TY - JOUR

T1 - Seeking Protection and Reconciliation: A Pashtun Legal Custom in Recorded Tribal Histories

AU - Pelevin, Mikhail

N1 - Pelevin, M. (2022). Seeking Protection and Reconciliation: A Pashtun Legal Custom in Recorded Tribal Histories. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 54(4), 687-704. doi:10.1017/S0020743823000016

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Available essays on Pashtunwali describe this system of customary laws and ethics for the most part as a static model of ideal conduct, without a diachronic perspective. Offering a historical approach to Pashtunwali, this article introduces and analyzes fragmentary data on the nənawāte custom from early modern Pashto sources—historiographical narratives of the Khatak chieftains in the Tarikh-i Murassaʿ (finished 1724) and the romantic poem Adam Khan aw Durkhaney (1706/7). Recorded cases of resorting to nənawāte, considered among the main pillars of Pashtunwali but still variously interpreted, prove that this is a complex legal custom based on the right to appeal for protection, mediation, and reconciliation. As a common means of dispute settlement, nənawāte originates with a binding request for help and favor in a conflict situation. The discussion of nənawāte is preceded by a brief overview of the existing scholarly definitions of Pashtunwali, underscoring its emic perception as an ethnic identity marker.

AB - Available essays on Pashtunwali describe this system of customary laws and ethics for the most part as a static model of ideal conduct, without a diachronic perspective. Offering a historical approach to Pashtunwali, this article introduces and analyzes fragmentary data on the nənawāte custom from early modern Pashto sources—historiographical narratives of the Khatak chieftains in the Tarikh-i Murassaʿ (finished 1724) and the romantic poem Adam Khan aw Durkhaney (1706/7). Recorded cases of resorting to nənawāte, considered among the main pillars of Pashtunwali but still variously interpreted, prove that this is a complex legal custom based on the right to appeal for protection, mediation, and reconciliation. As a common means of dispute settlement, nənawāte originates with a binding request for help and favor in a conflict situation. The discussion of nənawāte is preceded by a brief overview of the existing scholarly definitions of Pashtunwali, underscoring its emic perception as an ethnic identity marker.

KW - conflict resolution

KW - customary law

KW - identity markers

KW - Pashto historiography

KW - Pashtuns

KW - Pashtunwali

U2 - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743823000016

DO - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0020743823000016

M3 - Article

VL - 54

SP - 687

EP - 704

JO - International Journal of Middle East Studies

JF - International Journal of Middle East Studies

SN - 0020-7438

IS - 4

ER -