The Role of Early Literary Biographies (Tazkiri) in the Ancient History of Pashto Literature

Abstract

The role of early literary biographies in the ancient history of Pashto literature is a significant and fundamental subject, as these biographies have transmitted to us the thoughts, styles, and contributions of early poets, writers, and Sufi figures. These literary biographies also convey vivid depictions of the social, cultural, political, and intellectual values of their respective eras. In addition, the Pashto literary tazkirs mentioned in this article serve as historical sources for future generations.These are precisely the literary tadhkirahs that extended the history of Pashto literature back to the second Hijri century. In the article, the tadhkirahsmentioned have preserved ourPashto language and the history of the Pashtun people.It is these Pashto literary biographies that have provided authentic and reliable historical material for the study of our Ancient Literary History. Thanks to these few literary biographies, the Pashto language—and particularly the recorded history of the Pashtun people—has found a place among the recognized literary traditions of both the region and the world. Also, this article provides information about all the, poets, and writers of ancient history, from which book or tazkirs each poet and writer is taken. The qualitative method has been used in writing this article. Because through this method, it is easy to find libraries, online websites, and reliable sources.I thoroughly analyzed and evaluated all the sources after carefully reading them, and I have incorporated accurate information from them into this article.