The Pakhtun culture had been flourishing between 484 - 425 BC, in the era of Herodotus and Alexander the Great. Herodotus, the Greek historian, for the first time, used the word Pactyans, for people who were living in parts of Persian Satrapy, Arachosia between 1000 - 1 BC. The hymns' collection from an ancient Indian Sanskrit Ved used the word Pakthas for a tribe, who were inhabitants of eastern parts of Afghanistan. Presently, the terms Afghan and Pakhtun were synonyms till the Durand Line divided Afghanistan and Pakhtuns living in Pakistan. For these people the code of conduct remained Pakhtunwali; it is the pre-Islamic way of life and honour code based upon peace and tranquillity. It presents an ethnic self-portrait which defines the Pakhtuns as an ethnic group having not only a distinct culture, history and language but also a behaviour.
Keywords : Pakhtun, Militancy, Culture, Pakhtunwali, Identity
Authored by :
(1) Hikmat Shah Afridi
Ph.D scholar, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Manzoor Khan Afridi
Assistant Professor,Department of Politics and IR, Islamic International University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(3) Syed Umair Jalal
Junior Research Fellow, Humanity Research Council, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Global Regional Review (GRR) is published by Humanity Publications, a leading publishing house in Pakistan in research and analytics, that assists researchers in advancing research outcomes for societal benefit. GRR intends to promote qualitative and quantitative research and findings with the help of newly emerging tools and patterns utilized in experiments, observations, interviews, analysis and surveys by encircling all major segments of regional studies and academic and research disciplines. GRR is a double-blind peer-reviewed research journal which encompasses major disciplines of regional studies i.e. economy, society, politics, geography, anthropology, art, architecture, languages, history, culture, technology and environment of Pakistan with specific reference to regional areas and powers.
