Khushal Khan Khattak (1613-1689) (Pashto: ?????? ??? ???) was a prominent Pashtun poet, warrior, and tribal chief of the Khattak tribe.
[1] He wrote a huge collection of Pashto poems during the Mughal Empire in the 17th century, and admonished Afghans (Pashtuns or Pakhtuns) to forsake their divisive tendencies and unite against the Mughal army. Promoting Afghan nationalism through poetry, he was a renowned military fighter who became known as the “Afghan Warrior Poet”.
[2] Khushal Khan lived in the foothills of the Hindu Kush mountains in what is now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.
Early life
Khushal Khan was born in or about 1613 into a Pashtun family of the Khattak tribe. He was the son of Shahbaz Khan from Akora Greater Afghanistan (now in Nowshera District of Kyber-Pakthunkhwa, in Pakistan). His grandfather, Malik Akoray, was the first Khattak to enjoy widespread fame during the reign of the Mughal King Jalal-ud-din Akbar. Akoray moved from Teri (a village in Karak District) to Sarai Akora, the town which Akoray founded and built. Akoray cooperated with the Mughals to safeguard the trunk route and was generously rewarded for his assistance. The Akor Khels, a clan named after Akoray, still hold a prominent position in the Khattak tribe. The Khattak tribe of Khushhal Khan now lives in areas of Karak, Kohat, Nowshera, Peshawar, Mardan and in other parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Khushhal Khan
