Nāzo Tokhī (نازو توخۍ), commonly known as Nāzo Anā (, "Nazo the grandmother"), was an

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and writer in the

Pashto language Pashto ( , ; , ) is an eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family, natively spoken in northwestern Pakistan and southern and eastern Afghanistan. It has official status in Afghanistan and the Pakistani province of Khyb ...

. Mother of the famous early-18th century Afghan king

Mirwais Hotak Mirwais Khan Hotak (Pashto/Dari: ; 1673-1715) was an Afghan ruler from the Ghilji tribe of Pashtuns of Kandahar, Afghanistan, and the short-lived founder of the Hotak dynasty. In 1709, after overthrowing and assassinating George XI of Kartil ...

, she grew up in an influential family in the

Kandahar Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city, after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118 in 2015. It is the capital of Kandahar Pro ...

region. She is remembered as a brave woman warrior in Afghan history and as the "Mother of the Afghan Nation".

Early life and family background

Nazo Tokhi was born into a powerful and wealthy

Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ;), also known as Pakhtuns, or Pathans, are an Iranic ethnic group primarily residing in southern and eastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. They were historically also referred to as Afghans until 1964 after the ...

family in the village of Spozhmayiz Gul, near Thazi, in the Kandahar Province of Afghanistan, in or about the year 1651. Her father, Sultan Malakhai Tokhi, was a prominent head of the

Tokhi Tokhi (Pashto; توخئ) is a Ghilji tribe found in Afghanistan. Tokhi are one of the largest branches of the Ghilji confederation. The mythical patriarch of the Ghilji confederacy is Madhnai Nika (مړنئ نيکه) who had three sons ranche ...

Pashtun tribe The Pashtun tribes (), are tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who speak the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, the social code of conduct for Pashtuns. They are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan ...

and governor of the

Ghazni Ghazni (, ), historically known as Ghaznayn () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana (), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan with a population of around 190,000 people. The city is strategica ...

region. She was married to Salim Khan Hotak, son of Karam Khan. The famous Afghan ruler of the

Hotak dynasty The Hotak dynasty ( ) was an Afghan monarchy founded by Ghilji Pashtuns that briefly ruled portions of Iran and Afghanistan during the 1720s. It was established in April 1709 by Mirwais Hotak, who led a successful rebellion against the declining ...

, was her son, and

Mahmud Hotak Shāh Mahmūd Hotak, (Pashto/Dari: ) or Shāh Mahmūd Ghiljī (), also known by his epithet, The Conqueror (lived 1697 – April 22, 1725), was the ruler of the Hotak dynasty who overthrew Safavid dynasty to become the king of Persia from 172 ...

and

Hussain Hotak Shah Hussain Hotak (Pashto/ Dari: ), son of Mirwais Hotak, was the fifth and last ruler of the Ghilji Hotak dynasty. An ethnic Pashtun ('' Afghan'') from the Ghilji tribe, he succeeded to the throne after the death of his brother Mahmud Hotak ...

were her grandsons. Nazo became a learned poet and courteous person; people knew her by her loving and caring nature. Nazo's father had paid close attention to her education and upbringing, inducing learned men in Kandahar to educate her fully. She came to be regarded as the "Mother of the Afghan Nation", gaining respect through her poetry and her strong support for the

Pashtunwali Pashtunwali (), also known as Pakhtunwali and Afghaniyat, is the traditional lifestyle or a code of honour and tribal code of the Pashtuns, Pashtun people, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, by which they live. Many scholars widely have interpreted it ...

code. Nazo called for Pashtunwali to be made the law of the confederacy of

Pashtun tribes The Pashtun tribes (), are tribes of the Pashtun people, a large Eastern Iranian ethnic group who speak the Pashto language and follow Pashtunwali, the social code of conduct for Pashtuns. They are found primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan a ...

, and she arbitrated conflicts between the

Ghilji The Ghiljī (, ; ) also spelled Khilji, Khalji, or Ghilzai and Ghilzay (), are one of the largest Pashtuns, Pashtun tribes. Their traditional homeland is Ghazni and Qalati Ghilji in Afghanistan but they have also settled in other regions throu ...

and

Sadozai Sadozai, also Sudhozai, Sudhazai, may refer to: * Sadozai (Pashtun tribe), a major tribe from Afghanistan and Pakistan * Wazirzada Sadozai (Pashtun tribe), a branch of the Sadozai tribe, concentrated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa * Sadozai dynasty, was ...

tribes so as to encourage their alliance against the foreign Persian

Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...

rulers. Her poetic contributions to Afghan culture are highly regarded even today. When their father was killed in battle near Sur mountain, Nazo's brother went into battle to avenge him and left Nazo in charge of the household and fortress. She put on a sword and defended the fortress alongside the men.

Poetry

This is a translated excerpt from Nazo Tokhi's poetry (in the original Pashto, one of the two thousand or so couplets which she composed):

Legendary dream

Legend holds that Nazo Ana had an extraordinary dream on the night her son

was born.

Death

Nazo Ana died in or about 1717 at the age of about 66, two years after her son Mirwais's death. After her death, her cause was taken up by Zarghuna Ana, the mother of Afghan Emir

Ahmad Shah Durrani Ahmad Shāh Durrānī (; ; – 4 June 1772), also known as Ahmad Shāh Abdālī (), was the first ruler and founder of the Durrani Empire. He is often regarded as the founder of modern Afghanistan. Throughout his reign, Ahmad Shah fought ov ...

Legacy

Nazo Ana is revered as a

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

ine among the Afghans. Various Afghan schools and other institutions are named after her.http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=72917

References

External links

Nazo Ana Primary School in AfghanistanNazo Ana High School for girls in Kandahar, Afghanistan

Nazo tokhi relationship website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokhi, Nazo 1651 births 1717 deaths 17th-century Afghan people 17th-century poets 17th-century women writers 18th-century women writers Women in 17th-century warfare Women in 18th-century warfare 18th-century Afghan poets Pashtun women writers Pashto-language poets Afghan women poets Women in war in South Asia Hotak dynasty Pashtun poets