Abdul Akbar Khan Akbar

His life & Works

Abstract

In the annals of history, it is debatable 'whether time creates the man or man creates the time'. But in case of Abdul Akbar Khan it was the time and the socio-cultural and political environment that made such an eminent personality. During the early decades of the 20th century, the world was reshaping itself out of disorder. Most people would agree that it ''began simultaneously with the First World War; and there we leave La Literature-object (the fruit as such, cut off from its roots and ready for the appraisal of experts) to enter the mysterious realm of creation; of literature still nascent'' (Legouis & Cazamian n. d: 1366). In the Indian subcontinent, this century opened with a new era of revolutionary liberation movements, Pan-Islamismi, nationalism, liberalism, modernism, constitutionalism, reforms and above all political and literary renaissance. In the North West Frontier Province (hereafter NWFP) of the British India, despite all these political cross currents, the socio-economic set-up of the Pakhtun society was traditional, tribal and Islamic, urban and rural, agricultural and pastoral, settled and nomadic, peaceful and violent, motivated by political fusion and fission, conservative and inward looking (Dupree 1980: 248-251).