While it is the third-largest Pakistani province in terms of both its population andits economy, it is geographically the smallest. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's share of Pakistan's GDP has historically comprised 10.5%, amounting to over US$ 30 billion.[5] The population of the province forms 16.9% of Pakistan's total population and is multiethnic, with the main ethnic groups being thePashtuns,Hindkowans,Saraikis, andChitralis.[6][7]
Once astronghold of Buddhism, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the site of the ancient region ofGandhara, including the ruins of the Gandharan capital ofPushkalavati (located near present-dayCharsadda). The region's history is characterized by frequent invasions by various empires, largely due to its geographical proximity to the historically importantKhyber Pass.[8]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa means the "Khyber side of the land of thePashtuns",[13] where the wordPakhtunkhwa means "Land of the Pashtuns",[14] while according to some scholars, it refers to "Pashtun culture and society".[15] The province has had various names throughout history. Other names used or proposed for the province include Gandhara, Afghania, Pashtunistan, Pathanistan, Sarhad, Abaseen, Khyber,[16][17][18][19] or a combination of names, such as Hazara-Pakhtunkhwa.[20][21]
When the British established it as a province, they called it "North West Frontier Province" (abbreviated as NWFP) due to its relative location being in the northwest of theBritish Indian Empire.[22] After the creation of Pakistan, Pakistan continued with this name but a Pashtun political party,Awami National Party based in the province demanded that the province name be changed to "Pakhtunkhwa".[23] Their logic behind that demand was thatPunjabi people,Sindhi people andBaloch people have their provinces named after their ethnicities but that is not the case forPashtun people.[24]
Pakistan Muslim League (N), the largest opposition party at the time was ready to change the province's name by supporting the rulingPakistan Peoples Party and ANP, in a constitutional amendment but wanted to name the province something other than which does not carry only the Pashtun identity in it as they argued that there were other minor communities living in the province especially theHazarewals of theHazara region who spokeHindko thus the wordKhyber was introduced with the name because it is the name of a majorpass which connects Pakistan to Afghanistan.[24]
North-West Frontier Province
For over a hundred years after its founding as a province ofBritish Raj in 1901, it was known as theNorth-West Frontier Province (abbreviated as NWFP) until 2010 due to its relative location being in the northwest of the nation.[25] Unofficially, it was known asSarhad (Urdu:سرحد), derived from the province's Urdu name given to it by the Mughals, which means "frontier".
For most of the history of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), there were efforts to change its name. The nameAfghania was proposed first by the founding leaders of theMuslim League in 1933 and was at least partly chosen to represent the first "a" in "Pakistan". The need for a change was explained by the man who named Pakistan in hisNow or Never pamphlet,Choudhary Rahmat Ali Khan, as:
"North-West Frontier Province" is semantically non-descript and socially wrongful. It is non-descript because it merely indicates their geographical situation as a province of old "British India" [which no longer exists]. It is wrongful because it suppresses the social entity of these people. In fact, it suppresses that entity so completely that when composing the name "Pakistan" for our homelands, I had to call the North-West Frontier Province the Afghan Province.[26]
Suggestions for new names came and went. Although some of the names were ethnically neutral, most proposals emphasised the province's Pashtun ethnic identity. The renaming issue was an emotional one which often crossed party lines and not all supporters of a renaming agreed on the name Pakhtunkhwa.
20th-century proposals
By the late 20th century, PresidentMuhammad Zia-ul-Haq agreed withKhan Abdul Ghaffar Khan to change the name toPashtunistan but he contended that the term Pashtunistan had become controversial and was being politicized by Afghanistan. Ghaffar Khan suggested Pakhtunkhwa, but Zia-ul-Haq asked Ghaffar Khan to suggest an alternative.[27]
The name Pakhtunkhwa was approved by the democratically elected constitutional assembly of the province in 1997 by majority vote.[28] However, the PML (N) parliamentary party of NWFP rejected the ANP demand but called for Prime MinisterNawaz Sharif to suggest another "non-controversial" name.[28] PML (N) members noted that Sarhad was a good name for the province but, if a change was needed, then it should be named Khyber or Abasin.[28] The NWFP chief minister, Sardar Mehtab Ahmed Khan, called for a referendum on the issue as a way of determining the name.[28] These offers were rejected by the ANP leadership and the ANP withdrew from both the federal and provincial governments.[28]
21st-century proposals
The lack of support for a name change by the PML (N) was defended as opposition to the nationalistic politics being pursued by the ANP.[29]
In May 2008, to accommodate a demand by the people of NWFP who voted for the ANP, the PPP proposed that the name of the North-West Frontier Province be changed to Pakhtunkhwa,[30][31] however theMuslim League Nawaz which had considerable support in theHindko-speakingHazara region of the province announced it might oppose the name change because of it "being on ethnic grounds" because of opposition by its provincial leadership.[32]
The namePakhtunkhwa was mentioned for the first time in the United Nation's General Assembly by Pakistani PresidentAsif Zardari on 26 September 2008.[33]
Pakistan Muslim League (N), the largest opposition party at the time was ready to change the province's name by supporting the rulingPakistan Peoples Party and ANP, in a constitutional amendment but wanted to name the province something other than which does not carry only the Pashtun identity in it as they argued that there were other minor communities living in the province especially theHazarewals of theHazara region who spokeHindko thus the wordKhyber was introduced with the name because it is the name of a majorpass which connects Pakistan to Afghanistan.[24]
The name change of the province was met with strong opposition from the people ofHazara region and protests erupted in the region with wheel and shutter jam strikes.Abbottabad became the nerve center of the movement. On the 10th of April, theKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Police fired at unarmed protesters, leaving 7 dead and dozens injured.[36] Allegedly, the firing was ordered by the coalition government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, led by theAwami National Party.[37] This is one of the earliest incidents ofpolice brutality in Pakistan in recent years, occurring before theModel Town Lahore incident, whose FIR has not been registered still today.[38]
Arif Nizami, former editor ofThe Nation, said, "This has actually opened a Pandora's box, because of Pakistan's very tenuous polity. Now, on one side, there are identity issues and ethnic issues and provincial autonomy issues. The other side is religious issues and terrorism. It's a very explosive situation."[39]
Alternative proposed names
Many alternative names were proposed for the province. Many of these were designed to avoid or balance the ethnic connotations of Pakhtunkhwa.[16][17]
SomeHazara residents said that the new name should be Hazara-Pakhtunkhwa (in reference to theHazara region whereHindko-speakers are dominant as compared to the Pashto-speakers elsewhere in the province),[53][11] and others said the name should not be changed since the people were accustomed to North-West Frontier Province.[39]
In the spring of 327 BCAlexander the Great crossed the Hindu Kush and advanced toNicaea, where Omphis, king ofTaxila and other chiefs joined him. Alexander then dispatched part of his force through the valley of the Kabul River, while he himself advanced into Bajaur and Swat with his light troops.[60]Craterus was ordered to fortify and repopulateArigaion, probably in Bajaur, which its inhabitants had burnt and deserted. Having defeated the Aspasians, from whom he took 40,000 prisoners and 230,000 oxen, Alexander crossed theGouraios (Panjkora) and entered the territory of theAssakenoi and laid siege to Massaga, which he took by storm. Ora and Bazira (possibly Bazar) soon fell. The people of Bazira fled to the rock Aornos, but Alexander made Embolima (possiblyAmb) his base, and attacked the rock from there, which was captured after a desperate resistance. Meanwhile,Peukelaotis (inHashtnagar, 17 miles (27 km) north-west ofPeshawar) had submitted, and Nicanor, a Macedonian, was appointed satrap of the country west of the Indus.[61]
Mauryan rule
An ancient statue ofShiva andParvati found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Mauryan rule began withChandragupta Maurya displacing theNanda Empire, establishing the Mauryan Empire. A while after, Alexander's general Seleucus had attempted to once again invade the subcontinent from the Khyber pass hoping to take lands that Alexander had conquered, but never fully absorbed into this empire. Seleucus was defeated and the lands of Aria, Arachosia, Gandhara, and Gedrosia were ceded to the Mauryans in exchange for a matrimonial alliance and 500 elephants. With the defeat of the Greeks, the land was once more under Hindu rule.[62] Chandragupta's sonBindusara further expanded the empire. However, it was Chandragupta's grandsonAshoka, who converted toBuddhism and made it the official state religion inGandhara and alsoPakhli, the modern Hazara, as evidenced by rock-inscriptions atShahbazgarhi andMansehra.[61]
After Ashoka's death theMauryan empire fell to pieces, just as in the west theSeleucid power was waning.
Indo-Greeks
Greco-Buddhist representation of the Buddha, seated to the left of a depiction ofVajrapani in the guise of the Hellenic godHeracles.[63]
The Indo-Greek kingMenander I (reigned 155–130 BCE) drove the Greco-Bactrians out ofGandhara and beyond theHindu Kush, becoming king shortly after his victory.
His empire survived him in a fragmented manner until the last independent Greek king,Strato II, disappeared around 10 CE. Around 125 BCE, the Greco-Bactrian kingHeliocles, son of Eucratides, fled from theYuezhi invasion of Bactria and relocated to Gandhara, pushing the Indo-Greeks east of theJhelum River. The last known Indo-Greek ruler wasTheodamas, from theBajaur area of Gandhara, mentioned on a 1st-century CE signet ring, bearing the Kharoṣṭhī inscription"Su Theodamasa" ("Su" was the Greek transliteration of theKushan royal title"Shau" ("Shah" or "King")).
It is during this period that the fusion of Hellenistic and South Asian mythological, artistic and religious elements becomes most apparent, especially in the region of Gandhara.[citation needed]
Local Greek rulers still exercised a feeble and precarious power along the borderland, but the last vestige of the Greco-Indian rulers were finished by a people known to the old Chinese as the Yeuh-Chi.[61]
TheIndo-Scythians were descended from theSakas (Scythians) who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia from the middle of the 2nd century BCE to the 1st century BCE. They displaced the Indo-Greeks and ruled a kingdom that stretched from Gandhara toMathura. The first Indo-Scythian kingMaues establishedSaka hegemony by conqueringIndo-Greek territories.[64] The power of the Saka rulers declined after the defeat toChandragupta II of theGupta Empire in the 4th century.[65]
TheIndo-Parthian Kingdom was ruled by the Gondopharid dynasty, named after its first rulerGondophares. For most of their history, the leading Gondopharid kings heldTaxila (in the presentPunjab province ofPakistan) as their residence, but during their last few years of existence the capital shifted betweenKabul andPeshawar. These kings have traditionally been referred to as Indo-Parthians, as their coinage was often inspired by theArsacid dynasty, but they probably belonged to a wider groups ofIranic tribes who lived east ofParthia proper, and there is no evidence that all the kings who assumed the titleGondophares, which means "Holder of Glory", were even related.
TheYuezhi nomads had driven theSakas from the highlands ofCentral Asia, and were themselves forced southwards by the nomadicXiongnu. One group, known as the Kushan, took the lead, and its chief,Kadphises I, seized vast territories extending south to theKabul valley. His son Kadphises II conquered North-Western India, which he governed through his generals. His immediate successors were the fabledHindu kings: Kanishka, Huvishka, and Vasushka or Vasudeva, of whom the first reigned over a territory which extended as far east as Benares, far south as Malwa, and also includingBactria and the Kabul valley.[61][66] Their dates are still a matter of dispute, but it is beyond question that they reigned early in the Christian era. To this period may be ascribed the fine statues and bas-reliefs found inGandhara and Udyana. Under Huvishka's successor,Vasushka, the dominions of the Kushan kings shrank.[66]
Shahi dynasties
Horseman on a coin of Spalapati, i.e. the "War-lord" of theHindu Shahis. The headgear has been interpreted as aturban.[67]
TheTurk Shahis ruled Gandhara until 870, when they were overthrown by theHindu Shahis. The Hindu Shahis are believed to belong to the Uḍi/Oḍi tribe, namely the people ofOddiyana (modern Swat) in Gandhara,[68][69] although they are also variously stated to be Brāhmāns or Kshātriyas.[70]
The first king Kallar had moved the capital into Udabandhapura from Kabul, in the modern village ofHund for its new capital.[71][72][73][74] At its zenith, the kingdom stretched over theKabul Valley, Gandhara and westernPunjab underJayapala.[75] Jayapala saw a danger in the consolidation of the Ghaznavids and invaded their capital city ofGhazni both in the reign ofSebuktigin and in that of his sonMahmud, which initiated theMuslim Ghaznavid and Hindu Shahi struggles.[76] Sebuk Tigin, however, defeated him, and he was forced to pay an indemnity.[76] Jayapala defaulted on the payment and took to the battlefield once more.[76] Jayapala however, lost control of the entire region between the Kabul Valley andIndus River.[77]
In the year 1001, soon after Sultan Mahmud came to power and was occupied with theQarakhanids north of theHindu Kush, Jaipalattacked Ghazni once more and upon suffering yet another defeat by the powerful Ghaznavid forces, near present-dayPeshawar. After theBattle of Peshawar, he died because of regretting as his subjects brought disaster and disgrace to the Shahi dynasty.[76][77]
Jayapala was succeeded by his sonAnandapala,[76] who along with other succeeding generations of the Shahiya dynasty took part in various unsuccessful campaigns against the advancing Ghaznvids but were unsuccessful. The Hindu rulers eventually exiled themselves to theKashmirSiwalik Hills.[77]
Ghaznavids
After the battle of Peshawar, Mahmud of Ghazni had secured controlled over southern regions of Pakhtunkhwa. He also (1024 and 1025) raided thePashtuns.[66][78] His descendants reigned till 1179, whenMuhammad of Ghor took Peshawar, making it part of his expandingGhurid Empire.
Meanwhile, thePashtuns now appeared as a political factor. At the close of the fourteenth century they were firmly established in their present-day demographics south of Kohat, and in 1451 Bahlol Lodi's accession to the throne of Delhi gave them a dominant position inNorthern India.Yusufzai tribes from the Kabul and Jalalabad valleys began migrating to theValley of Peshawar beginning in the 15th century,[80] and displaced theSwatis of theBhittani confederation andDilazak Pashtun tribes across theIndus River toHazara Division.[80]
Mughal suzerainty over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region was partially established after Babar, the founder of the Mughal Empire, invaded the region in 1505 CE via theKhyber Pass. The Mughal Empire noted the importance of the region as a weak point in their empire's defences,[81] and determined to hold Peshawar and Kabul at all cost against any threats from theUzbekShaybanids.[81]
He was forced to retreat westwards toKabul but returned to defeat the Lodis in July 1526, when he captured Peshawar fromDaulat Khan Lodi,[82] though the region was never considered to be fully subjugated to the Mughals.[80]
Under the reign of Babar's son,Humayun, a direct Mughal rule was briefly challenged with the rise of the Pashtun Emperor,Sher Shah Suri, who began construction of the famousGrand Trunk Road – which links Kabul, Afghanistan withChittagong,Bangladesh over 2000 miles to the east. Later, local rulers once again pledged loyalty to the Mughal emperor.[citation needed]
Yusufzai tribes rose against Mughals during the Yusufzai Revolt of 1667,[81] and engaged in pitched-battles with Mughal battalions in Peshawar andAttock.[81]Afridi tribes resisted Aurangzeb rule during the Afridi Revolt of the 1670s.[81] The Afridis massacred a Mughal battalion in theKhyber Pass in 1672 and shut the pass to lucrative trade routes.[83] Following another massacre in the winter of 1673, Mughal armies led by EmperorAurangzeb himself regained control of the entire area in 1674,[81] and enticed tribal leaders with various awards in order to end the rebellion.[81]
Referred to as the "Father of Pashto Literature" and hailing from the city ofAkora Khattak, the warrior-poetKhushal Khan Khattak actively participated in the revolt against the Mughals and became renowned for his poems that celebrated the rebellious Pashtun warriors.[81]
The area fell subsequently under the rule ofAhmad Shah Durrani, founder of theDurrani Empire,[86] following a grand nine-day long assembly of leaders, known as theloya jirga.[87] In 1749, the Mughal ruler was induced to cedeSindh, thePunjab region and the important transIndus River to Ahmad Shah in order to save his capital from the Durrani attack.[88] Ahmad Shah invaded the remnants of the Mughal Empire a third time, and then a fourth, consolidating control over the Kashmir and Punjab regions. In 1757, he captured Delhi and sacked Mathura,[89] but permitted the Mughal dynasty to remain in nominal control of the city as long as the ruler acknowledged Ahmad Shah's suzerainty over Punjab, Sindh, and Kashmir. Leaving his second sonTimur Shah to safeguard his interests, Ahmad Shah left India to return to Afghanistan.
Their rule was interrupted by a brief invasion of the HinduMarathas, who ruled over the region following the 1758 Battle of Peshawar for eleven months till early 1759 when the Durrani rule was re-established.[90]
Under the reign ofTimur Shah, the Mughal practice of using Kabul as a summer capital and Peshawar as a winter capital was reintroduced,[80][91] Peshawar'sBala Hissar Fort served as the residence of Durrani kings during their winter stay in Peshawar.
Mahmud Shah Durrani became king, and quickly sought to seize Peshawar from his half-brother,Shah Shujah Durrani.[92] 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.[92] In 1809, the British sent an emissary to the court of Shah Shujah in Peshawar, marking the first diplomatic meeting between the British and Afghans.[92] Mahmud Shah allied himself with theBarakzai Pashtuns, and amassed an army in 1809, and captured Peshawar from his half-brother, Shah Shujah, establishing Mahmud Shah's second reign,[92] which lasted under 1818.
Sikh Empire
Ranjit Singh invaded Peshawar in 1818 and captured it from the Durrani Empire. TheSikh Empire based in Lahore did not immediately secure direct control of the Peshawar region, but rather paid nominaltribute to Jehandad Khan of Khattak, who was nominated by Ranjit Singh to be ruler of the region.
After Ranjit Singh's departure from the region, Khattak's rule was undermined and power seized by Yar Muhammad Khan. In 1823, Ranjit Singh returned to capture Peshawar, and was met by the armies ofAzim Khan atNowshera. Following the Sikh victory at theBattle of Nowshera, Ranjit Singh re-captured Peshawar. Rather than re-appointing Jehandad Khan of Khattak, Ranjit Singh selected Yar Muhammad Khan to once again rule the region.
The Sikh Empire annexed the lower parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region following advances from the armies ofHari Singh Nalwa. An 1835 attempt byDost Muhammad Khan to re-occupy Peshawar failed when his army declined to engage in combat with theDal Khalsa. Dost Muhammad Khan's son,Mohammad Akbar Khan engaged with Sikh forces theBattle of Jamrud of 1837, in which prominent sikh commander Hari Singh was killed.
During Sikh rule, an Italian namedPaolo Avitabile was appointed an administrator of Peshawar in 1838, and is remembered for having unleashed a reign of fear there. The city's famous Mahabat Khan, built in 1630 in the Jeweller's Bazaar, was badly damaged and desecrated by the Sikhs, who also rebuilt the Bala Hissar fort during their occupation of Peshawar.
British Raj
A colonial era lithograph of the Khyber Pass, made in 1848 by James Rattray.
British East India Company defeated the Sikhs during theSecond Anglo-Sikh War in 1849, and incorporated small parts of the region into theProvince of Punjab. While Peshawar was the site of a small revolt against British during theMutiny of 1857, local Pashtun tribes throughout the region generally remained neutral or supportive of the British as they detested the Sikhs,[55] in contrast to other parts ofBritish India which rose up in revolt against the British. However, British control of parts of the region was routinely challenged byWazir tribesmen inWaziristan and other Pashtun tribes, who resisted any foreign occupation until Pakistan was created. By the late 19th century, the official boundaries of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region still had not been defined as the region was still claimed by the Kingdom of Afghanistan. It was only in 1893 The British demarcated theboundary with Afghanistan under a treaty agreed to by the Afghan king,Abdur Rahman Khan, following theSecond Anglo-Afghan War.[93] Several princely states within the boundaries of the region were allowed to maintain their autonomy under the terms of maintaining friendly ties with the British. As the British war effort duringWorld War One demanded the reallocation of resources from British India to the European war fronts, some tribesmen from Afghanistan crossed the Durand Line in 1917 to attack British posts in an attempt to gain territory and weaken the legitimacy of the border. The validity of the Durand Line, however, was re-affirmed in 1919 by the Afghan government with the signing of theTreaty of Rawalpindi,[94] which ended theThird Anglo-Afghan War – a war in which Waziri tribesmen allied themselves with the forces of Afghanistan's KingAmanullah in their resistance to British rule. The Wazirs and other tribes, taking advantage of instability on the frontier,continued to resist British occupation until 1920 – even after Afghanistan had signed a peace treaty with the British.
British campaigns to subdue tribesmen along the Durand Line, as well as three Anglo-Afghan wars, made travel between Afghanistan and the densely populated heartlands of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa increasingly difficult. The two regions were largely isolated from one another from the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War in 1878 until the start ofWorld War II in 1939 when conflict along the Afghan frontier largely dissipated. Concurrently, the British continued their large public works projects in the region, and extended theGreat Indian Peninsula Railway into the region, which connected the modern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region to the plains of India to the east. Other projects, such as theAttock Bridge,Islamia College University,Khyber Railway, and establishment ofcantonments inPeshawar,Kohat,Mardan, andNowshera further cemented British rule in the region. In 1901, the British carved out the northwest portions of Punjab Province to create the Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP), which was renamed "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" in 2010.
During this period, North-West Frontier Province was a "scene of repeated outrages on Hindus."[95] During the independence period there was aCongress-led ministry in the province, which was led by secularPashtun leaders, including Bacha Khan, who preferred joiningIndia instead of Pakistan. Thesecular Pashtun leadership was also of the view that if joining India was not an option then they should espouse the cause of an independent ethnic Pashtun state rather than Pakistan.[96] In June 1947,Mirzali Khan,Bacha Khan, and otherKhudai Khidmatgars declared theBannu Resolution, demanding that the Pashtuns be given a choice to have an independent state of Pashtunistan composing all Pashtun majority territories of British India, instead of being made to join the new state ofPakistan. However, theBritish Raj refused to comply with the demand of this resolution, as their departure from the region required regions under their control to choose either to join India or Pakistan, with no third option.[97][98] By 1947 Pashtun nationalists were advocating for a united India, and no prominent voices advocated for a union with Afghanistan.[99][100]
There were other tensions in the area as well, particularly those that involved agitations by Pashtun tribesmen against the Imperial government. For example, in 1936, a British Indian court ruled against the marriage of a Hindu girl allegedly converted to Islam in Bannu, after the girl's family filed a case of abduction and forced conversion.[101] The ruling was based on the fact that the girl was a minor and was asked to make her decision of conversion and marriage after she reaches the age of majority, till then she was asked to live with a third party.[101] After the girl's family filed a case, the court ruled in the family's favour, angering the local Muslims who had later gone on to lead attacks against theBannu Brigade.[101]
Such controversies stirred up anti-Hindu sentiments amongst the province's Muslim population.[102] By 1947 the majority of the ulama in the province began supporting theMuslim League's idea of Pakistan.[103]
Immediately prior to 1947Partition of India, the British held areferendum in the NWFP to allow voters to choose between joining India or Pakistan. The polling began on 6 July 1947 and the referendum results were made public on 20 July 1947. According to the official results, there were 572,798 registered voters, out of which 289,244 (99.02%) votes were cast in favour of Pakistan, while 2,874 (0.98%) were cast in favour of India. The Muslim League declared the results as valid since over half of all eligible voters backed the merger with Pakistan.[104]
Their appeal for boycott had an effect, as according to an estimate, the total turnout for the referendum was 15% lower than the total turnout in the 1946 elections,[107] although over half of all eligible voters backed merger with Pakistan.[104]
Bacha Khan pledged allegiance to the new state of Pakistan in 1947, and thereafter abandoned his goals of an independent Pashtunistan and a united India in favour of supporting increased autonomy for the NWFP within Pakistan.[55] He was subsequently arrested several times for his opposition to the strong centralized rule.[108] He later claimed that "Pashtunistan was never a reality". The idea of Pashtunistan never helped Pashtuns and it only caused suffering for them. He further claimed that the "successive governments of Afghanistan only exploited the idea for their own political goals".[109]
Post-independence
There had been tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan ever since Afghanistan voted against Pakistan's inclusion in the United Nations in 1948.[110] After the creation ofPakistan in 1947, Afghanistan was the sole member of theUnited Nations to vote against Pakistan's accession to the UN because of Kabul's claim to the Pashtun territories on the Pakistani side of theDurand Line.[111] Afghanistan'sloya jirga of 1949 declared the Durand Line invalid. This led to border tensions with Pakistan. Afghanistan's governments have periodically refused to recognize Pakistan's inheritance of British treaties regarding the region.[111] As had been agreed to by the Afghan governments following theSecond Anglo-Afghan War,[112] and after the treaty endingThird Anglo-Afghan War,[113] no option was available to cede the territory to the Afghans, even though Afghanistan continued to claim the entire region as it was part of the Durrani Empire prior the conquest of the region by the Sikhs in 1818.[114]
During the 1950s, Afghanistan supported thePushtunistan Movement, a secessionist movement that failed to gain substantial support amongst the tribes of the North-West Frontier Province. Afghanistan's refusal to recognize the Durrand Line, and its subsequent support for the Pashtunistan Movement has been cited as the main cause of tensions between the two countries that have existed since Pakistan's independence.[115]
After the Afghan-Soviet War, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has become one of the areas of top focus for theWar against Terror. The province has been reported to struggle with the issues of crumbling schools, non-existent healthcare, and lack of any sound infrastructure while areas such as Islamabad and Rawalpindi receive priority funding.[116]
In 2010, the name of the province changed to "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa". Protests arose among the locals of the Hazara division due to this name change, as they began to demand their own province.[117] Seven people were killed and 100 injured in protests on 11 April 2011.[117]
Geography
Northern parts of the province feature forests and dramatic mountain scenery, as inSwat District.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sits primarily on theIranian plateau and comprises the junction where the slopes of theHindu Kush mountains on theEurasian Plate give way to the Indus-watered hills approachingSouth Asia. This situation has led to seismic activity in the past.[118] The famousKhyber Pass links the province to Afghanistan, while theKohalla Bridge inCircle Bakote Abbottabad is a major crossing point over theJhelum River in the east.
Geographically the province could be divided into two zones: the northern zone extending from the ranges of theHindu Kush to the borders of the Peshawar basin and the southern zone extending from Peshawar to the Derajat basin.
The northern zone is cold and snowy in winters with heavy rainfall and pleasant summers with the exception of the Peshawar basin, which is hot in summer and cold in winter. It has moderate rainfall.[citation needed]
The southern zone is arid with hot summers and relatively cold winters and scanty rainfall.[119] The Sheikh Badin Hills, a spur of clay andsandstone hills that stretch east from the Sulaiman Mountains to theIndus River, separatesDera Ismail Khan District from theMarwat plains of theLakki Marwat. The highest peak in the range is the limestone Sheikh Badin Mountain, which is protected by theSheikh Badin National Park. Near the Indus River, the terminus of the Sheikh Badin Hills is a spur oflimestone hills known as theKafir Kot hills, where the ancient Hindu complex ofKafir Kot is located.[120]
The major rivers that criss-cross the province are Kabul, Swat, Chitral, Kunar, Siran, Panjkora, Bara, Kurram, Dor, Haroo, Gomal, and Zhob.
Its snow-capped peaks and lush green valleys of unusual beauty have enormous potential for tourism.[121]
Climate
Theclimate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa varies immensely for a region of its size, encompassing most of the many climate types found in Pakistan. The province stretching southwards from theBaroghil Pass in theHindu Kush covers almost six degrees of latitude; it is mainly a mountainous region.Dera Ismail Khan is one of the hottest places in South Asia while in the mountains to the north the weather is mild in the summer and intensely cold in the winter. The air is generally very dry; consequently, the daily and annual range of temperature is quite large.[122]
Rainfall also varies widely. Although large parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are typically dry, the province also contains the wettest parts of Pakistan in its eastern fringe especially inmonsoon season from mid-June to mid-September.
Upper Chitral District andLower Chitral District, due to their location, are completely sheltered from themonsoon that controls the weather in eastern Pakistan, owing to its relatively westerly location and the shielding effect of theNanga Parbat massif. In many ways, they have more in common regarding climate withCentral Asia than South Asia.[123] The winters are generally cold even in the valleys, and heavysnow during the winter blocks passes and isolates the region. In the valleys, however, summers can be hotter than on the windward side of the mountains due to lower cloud cover: Chitral can reach 40 °C (104 °F) frequently during this period.[124] However, the humidity is extremely low during these hot spells and, as a result, the summer climate is less torrid than in the rest of the Indian subcontinent.
Most precipitation falls as thunderstorms or snow during winter and spring, so that the climate at the lowest elevations isclassed asMediterranean (Csa),continental Mediterranean (Dsa) orsemi-arid (BSk). Summers are extremely dry in the north of Chitral district and receive only a little rain in the south aroundDrosh.
At elevations above 5,000 metres (16,400 ft), as much as a third of the snow which feeds the large Karakoram and Hindukushglaciers comes from the monsoon since these elevations are too high to be shielded from its moisture.[123]
On the southern flanks ofNanga Parbat and inUpper andLower Dir Districts, rainfall is much heavier than further north because moist winds from theArabian Sea are able to penetrate the region. When they collide with the mountain slopes, winter depressions provide heavy precipitation. Themonsoon, although short, is generally powerful. As a result, the southern slopes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the wettest part of Pakistan. Annual rainfall ranges from around 500 millimetres (20 in) in the most sheltered areas to as much as 1,750 millimetres (69 in) in parts of Abbottabad and Mansehra Districts.
This region's climate is classed at lower elevations ashumid subtropical (Cfa in the west;Cwa in the east); whilst at higher elevations with a southerly aspect, it becomes classed ashumid continental (Dfb). However, accurate data for altitudes above 2,000 metres (6,560 ft) are practically nonexistent here, in Chitral, or in the south of the province.
The seasonality of rainfall in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa shows very marked gradients from east to west. At Dir, March remains the wettest month due to frequent frontal cloud bands, whereas in Hazara more than half the rainfall comes from the monsoon.[127] This creates a unique situation characterized by a bimodal rainfall regime, which extends into the southern part of the province described below.[127]
Since cold air from theSiberian High loses its chilling capacity upon crossing the vast Karakoram and Himalaya ranges, winters in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are somewhat milder than in Chitral.Snow remains very frequent at high altitudes but rarely lasts long on the ground in the major towns and agricultural valleys. Outside of winter, temperatures in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are not so hot as in Chitral.[citation needed]
Significantly higher humidity when the monsoon is active means that heat discomfort can be greater. However, even during the most humid periods the high altitudes typically allow for some relief from the heat overnight.[128]
Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
As one moves further away from the foothills of the Himalaya and Karakoram ranges, the climate changes from the humid subtropical climate of the foothills to the typicallyarid climate ofSindh,Balochistan and southernPunjab. As in central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the seasonality of precipitation shows a very sharp gradient from west to east, but the whole region very rarely receives significant monsoon rainfall. Even at high elevations, annual rainfall is less than 400 millimetres (16 in) and in some places as little as 200 millimetres (8 in).
Temperatures in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are extremely hot: Dera Ismail Khan in the southernmost district of the province is known as one of the hottest places in the world with temperatures known to have reached 50 °C (122 °F).[129] In the cooler months, nights can be cold and frosts remain frequent; snow is very rare, and daytime temperatures remain comfortably warm with abundant sunshine.
The largest ethnic group are thePashtuns, who have been living in the region for centuries.[140] It has been estimated that up to one-third of the province's population is non-Pashtun,[141] mainly concentrated in the northern areas. Notable minority ethnic groups includeHindkowans inHazara,Kohistanis inKohistan andChitralis andKalashas inChitral. The southern district ofDera Ismail Khan has aSaraiki majority.[142] Around 1.5 millionAfghan refugees also remain in the province,[143] the majority of whom are Pashtuns followed byTajiks,Hazaras,Gujjar, and other smaller groups. Despite having lived in the province for over two decades, they are registered ascitizens of Afghanistan.[144]
The Pashtuns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa observe tribal code of conduct calledPashtunwali which has four high value components callednang (honour),badal (revenge),melmastiya (hospitality) andnanawata (rights to refuge).[5]
Urdu, being the national and official language, serves as alingua franca for inter-ethnic communications, and sometimesPashto and Urdu are the second and third languages among communities that speak other ethnic languages.[5]
According to the2023 census, the most widely spoken language isPashto, native to 81% of the population and spoken throughout the province.[142] Other languages with significant numbers of speakers includeHindko (9.39%),Saraiki (3.17%) andKohistani languages (2.45%).[142] Hindko is primarily spoken in theHazara division in the northeast, and Saraiki-speakers are found inDera Ismail Khan district in the far south of the province.[6] Kohistani languages is an umbrella term encompassing several languages spoken in the north of the province, includingIndus Kohistani,Bateri,Chilisso,Gawri,Gawro,Torwali, andMankiyali.[145][146] Around 1 million of the population selected "Other" category, largely referring toKhowar in the mountainous northwestChitral.[142][6]
In 2011 the provincial government approved in principle the introduction of Pashto, Saraiki, Hindko, Khowar and Kohistani as compulsory subjects for schools in the areas where they are spoken.[147]
The overwhelming majority of the residents of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa follows and professes theSunni Islam while there is a significant amount of shia Muslims in areas such as Kurram, Kohat, Hangu, Orakzai, Dera Ismail khan, Mardan, and many other districts throughout central-southern kpk. Apart from Twelver Shias there areIsma'ilis in theChitral district.[150] The tribe ofKalasha in southernChitral still retain an ancient form ofPolytheism mixed withAnimism, a faith once dominant in the mountainous upper northeast of the district.[150] There are very small numbers of residents who are the adherents ofRoman Catholicismdenomination ofChristianity,Hinduism andSikhism, mainly living in Peshawar and other urban centres.[151][152]
Note1: Pre-partition populations for religious data is forNorth-West Frontier Province only and excludes theFederally Administered Tribal Areas (both administrative divisions later merged to form Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018), as religious data was not collected in the latter region at the time.
Policy enforcement of a range of social restrictions, though the implementation of strictShariah was introduced by the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government the law was never fully enacted due to objections of theGovernor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa backed by theMusharraff administration.[160] Restrictions on public musical performances were introduced, as well as a ban prohibiting music to be played in public places as part of the "Prohibition of Dancing and Music Bill, 2005" – which led to the creation of a thriving underground music scene in Peshawar.[162] The Islamist government also attempted to enforce compulsoryhijab on women,[163] and wished to enforce gender segregation in the province's educational institutions.[163] The coalition further tried to prohibit male doctors from performing ultrasounds on women,[163] and tried to close the province's cinemas.[163] In 2005, the coalition successfully passed the "Prohibition of Use of Women in Photograph Bill, 2005," leading to the removal of all public advertisements that featured women.[164]
At the height ofTaliban insurgency in Pakistan, the religious coalition lost its grip in thegeneral elections held in 2008, and the religious coalition was swept out of power by the leftistAwami National Party which also witnessed the resignation of President Musharraf in 2008.[160] The ANP government eventually led the initiatives to repeal the major Islamist's social programs, with the backing of thefederal government led byPPP inIslamabad.[165] Public disapproval ofANP's leftist program integrated incivil administration with the sounded allegations of corruption as well as popular opposition againstreligious program promoted by theMMA swiftly shifted the province's leniency away from the left in 2012.[158] In 2013, the provincial politics shifted towardspopulism andnationalism when the PTI, led byImran Khan, was able to form theminority government in coalition with theJeI; the province now serves as the stronghold of the PTI and is perceived as one of the more right wing areas of the country.[166] After the2018 election, PTI increased their seat share and formed a majority government.
In non-Pashtun areas, such asAbbottabad, andHazara Division, thePML(N), thecentre-right party, enjoys considerable public support over economical and public policy issues and has a substantial vote bank.[166]
The provincial cabinet is then appointed by the Chief Minister who takes theOath of office from the Governor.[169] In matters of civil administration, theChief Secretary assists the Chief Minister on executing its right to ensure the writ of the government and the constitution.[150][170]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is divided into seven divisions – Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Hazara, Kohat, Malakand, Mardan, and Peshawar. Each division is split up into anywhere between two and nine districts, and there are 38 districts in the entire province. Following is a list showing each district ordered by alphabetical order. A full list showing different characteristics of each district, such as their population, area, and a map showing their location can be found at the main article.
Peshawar is the capital and largest city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The city is the most populous and comprises more than one-eighth of the province's population.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has thethird largest provincial economy in Pakistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's share of Pakistan's GDP has historically comprised 10.5%, although the province accounts for 11.9% of Pakistan's total population. The part of the economy that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dominates is forestry, where its share has historically ranged from a low of 34.9% to a high of 81%, giving an average of 61.56%.[171] Currently, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounts for 10% of Pakistan's GDP,[172] 20% of Pakistan's mining output[173] and, since 1972, it has seen its economy grow in size by 3.6 times.[174]
Agriculture remains important and the main cash crops include wheat, maize, tobacco (in Swabi), rice, sugar beets, as well as fruits are grown in the province.
Some manufacturing and high-tech investments in Peshawar have helped improve job prospects for many locals, while trade in the province involves nearly every product. The bazaars in the province are renowned throughout Pakistan. Unemployment has been reduced due to the establishment of industrial zones.
Workshops throughout the province support the manufacture of small arms and weapons. The province accounts for at least 78% of themarble production in Pakistan.[175]
The Sharmai Hydropower Project is a proposed power generation project located in the Upper Dir District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on thePanjkora River with an installed capacity of 150MW.[176]
Social issues
TheAwami National Party sought to rename the province "Pakhtunkhwa", which translates to "Land of Pakhtuns" in thePashto language.[177] This was opposed by some non-Pashtuns in the province and political parties such as thePakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) andMuttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), due to the PML-N deriving its support in the province from primarily non-PashtunHazara regions.
In 2010, the announcement that the province would have a new name led to a wave of protests in the Hazara region.[178] On 15 April 2010,Pakistan's senate officially named the province "Khyber Pakhtunkhwa" with 80 senators in favour and 12 opposed.[179] The MMA, who until the elections of 2008 had a majority in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, had proposed "Afghania" as a compromise name.[180]
After the2008 general election, the Awami National Party formed a coalition provincial government with thePakistan Peoples Party.[181] The Awami National Party has its strongholds in the Pashtun areas of Pakistan, particularly in the Peshawar valley, whileKarachi inSindh has one of the largest Pashtun populations in the world—around 7 million by some estimates.[182] In the 2008 election, the ANP won two Sindh assembly seats in Karachi. The Awami National Party has been instrumental in fighting the Taliban. Inthe 2013 general election Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf won a majority in theprovincial assembly and has now formed their government in coalition withJamaat-e-Islami Pakistan.[183]
Non-government organisations
The following is a list of some of the major NGOs working in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa:[184][185]
Pashto folk music is popular in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has a rich tradition going back hundreds of years. The main instruments are therubab,mangey andharmonium. Khowar folk music is popular in Chitral and northern Swat. The tunes of Khowar music are very different from those of Pashto, and the main instrument is the Chitrali sitar. A form of band music composed of clarinets (Surnai) and drums is popular in Chitral. It is played at polo matches and dances. The same form of band music is played in the neighbouringNorthern Areas.[186]
Literature
There's an important literature produced in the province, mainly in Pashto but also in Urdu and in Hindko, and in 2022 more than 25,000 books were published in these three languages.[187]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has traditionally had a very low literacy rate, although this is changing in recent times. As of the 2017 census, the literacy rate for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including FATA) is 51.66%. In rural areas, the literacy rate is 48.44% of the population while in urban areas it is 66.86%. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has a huge gap in literacy rate between sexes – for men it is 66.67% while the female literacy rate is 34.58%, just over half the male literacy rate. This gap is particularly prominent in the overwhelmingly-Pashto rural areas, where traditional gender norms have generally limited education of women. As of 2021, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has the highest literacy growth rate in the whole country (Pakistan).[190][191]
This is a chart of the education market of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa estimated[192] by the government in 1998.[193]
^abKPK's contribution to national economy was 10.39%, or $152 billion (PPP) and $38 billion (nominal) in 2022.[2][3]
^Punjabi languages and dialects amalgamated for comparative purposes, as they were previously enumerated jointly asPunjabi languages and dialects. Includes speakers ofWestern Punjabi (Lahnda) (Hindko-Saraiki:Peshawari,Pahari-Pothwari,Derawali, Chinawab,Multani,Chachhi,Ghebi,Tanoli,Kohati,Awankari, Hariani, and others) and also includes speakers ofStandard Punjabi. Both are included as one on table for continuity between censuses, as enumeration results frequently shifted as standardization of the various Punjabi dialects and languages was an ongoing process, with speakers of Standard Punjabi comprising a majority as per the 1911 census, while speakers of Western Punjabi (Lahnda) comprised a majority as per the 1921 and 1931 census.
^1951, 1998, 2017, 2023: Including Hindu (Jati) and Scheduled Castes.
^abPre-partition populations for religious data is forNorth-West Frontier Province only and excludes theFederally Administered Tribal Areas (both administrative divisions later merged to form Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018), as religious data was not collected in the latter region at the time.
^abcClaus, Peter J.; Diamond, Sarah; Ann Mills, Margaret (2003).South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Taylor & Francis. p. 447.ISBN978-0415939195.
^abc"Ethno-linguistic provinces".The Express Tribune. 25 June 2011.Archived from the original on 23 September 2021.Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa could gain the Pashto-speaking areas of Balochistan but would lose the Hindko-speaking parts to the Hazara Province, the Siraiki-speaking areas to the Siraiki province and the Khowar and other smaller language areas to yet another province.
^Marwat, Fazal-ur-Rahim Khan (1997).The evolution and growth of communism in Afghanistan, 1917–79: an appraisal. Royal Book Co. p. XXXV.
^Barnes, Robert Harrison; Gray, Andrew; Kingsbury, Benedict (1995).Indigenous peoples of Asia. Association for Asian Studies. p. 171.ISBN0924304146.
^ab"It's KP, not KPK".www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved23 April 2023.Initially, a number of names were proposed for the province. These ranged from its ancient names, Gandhara and Afghania, to the controversial Pakhtunistan and Pashtunistan and the absurd Pathanistan, and from Abaseen denoting the River Indus passing through it to the meaningless Sarhad.
^abc"Spat over renaming NWFP".The Hindu. 22 March 2010.ISSN0971-751X. Retrieved23 April 2023.Besides Pukhtoonkhwa, five other names are under consideration. The ANP has suggested Pukhtoonistan and Afghania. And, the PML(N) Gandhara, Khyber and Abbasin (Pushto for the river Indus). Senior ANP leader Zahid Khan was hopeful of a compromise on the issue and suggested that the leaderships of the two parties may settle for a hyphenated name that pleases all.
^"'N', ANP still apart on NWFP renaming".The Nation. 22 March 2010. Retrieved23 April 2023.He said that PML-N had also suggested the name 'Gandhara but half of the Gandhara population was living in Punjab, therefore, would Punjab agree to include that part in the NWFP, he questioned.
^April 14, 2010, Kalsoom Lakhani."A province by any other name".Foreign Policy. Retrieved23 April 2023.But the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), a mainstream conservative political party with its stronghold in Punjab province, staunchly opposed this label, (officially calling for a referendum last September), claiming the title marginalized other ethnic and linguistic groups in the province, including Hindko, Seraiki, and Khowar-speakers. A deadlock over the name continued, with an array of alternative names proposed as a compromise. While some reflected more neutral geographical areas (Khyber, Neelab and Abaseen) and historical references (Gandhara, the old Buddhist-era name of the region), other noteworthy runner-ups included Afghania, the clandestine 'A' in "Pakistan," coined by one of the earliest proponents of the Pakistani state, Chaudhry Rehmat Ali in 1933.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^* Schmidt, Karl J. (1995).An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History, p.120: "In addition to being a center of religion for Buddhists, as well as Hindus, Taxila was a thriving center for art, culture, and learning."
Srinivasan, Doris Meth (2008). "Hindu Deities in Gandharan art," inGandhara, The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Legends, Monasteries, and Paradise, pp.130–143: "Gandhara was not cut off from the heartland of early Hinduism in the Gangetic Valley. The two regions shared cultural and political connections and trade relations and this facilitated the adoption and exchange of religious ideas. [...] It is during the Kushan Era that flowering of religious imagery occurred. [...] Gandhara often introduced its own idiosyncratic expression upon the Buddhist and Hindu imagery it had initially come in contact with."
Blurton, T. Richard (1993).Hindu ArtArchived 15 January 2023 at theWayback Machine, Harvard University Press: "The earliest figures of Shiva which show him in purely human form come from the area of ancient Gandhara" (p.84) and "Coins from Gandhara of the first century BC show Lakshmi [...] four-armed, on a lotus." (p.176)
^Rehman 1976, p. 187 and Pl. V B., "the horseman is shown wearing a turban-like head-gear with a small globule on the top".
^Rahman, Abdul (2002)."New Light on the Khingal, Turk and the Hindu Sahis"(PDF).Ancient Pakistan.XV:37–42.Archived(PDF) from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved20 January 2023.The Hindu Śāhis were therefore neither Bhattis, or Janjuas, nor Brahmans. They were simply Uḍis/Oḍis. It can now be seen that the term Hindu Śāhi is a misnomer and, based as it is merely upon religious discrimination, should be discarded and forgotten. The correct name is Uḍi or Oḍi Śāhi dynasty.
^Meister, Michael W. (2005)."The Problem of Platform Extensions at Kafirkot North"(PDF).Ancient Pakistan.XVI:41–48.Archived(PDF) from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved20 January 2023.Rehman (2002: 41) makes a good case for calling the Hindu Śāhis by a more accurate name, "Uḍi Śāhis".
^The Shahi Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, pp 1, 45–46, 48, 80, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians; Country, Culture and Political life in early and medieval India, 2004, p 34, Daud Ali.
^Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1954, pp 112 ff; The Shahis of Afghanistan and Punjab, 1973, p 46, Dr D. B. Pandey; The Úakas in India and Their Impact on Indian Life and Culture, 1976, p 80, Vishwa Mitra Mohan – Indo-Scythians.
^abcdeP. M. Holt; Ann K. S. Lambton;Bernard Lewis, eds. (1977),The Cambridge history of Islam, Cambridge University Press, p. 3,ISBN978-0-521-29137-8,... Jaypala of Waihind saw danger in the consolidation of the kingdom of Ghazna and decided to destroy it. He therefore invaded Ghazna, but was defeated ...
^Richards, John F. (1996), "Imperial expansion under Aurangzeb 1658–1869. Testing the limits of the empire: the Northwest.",The Mughal Empire, New Cambridge history of India: The Mughals and their contemporaries, vol. 5 (illustrated, reprint ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 170–171,ISBN978-0-521-56603-2,archived from the original on 17 August 2023, retrieved28 March 2017
^"Rivalries in India", C.C. Davies,The New Cambridge Modern History, Vol. VII The Old Regime 1713–63, ed. J.O. Lindsay, (Cambridge University Press, 1988), 564.
^Schofield, Victoria, "Afghan Frontier: Feuding and Fighting in Central Asia", London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks (2003), page 47
^abcdDani, Ahmad Hasan (2003).History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. UNESCO.ISBN9789231038761.
^Elst, Koenraad (2018)."70 (b)".Why I killed the Mahatma: Uncovering Godse's defence. New Delhi : Rupa, 2018.
^Pande, Aparna (2011).Explaining Pakistan's Foreign Policy: Escaping India. Taylor & Francis. p. 66.ISBN9781136818943.At Independence there was a Congress-led ministry in the North West Frontier...The Congress-supported government of the North West Frontier led by the secular Pashtun leaders, the Khan brothers, wanted to join India and not Pakistan. If joining India was not an option, then the secular Pashtun leaders espoused the cause ofPashtunistan: an ethnic state for Pashtuns.
^abcYousef Aboul-Enein; Basil Aboul-Enein (2013).The Secret War for the Middle East. Naval Institute Press. p. 153.ISBN978-1612513096.
^Haroon, Sana (2008). "The Rise of Deobandi Islam in the North-West Frontier Province and Its Implications in Colonial India and Pakistan 1914–1996".Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.18 (1): 55.JSTOR27755911.The stance of the central JUH was pro-Congress, and accordingly the JUS supported the Congressite Khudai Khidmatgars through to the elections of 1937. However the secular stance of Ghaffar Khan, leader of the Khudai Khidmatgars, disparaging the role of religion in government and social leadership, was driving a wedge between the ulama of the JUS and the Khudai Khidmatgars, irrespective of the commitments of mutual support between the JUH and Congress leaderships. In trying to highlight the separateness and vulnerability of Muslims in a religiously diverse public space, the directives of the NWFP ulama began to veer away from simple religious injunctions to take on a communalist tone. The ulama highlighted 'threats' posed by Hindus to Muslims in the province. Accusations of improper behaviour and molestation of Muslim women were levelled against 'Hindu shopkeepers' in Nowshera. Sermons given by two JUS-connected maulvis in Nowshera declared the Hindus the 'enemies' of Islam and Muslims. Posters were distributed in the city warning Muslims not to buy or consume food prepared and sold by Hindus in the bazaars. In 1936, a Hindu girl was abducted by a Muslim in Bannu and then married to him. The government demanded the girl's return, But popular Muslim opinion, supported by a resolution passed by the Jamiyatul Ulama Bannu, demanded that she stay, stating that she had come of her free will, had converted to Islam, and was now lawfully married and had to remain with her husband. Government efforts to retrieve the girl led to accusations of the government being anti-Muslim and of encouraging apostasy, and so stirred up strong anti-Hindu sentiment across the majority Muslim NWFP.
^Haroon, Sana (2008). "The Rise of Deobandi Islam in the North-West Frontier Province and Its Implications in Colonial India and Pakistan 1914–1996".Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society.18 (1):57–58.JSTOR27755911.By 1947 the majority of NWFP ulama supported the Muslim League idea of Pakistan. Because of the now long-standing relations between JUS ulama and the Muslim League, and the strong communalist tone in the NWFP, the move away from the pro-Congress and anti-Pakistan party line of the central JUH to interest and participation in the creation of Pakistan by the NWFP Deobandis was not a dramatic one.
^Hyman, Anthony (2002)."Nationalism in Afghanistan".International Journal of Middle East Studies.34 (2):299–315.ISSN0020-7438.JSTOR3879829.Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved20 January 2023."Greater Afghanistan," an irredentist vision based on the extensive empire conquered by Ahmad Shah Durrani.
^Underhill, Natasha (2014).Countering Global Terrorism and Insurgency: Calculating the Risk of State Failure in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. Macmillan Publishers. pp. 195–121.ISBN978-1-349-48064-7.
^Bashir, Elena L. (2016). "Language endangerment and documentation. Pakistan and Afghanistan". InHock, Hans Henrich;Bashir, Elena (eds.).The languages and linguistics of South Asia: a comprehensive guide. World of Linguistics. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. p. 639.ISBN978-3-11-042715-8.
^South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent. (Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5). Routledge; Har/Com edition (November 1999).ISBN978-0-8240-4946-1
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