The Pashtuns: a contested history. By Tilak Devasher. Harper Collins. Gurugram. 2022.

Rs799. 461pp. Index. ISBN 978 93 9440 763 3. Available as e-book.

Tilak Devasher has found a gaping hole in the market and produced the first book on the
Pashtuns to bear serious comparison to James Spain’s two brilliant treatises of the 1960s and
Sir Olaf Caroe’s iconic, but perhaps overrated, ‘The Pathans’ (as the tribe was known in
colonial times) written in 1958.
Given the importance of the Pashtuns in global politics since the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan in 1979 and the NATO intervention following the 9/11 attacks it is surprising
that nothing of real quality has focussed on the tribe which dominates Afghan politics and
which plays such a key role in Pakistan’s calculations about its own stability and territorial
integrity. The peerless Ahmed Rashid has, of course, written about the Taliban and the risks
of Pakistan’s ‘descent into chaos’ but not specifically about the Pashtuns.
There are moments of real brilliance in Devasher’s work. The first is his chapter (10) on how
the British had to coerce the Pashtuns in the north-west of British India to join Pakistan. The
Pashtun leader Abdul Ghaffar Khan, known as the ‘Frontier Gandhi’, based in Peshawar, had
campaigned for Indian independence for years and had no wish to join Mohammed Ali
Jinnah’s Pakistan project. Once the British had (reluctantly) accepted that Partition was
inevitable they had to strong-arm the Pashtuns into joining Pakistan. The alternative was
unthinkable, another province of India separated from the rest by a West Pakistan that would
have comprised just the Punjab and Sindh (because Balochistan would probably have
followed Khan’s lead). So the British held and narrowly won a referendum which Khan
boycotted; a classic piece of colonial realpolitik.
A second gripping excerpt is Devasher’s discussion of the Durand Line, another example of
apparent colonial ingenuity which has had far-reaching consequences. The British had long
debated where to defend British India: along the line of the Indus River, or further forward
inside Afghanistan. The Durand Line was a compromise and the creation of ‘Tribal Areas’,
governed by the unique Frontier Crime Regulations (which allowed for collective
punishment) enabled the British to avoid day-to-day administration of a frontier region which
was always fractious (p.84). The solution was only partly successful and British troops were
frequently involved in Counter Insurgency operations from the 1890s right up until 1947.
Furthermore the Afghans never agreed to the Durand Line being the international border.
Indeed the new Taliban government of Afghanistan has recently restated this rejection and
has destroyed some of the barbed wire fencing erected by the Pakistan army.
And here lies the Pashtun conundrum. There are 15 million Pashtuns in Afghanistan where
they are the biggest and dominant ethnicity and yet there are 31 million in Pakistan where
they are an important minority, dominant in the north-west and with substantial presence in
both Balochistan and Pakistan’s major port city of Karachi (p.xix). If the two groups were
ever to combine and create Pashtunistan the result would be cataclysmic for Pakistan’s
chances of survival and for the security of Central Asia and the entire Subcontinent. At times
Devasher seems to flirt with the idea (p.368) but he also provides ample reasons why it
should never happen.
The central problem appears to be the Pashtun mindset. There was always a spirit of
individualism and a code of honour which required any slight to be met with violence. This
was somewhat mitigated by a code of behaviour known as Pashtunwali (p.26). However this
has been much eroded by 40 years of almost continuous warfare. The influence of the old
tribal maliks (tribal elders) has been replaced by religious ideologues. The brutalisation of
war (for which the Russians and the West must bear some responsibility) has been augmented
by religious radicalisation (much of which can be laid at the door of Saudi Arabia). None of
this suggests that unity will come easily. Furthermore there is also a major fissure between
the two major groups in the tribe; the Durranis and the Ghilzias and numerous internecine
disputes between sub-groups, most famously between the Mehsuds and Waziris.
Devasher expertly explains why Pakistan fears the moderate Pashtuns more than the Islamist
elements. The latter, such as the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) certainly pose a terrorist threat inside
Pakistan from their new safe-base in Afghanistan but they can be attacked using Counter
Terrorist methods including armed drones. Moreover the TTP will never win support among
the wider populace. In fact in recent months the people of the Swat Valley have firmly
indicated their opposition to the TTP. In the past Pakistan used to worry about the Awami
National Party (ANP) led by Abdul Ghaffar Khan’s offspring and would suspect covert links
with India. Nowadays that concern has moved to the moderate Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
(PTM) and its charismatic leader Manzoor Pashteen for fear that its peaceful approach could
stimulate a wider Pashtun political consciousness (p.282).
The author tends to overstate Punjabi dominance of Pakistan. The Pashtuns have always
played a significant role in the country and have provided several leaders including President
Ayub Khan and Prime Minister Imran Khan. Pashtuns have also been the second most
represented ethnicity in the army. So there is a danger in exaggerating Pashtun alienation
from Islamabad. There is also a tendency to focus on the tribal and militant elements rather
than the assimilated Pashtuns who operate at every level in Pakistani society in the
commercial and social sectors as well as government and army.
This is a well-written book with a logical structure and full of illuminating insights. It is
essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the continuing tensions in Afghanistan
and how they affect Pakistan’s vital national interests.
Tim Willasey-Wilsey is Visiting Professor of War Studies at King’s College, London, a Senior
Associate Fellow at RUSI in London and an expert at Cipher Brief in Washington DC. He is
a former senior British diplomat who served in Pakistan.
This review was published by Gateway House, Mumbai on 10th January 2023 and can be
seen here; https://www.gatewayhouse.in/tangled-history-the-pashtun/
It was also published by Cipher Brief, Washington DC on 24th January 2023
https://www.thecipherbrief.com/column/book-review/untangling-pashtun-history