Pir Roshan

Lore & Background

His father, Abdullah, was an Islamic Qadi, and the family also traded between Afghanistan and India. Bayazid began teaching at age 40, and his message was well received by the Mohmand and Shinwari tribesmen. He established a base in the Tirah valley and rallied other tribes, leading to direct confrontation with orthodox followers of Pir Baba in Buner. This victory inspired him to pursue independent authority over parts of the Afghan borderland.

Reader's Guide

Pir Roshan's significance lies in his founding of the Roshani movement, which became a sustained challenge to Mughal authority in the Pashtun regions for about a hundred years after his death. The Roshani movement produced a number of Pashto poets and writers, and his creation of the Pashto alphabet—derived from Arabic script with 13 new letters—had lasting linguistic impact, as a modified version continues to be used. The movement was considered heretical by contemporary Pashtun tribes from Khattak and Yusufzai, and Roshan also dismissed Shiʻism as an inferior form of Islam. During the 19th century, orientalist scholars termed his movement a 'sect' that believed in the transmigration of souls and representation of God through individuals. Ideologically, left-wing historians have regarded him as a reformer who fought against conservative values among Pashtuns.

Did You Know?

• Pir Roshan created the Pashto alphabet, derived from the Arabic script with 13 new letters, a modified version of which continues to be used to write Pashto.
• His book Khayr al-Bayān is one of the earliest known works containing Pashto prose.
• The Mughals referred to him as Pīr-e Tārīk (Dark Sufi Master).
• His followers continued their struggle against the Mughals for about a hundred years after his death, with his youngest son Pir Jalala later taking up arms as the new leader.