Everyday life of Pashtuns in the 17th — early 18th century: food, dwelling, home activities (based on the Khataks Chronicle) (Part I)

Abstract

The article examines facts on the everyday life of the eastern Pashtun tribes derived from the accounts of The Khataks Chronicle (1641–1724) — the original part of the historiographical compilation Tārīkh-i muraṣṣa‘. Based on numerous excerpts from the Pashto text translated into Russian for the first time the article proves that realities pertaining to food, dwelling and home activities usually stay beyond the focus of the Chronicle’s narration, but even mentioned in passing contribute much to reconstruct the real and trustworthy picture of the authors’ and their milieu’s everyday life. Supported with similar testimonies from parallel Pashto sources — the verses by the Chronicle’s coauthor Khūshḥāl Khān (1613–1689) — the article discusses social aspects of eating, collective meals and etiquette feasts, introduces and analyzes data on main food products of Pashtuns, types of permanent and temporary residences, house building technologies, lodging arrangement, home utensils, domestic animals and pets, as well as some women’s home activities and children’s games. New material collected and inspected in the article aims at including The Khataks Chronicle in the list of working sources on the history of Pashtuns and filling extensive lacunae in the studies of ethnography and culture of the Pashtun tribes in pre-modern times. Refs 19.

Keywords:

Pashto literature, ethnography of Pashtun tribes, source studies