Khushāl Khān Khattak (1613 – 25 February 1689; Pashto: , also called Khushāl Bābā (Pashto: was a Pashtun poet, warrior and scholar, and chief of the Khattak tribe of the Pashtuns.[2] Khushal preached the union of all Pashtuns, and encouraged revolt against the Mughal Empire promoting Pashtun nationalism through poetry. Khushal is the first Afghan mentor who presents his theories for the unity of the Pashtun tribes against foreign forces and the creation of a nation-state. Khushal wrote many works in Pashto but also a few in Persian. Khushal is considered the "father of Pashto literature" and the national poet of Afghanistan
Failed Rebellion of Khushal Khan Khattak and the Moghul Empire
His father Malik Shahbaz Khan Khattak was killed in a tribal clash against the Yusufzai tribe in 4 January 1641. After his father's Malik Shehbaz Khan Khattak death, Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan appointed him as the tribal chief and Mansabdar in 1641 at the age of 28 The Mughal king shah Jahan appreciated his principality. After the death of shah Jahan His Tension created with Aurangzeb Shah Jehan's successor. Aurangzeb arrested Khushal In 1658.threw him away as a prisoner in the Gwalior fortress. There he had as a prisoner or later and-Delhi-spent under detention in the mountains prison. He later release from captivity in 1668. After Khushal was permitted to return to the Pashtun dominated areas, Khushal had been deadly shocked by the unfriendly treatment, he received from Mughal authorities and king Aurangzeb whose indifference and coolness towards his plight had wounded Khushal’s ego. He used to say, "I had done nothing wrong against the interests of the king or the empire". Mughal authorities continued to offer him with temptations in order to reclaim him to their service but Khushal resisted all such offers and made it clear to the Mughals that "I served your cause to the best of my honesty, I killed my own Pashtuns to promote the Empire’s interests but my services and my loyalty did not impress the mughal According to Khushal, he was burning from inside for exacting revenge but preferred to keep silent. Nevertheless the Mughals were not inclined to bear his aloofness and therefore he was challenged either "to be friend or foe" as the interests of empire knew no impartiality. Khushal decided to be a foe and joined Darya Khan Afridi and Aimal Khan Mohmand in their fight and wars against Mughals. He dissociated himself from the Mughal Empire slowly and started with his resistance later.he incited the Afghan tribes to rebel against the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. He took contact to other Pashtoon tribes and with support of his people he started a systematic resistance against the Mughals.[6] Khushal joined a rebillion of Khattak, Momand, Safi and Afridi tribes against the Mughols. In Mughal Empire The Pashtun tribesmen of the Empire were considered the bedrock of the Mughal Army. They were the Empire's from the threat bulwark in the North-West as well as the main fighting force against the Sikhs and Marathas. The Pashtun revolt in 1672 under the leadership of the warrior poet Khushal. Revolt was triggered when soldiers under the orders of the Mughal Governor Amir Khan raped a women of the Safi tribe in modern day Kunar. The Safi tribe retaliated and killed the soldier. This attack provoked a reprisal, which triggered a general revolt of the most of tribes. The Mughol King Aurangzeb ordered the Safi tribal elders to hand over the killers. The Safi, Afridi, Mohmand, Shinwari and Khattak tribe came together to protect the Safi men accused of badal. Attempting to reassert his authority, Aurangzeb led a large Mughal Army to the Khyber Pass, and routed. Afghan sources claim that Khushal Khan Khattak suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Aurangzeb with a reported loss of 40,000 Afghan soldiers and with only four men left