Historiographer Saifur Rehman passes away

PESHAWAR: Saifur Rehman Syed Kakakhel, renowned writer, broadcaster, linguist and author has passed away.

He was laid to rest in his ancestral graveyard in Ziyarat Kaka Sahib.

His landmark book was Tareekh-e-Muraasa, which traces the history of Malik Akor dynasty who was warrior-poet Khushal Khan Khattak’s ancestors.

Saifur Rehman Syed Kakakhel had written a number of books, dramas and short stories for TV and radio programmes, but the work that distinguished him among his contemporaries was the historiography of the Malik Akor dynasty and the review, corrections and proof-reading of the Urdu translation of Sir Olaf Caroe’s best-seller “The Pathans”.

His last book published on his 90th birthday in February this year was received with acclaim in the Pashto-speaking part of the world as it answered pivotal questions around the Malik Akor dynasty in a way termed by literati as a method to extend work on the local history with particular reference to the 17th century period of Khushal Khan Khattak and his family.

Born on February 19, 1927, Saifur Rehman Kakakhel was the ninth generation of Hazrat Sheikh Raham Kar, a renowned religious figure affectionately called Kaka Sahib. After receiving primary education at Madrassa Nusratul Islam, Ziarat Kaka Sahib, Saifur Rehman joined the Indian Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Corps (IEME), but left it after six years due to the illness of his mother back in the village.

He joined the Pakistan Movement under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and was arrested during a rally in Peshawar in March 1947. He remained in Peshawar and Haripur jails for three months. Saifur Rehman, a young man of 20 years at the time, was released from jail with the declaration of Independence on June 3, 1947. He then joined the erstwhile Tribal Publicity Organisation (TPO) and remained an active member of the Pakistan branch of the Writers Guild.

Saifur Rehman worked for the literary club Pakistan Pakhtunkhwa Adabi Tolena in 1952. It made remarkable efforts for making Pashto an important subject at least at the primary school level.

His active literary career began when he joined the fledgling Pashto Academy in 1958 to work with literati such as Maulana Abdul Qadir, Dr Anwarul Haq, Qazi Hidayatullah, Syed Mahboob Ali, Dost Muhammad Kamil and many other prominent writers and historians including his close friend Qalandar Momand.

His work on the Urdu translation of Sir Olaf Caroe’s The Pathans was widely appreciated. Maulana Abdul Qadir on page 39 of his Foreword on The Pathan’s Urdu translation wrote that proof-reading, correcting mistakes and review was an uphill task which Saifur Rehman did brilliantly.

Sir Olaf Caroe in a letter on December 23, 1967 expressed his gratification to Saifur Rehman for his extraordinary work on his book.

Saifur Rehman wrote for radio and TV and remained lead broadcaster of famous Radio Pakistan Peshawar programme Hindara for 19 years. His short stories published in various literary journals won the Writers Guild award.

His last three books mainly cover the history of ancestors and family of Khushal Khan Khattak and his contemporaries. The last of these books “From Ako to Shaida” published in February this year won praise in the Afghan and Pakhtunkhwa Pashto literary circles.

The book corrected the genealogy and history of Khushal family and Malik Akor dynasty with particular reference to the correct place and position of Kazim Khan Shaida, the famous poet and ruler, in the family tree and pedigree after about 400 years.