Pashto literature and poetry

Notable figures

• Amir Kror Suri, son of Amir Polad Suri; 8th-century folk hero and king from the Ghor region of Afghanistan
• Pir Roshan, Pashto poet known for assembling Pashtun armies to fight against the Mughal emperor Akbar; founded the 16th-century Roshanniya movement and wrote the Pashto book Khayr al-Bayān to present his philosophical ideas
• Shaikh Mali, narrated the Yusufzai conquest of Swat, and devised rules for distribution of land and water rights which became known as da Shekh Mālī daftar
• Khushal Khan Khattak, 17th-century warrior-poet who preached the unity of all Pashtuns
• Rahman Baba, one of the greatest Pashto poets of all time, whose works are as important to the Pashtun as William Shakespeare is to the English; his works are spiritual
• Khan Abdul Ghani Khan, Ghani Khan , Pashtun philosopher and Pashto language poet, artist, writer and Pashtun nationalist politician of the 20th century. He was a son of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and older brother of Khan Abdul Wali Khan. Many consider him the greatest poet of Pashto language. Apart from his philosophical poetry he also wrote poems to unite Pashtuns.
• Afzal Khan Khattak
• Ashraf Khan Khattak
• Ajmal Khattak
• Pareshan Khattak
• Khan Roshan Khan
• Nazoo Anaa
• Ghani Khan
• Hamza Baba
• Kabir Stori
• Karwan
• Ahmad Shah Baba
• Shah Shuja
• Timur Shah