Tarikh-i-Khan-Jahani

Commissioned by the Indo-Afghan courtier Khan Jahan Lodi, the Tarikh-i-Khan-Jahani was the first major historical work that aimed to present a full history of the Afghan people, with an objective of defining their origins.

One work post-dating the Tarikh-Khan-Jahani, named the Mirat-i-Aftab-numa, recounts that Khan Jahan Lodi decided to commission the Tarikh when an Iranian envoy to the court called Afghans the descendants of the jinn (devils).

It describes the subsequent life of Qais Abdur Rashid as the primogenitor of the Afghans, asserting that he was converted to Islam by the Prophet Muhammad and fought alongside him.

[2][6] The Tarikh-i-Khan-Jahani became highly influential during the Mughal Empire's eclipse in the 18th century, as several Indo-Afghan successor states emerged and questions of genealogy became important.

During this period, many newer histories were sponsored by Afghan notables which drew on the Tarikh, such as the Khulasat al-ansab, Risala dar ansab-i-Afghanan, and Tawarikh-i-Afghani.

The same century saw a Pashto-language translation of the Tarikh-i-Khan Jahani, which appeared as the first section of a history titled Tarikh-i-murassa by Afzal Khan Khattak.

For example, the work served as a basis for the Hayat-i-Afghani compiled for the British administration, and a number of colonial scholars collected manuscripts of the Tarikh-i-Khan-Jahani.

The theory of the Afghans' origins from the Lost Tribes of Israel propounded by the Tarikh-i-Khan-Jahani was a popular topic in orientalist thought during the 19th century.