Pulished by Saqi Books in 2003, "Paktun Tales" is a collection of Pashtun tales collected from the city of Peshawar, and the surrounding tribal areas (a region once described as ‘the last free place on earth’), The book is edited by Aisha Ahmed and her husband Roger Boase.
Aisha Ahmad obtained her PhD from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. She has done research on Pashtun women in the tribal areas and has worked as a consultant for the World Health Organization.
She is the aunt of Amineh Ahmed (Sorrow and joy among Muslim women: the Pukhtuns of northern Pakistan) and sister of Akbar Ahmed, (the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies and Professor of International Relations at American University in Washington, DC, is the former High Commissioner of Pakistan to Great Britain).
Roger Boase is an Honorary Research Fellow at Queen Mary College, University of London. He is the author of The Origin and Meaning of Courtly Love, The Troubadour Revival, and many articles on Muslim Spain and Spanish literature.
Due to its geographical position on the crossroads linking Central Asia with India and beyond, it has been one of the busiest land routes throughout history. Caravans and travellers, traversed the city on their way from Central Asia along the ancient Silk Route crossed into India and then further all the way to Turkey.
In the old part of Peshawar city is a bazaar known as the QissaKhwani (story tellers), however, Aisha Ahmad writes that "despite Peshawar's reputation as a meeting place for storytellers, in 1977, when I asked a friend to find me a professional reciter of tales, he was unable to find one anywhere in the city or in the neighbouring villages. Even after months of searching, he had only found people who knew one or two stories" (11). This shows the impact of electronic media on the local culture and the domination of radio and television in the daily life of the people. The book constitutes a welcome and valuable addition to the recording of this region's folktales and a good contribution to the comparative analysis of this genre. With an excellent folkloristic analysis at the end, authors have demonstrated how these tales, and their themes and motifs, participate in a wider sphere of tales common throughout the region and beyond.
Almost all tales were from the lips of one man (Saeed Khan Baba), which is rather a pity because the book does not have the variety of style that one would like from tales that represent an entire people. It is not clear how much the style was influenced by the narrator, and how much by the translator (Aisha Ahmad).
With their blend of wit, fantasy, comedy and romance, the tales reflect the Pashtun code of honour and way of life now seriously threatened by social changes and recent political events.
Roger Boase has produced very professional notes, glossary and bibliography, and very useful tale-type analysis for comparison with other national bodies of literature. The preface is useful, but would have been more valuable if it had been fuller. It is divided into sections dealing with such things as revenge, attitude to women, the importance of male heirs, etc.
“Witty, macabre, beautiful and poignant…populated by dozy princes and charming demons, these ancient tales from the border regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan are characterised by yearning: the desire for a past Eden to become a future utopia.” (Murrough O’Brien, Independent On Sunday)
“Pashtun Tales gracefully captures the fierce spirit and charming ways of the Pashtun tribes. Reading this, I felt I was sitting about a campfire high in the Hindu Kush Mountains, listening to tales full of enchantment and laughter. An excellent and well-crafted work that I recommend to everyone.” (Eric Margolis, author of War at the Top of the World)
“There is no more wonderful way to understand a people than through their folklore and proverbs. All the passion, devotion, humour, wisdom, and ambiguity of Pashtun society can be read in the tales in this collection.” (André Singer, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, UCLA, USA, author of Lords of the Khyber)
“A compendium of pure delight, hilarity, wonder and entertainment which should be enjoyed by readers and listeners of all ages and cultural backgrounds…the authors are to be congratulated for capturing and preserving forever the wit, fantasy, humour, chivalry and romance which can still be found among Pashtuns…Forget EastEnders and Coronation Street. All real life begins and ends in Pashtun Tales.” (Yvonne Ridley, Q-News)
“Although numerous collections of Indian and Asian stories have been made in the past, this is the first substantial anthology of Pashtun tales, offering a first-hand record of an immemorial tradition.” (Bruce Stewart, The Irish Times)
“Essential reading for anyone who wishes to challenge the thesis that world cultures are in a state of inevitable clash. Great fun besides.” (Akbar Ahmed, Chair of Islamic Studies, American University, USA)
“Recommended. Middle East, South Asia, and folklore collections at all levels.” (W.L. Hanaway, Emeritus, Univ. Pennsylvania, Choice, May 2003)
“These tales will be of interest not only to serious students of folklore but to ordinary readers of all ages. They contain many examples of well-known folktale motifs as well as many others never before recorded.” (John Heath-Stubbs, Recipient of the Queen’s Gold Award for Poetry)
“There is perhaps in the psyche of the modern reader a deep longing for the North-West Frontier, which represents perhaps the truly final frontier, behind which lies unknown and wild territory, a true landscape of the mind.” (David McLaurin, The Tablet)