Khatir Afridi
Encyclopedia
Khatir Afridi was born as Misree Khan in 1929, at Landi Kotal
, Federally Administered Tribal Areas
, Pakistan
near the border of Afghanistan, and died on August 24, 1961. Misree Khan was born to Afridi
parents of the Zakka Khel clan. He was a prominent poet of the Pashto language
but died young. He left behind a son, who has compiled all of his father's work into a volume.
Khatir was a few days old when his father died but his grandfather and uncle reared him very well and raised him like a son# Khatir, unfortunately, could not go to school# He took up a job at the Khyber Rifle's camp as a gardener and later on entered the line of private business. But he was fond of poetry and he learned to compose verses to the tunes of the rabab which was played by the maestro, Bagh-i-Haram, a resident of Malikdeen Khel who lived very close to Khatir.
Qayum Kausar Afridi, his closest companion, once said, "One day I asked Khatir to give me his manuscript so that I could preserve it# I kept it with me till his only son, Javed Khan, grew up and was able to publish it. Khatir dressed simply and would carry a pistol with him according to the tribal tradition. He always wore a black turban but was a polite and calm person. His poetry is simple and spontaneous."
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One of his poems is:
Landi Kotal
Landi Kotal or Landikotal is a town of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. It is located at 34°6'4N 71°8'44E and lies on the Khyber Pass in the Khyber Agency. At 1,072 metres above sea level it is the highest point on the Khyber Pass and is the route across the mountains to the...
, Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
, Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
near the border of Afghanistan, and died on August 24, 1961. Misree Khan was born to Afridi
Afridi
Afridi of rough hilly area in the eastern Safed Koh range, west of the Peshawar Valley and east of Torkham, and Maidan in Tirah, which can be accessed by the Kajurhi plains and the valleys of Bara and Churah in Pakistan...
parents of the Zakka Khel clan. He was a prominent poet of the Pashto language
Pashto language
Pashto , known as Afghani in Persian and Pathani in Punjabi , is the native language of the indigenous Pashtun people or Afghan people who are found primarily between an area south of the Amu Darya in Afghanistan and...
but died young. He left behind a son, who has compiled all of his father's work into a volume.
Khatir was a few days old when his father died but his grandfather and uncle reared him very well and raised him like a son# Khatir, unfortunately, could not go to school# He took up a job at the Khyber Rifle's camp as a gardener and later on entered the line of private business. But he was fond of poetry and he learned to compose verses to the tunes of the rabab which was played by the maestro, Bagh-i-Haram, a resident of Malikdeen Khel who lived very close to Khatir.
Qayum Kausar Afridi, his closest companion, once said, "One day I asked Khatir to give me his manuscript so that I could preserve it# I kept it with me till his only son, Javed Khan, grew up and was able to publish it. Khatir dressed simply and would carry a pistol with him according to the tribal tradition. He always wore a black turban but was a polite and calm person. His poetry is simple and spontaneous."
----
One of his poems is:
khe ##shola## deera chi inkar de o kro
zama da wara umar kar de o kro
khalak chi nakha ooli gori warta
ta chi makh pet kro no gozar de o kro
ze la se ne wayem chi dagh day pa zre
te la peghor kri chi deedar de o kro
zama da zre daghona hala shmara
ka da de khpeli khanda shmar de o kro
khatira ze de ta na cha ori yrm
war ba de rashi kho ka war de o kro#