The book, which is in fact a
collection of the author's articles published in various
journals or edited works in the course of many years, focuses on
the history and politics of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP)
renamed as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The province has always been
known for its strategic and political importance and because of
that was treated in a 'special way' by the British during their
rule in India. Unfortunately, that policy had fateful results
for the Frontier Province as the reform measures, so essential
for good governance, were denied to the province for a long
time. Ironically, this was the only province with an
overwhelming Muslim majority that supported the Indian National
Congress in the struggle for freedom rather than join the All
India Muslim League. The present study deals with the growth of
mass politics in the NWFP and examines its impact upon the
people of the province by focusing on various phases of its
history. Keeping in view the importance of the subjects covered
by the articles which are now out of print, it was decided to
collect and published them in a book form for the benefit of
scholars, students and those working on the region.
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Born in January 1961 at Ziarat
Kaka Sahib in Nowshera (NWFP), Sayed Wiqar Ali Shah, Professor
and Chairman, Department of History, Quaid-i-Azam University,
Islamabad, holds a D.Phil. from Oxford (1997). Earlier, he had
done his Masters (1983) and M. Phil. (1986) in History from
Peshawar where he also taught for a year. In 1986, he moved to
Islamabad as Research Fellow at the National Institute of
Historical & Cultural Research and then in 1990 joined the
Quaid-i-Azam University. In 1999, he won the prestigious
Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship at the University of
Heidelberg in Germany.
Dr. Shah has several books to his
credit, including Ethnicity, Islam and Nationalism:, Muslim
Politics in the North-West Frontier Province (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa)
1937-1947, Muslim League in the NWFP (1992), Khushal Khan
khattak au Tarikh Nawisi (Pashto) (1992), and Pir of
Manki Sharif Syed Amin al Hasanat aur Unki Siyasi jaddo Jehad
(Urdu) (1990). He has also edited Afghanistan and the
North-West Frontier (1993) and translated works into Pashto
and from the Pashto into Urdu which include Pushtaney
(2006), Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah Speeches and
Statements 1947-1948 (1992), Iqbal Aur Afghanistan
(1991), and Azadi Ki Talash (1989). He contributes
articles regularly to learned research journals.
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