Asfand Yar Durrani

University of Peshawar

“Dynamics of Change in Pashto Literature: An Overview of the Plays Written to Support the Freedom Struggle against the British Raj (1929-1947)”

The British Raj in India gave utmost importance to the North-West Frontier Province to achieve their inner motive of fulfilling the divine duty of civilizing the savage people of this region. After 1849, the British came in direct contact with Pukhtun belt; the Pukhtuns resisted in their traditional manner led by and large by religious people. However, in the beginning of 20th century, the nature of resistance was replaced by the process of socio educational reformation of Pukhtun Society. A network of educational institutions was established in various areas under the cover of Anjuman-i-Islahul Afaghina; the Azad schools played an instrumental role in infusing the very spirit of nationalism in the minds of youth. Yet, the annual academic functions of these schools also served a platform for the poets and prose writers to project their love for this region, sense of struggle for independence and a message for the Raj leave this land. The theme of this paper is to analyze how the Pashto prose writers got influence from and used their pen using the modus vivendi, and composed plays-presented and staged in front of public which infused the very spirit of nationalism in the minds of youth and old as well as male and female alike. In all, plays written by Abdul Akbar Khan Akbar, Abdul Khaliq Khaleeq and Fazl-i-Rahim Saqi will be reviewed and analyzed.  

Asfand Yar Durrani is a PhD candidate at the Department of History, University of Peshawar, Pakistan. His research focuses on the Pukhtun resistance against the British Raj in the Indian North-West Frontier Province. The title of his PhD dissertation is: “Comparative Analysis of Violent and Non-Violent Approaches (1901-1947)”. His broader area of interest is South Asian history, British imperialism, Pukhtun Nationalism, and history of Afghanistan. He can be reached at asfanddurrani@gmail.com.