, image = Khan Abdul Ghani Khan 1940s.jpg
, image_size = 250px
, caption = Khan in the 1940s
, birth_date =
, birth_place =
Hashtnagar
Hashtnagar (Pashto: هشتنګر, more commonly known as اشنغر in Pashto) is one of the two constituent parts of the Charsadda District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The name Hashtnagar is derived from the Sanskrit अष्टनगरम् ''A ...
,
North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...
,
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
, now
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, death_date =
, death_place =
Charsadda
Chārsadda ( ps, چارسده; ; ur, ; ) is a town and headquarters of Charsadda District, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. ,
North-West Frontier Province
The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ps, شمال لویدیځ سرحدي ولایت, ) was a Chief Commissioner's Province of British India, established on 9 November 1901 from the north-western districts of the Punjab Province. Followin ...
, now
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, nationality =
, notablework = ''Da Panjre Chaghar'', ''Panoos'', ''The Pathans'', ''Da Ghani Latoon'', ''Kuliat-e-Ghani''
, native_name =
, native_name_lang = ps
, relatives =
, pseudonym =
, awards =
Sitara-i-Imtiaz
The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...
(1980)
Khan Abdul Ghani Khan (; – 15 March 1996) was a
Pashtun
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
philosopher, poet, artist, writer and politician. He was a son of
Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...
, a prominent
British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
-era
Indian independence activist. Throughout his life as a poet in both
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
and
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, Khan was known by the titles ''Lewanay Pālsapay'' () and ''Da īlam Samander'' ().
Life
Khan was born in
Hashtnagar
Hashtnagar (Pashto: هشتنګر, more commonly known as اشنغر in Pashto) is one of the two constituent parts of the Charsadda District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The name Hashtnagar is derived from the Sanskrit अष्टनगरम् ''A ...
, in the
Frontier Tribal Areas of
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
—roughly located in the modern-day village of
Utmanzai in
Charsadda District,
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...
,
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. He was a son of
Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...
, a prominent Indian independence activist, and was the elder brother of
Abdul Wali Khan
Khan Abdul Wali Khan ( ps, خان عبدالولي خان; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pakistani secular democratic socialist and Pashtun people, Pashtun leader, and served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the promin ...
. Khan's wife, Roshan, was from a
Parsi
Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
family and was the daughter of Nawab Rustam Jang a prince of
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
. He went to study at the art academy at
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...
's University in
Shantiniketan
Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
, where he developed a liking for painting and sculpture. He visited
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
and studied sugar technology in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, after which he returned to British India and started working at the Takht Bhai Sugar Mills in
Takht Bhai in 1933. Largely owing to his father's influence, Khan was also involved in politics, supporting the cause of the
Pashtuns
Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically re ...
of British India. Due to his activism, Khan was arrested by the
Government of Pakistan
The Government of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=hakúmat-e pákistán) abbreviated as GoP, is a federal government established by the Constitution of Pakistan as a constituted governing authority of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provin ...
in 1948—although he had given up politics by then—and remained in prison till 1954, in various jails all over the country. It was during these years that he wrote his poem collection, ''Da Panjray Chaghaar'', which he considered to be the best work of his life. His contribution to literature (often unpublished) was ignored by the Pakistani government for much of his life; although near the end of his life, his works did receive much praise and as well as an award—for his contributions to
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
literature and painting, the then-
President of Pakistan
The president of Pakistan ( ur, , translit=s̤adr-i Pākiṣṭān), officially the President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is the ceremonial head of state of Pakistan and the commander-in-chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces.[Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq HI, GCSJ, ร.ม.ภ, (Urdu: ; 12 August 1924 – 17 August 1988) was a Pakistani four-star general and politician who became the sixth President of Pakistan following a coup and declaration of martial law in ...]
, conferred on him the
Sitara-i-Imtiaz
The Sitara-e-Imtiaz () also spelled as Sitara-i-Imtiaz, is the third-highest (in the order of "Imtiaz") honour and civilian award in the State of Pakistan. It recognizes individuals who have made an "especially meritorious contribution to the ...
on 23 March 1980.
Political Life and Imprisonment
During a part of Ghani Khan's life, modern-day
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
did not exist. India was under British rule (hence called
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
) and was
fighting for its independence from the British. On 15 August 1947, India finally gained its independence. And a day before, on 14 August 1947, Pakistan had been born, becoming independent of British India. Hence, before all this independence, the Pashtuns who are now in Pakistan were under the rule of British India before the partition of India and Pakistan. This is where and why Bacha Khan's work was significant.
As for Ghani Khan, he was initially influenced by his father's political struggles and thus worked for the independence of the Pashtuns ruled by British India. However, he later came to disagree with his father's ideologies (he stopped supporting the idea of
nonviolent resistance
Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, cons ...
, seeing that it was not beneficial to the Pashtuns). He says, in an interview, that he left his father's political movement of non-violence, called "Khudai Khidmatgar" ("God’s Soldiers") because of some of the movement's motives that he disagreed with.
Although he was no longer involved in politics by the time of Pakistan's independence (1947), the government of Pakistan imprisoned him several times, sending him to jails from all over the country. His father spent close to half of his lifetime in jail (44 years out of his 99 years). Ghani Khan used his time in jail to write poetry; his main work in jail is called ''Da Panjrey Chaghar ''("The Chirping of the Cage").
Works
Aside from a few poems of his youth and early manhood, Ghani Khan's poetry, like his temperament, is anti-political. His poem collections include ''Panoos'', ''Palwashay'', ''De Panjray Chaghar'', ''Kullyat'' and ''Latoon''. He also wrote in English; his first book was ''The Pathans'' (1947). His only published work in Urdu was his book titled Khan Sahib (1994).
The singular distinction of his poetry – aside from his obvious poetic genius – is a profound blend of knowledge about his native and foreign cultures, and the
psychological
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between t ...
, sensual, and religious aspects of life.
A translation (Pashto to English) of selected 141 poems of Ghani Khan, called The Pilgrim of Beauty, has been authored by Imtiaz Ahmad Sahibzada, a friend and admirer of the poet. The book was printed in 2014 in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is a joint initiative by individual donors in Pakistan and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Afghanistan. The book also contains paintings of Ghani Khan. The Pakistan launch of the book took place in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Pukhtun Festival, in March 2015. The Afghanistan launch took place on 22 February 2016 by the Ministry of Information and Culture.In 1982, At Edwards College Peshawar, Quaid Muhammad Khan(President Of Pushto Literature) familiarized Ghani Khan with Sardar Ali Takkar so that he could be able to read Ghani Khan ghazals with some music at the background (Modern Day Tappy).
Quotes and prose
Ghani Khan's love for nature and the local habitat of the Pashtun people is visible in his work. He wrote
* "Pashtun is not merely a race but, in fact, a state of mind; there is a Pashtun lying inside every man, who at times wakes up and overpowers him."
* "The Pashtuns are rain-sown wheat: they all came up on the same day; they are all the same. But the chief reason why I love a Pashtun is that he will wash his face and oil his beard and perfume his locks and put on his best pair of clothes when he goes out to fight and die."
*As a progressive and intellectual writer, he wrote, "I want to see my people educated and enlightened. A people with a vision and a strong sense of justice, who can carve out a future for themselves in harmony with nature."
Ghani khan poetry
څوک دې ماته وُوائي
څه رنګې شیدا شي څوک؟
څوک چې چاته وُخاندي
ولې پۀ خندا شي څوک؟
ستوري د غره څوکې تۀ
غلي شان بېګا وُوې
مینې پۀ ژړا وُوې
حسن پۀ خندا وُوې
Tribute
Abdul Ghani Khan died on 15 March 1996 and was buried in
Utmanzai, Charsadda
Utmanzai is a town in Charsadda tehsil of Charsadda District in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It is located at the border between Mohmand Agency and Charsadda District.
Overview
It is one of the eight main villages of Hashtnagar ...
.
After his death, in recognition of his outstanding achievements, the Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province built a public library and park as a memorial to him on about of land, naming it "Ghani Derai" (the mound of Ghani). The site is a historical mound very near his home, Dar- ul-Aman, and within the confines of his ancestral village, Utmanzai, on the main highway from Razzar to Takht-i-Bhai.
See also
*
Abdul Ali Khan
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Utmanzai, Charsadda, North-West Frontier Province, British India, now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
, death_date =
, death_place =
, nationality =
, education ...
*
Khan Abdul Bahram Khan
Khan Abdul Bahram Khan ( ur, خان عبدل بهرام خان) was the founder of major political family of Pakistan. Khan Abdul Bahram Khan's sons Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan (usually referred to as "''Dr. Khan Sahib''") and Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Bacha ...
*
Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Abdul Ghaffār Khān (; 6 February 1890 – 20 January 1988), also known as Bacha Khan () or Badshah Khan (), and honourably addressed as Fakhr-e-Afghan (), was a Pakistani Pashtun, independence activist, and founder of the Khudai Khidmatgar ...
*
Abdul Wali Khan
Khan Abdul Wali Khan ( ps, خان عبدالولي خان; 11 January 1917 – 26 January 2006) was a Pakistani secular democratic socialist and Pashtun people, Pashtun leader, and served as president of Awami National Party. Son of the promin ...
*
Family of Bahram Khan
The Bahram Khan family ( ps, د بهرام خان کورنۍ) is a major political family from Charsadda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
Family tree
The members of Bahram Khan family who have been active in politics are:
* Khan Abdul Ba ...
*
Utmanzai (Sarbani tribe)
Utmanzai (Pashto: اتمان زی) is a Pashtun sub-tribe of the larger Kheshgi family in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Utmanzai or Utmankhel tribe was a fighter against the Sikh empire and were the allies of Mir Painda Khan ( Nawab of Amb) to combat ...
References
Sources
*Mohammad Arif Khattak: Ghani Khan – A Poet of Social Reality,
External links
Ghani Khan– interviews, images, and poems
– Audio and video interviews
*
Ghani Khan – PoetryLife & Works of Ghani Khan– an English translation of Ghani Khan's 141 poems, by Deewa radio,
Voice of America
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Ghani Abdul
1910s births
1996 deaths
Pashtun people
Pashtun nationalists
Pashto-language poets
Pakistani poets
Recipients of Sitara-i-Imtiaz
Ghani
People of British India
20th-century poets