed in the following ghazal

in a deeper, fuller, and more artistically perfect way:

I am amazed at the beauty of this world.

Many are victims of greed.

When they act like that,

Shaitan should learn a lesson from them.

In this way, read the Qur’an,

Where are their jobs? Qur’an somewhere

Where can I find wisdom?

They are chemistry, and the majority is ignorant.

A good man is like a ruby,

Mistakes is like a stone threshing machine in the

mountains.

There are many good people in other countries,

But the Afghan didn’t want to go.

I said a lot about this to the Afghan people,

They did not listen to my words for a moment.

They are not far from good,

But there is no union, this is a dream in the heart.

If the Afghan nation unites,

Happiness finds medicine for its pains .

(Translation by J. Jabborov)

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In the autumn of 1675, Aurangzeb managed to

change the situation in his favour in the north-western

regions of his empire. As a result, the Bangash,

Madzai and Tirrokh tribes in Peshawar province

announced that they were dependent on Aurangzeb

and would not rebel against him. Aurangzeb

gradually forced the remaining tribes to submit to

him, even the Khataks who had played an important

role in the rebellions. Then the poet, whose hopes

were dashed, was filled with bitter anger and hatred:

ﻮﮑﺧﺩ ﺩ ﻕﺎﻔﻧ ﻪﻟ ﻫﻮﭘﺎﻧ – ﺎﻳ ﻪﭼ ﻢﻏ ﻡﺮﻟ ﻪﻟ ﻪﻠﭙﺧ ﻥﺍﺪﻧﺎﺧ

(From the unconsciousness of Khataklar, not the

union,

Or I will be filled with sorrow from my house).

Khushhol Khan is dissatisfied with his family and

the main reason for his grief is related to the “deeds”

of his traitorous son Bahrom Khan, in the words of

the poet. The poet Bahromkhan repeatedly mentioned

in his ghazals and verses the work of his “brave

father” - his shamelessness, “indolence”, and

“devilishness” and was very angry with him until the

end of his life. For example in these bytes:

ﻲﭼ ﺩ ﺭﻼﭘ ﻩﺮﺳ ﺩ ﻍﻭﺭ ﻕﺎﻔﻧ ﻑﻼﺧ ﺎﮐ

ﺩ ﺭﻮﻧ ﺎﭼ ﻩﺮﺳ ﻪﺑ ﻪ ﻧﺭﻪ ﺯﻩړ ﻑﺎﺗ ﺎﮐ

(A hypocrite [son] who could not reconcile with

his father,

How can you be honest with someone else?!)

Яна:

ﻪﺷﺍﺭ

ﻩﺭﻮ ﺩ ﻡﺍﺮﻬﺑ ﺩ ﻕﺎﻔﻧ ﺮﭼ

ﻩﺎﮔ ﻨﺳ ﯽ ﻩﺎ ﻀﻓﺍﺭﯽ ﯽﻬ ﺮﻓﺎﮐ

(Come, see Bahram's work of discord,

Sometimes he is Sunni, sometimes irreligious,

sometimes infidel).

In 1677, Aurangzeb, through the governor of

Kabul, Amir Khan, managed to make Afghan tribal

chiefs war against each other and create discord

between them. In this regard, the alliance between

Khataks (Khushhol Khan Khatak chief), Afridis

(Aimal Khan chief) and Momands (Daryo Khan

chief) is gradually broken.

As a result, the uprisings of the Afghan tribes will

subside. Khushhol Khan Khatak, after becoming

quite isolated, renounces the Khanate of the Khataks

and is forced to hide among the Afridi tribes with a

few close people.

The rulers of Delhi repeatedly demanded the

handover of their most dangerous enemy, Khushhol

Khan Khatak, from his traitorous son, Bahram Khan,

who was appointed as the official Khan of the

Khataks. Bahram Khan sends his son Mukarram

Khan as the leader of a group of soldiers to arrest his

father Khushhol Khan. 78-year-old Khushholkhan

Khatak, who is very old, comes to meet his grandson

with his sword drawn. Mukarram Khan, unable to

look directly at his grandfather’s face, reluctantly

turns back “dry”. Bahram Khan was angry that his

son returned “dry” and sent Mukarram Khan back.

Khushholkhan Khatak does not want to be captured

this time, he raises his sword against the armed

soldiers and fights with them. Enemy soldiers begin

to squeeze him from all sides towards a cave. When

Bahrom Khan found out about this, he sent a message

to Peshawar to the Baburites saying, “The old lion is

trapped in a cave, send a strong army to keep him

alive.” Before the arrival of new forces from

Peshawar, Khushhol Khan, warned by his relatives,

managed to settle in the mountainous region among

the Afridi tribes of Khatak [5]. But soon he died in

1691.

In one of his last poems, the great poet, brave

general predicted as follows:

ﺩ ﺗﺎﺤﺷﻮﺧ ﺭﺪﻗ ﻪﮐ ﺱﻭﺍ ﻪﭘ ﻫﺎﭽﻴ ﻪﺘﺸﻧ

ﺲﭘ ﻪﻟ ﺮﻣﻪ ﻪﺑ ﻲﻳ ﺩﺎﻳ ﺎﮐ ﺮﭔډ

ﻢﻟﺎﻋ

(Although no one knows the value of

Khushholkhan now,

Many people remember him after his death

This prediction of the poet came true. He has

become the most valuable, beloved, patriotic national

poet of his nation, which has now gained

independence.

* * *

The most significant part of Khushholkhan’s

literary heritage is, of course, his poetry and lyrics,

consisting of 40,000 stanzas written in various genres.

It is known that many copies of the poet's book are

kept in a number of libraries and manuscript funds of

the world such as England, Russia, India, Pakistan

and Afghanistan. In one of his odes, Khushholkhan

remembers that he had a collection of poems for the

first time, a devo and that it consisted of forty

thousand verses. But it is not known when and by

whom the complete collection of the poet’s works

was copied for the first time.

Professor Sidiqulla Rishtin noted that the two-

volume collection of the poet, kept in the collection

of the “Rampur Reza” library (India) and copied by

the calligrapher Muhammad Salim Siyolguti in 1730,

is older and more complete than all other copies [6].

But there is clear evidence that many copies of

Khushhol Khan’s Kulliyat or Divan were copied by

calligraphers even after 1730.

During the last 50 years, Khushhol Khan’s

collection has been published several times in

Kandahar, Peshawar and Kabul in thousands of

copies. The last edition of the poet’s anthology was

prepared by Abdulqayum Zahid Mishwanay in 2005,

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985

and a thousand copies were published in Peshawar

(Pakistan). The highlight of this edition, which

consists of 1167 pages, is the poet’s “Akhloqnoma”,

“Firoqnoma”, “Tibnoma”, “Folnoma”, “Nomi haq”,

“Svotnoma”, “Boznoma”, complete texts of his

separately written works such as “Fazlnama” are also

included .

This edition of Kulliyat differs from the previous

editions in that it contains poems related to the lyrical

heritage of Khushholkhan and a 162-page

explanatory dictionary of the poet’s works. “Kulliyat

“ contains 860 ghazals, 52 qasidas, 1684 rubai, 205

verses, 11 volumes (10 of which are in

zufiqafiyatayn), 3 murabbas, 1 musalla of 13 lines, 1

small masnavi, 1 tarjibband, 4 mukhammas, 1

muashshar, 11 rubai and 50 ghazals (6 of them written

in shiru-shakar style) in Persian. The poet proudly

said this about his poetic heritage in one of his poems:

ېﺪﻴﺼﻗ ﻡﺮﻟ ﻪﻟﺍﺮﻏ ﻩﺮﻫ ﻪﺑﺎﺑ! – ﻪﭘ ﺖﻤﮑﺣ ﻪﭘ ﺼﻧﺖﺤﻴ ﮐﯥ ﻻﺎﻣ

ﺗﺎﻣ

ﻪﭘ ﺮﻌﺗﻒﻳ ﺩ ﻮﻧﺍﺮﺒﻟﺩ ﻪﻧﻮﻟﺰﻏ – ﻪﭘ ﺖﻔﺗ ﺩ ﻮﮔﺮﺘﺳ ﺭﻭﻮ ﻮﻔﻟﺯ

ﺗﺎﺧ

ﻋﺎﺑﺭﯽ ﻩﺩ ﻪﮐ ﻪﻌﻄﻗ ﻪﮐ ﻮﻨﺜﻣی ﻩﺩ – ﻤﻫﯽ

ﺍﻭﻩړ ﺮﻫﻮ ﺩی ﺭﺩ

ﺗﻻﻭ...

ﻪﭘ ﺳﺭﺎﻓﯽ ﻪﺑژ ﻪﮐ ﺭﻮﻧ ﺎﻣﺮﺗ ﺮﺘﻬﺑ ﺩی – ﻪﭘ ﭘﻮﺘ ﻪﺑژ ﻣﯽ ﻪﻣ

ﺍﻮﻏ ﻩړ ﺗﺎﺜﻣ ...

ﺖﺳﺭﺩ ﺩ ﻥﺍﻮﻳ ﻣ ﯽ ﻪﮑﻟ ﻍﺎﺑ ﺩ ﻢﻟﺎﻋ ﺞﻨ ﺩ ی – ﻪﭘ ﮐ ﯽ ﺮﻫ ﻪﮕﻧﺭ

ﻪﻧﻮﻠ ﺗﺎﻬﻧ

(There are odes - clear from each chapter,

They are full of wisdom and advice.

I'm done with ghazals in the definition of

charmers,

I described their eyebrows and eyes, as [black]

spots.

Be it Ruba’i, or Kita and Masnavi,

Everything is erur durru, gavharu, dumb.

Others are better than me in Persian poetry,

Look, however, for an example equal to me in

Pashto [poetry].

A great example, my dear,

There are many flowers in it) .

It can be seen that Khushhol Khan penned almost

all genres of classical Pashto literature. It should be

noted that in Afghan poetry, no other poet of previous

or later periods wrote “many and good” poems like

Khushhol Khan. More than 860 ghazals of the poet

are clear proof of this. Khushhol Khan’s ghazals

include simple ghazals found in oriental classical

poetry, ghazali husni matla’, ghazali qita, ghazali

musja’, ghazali mulamma’, ghazali muvashshah,

ghazali zuqafiyatain, ghazali zebqafiya. Also, the

poet's poetry can be divided into those devoted to the

description of life-romantic, mundane, moral-

educational, comic, landscape, religious-orifice and

autobiographical and specific historical figures.

His ghazals are from 6 stanzas to 18 stanzas, and

in terms of their internal composition, they are

musalsal (yakpora), that is, focused on revealing a

plot line, event-filled ghazals, and separate ghazals,

each stanza of which is aimed at highlighting separate

topics. Most of the ghazals of the great Persian poet

Hafiz Sherazi were organized in a series of ghazals

“parokanda”.

Below is an example of Khushhol Khan’s ghazals

with a plot type:

A fairy came to my hut in the middle of the night,

The scent of your breath is scattered with musk.

Dress shirts, and waistcoats fit him,

From head to toe, the light is dazzling.

The white face shone with chastity,

Darkness and disbelief are also black as night.

Because she was beautiful and beautiful,

He also drinks boda and milks his hands full of

lime.

Sho'hu can't even recognize himself from sweet

pleasure.

The jewels are also rubies and mutes - they are

heart-wrenching.

This sleepy heaven flies away from my eyes,

I said to myself: “Hurmi, is this charmer dead?”

If he is, he'll be flirting with me, right in front of

me,

In the eyes, the blade of the sword, and the

eyelashes are daggers.

He used to say to me: “Know that I am one of the

world’s best,

Tell me if there is anything in it, okay?”

I have many lovers on this earth,

Iqboli laughs.

He was with me until dawn,

He was happy and went away.

The next example is a vivid example of the poet’s

messy and rindona ghazal:

Oh, come, sing and play, my lord,

Chapter by chapter tells new stories.

Let the house be a good destination, ul sheikhs,

Give me a cool rose with a spring flower.

Those children spend their days in the sorrow of

their stomachs,

The kings are responsible for the state of the

country.

I am both happy and unhappy in the palace of

kings -

If someone is thankful, then it will be ruined.

They are always happy or sad,

Because only wine is openly sold in it.

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Don’t look for loyalty and love in it.

Who, a kebab from the flames of fire.

It's a sin to enjoy beauty

Then, Khushhol, you will know the mirage all

your life .

(Translations by J. Jabborov)

It is a very difficult task to make a precise

thematic classification of the poet’s poems in

“Kulliyot”. Because the content of the topics that the

poet wrote is incredibly wide and numerous, we

conditionally divide the themes of his poems into

parts of the melody:

1. Romantic lyrics.

2. Moral lyrics.

3. Historical lyrics.

4. Patriotic lyrics.

5. Socio-political lyrics.

6. Philosophical and Sufi lyrics.

7. Landscape lyrics.

8. Religious lyrics.

9. Humorous lyrics.

Looking through the works that brought great

fame to Khushkhol Khan, we can see that he was a

sharp social thinker, a philosopher and a beautiful

ghazal Khan, a poet, a brave general, a patriotic

statesman, the freedom of his people, who skillfully

embodied in his poetry the events and events of his

time in all fields we can clearly imagine that he was a

person who was passionate about his future.

In the poet’s lyrics, romantic poems filled with

traditional themes and images are extremely original,

realistic colours and images of their time and

environment occupy the main place. The poet’s views

on beauty are mainly connected with human beauty -

existence, and social life. The main generalization

arising from his romantic ghazals and poems is the

poet's boundless love for a positive person.

In many of Khushholho’s poems, morals, the

spiritual world of a person, and his upbringing are

written. In this field, Khushkolkhan continued the

traditions of the great Persian-Tajik classics. It

encourages a person to have good moral qualities and

spiritual perfection. His poems reflect many specific

historical events or scenes from the lives of historical

figures that were characteristic of his time and

predecessors. These poems are combined with poems

on the theme of patriotism.

Khushholkhan’s poems express philosophical

themes, happiness, and the origin of existence

through unique observations. In general, in his

philosophical views there is more wonder in terms of

direction, wonder at the mystery of the universe:

ﺎﻣ ﻪﭼ ﺮﻈﻧ ﻭ ﮐ  ﻭ ﻪﭘ ﺕﺍﺩﻮﺟﻮﻣ

ﺗﻮ ﻪﭘ ﻥﺎﻬﺟ ﻢﻠﻏﺍﺭ ﺮﺗی ﻪﺑ ﺗﻮ ﻢﻣﻭﺭﺩ ﻫ ﺕﺎﻬﻴ

ﭻﻴﻫ ﺒﻧ،ﯽ ﻟﻭﯽ ﺖﺳﺭﺩ ﺭﺍﺮﺳﺍ ﯽﻳ

ﻟﺪﻧﻮﻣﯽ ﻪﻧ ﺩی

ﻪﻳﻮﻟ ﻪﻧﺎﺧﺭﺎﮐ ﻩﺩ ﻪﮐ ﻭ یﺭﻮ ﺕﺎﻨﺋﺎﮐ

(I spent this world - existence from my eyes,

I understood that I would leave the world as a goal

as I came.

No prophet or guardian found the world full of

secrets,

If you know that it is a huge enterprise, this is the

universe) .

The poet’s work is influenced by Sufism, but he is

not a poet of Sufism. In his mystical poems, he sings

the motifs that official Islam was able to digest.

In many of his poems, he takes a humanist

position on social issues and advocates humanity,

correctness, justice, honesty, uprightness, bravery,

diligence, knowledge, high moral qualities, and

righteous people. And on the contrary, he sharply

condemns those who are materialistic, covetous,

reckless, impure, deceitful, hypocritical, unjust, and

infamous.

A very interesting direction of Khushholkhan’s

poems is specially developed sharp satire and

humour. In his ghazals and rubai, he criticizes the old

mullahs, tribal chiefs, and unjust rulers in extremely

detailed detail. Examples of the poet's social, moral,

romantic, and humanist views can be read in the

following verses:

Donish so‘zni olib, tilingni tiygil,

Jahling kelsa g‘olib, tilingni tiygil.

Jonu jahon ketar, ham imon ketar,

Yomon tildan qolib, tilingni tiygil.

Ey shayx, gapirma, qo‘y, jannat, rizvondan,

Tubi , kavsaru huru g‘ilmondan.

Men bukun gul kiygan jononim ko‘rdim,

U bo‘lsa bas, kechdim nasya jahondan.

Xislatlar ichra soz adolat, insof,

Yaxshi - yu yomonga ayla dilni sof.

Kim tishing sindirsa, tishini sindir,

Uzr istasa, etgil dandonin maof.

Sochim oq , ko‘ngilda va lekin surur,

Soqol oq , yuzimda bu oqliqdan nur.

Yoshlikning ketganin angladim faqat,

Ko‘z birla tishlardan ketganda futur.

Yurt tuprog‘i mushku anbardin a'lo,

Yoqqan qori issiq suvdek jonfizo.

Yurak, sen bamisli daryodagi xas,

Qayon eltmoqdadir seni bu daryo?

Olamda yo‘qlik bor, zeridastlik bor,

Olihimmatlik bor hamda pastlik bor

Va lekin dunyoda bor tubanlikdan,

Tubanroq, bir xislat – xudparastlik bor

Take a word of wisdom and hold your tongue,

If you are angry, hold your tongue.

The world leaves the soul, faith also leaves,

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987

Avoid bad language and hold your tongue.

O sheikh, do not speak, leave, heaven, from

Rizvan,

Tubi, kavsaru huru is from Gilman.

I saw my soul wearing flowers today

It's enough, I left the world.

Traits include justice, honesty,

Change the good to the bad and purify your heart.

Whoever breaks your tooth, break his tooth,

If he apologizes, say sorry.

My hair is white, in my heart but

my beard is white, it’s a light from this whiteness

on my face.

I only realized that your youth is gone

The future is when the eyes go away from the

teeth.

The soil of the country is excellent.

Burning snow is as warm as hot water.

Heart, you’re the one in the river,

Where is this river taking you?

There is nothingness in the world, there is

nothingness,

There is superiority and there is inferiority

And but from the abyss in the world,

There is a lower quality - selfishness

(E. Vohidov translations)

Khushholkhan left a huge literary and scientific

heritage.

Khushholkhan Khatak was a great poet and a

skilled translator. He wrote Pashto works

“Khushhol”, and “Khushholkhan” and poems in

Persian and Hindi under the pseudonyms “Ruhiy” and

“Kohiy”. It is also known that he translated several

books from Arabic, Persian and Dari languages into

Pashto.

Khushholists mention that in addition to the

lyrical poetry of this artist, more than a hundred

separate poetic and prose works were written in his

pen. However, very few of them have been found and

published in Afghanistan and Pakistan. These are the

following:

1. About “Boznoma” (“Hunting with a

Falcon”). This treatise was written in 1674 in the

Masnavi genre. This large poem consists of 47

chapters. In the work, Khushholkhan provides

information in interesting and simple poetic language

about hunting with the help of a falcon, how to feed

this bird, how to protect it from diseases and how to

train it for hunting.

2. “Dastornoma” (“About being worthy of a

turban”). Khushhol Khan wrote this book in 1665 in

Delhi’s Rantehbur Jail, and it is the only prose work

of his that has been found in its entirety so far.

In the first chapter (chapter) of the book,

Khushholkhan poses the question of what qualities

and obligations should be possessed by those who

deserve to wear a turban. “Dastornoma” is a work

covering major philosophical and moral issues in the

form of a two-part masnavi, each of which consists of

20 chapters. The first part of the book talks about

various sciences, poets, arts and crafts of that time. In

the second part, the description of about 20 qualities

that should be known by a person worthy of the

governorship is given. In particular, the poet draws

attention to a number of ethical and moral issues in

this part and elaborates on the issues of the moral

image and upbringing of a real person. According to

the poet-philosopher, in order to be a real person, a

person should have such qualities as honour, high

diligence, hard work, bravery, honesty and justice,

and humanity, and act on them. Because:

ﻪﭼ ﺭﺎﺘﺳﺩ ﺗ ی ﺭﺍﺰﻫ ﺩ ی

ﺭﺎﺘﺳﺩ ﺳی ﻪﭘ ﺭﺎﻤﺷ ﺩ ی

(There are thousands of dastar (turban) weavers.

[But] there are few who are worthy of the dastar)

3. “Sihat ul-badan” or “Tibnama”. This work,

written in the fluent language of Masnavi, describes

the medical issues that were widespread among the

peoples of the East at that time. The poet gives

interesting information about Greek medicine, some

diseases, their treatment methods and medicines,

which were widely developed by the Afghan people

in his time. Men's and women's rights, relations

between them, and some moral-didactic, wise

thoughts are also found in the work. The total number

of verses in “Tibnoma” exceeds 600.

4. “Svotnama”. This is about the impressions

of Masnavi Khushholkhan’s trip to the country of

Swat. It provides important historical-geographical

information about the geography, history, climate,

rivers, people and natural conditions of Swat country.

In the work, the poet puts forward ideas such as

establishing an alliance between Afghan tribes,

eliminating hatred, and abandoning internal quarrels.

It is known that when Khushhal returned from Delhi

prison and came to his country, he went to Swat

country with the intention of involving Khataks and

other tribes in the freedom movement against the

Delhi kingdom, and he contacted the tribal chiefs

there.

5. “Fazlnama”. The work tells about

religious-sectarian, moral and medical issues in a

simple way. The poet gave it a second name,

“Translation”. It is noticeable that the author was

influenced by the religious-sectarian, moral-social

and didactic works of his time in Arabic, Persian and

other languages.

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6. “Folnoma”. It is a small treatise written in

Masnavi, which talks about ways of divination based

on the divine wisdom “hidden” in each of the 30

Arabic letters from “alif” to “yo”.

7. “Firoqnoma”. Although most of the work is

written in Masnavi, its first page contains ghazals and

rubai under the pseudonym “Khushhol”. In our

opinion, this pamphlet composed of a poetic series

was created during the time of the poet's

imprisonment. In most of the poems, Khushhol Khan

misses his homeland, remembers his children, happy

and free times with sadness, and complains about the

hardships and mental anguish he is suffering.

8. “Soatnama” is one of the poet’s small

works, which tells about good and bad, justice and

injustice, as well as the hours and minutes of the

week, and their value in relation to the moments of

human life, using his wise words.

9. “Nomi haq” (“In the name of God”). It is a

wonderful work in Masnavi style with a total of 50

verses about the practices of prayer and fasting. The

poet says that it was written in 1066 Hijri (1687).

10. “Axloqnoma”. This work, written by

Khushholkhan at the end of his life, was left

unfinished and was completed by his talented

grandson, poet Sadrkhan Khatak. The work is the

largest of the poet’s masnavis, it has more than 1500

verses. The prologue of the work begins with the

traditional fards about the qualities of nat and

choriyor. In ten chapters of the main parts of the work,

a number of religious duties and practices are

described. In the next parts, he complains about the

times, information about his life and the country of

Swat, the rulers of the time, and other issues such as

moral, religious and poetic efforts and

responsibilities..

11. “Bayoz”. The only information about this

prose work of the poet and its quotations and excerpts

are given in the famous book “Torihi Murassa”

(“Decorated History”) by the talented historian

grandson of Khushhol, Afzal Khan Khatak. Afzal

said that Khushhol Khan gave very important

information about his genealogy, ancestors, Khatak

tribe and other Pashtun tribes, lifestyle, geographical

location, history and famous representatives and

customs.

12. “Zandziri” or “Noma” is a small 27-verse

masnavi work in which Khushholkhan mainly refers

to himself, his descendants and his people. The

exemplar of this masnavi that has come down to us is

a simple poetic honorific, unrelated to any Pashto

khati (writing) style that Afghan scholars claim was

“invented” by Khushhol Khan.

In addition to these published works of

Khushholkhan, there are various historical books or

other works and translations mentioned by the poet

himself, such as “Hidaya” (translations from Arabic

about the rights and practices of Islam) and

“Farahnama” (“On the dispute between the sword and

the pen”) not found yet.

Khushhol Khan’s work had a great influence on

the development of classical Pashto literature in later

periods. Be it the variety of genres, the variety of

themes or the range of their artistic means, all of them

have their direct or indirect traditions.

Khushholkhan is also the founder of a large

literary school called “Khataklar”. This literary

school made a great contribution to the development

of Afghan literature. Afghan scholars list more than

20 members of the Khushhol Khan literary school.

Most of them are sons and grandsons of the poet, that

is, people from the Khatak tribe. Ashraf Khan Hijri,

Abdul Qadir Khan Khatak, Sadr Khan Khatak, Afzal

Khan Khatak and others are among the most famous

representatives of the literary school of Khataks, who

consistently continued and developed Khushhol

Khan’s poetic traditions.

Research shows that a number of representatives

of this school, although they originally belonged to

other tribes, continued the features of the Khatak

literary stream in their works. In general, in the poems

of every Pashto-speaking classical poet after

Khushhol Khan, his poems calling for patriotism and

the unification of Afghan tribes are mentioned with

great respect, and both categories of poets sought to

contribute to this topic and followed the traditions of

Khushhol Khan. (Khushholkhan., 2005-

Khushholkhan., 1345)

3 CONCLUSIONS

Khushhol Khan Khatak left a legacy of great literary,

philosophical, educational and historical works in

various poetic and prose genres for the Afghan people

and world literature. It is worth noting that the scope

of the work of this great writer was wider, weightier

and more diverse, and as a possessor of high epic

ability, he could have been one of the first in Pashto

classical literature to initiate the traditions of Khamsa

and great epics, as in Persian and Uzbek literature.

But we regretfully admit that the bitter and restless

life of this poet and statesman in the middle of his life,

full of heavy worries, and his sufferings greatly

hindered the scope and breadth of his higher literary

and creative flights.

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REFERENCES

Khushholkhan. (2005). General Works of Khushholkhan,

Peshawar, 416 pages.

Masson, V. M., & Romodin, V. A. (1965). History of

Afghanistan, Vol.2. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 50-51.

Afghan poets (1974). Gafur Ghulam publishing house.

Tashkent, pp.21-22.

(1952). This verse of the poet was taken from his collection

published in Peshawar (See: Khushholkhan (1952).

Collected Works of Khushholkhan, Peshawar, 233

pages).

Livschits, Vl. (1957). Warrior poet. Almanac. Stalinobod:

Literary Tajikistan, pp. 249-250.

Rashtin, Sadiqullah. (1964). Rampur Reza Library

Manuscripts. Kabul Magazine, 1964, December, 9th

issue, 17 pages.

These works of Khushholkhan will be discussed in detail

below.

Khushholkhan, J., & Jabbarov, J. (1974). Khushholkhan’s

three ghazals mentioned above were translated into

verse by our well-known poet Jumaniyaz Jabbarov

based on our word-for-word translation. In Afghan

poets (pp. 17-22). Tashkent: Ghafur Ghulam publishing

house.

Khushholkhan (1345). Dastarnama. Pashto Tolana, Kabul,

Lamee pages.

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