The book explores the structure, the composition, the contents, the ideology and the functions of “The Khaṫaks’ Chronicle” – the original part of the historiographical compilation in Pashto “The Ornamented History” (Tārīkh-i muraṣṣaʿ). Written over several decades by the Khaṫak chieftains Khushḥāl Khān (1613–1689) and his grandson Afżal Khān (1665/66–1740/41), “The Chronicle” has survived as a collection of heterogeneous texts, including the Khaṫak lineages and genealogical traditions, historical records and accounts, memoirs, diaries, letters, declarations, and numerous verses. The aim of the book is to prove the value of “The Chronicle” as both a unique primary source on socio-historical and cultural developments among Pashtun tribes of the Peshawar valley in pre-modern times and an unparalleled anthology of early narrative Pashto prose with innovative specimens belonging to the genres of diaries and memoirs. Throughout five chapters, the book examines the place of “The Khaṫaks’ Chronicle” in the development of Pashtun historiography, addresses a number of textological issues concerning the reconstruction of its original corpus, provides a brief overall survey of the contents, scrutinizes quoted documents, discusses the political and ethnical ideology of the authors, describes various artistic means of narration (folklore elements, poetic citations, rhetorical devices and tropes, the use of direct speech, narrative technique). The book is intended both for scholars, primarily specialists in Iranian studies, and wider readership interested in the history and the culture of Afghanistan, Pakistan and neighboring regions.