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'''Pata Khazāna''' ([[Pashto]]: پټه خزانه – „''The Hidden Treasure''“, alternative transcriptions: ''Peta Khazāna'', ''Pota Khazana'', ''Pata Xazāna'') is the title of a disputed manuscript written in Pashto language. According to its discoverer [[Abdul Hay Habibi]], the script contains an [[anthology]] of [[Pashto poetry]], which precedes the earliest known pieces of [[Pashto literature]] by a couple of hundred years. The claimed discovery of the script caused a controversy about its genuineness. The manuscript could not be authenticated and is considered forgery by most scholars of [[Iranian Studies]]. |
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'''Pata Khazana''' ({{lang-ps|'''پټه خزانه'''}} – ''"Hidden Treasure"'', alternative transcriptions: ''Peta Khazāna'', ''Pota Khazana'', ''Pata Xazāna'') is a [[Pashto language]] [[manuscript]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://patakhazana.home.comcast.net/~patakhazana/Khazana.pdf |title=Pata Khazana |format=pdf |work= |publisher= |date=|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> claimed to be first [[anthology|compiled]] during the [[Hotaki dynasty]] (1709-1738) in [[Kandahar]], [[Afghanistan]]. In 1943, [[Abdul Hai Habibi]], a prominent [[Demography of Afghanistan|Afghan]] [[scholar]] from Kandahar, made his first claim about obtaining an 1886 hand-written copy of this manuscript from a man in [[Quetta]], [[Pakistan]].<ref name="alamahabibi">{{cite web |url=http://www.alamahabibi.com/English%20Articles/Who_where_and__why.htm |title=How, Where and Who Discovered The Hidden Treasure (Pata Khazana) |accessdate=2012-08-28}}</ref><ref name="Hotak"/><ref name="Khushal">{{Cite book|title=Pat̲a k̲h̲azana |last1=Hōtak|first1=Muḥammad|authorlink=|coauthors=ʻAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Khushal Habibi|volume=|year=1997|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|location=[[United States]]|isbn=0-7618-0265-7|page=vii (Preface)|pages=222|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QsP9T48RnUEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PR7#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> |
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== Discovery == |
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The Afghan scholar Habibi claimed to have discovered the manuscript in 1944. He professed that the script be a 19th century copy of an anthology of Pashto poetry written in 1729 in [[Kandahar]] by Shah [[Hussain Hotak]]. The anthology is a compilation of works of hitherto unknown poets dating back to the eighth century. Habibi published the manuscript as a [[facsimile]] in 1975 but did not make the original document available to the public. |
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According to Habibi, the script contains an [[anthology]] of [[Pashto poetry]], which precedes the earliest known pieces of [[Pashto literature]] by a couple of hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pat̲a k̲h̲azana |last1=Hōtak|first1=Muḥammad|authorlink=|coauthors=ʻAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Khushal Habibi|volume=|year=1997|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|location=[[United States]]|isbn=0761802657, 9780761802655|page=|pages=222|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QsP9T48RnUEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> The claimed discovery of the script caused some controversy about its genuineness since 1968 and some leading scholars of [[Iranology]] consider it a 20th century forgery.<ref name="Hotak">{{Cite book|title=Pat̲a k̲h̲azana |last1=Hōtak|first1=Muḥammad|authorlink=|coauthors=ʻAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Khushal Habibi|volume=|year=1997|publisher=University Press of America|location=United States|isbn=0-7618-0265-7|page=30|pages=222|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QsP9T48RnUEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> In 1997, Khushal Habibi translated Pata Khazana into the [[English language]] by naming it the ''Hidden Treasure''.<ref name="Khushal"/> |
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== Reception == |
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Habibi claimed that a man named Abdul Ali Akhundzada Khaalozay Kakarr secretly gave the manuscript to him.<ref name="alamahabibi"/><ref name="PK-19"/><ref name="Hotak">{{Cite book|title=Pata Khazana: (trésor caché)|last1=Hotak|first1=Mohammed|authorlink=|coauthors=|volume=|year=1944|publisher=Pashto-Tolanah Academie Afghane|location=|isbn=|page=|pages=|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=t_adQwAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> According to Habibi, the man wished to remain anonymous without his name being revealed. He professed that the script be an 1886 edition of an anthology of Pashto poetry that was originally written in 1729 by Mohammad bin Daud bin Qader Khan Hotak under the patronage of [[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|Shah]] [[Hussain Hotaki]], the last Ghilzai ruler of the [[Hotaki dynasty]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Pat̲a k̲h̲azana |last1=Hōtak|first1=Muḥammad|authorlink=|coauthors=ʻAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Khushal Habibi|volume=|year=1997|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|location=[[United States]]|isbn=0-7618-0265-7|page=1|pages=222|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QsP9T48RnUEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref> The Hotakis were keenly interested in promoting [[Pashtun culture]] and Pashto literature. [[Nazo Tokhi]] (Nazo Anaa), mother of [[Mir Wais Hotak]] and grandmother of Shah Hussein Hotaki, was a Pashtun female poet and a literary figure of the Pashto language. |
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The |
The earliest known document written in Pashto is dated to the sixteenth century. The poems compiled in the Pata Khazana therefore extend the history of Pashto literature by about 800 years. The claimed discovery of the manuscript thus caused a controversy, its authenticity was disputed from the beginning. The first translation into a European language, with a detailed critical commentary, only appeared in 1987, written by the Italian iranologist [[Lucia Serena Loi]]. The most intensive critical occupation with the manuscript among Pashto scholars was published by the Pakistani scholar [[Qalandar Mohmand]] in 1988. |
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As the original manuscript is not available to the public, the authenticity of the document could only be checked by analysing the orthography and style of the facsimile. Due to the large number of errors and [[anachronism]]s found in the script, the authenticity of the manuscript is widely excluded among scholars of Iranian studies. Some scholars, however, do not want to rule rule out completely an authenticity of at least parts of some poems compiled in the manuscript. |
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It is believed that on November 22, 2003, an article by ''Magda Katona'' appeared in ''Magyar Nemzet Magazin'' of [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]], in which the author explained that a manuscript of Pata Khazana is preseved in the ''Armin Vambery Collection'' of the ''Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences''. The news article claimed that a copy of Pata Khazana was obtained by [[Ármin Vámbéry|Armin Vambery]] from [[List of monarchs of Afghanistan|Afghan Emir]] [[Mohammad Yaqub Khan]] of [[Herat]] in around 1859.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://patakhazana.home.comcast.net/~patakhazana/ |title=Pata Khazana |work=|publisher=|date=|accessdate=2010-09-28}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | There is no consensus on the time of fabrication. Loi considers the manuscript a forgery of the late 19th century,<ref>Lucia Serena Loi: ''Il tesoro nascosto degli Afghani''. Il Cavaliere azzurro, Bologna 1987, p. 33</ref> while the Iranologist [[David Neil MacKenzie]] concludes from the anachronisms that the document was fabricated only shortly before its claimed discovery in 1944. MacKenzies central argument refers to the use of the modern Pashto letters ''Dze'' (ځ {{IPA|[dz]}}) and ''Nur'' (ڼ {{IPA|[ɳ]}}) throughout the script. These letters were only introduced into the Pashto alphabet in 1936 when the Afghan government reformed the Pashto orthography. The two letters have never been found simultaneously in any genuine manuscript before 1935.<ref>David Neil MacKenzie: ''David N. Mackenzie: ''The Development of the Pashto Script''. In: Shirin Akiner (Editor): ''Languages and Scripts of Central Asia''. School of Oriental and African Studies, Univ. of London, London 1997, ISBN 978-0-7286-0272-4. |
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=== Controversy over authenticity of Pata Khazana manuscript === |
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p. 142</ref> |
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Habibi responded to his critics in 1977 by stating:{{Quote|''"I obtained the hand-written manuscript with the help of the late Abdul Ali Khanozay, a [[Kakar|Kakkar]] at [[Pishin, Pakistan|Psheen]] in 1943. First I translated it into [[Persian language|Persian]], provided explanatory notes and annotations and published it in 1944 through the Pashto Academy. In 1961 five thousand copies of the original edition were published by the Publications and Translation Department. Due to the great demand for the book, the third edition was published in 1976 by the Pashto Development Board of the Ministry of Information and Culture. This edition contained a complete facisimile of the original hand-written manuscript. Since its publication 33 years ago different opinions have been expressed about this book and certain people have cast their doubts upon it. Some have said that I have composed the book while others have claimed that it was forged by [[Hussein Hotaki|Shah Hussain]], son of [[Mirwais Hotak|Haji Mirwais Khan]]. Such claims have been heard over the years, but unfortunately, the critics have not compiled any detailed or scholastic analyses of the work so that they may be studied, and if found refutable, commented upon scholastically. Scholars in the field have not discussed this book in detail so far. What has been written has been brief and expressions of doubts. No scholastic or positive criticism from the viewpoint of [[linguistics]] or [[etymology]] has been provided so that the authenticity or forgery of words may be evaluated and the facts clarified."''<ref name="PK-19">{{Cite book|title=Pat̲a k̲h̲azana |last1=Hōtak|first1=Muḥammad|authorlink=|coauthors=ʻAbd al-Ḥayy Ḥabībī, Khushal Habibi|volume=|year=1997|publisher=[[University Press of America]]|location=[[United States]]|isbn=0-7618-0265-7|page=19-20|pages=222|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=QsP9T48RnUEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q&f=false|accessdate=2010-09-27}}</ref>|Abdul Hai Habibi|1977}} |
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== Literature == |
== Literature == |
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*Khushal Habibi (translator): ''Hidden Treasure (Pata Khazana)''. |
*Khushal Habibi (translator): ''Hidden Treasure (Pata Khazana)''. University Press of America 1997, ISBN 0-7618-0265-7 |
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*Lucia Serena Loi: ''Il tesoro nascosto degli Afghani''. Il Cavaliere azzurro, Bologna 1987, ISBN |
*Lucia Serena Loi: ''Il tesoro nascosto degli Afghani''. Il Cavaliere azzurro, Bologna 1987, ISBN 88-85661-21-1 (in Italian) |
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*[[Qalandar Momand]]: ''Paṭah khazānah fī al-mīzān''. Da Chāp Zạy, Peshawar 1988 (in Pashto [http://books.google.com/books?id=vZ8lHQAACAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s]) |
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*Qalandar Mohmand: ''Pata ckazāna fi'l mīzān''. Da chap jae, Peshawar 1988 (in Pashto) |
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* [http://books.google.com/books?id=QsP9T48RnUEC&pg=PA32&dq=Pata+khazana#v=onepage&q=Pata%20khazana&f=false Online version of Pata Khazana Translated by Khushal Habibi] |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
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<references/> |
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*[http://patakhazana.home.comcast.net/~patakhazana/Khazana.pdf Pata Khazana (pdf)] |
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{{Pashto literature}} |
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[[Category:Pashto literature]] |
[[Category:Pashto literature]] |
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Revision as of 13:32, 28 August 2012
Pata Khazāna (Pashto: پټه خزانه – „The Hidden Treasure“, alternative transcriptions: Peta Khazāna, Pota Khazana, Pata Xazāna) is the title of a disputed manuscript written in Pashto language. According to its discoverer Abdul Hay Habibi, the script contains an anthology of Pashto poetry, which precedes the earliest known pieces of Pashto literature by a couple of hundred years. The claimed discovery of the script caused a controversy about its genuineness. The manuscript could not be authenticated and is considered forgery by most scholars of Iranian Studies.
Discovery
The Afghan scholar Habibi claimed to have discovered the manuscript in 1944. He professed that the script be a 19th century copy of an anthology of Pashto poetry written in 1729 in Kandahar by Shah Hussain Hotak. The anthology is a compilation of works of hitherto unknown poets dating back to the eighth century. Habibi published the manuscript as a facsimile in 1975 but did not make the original document available to the public.
Reception
The earliest known document written in Pashto is dated to the sixteenth century. The poems compiled in the Pata Khazana therefore extend the history of Pashto literature by about 800 years. The claimed discovery of the manuscript thus caused a controversy, its authenticity was disputed from the beginning. The first translation into a European language, with a detailed critical commentary, only appeared in 1987, written by the Italian iranologist Lucia Serena Loi. The most intensive critical occupation with the manuscript among Pashto scholars was published by the Pakistani scholar Qalandar Mohmand in 1988.
As the original manuscript is not available to the public, the authenticity of the document could only be checked by analysing the orthography and style of the facsimile. Due to the large number of errors and anachronisms found in the script, the authenticity of the manuscript is widely excluded among scholars of Iranian studies. Some scholars, however, do not want to rule rule out completely an authenticity of at least parts of some poems compiled in the manuscript.
There is no consensus on the time of fabrication. Loi considers the manuscript a forgery of the late 19th century,[1] while the Iranologist David Neil MacKenzie concludes from the anachronisms that the document was fabricated only shortly before its claimed discovery in 1944. MacKenzies central argument refers to the use of the modern Pashto letters Dze (ځ [dz]) and Nur (ڼ [ɳ]) throughout the script. These letters were only introduced into the Pashto alphabet in 1936 when the Afghan government reformed the Pashto orthography. The two letters have never been found simultaneously in any genuine manuscript before 1935.[2]
Literature
- Khushal Habibi (translator): Hidden Treasure (Pata Khazana). University Press of America 1997, ISBN 0-7618-0265-7
- Lucia Serena Loi: Il tesoro nascosto degli Afghani. Il Cavaliere azzurro, Bologna 1987, ISBN 88-85661-21-1 (in Italian)
- Qalandar Mohmand: Pata ckazāna fi'l mīzān. Da chap jae, Peshawar 1988 (in Pashto)
External links
References
- ^ Lucia Serena Loi: Il tesoro nascosto degli Afghani. Il Cavaliere azzurro, Bologna 1987, p. 33
- ^ David Neil MacKenzie: David N. Mackenzie: The Development of the Pashto Script. In: Shirin Akiner (Editor): Languages and Scripts of Central Asia. School of Oriental and African Studies, Univ. of London, London 1997, ISBN 978-0-7286-0272-4. p. 142