PESHAWAR: The Dramatics Society of Edwardes College brought to life, the saga of Khushal Khan Khattak, a powerful tribal chieftain and poet with great vision, here on Thursday.

Prof Nasir Iqbal, the head of dramatics society, said that the Pashto play was staged for the first time at the college to celebrate culture and history. He said that reclaiming the eventful life and journey of multidimensional personality and literary giant was an uphill task.

Scripted by senior playwright Noorul Bashar Naveed and directed by a talented student, Laiba Tahir, the play registered great impact on the audience.

The story of Khushal Khan Khattak, who lived in the 17th century with numerous attributes, recaptured through 22 scenes by more than 20 young performers on more than 100-year-old stage was like going back into the Mughal-era when the warrior poet stood up to tyranny and came up with resistance narrative for unification of his robust Afghan race with a vision still holds true.

The play opened first scene with Khushal Khan Khattak’s coronation ceremony under the Mughal rule with both civil and military responsibilities after the death of his father Shahbaz Khan Khattak. Occasionally, the narrator filled up the gap of action to thread up the story for the audience, who watched the performance gluing to their seats for two hours with great interest.

The successive scenes unfolded the story of a man, who was betrayed and put into the prison of Rathanmbore of Rajasthan on false charges of mutinying against the Mughal Kingdom. The uncalled for imprisonment hurt his ego and resulted in his strong revolt. He girded up his loins for unification of Afghan tribes to speak up for their rights.

Edwardians played their roles in a composed and befitting manner and received roaring applause from the audience. The young performers including Baryal Khan, Malaika Amir, Osama Nadeem, Izazul Haq and Haider Dawar played as Khushal Khan Khattak, Sherino, King Aurangzeb, Behram Khan and Mahabat Khan, respectively.

The set designs of Mughal court, hujra of Khan Baba and his death in the down mountainous region of Tirah valley and all the props with dialogue delivery corresponded to the 17th century.

The sprinkling of most popular couplets of Khushal Khan Baba through the performance transported the audience to a fantasy world of romance, struggle and glory of the most ideal tribal leader.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2023