First published in 1980, this groundbreaking Routledge Revival is a reissue of an original and authentic anthropological account of Pukhtun society by Professor Akbar Ahmed. Combining extensive fieldwork data collected among the Mohmand tribe in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan with historical and literary sources, Professor Ahmed’s study seeks to construct an ideal-type model of Pukhtun society based on the ideal Code of the Pukhtuns and to analyse the conditions of its maintenance and transformation. The author’s thesis is that this ideal model exists within Pukhtun society when interaction with larger state systems is minimal and in poor economic zones. In this way he posits an opposition between the Tribal Agencies along the border with Afghanistan, where ecological conditions are poor and state influence minimal, and the Settled Areas under state administration where Pukhtun society is forced away from its ideals.

First published in 1980, this groundbreaking Routledge Revival is a reissue of an original and authentic anthropological account of Pukhtun society by Professor Akbar Ahmed. Combining extensive fieldwork data collected among the Mohmand tribe in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan with historical and literary sources, Professor Ahmed’s study seeks to construct an ideal-type model of Pukhtun society based on the ideal Code of the Pukhtuns and to analyse the conditions of its maintenance and transformation. The author’s thesis is that this ideal model exists within Pukhtun society when interaction with larger state systems is minimal and in poor economic zones. In this way he posits an opposition between the Tribal Agencies along the border with Afghanistan, where ecological conditions are poor and state influence minimal, and the Settled Areas under state administration where Pukhtun society is forced away from its ideals.

Publisher description

Extrait de la couverture : "The Pukhtun society of the Swat valley in the North West Frontier Province, Pakistan, is at the crossroads of social transformation and change. The Mghan Yusafzai tribe, which migrated from Kabul more than five hundred years ago and settled in the Swat valley, has retained its particular tribal culture and characteristics to this day. It was during the last century that the culture of Yusufzai Pukhtuns, residing on this side of the Durand Line, began to be influenced by the regional historical and geo-political forces. From a rural tribal society, governed by the centuries old tribal code - Pukhtunwali - the Pukhtuns have been gradually urbanising, responding to the emerging socio-economic and historical changes. The transformation is not without its ramifications - social conflicts, breakdown of old tribal social structures and values, unplanned economic growth and its adverse effects on the natural resource base of the lush green valley, often compared with Switzerland for its scenic beauty. This book chronicles the process of urbanisation and change in the broader context, embracing the history, geography, agriculture and economics, demography and migration, culture and politics of the Swat valley. It analyses the impact of abolition of the traditional Wesh system of land distribution, merger of the State of Swat within the nation-state of Pakistan, the increasing influence of religious groups subsequent to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and the advent and decline of the Taliban, the remittance economy and tourism, and the donor-funded development projects that have a bearing on the process of urbanisation. What emerges is an insightful picture of the contemporary Swat valley, leading to a better understanding of the complex forces that are transforming its tribal Pukhtun society."