Editing Pashtuns (section)

=== Pashto literature and poetry ===
{{Main|Pashto literature and poetry}}
[[File:Mahmud Tarzi in 1920-cropped.jpg|thumb|left|[[Mahmud Tarzi]], son of [[Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi]], became the pioneer of [[Media of Afghanistan|Afghan journalism]] for publishing the first newspaper [[Seraj al Akhbar]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bl.uk/collections/afghan/chronology1881to1919.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715124008/http://www.bl.uk/collections/afghan/chronology1881to1919.html|url-status=dead|title=Chronology: the reigns of Abdur Rahman Khan and Habibullah, 1881–1919|archive-date=15 July 2007|access-date=14 December 2021}}</ref>]]
The majority of Pashtuns use [[Pashto]] as their [[first language|native tongue]], belonging to the [[Iranian languages|Iranian]] [[language family]],<ref name="Iranica">[[Nicholas Sims-Williams]], {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110719014711/http://iranica.com/articles/eastern-iranian-languages Eastern Iranian languages]}}, in Encyclopædia Iranica, Online Edition, 2010. ''"The Modern Eastern Iranian languages are even more numerous and varied. Most of them are classified as North-Eastern: Ossetic; Yaghnobi (which derives from a dialect closely related to Sogdian); the Shughni group (Shughni, Roshani, Khufi, Bartangi, Roshorvi, Sarikoli), with which Yaz-1ghulami (Sokolova 1967) and the now extinct Wanji (J. Payne in Schmitt, p. 420) are closely linked; Ishkashmi, Sanglichi, and Zebaki; Wakhi; Munji and Yidgha; and Pashto."''</ref> and spoken by up to 60&nbsp;million people.<ref name="Penzl">{{Cite book|title=A Grammar of Pashto a Descriptive Study of the Dialect of Kandahar, Afghanistan|last1=Penzl|first1=Herbert|first2=Ismail|last2=Sloan|year=2009|publisher=Ishi Press International|isbn=978-0-923891-72-5|page=210|quote=''Estimates of the number of Pashto speakers range from 40&nbsp;million to 60&nbsp;million&nbsp;...''|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zvRePgAACAAJ}}</ref><ref name="Omniglot">{{cite web|url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/pashto.htm|title=Pashto language, alphabet and pronunciation|publisher=Omniglot|access-date=18 January 2007}}</ref> It is written in the [[Pashto alphabet|Pashto-Arabic script]] and is divided into two main dialects, the southern "Pashto" and the northern "Pukhto". The language has ancient origins and bears similarities to [[extinct language]]s such as [[Avestan language|Avestan]] and [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]].<ref name="Britannica Avestan">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9356220|title=Avestan language|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=18 February 2007}}</ref> Its closest modern relatives may include [[Pamir languages]], such as [[Shughni language|Shughni]] and [[Wakhi language|Wakhi]], and [[Ossetic language|Ossetic]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Ethnic Groups of North, East, and Central Asia : An Encyclopedia|author=Minahan, James|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-1-61069-018-8|oclc=879947835|chapter=Pamiri|date=10 February 2014}}</ref> Pashto may have ancient legacy of borrowing vocabulary from neighbouring languages including such as [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Vedic Sanskrit]]. Modern borrowings come primarily from the English language.<ref name="Pashto Dictionary">Awde, Nicholas and Asmatullah Sarwan. 2002. ''Pashto: Dictionary & Phrasebook'', New York: Hippocrene Books Inc. {{ISBN|0-7818-0972-X}}. Retrieved 18 February 2007.</ref>

The earliest describes Sheikh Mali's conquest of [[Swat (princely state)|Swat]].<ref name="UCLA">{{cite web|url=http://www.afghan-network.net/Ethnic-Groups/pashtu-history.html|title=History of Pushto language|publisher=UCLA Language Materials Project|access-date=18 January 2007}}</ref> [[Pir Roshan]] is believed to have written a number of Pashto books while fighting with the Mughals. Pashtun scholars such as [[Abdul Hai Habibi]] and others believe that the earliest Pashto work dates back to [[Amir Kror Suri]], and they use the writings found in [[Pata Khazana]] as proof. Amir Kror Suri, son of ''Amir Polad Suri'', was an 8th-century [[folk hero]] and king from the [[Ghor Province|Ghor]] region in Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Afghan Monarchs: Sher Shah Suri, Amanullah Khan, Habibullah Khan, Amir Kror Suri|year=2010|publisher=General Books|location=London|isbn=978-1-156-38425-1|page=26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Afghanistan|volume=20–22|year=1967|publisher=Historical Society of Afghanistan|page=47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhrjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> However, this is disputed by several European experts due to lack of strong evidence.

The advent of poetry helped transition Pashto to the modern period. Pashto literature gained significant prominence in the 20th century, with poetry by [[Ameer Hamza Shinwari]] who developed ''Pashto Ghazals''.<ref name="Shinwari Baba">{{cite web|url=http://www.khyber.org/people/literary/AmirHamzaShinwariBaba.shtml|title=Amir Hamza Shinwari Baba|work=Khyber.org|access-date=18 January 2007|archive-date=27 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927155949/http://www.khyber.org/people/literary/AmirHamzaShinwariBaba.shtml|url-status=usurped}}</ref> In 1919, during the expanding of mass media, [[Mahmud Tarzi]] published Seraj-al-Akhbar, which became the first Pashto newspaper in Afghanistan. In 1977, [[Khan Roshan Khan]] wrote ''Tawarikh-e-Hafiz Rehmatkhani'' which contains the family trees and Pashtun tribal names. Some notable poets include [[Malak Ahmad Khan Yusufzai]] [[Abdul Ghani Khan]], [[Afzal Khan Khattak]], [[Ahmad Shah Durrani]], [[Gaju Khan]] [[Kalu Khan Yousafzai]] [[Ajmal Khattak]], [[Ghulam Muhammad Tarzi]], [[Hamza Shinwari]], [[Hanif Baktash]], [[Khushal Khan Khattak]], [[Nazo Tokhi]], [[Pareshan Khattak]], [[Rahman Baba]], [[Shuja Shah Durrani]], and [[Timur Shah Durrani]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afghan-web.com/culture/poetry/cpoets.html|title=Classical Dari and Pashto Poets|publisher=Afghanistan Online|access-date=20 April 2011|archive-date=12 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140412113451/http://www.afghan-web.com/culture/poetry/cpoets.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Rahman Baba">{{cite web|url=http://www.pashto.org/content/view/12/26/|title=Rahman Baba: Poet of the Pashtuns|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070417172354/http://www.pashto.org/content/view/12/26/|archive-date=17 April 2007|publisher=Pashto.org|access-date=18 January 2007}}</ref>