Pir Roshan

Pir Roshan was a great leader. He started a new group of people. He taught them his ideas. Many people followed him.

He was a writer too. He made a new way to write. He added new letters to help people. This helped them write in their own tongue.

He also wrote a famous book. He wrote in many ways to talk. He wanted his words to reach many people.

Pir Roshan had to fight big battles. He fought against a powerful king. This was a very hard time for his group.

His sons continued to lead. They kept fighting for a long time. People still study his life today.

Pir Roshan was a famous leader and writer. He lived a long time ago. He started a group called the Roshani movement. Many people in Pakistan and Afghanistan joined him. He was a very smart man. He made a new alphabet. This helped people write in the Pashto language. He also wrote a book called Khayr al-Bayan. This was one of the first books using Pashto prose. He could speak many languages. He spoke Pashto, Persian, Urdu, and Arabic. His first language was Ormuri.

Pir Roshan also led his people in war. He fought against the Mughal Emperor Akbar. This was a very hard fight. The Mughal army was very strong. Pir Roshan and his sons fought for many years. His youngest son, Pir Jalala, survived the fighting. He became a new leader for the group. The Roshani followers kept up their struggle for about one hundred years. Some people call his work a big change for his people. Today, scholars still study his life and his ideas.

Pir Roshan was a famous leader and thinker from a long time ago. He was born in 1525 near Jalandhar in what is now India. Later, his family moved to their old home in South Waziristan. This area is in the part of the world we now call Pakistan. He came from a very well-known family. His ancestors were linked to a companion of the prophet Muhammad. His father, Abdullah, worked as a judge. Pir Roshan was also a warrior and a spiritual leader. He is best remembered for starting the Roshani movement.

Pir Roshan was a very gifted writer and teacher. He wanted to help people read and write in their own language. To do this, he created a new alphabet for Pashto. He took the Arabic script and added 13 new letters to it. A version of this alphabet is still used today. He also wrote a famous book called Khayr al-Bayan. This was one of the first books written in Pashto prose. While he spoke many languages like Persian and Arabic, his first language was Ormuri. He used his writing to share his ideas with many people.

As he grew older, Pir Roshan began to teach his ideas to others. He started teaching when he was 40 years old. His message was very popular with many Pashtun tribes. He sent special helpers, called khalifas, to many different places. These helpers traveled across South and Central Asia. Some went to places like Kabul, Samarkand, and even India. They carried his books to show people what he believed. This helped his movement grow very large in many lands.

Pir Roshan's life was also filled with great struggle. He led his people in fights against the powerful Mughal Empire. The Mughal Emperor was named Akbar. The two sides fought many battles over many years. In 1585, the fighting became very intense. During these battles, Pir Roshan was killed near a place called Topi. His sons also fought to keep the movement going. His youngest son, Pir Jalala, was only 14 when he was caught. He survived and became a leader for the Roshani people.

Even after Pir Roshan died, his followers stayed strong. The Roshani movement continued for about one hundred years. They lived in places like Waziristan and Nangarhar. Some people in history called his work a "Pashtun renaissance." This means they felt he helped bring a new era of culture. Other scholars look at him as a reformer. They believe he fought to change old ways of thinking. Today, people still study his life and his important books.

Bāyazīd Khān Ansārī was a significant religious and revolutionary figure of the 16th century. He is most commonly known as Pīr Rōshān or Pīr Rōkhān. He was an Ormur warrior and a Sufi Pir, which is a spiritual leader. Pīr Rōshān is famous for founding the Roshani movement. This movement gained many followers in areas that are now part of Pakistan and Afghanistan. He was also a talented writer and a creator of language systems. His work helped develop Pashto literature and writing.

Pīr Rōshān was a pioneer in Pashto linguistics and literature. He wrote a book called Khayr al-Bayān. This is one of the earliest known books written in Pashto prose. To make writing easier, he created a specific Pashto alphabet. He derived this alphabet from the Arabic script. He added 13 new letters to the existing characters. A modified version of this very alphabet is still used to write Pashto today. Although his mother tongue was Ormuri, he was highly multilingual. He wrote in Pashto, Persian, Urdu, and Arabic.

The expansion of the Roshani movement involved a structured system of teaching. Pīr Rōshān began his teaching career at the age of 40. His message was initially well received by the Mohmand and Shinwari tribes. He then spread his ideas to the Khalil and Muhammadzai tribes in the Peshawar valley. To grow his movement, he sent out missionaries known as khalifas. These disciples traveled to many parts of South and Central Asia. For example, Dawlat Khan was sent to Emperor Akbar with the book Sirat at-Tawhid. Another disciple, Khalifa Yusuf, carried the book Fakhr at-Talibin to the ruler of Badakhshan. Others, like Mawdud Tareen and Arzani Khweshki, spread the message to Balochistan, Sindh, and India.

Pīr Rōshān's life was marked by intense conflict with the Mughal Empire. He assembled Pashtun tribesmen to fight against the Mughal emperor, Akbar. This resistance was a response to Akbar's continuous military agitations. The Mughals viewed him as a threat and called him Pīr-e Tārīk. Because of his strong religious influence, Akbar sought help from other religious figures. These figures included Pir Baba and Akhund Darweza. The conflict eventually turned into open rebellion when Akbar proclaimed Din-i Ilahi. Pīr Rōshān led several successful battles, but his forces were eventually routed in Nangarhar by General Muhsin Khan.

The military struggle reached a peak in the mid-1580s. In late 1585, Emperor Akbar sent Zain Khan Koka and Birbal to crush the rebellion. In February 1586, a major disaster occurred for the Mughals near the Karakar Pass. A Yusufzai lashkar, led by Kalu Khan, killed about 8,000 Mughal soldiers, including Birbal. However, during this period of fighting, Pīr Rōshān was killed near Topi. His death was followed by further heavy fighting in 1587. There, Mughal general Man Singh I defeated a Roshani force of 20,000 soldiers and 5,000 horsemen.

The Roshani movement did not end with the death of its founder. Pīr Rōshān's five sons continued the fight against the Mughals. His youngest son, Pir Jalala, survived because he was only 14 when captured. He was pardoned by Akbar and later became a leader of the movement. The Roshani followers in places like Waziristan, Kurram, and Nangarhar fought for about a hundred years after Pīr Rōshān died. His descendants, such as Ahdad Khan and Abdul Qadir, continued to lead uprisings. A truce was finally brokered during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan. This agreement was made between Akbar's grandson and Bayazid's great-grandson.

Historians and scholars have different views on the legacy of Pīr Rōshān. The historian Vincent Smith described the movement as a "Pashtun renaissance" against Mughal rule. Other 19th-century scholars called the movement a sect. They believed the group held ideas about the transmigration of souls. Some modern historians with left-wing views see him as a reformer. They suggest he fought against conservative values among the Pashtuns. Regardless of the interpretation, his impact on Pashto prose and identity remains significant. His ability to use both the sword and the pen shaped the history of the region.