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TheTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani (lit. 'The Khan Jahan's History')[2] is a 17th-centuryPersian language text describing the history of theethnic Afghans. Versions of the work are referred to by the namesMakhzan-i-Afghani (lit. 'Afghan Treasury')[1] andTarikh-i-Khan Jahani Wa Makhzan-i-Afghani.[3] It was sponsored byKhan Jahan Lodi, a high-ranking noble of theMughal emperorJahangir, and its principal author wasNimat Allah al-Harawi, awaqia-navis (news-writer) serving theMughal Empire. It represents the earliest comprehensive history of the Afghans, and the first to tackle theirethnogenesis, codifying several oral histories of the Afghan community. It also contains a biography of Jahan Lodi. The work served as the basis for subsequent written histories of the Afghans.
Commissioned by the Indo-Afghan courtierJahan Lodi, theTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani was the first major historical work that aimed to present a full history of the Afghan people, with an objective of defining their origins. Previous works on the Afghans were political histories, written mostly about theLodis and theSurs.[4][2] In the view ofNile Green, the work was an attempt to situate Afghan identity in the Mughal court, and was one of several works written as a response to the "competitive encounter" between different ethnic groups at the Mughal court. One work post-dating theTarikh-Khan-Jahani, named theMirat-i-Aftab-numa, recounts that Jahan Lodi decided to commission theTarikh when an Iranian envoy to the court called Afghans the descendants of thejinn (devils).[2]
The work was principally written byNimat Allah al-Harawi, awaqia-navis (news-writer) of Iranian descent in the Mughal Empire, but may have been based on substantial material previously formulated by Haybat Khan Kakar, an Afghan fromSamana who served as an attendant of Jahan Lodi. TheTarikh also involved the input of several assistants and informants, similar to other written histories of the era. Sections on the history of different Afghan ruling dynasties mostly drew from previous written sources, while the information on Afghan tribal lineages largely drew from oral histories that circulated among the Afghan diaspora in the early 17th century.[2] TheTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani is an example of the Mughal court'sPersianizing effect on different tribal leaders who had been assimilated into the imperial fold, reflected by the choice oftarikh (Persian chronicling) as the medium for this early history of the Pashtuns over their native language ofPashto. Previous written histories sponsored by Mughal rulers served as the text's immediate models.[5][6]
TheTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani was completed around 1613. Shortly after its initial conception, it was abridged into a version termed theMakhzan-i-Afghani (lit. 'Afghan Treasury').[2][1]
The major portion of theTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani is dedicated to Afghan history. TheTarikh begins its history within the ethnogenesis of the Afghans, tracing the Afghan genealogy uptoYaqub the Jewish patriarch, and describes his eventual eastward migration to Afghanistan. It describes the subsequent life ofQais Abdur Rashid as the primogenitor of the Afghans, asserting that he was converted to Islam by theProphet Muhammad and fought alongside him. TheTarikh continues the history of the Afghans upto the 17th century, and includes details on the Afghan dynasties of Delhi, namely the Lodis and Suris. The content presented in the historical portion focuses as much as it does on the glory days of Afghan political power, as it does on the tribal roots of the Afghan people and the early days of Afghan settlement in the Indian subcontinent. Thekhatimah (conclusion) of theTarikh details the lives of several AfghanSufishaikhs (saints).[2][6]
TheTarikh contains a biography of its patron Khan Jahan Lodi, which is a lengthy chapter containing fivefasls (sections). This section describes Jahan Lodi's ancestry, how his forebears migrated from Afghanistan to the Indian subcontinent during Lodi rule, his clan's struggles after the fall of Afghan rule in the subcontinent, and the induction of Jahan Lodi's father into Mughal service.[7]
A key theme of theTarikh is its emphasis of tribe as the main marker of Afghan identity; this is the organising principle in theTarikh's formulation of genealogy. For example, theTarikh was set apart from the literary norms of its time in presenting the entries on Afghan Sufi shaikhs by tribal lineage rather thanSufi lineage. It classified all the saints as belonging to theSarbani,Batni, or Ghurghusht tribes, rather than Sufi orders such asChishtiyya,Naqshbandiyya, orQadiriyya.[2][6]
TheTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani became highly influential during the Mughal Empire's eclipse in the 18th century, as several Indo-Afghan successor states emerged and questions of genealogy became important. Manuscript copies were made of both theTarikh and its abridged version, theMakhzan. Some manuscripts had chapters and reference material added. During this period, many newer histories were sponsored by Afghan notables which drew on theTarikh, such as theKhulasat al-ansab,Risala dar ansab-i-Afghanan, andTawarikh-i-Afghani. The same century saw aPashto-language translation of theTarikh-i-Khan Jahani, which appeared as the first section of a history titledTarikh-i-murassa byAfzal Khan Khattak.[2]
In the 19th century, theTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani attained colonial importance as the British sought to learn about the Afghans. For example, the work served as a basis for theHayat-i-Afghani compiled for the British administration, and a number of colonial scholars collected manuscripts of theTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani.[2] In 1839, the GermanorientalistBernhard Dorn published the most substantial English translation of theMakhzan-i-Afghani. Thetheory of the Afghans' origins from the Lost Tribes of Israel propounded by theTarikh-i-Khan-Jahani was a popular topic in orientalist thought during the 19th century.[7]