Pashtun Tales From the Pakistan-Afghan Frontier

by Aisha Ahmad, Roger Boase

These oral tales were collected in the tribal areas on the Pakistan-Afghan frontier, a region described as the last free place on earth. With their blend of wit, fantasy, comedy, and romance, they reflect the Pashtun code of honor and way of life that are now seriously threatened by social changes and recent political events. Most of them, such as the epic tale of Hazrat Ali , have never been recorded before, and might otherwise have been lost forever. Some are recognizable as universal types, such as a version of Androcles and the Lion and of the tale that provided Shakespeare with the plot of King Lear .

Genres: Fiction, Pakistan

380 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2003

Reviews

[ahmad afridi · Rating 3 out of 5]

it reminded me my early childhood when i used to be in my village there was no electricity and after evening time we kids would sit together and our session of story telling would start with these words ."
"please forgive me in advance about any misquoting in this tale "
and ending with
"qissa lara pa akhtar ,
za te rakuz shwam pa nakhtar ,
qissa lara batt la ,
za larama khpal katt la"
translation
"the story went for Eid
i came down through the deodar tree ,
the story was distributed like roasted corn
and i returned to bed "

when i grew up i thought these folk tales and fantasies are just for childhood but reading this book i found that keeping aside those exaggerations and fantasies these tales are mirror to understand our society . all the codes of life in our pashtoon society (good or evil) are described i.e hospitality , revenge ,ghairat , patriarchal approach , misogyny ,love , granting asylum even to enemies, believe in fate or miracles rather than intelligence ,popular wisdom and looking down on menial professions

[Briece · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I got it originally for dissertation research and found it didn't cover what i thought it would. as a result it has been left aside for a year plus. I started reading it the other day and really love it. it is a bit esoteric but an easy read.

the book is a collection of short stories from the Pashtun region of Afgahn/Pakistan borders. and reads like a collection of Brothers Grimm tales, just from South Asia. I have been reading one tale a night to to my son, Greyson, so that should give you an idea how short the stories are. there are lots of "Once upon a time...", "evil vizers...: and "wizened beggars..." all of which seem to transport one back to a mythic age dreamt of in childhood.

Aside from the romantic of the reading, it is footnoted (although sporadically) and has in depth academic analysis of the stories at the end of the book. It appears to have been done as a historical ethnography. (lets use old stories to gain insight into past social patterns stuff... ) If you want to read those bits it probably adds more to the understanding, but for now we have been sticking with the stories...

I would recommend it to all. particularly folks involved in demolition and rebuilding in the region. with a little bit of thought I think it might contribute to understanding how people and social systems work in the region.

[Babur Khan (The Pukhtoon Bibliophile) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh boy, where do I even begin with this one!
Just finished Pashtun Tales by Aisha Ahmad and Roger Boase, and to say that I was not impressed with this book would be an understatement.

While I respect the premise of the book, the way it has been translated and written makes this book almost illegible and incomprehensible. The book tries to take us on a journey through North Western Pakistan and Afghanistan through folklore and local fables. However, the stories, having gone through what I can only call a juvenile attempt at a translation, are barely recognizable, let alone enjoyable.

Speaking of bad translations, the book, while being written in English, tend to be confused as to what it wants to be and who the target audience is since it neither works for a Pashtun audience, nor can Western audiences relate to it. The stories are monotonous, repetitive, and full of basic grammatical mistakes.

Additionally, the illustrations have no relation to the stories in the book and are just randomly taken off of the Internet without context.

The only reason this book gets a two star rating from me is because it "tried" to bring Pukhtoon folklore and fables into the mainstream. You wouldn't be missing out on anything if you skipped this one.

[Ekrah Afridi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book ! With flipping each page i felt as I'm flipping the covers of those gone years and I have entered again to the familiar place and age when my mother used to tell me all these bedtime stories. I was once again that little child who enjoys the tales of koh kaaf , fairies, epic, king, and princesses.

Best chapters are Wit and Intelligence, and Epic & Romance. It's great job of Aisha Ahmad to collect these tales in one single book! This book indeed is a treasure.

Recommended to everyone.

[Shafeeq Gigyani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really Interesting book...
I remember my childhood when our grandmother tell these tales

[Hemna Frough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend this book!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It reads like any other book of "original" tales from any other region (Grimms, Arabian, Native American, etc.) in that it's awkward and clunky. Since that seems to be the general style among books like this, I won't fault it. I expected it, really. But the stories themselves, for the most part, didn't live up to my expectations. I was hoping for more of an Arabian Nights vibe. Regardless of any expectation, most stories were a little too misogynistic for my taste. I did, however, really enjoy a small few of them and have earmarked them in the book for rereading again later. Additionally, I really appreciate the rather comprehensive analysis pages at the back of the book for each tale.

[Alan Bach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed the first half of this book, even if a lot of the riddles make little sense to a modern audience. They were coherent, got to the point and generally had a nice moral to the story. The second half was another story. The revenge tales even if you excuse the misogynistic and racist undertones as for views of its time were too formulaic. The love stories were repetitive in certain events happening over and over. I think some might enjoy the comedic stories at rhe very end, but the book already was at the edge of breaking my sense of disbelief for most of it, and the unlikeliness of the comedic events was too much for me.

[Paul Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection of folk tales. Many of the themes are similar if not the same as folk tales from elsewhere in the world; especially where there is a narrative culture.

[Pankaj · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has worked hard to locate hard-to-find folk-story narrators, a nearly extinct group of people. Aisha has done a reasonably good job transcribing and translating the oral tradition of tales collected. It is also admirable that she has been able to link the stories in this collection to those that exist(ed) in other regions of the wider South Asia and Central Asia. 5 stars for this effort!

It is only natural that some of these tales or their themes would be similar and therefore, the collection starts to feel repetitive.

Reading these tales has revived vivid memories of different story telling sessions by either of my grandmothers and a favourite paternal aunt! Most enjoyable to stop and muse with eyes closed, playing out the imagery conjured by the prose. Thank you Aisha Ahmad.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is fun for a few of the tales, but it quickly becomes apparent that the tales have a lot of similarities between them. Once you've read a handful of them, that's enough as the rest are going to mostly repeat similar motifs.

Still a fun read.

[Amber Meller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting as it kept me entertained until the end. It was interesting to see how things played out in the many stories included in the book. You can easily be distracted from the world with the stories. In a way it was an interesting end of a holiday .

[Jamshed Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

ffvfv

[Hussain Kalyar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Of Adventure, & epic. Best Chapters of this book is Wit and Intelligence, Magic & Miracle, and Epic & Romance.

[Mi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, easy to read, funny and deep. Amazing adventures for all the hungry imaginations out there.
One of the best books ever.

[Noor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing read.

Short folktales of pathan history.

I read these then tell them as bedtime stories to my children ☺️

For Anyone wth a pathan heritage this is a must read.