Chapter 1. Major Themes and Key Concepts
Chapter 2. Field Research Methodology and Area Profile
Chapter 3. Doing Pukhto through Revenge
Chapter 4. Understanding Gham Khadee
Chapter 5. Doing Pukhto Through Participation and Cooperation During Gham Khadee
Chapter 6. Doing Pukhto Through Gham Khadee, Tarburwali and Khegada (in Politics)

Conclusion

Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography

Reconstruction of the Pakhtun Code of Life in a Changing Pakistan

Adnan Khan

226 pages, 21 ills., bibliog., index

ISBN 978-1-83695-345-6 Hb Published (February 2026)

eISBN 978-1-83695-346-3
web ISBN 978-1-83695-346-3

Details

“The book offers a valuable and detailed exploration of Pakhtun culture, with a specific focus on Pakhtunwali and the dynamics of gham khadee. It provides fresh ethnographic insights and challenges stereotypical narratives about Pakhtuns, filling a significant gap in anthropological literature on the region. The integration of personal narratives adds authenticity and accessibility, making it a compelling academic contribution.” • Aamir Jamal, University of Calgary

“This is a well written and persuasive book...it effectively provides an ethnographic challenge to one of the more dominant narratives about Pakhtun culture. This work sits alongside the classics of Charles Lindholm or Fredrik Barth in its aspiration to develop a salient cultural framework.” • Stephen Lyon, Aga Khan University

Since the 1970s, the transformation of Pakhtun areas has brought far-reaching changes to all aspects of society. This book investigates evolving patterns of social relations among Pakhtuns, focusing on the practice of gham khadee (participation in sorrows and joys) as a key mode of social and political engagement. Given that political standing among Pakhtuns is tied to honour, the book also explores how gham khadee and the doing of favours enable leaders to build profiles and political followings. Offering a faithful account of Pakhtun reality, this study contests the stereotypical representation of Pakhtunwali and considers gham khadee to be a manifestation of the code of life.

Adnan Khan teaches anthropology as an Assistant Professor at the University of Malakand in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. His research interests focus on contesting the stereotypical images of the Pakhtuns from an ethnographic perspective by analysing the ways in which the Pakhtun code of life has changed due to the broader socio-economic and religio-political changes in the region.