The Pathan Unarmed

How were the notoriously violent Pukhtun converted to an ethic of nonviolence? The Pukhtun (Pathan) of the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan are regarded as a warrior people. Yet in the years between the world wars there arose a Muslim movement, the Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God), that was inspired by Gandhian principles of nonviolent action and dedicated to Indian nationalism rather than communal separatism. This book is the first account of rank-and-file members of the Khudai Khidmatgar, describing why they joined, what they did, and how they perceived the ethics and aims of the movement.