Short Review: Don’t waste your money on this book. I found numerous glaring inaccuracies in this book, some of which I’m sharing here to give you an idea of how poorly researched and historically inaccurate Jonathan L. Lee’s work is.
1- Jonathan L. Lee writes]: “While dozens of tribes call themselves ‘Afghan’, a term which nowadays is regarded as synonymous with Pushtun”
This is incorrect. The term ‘Afghan’ was always synonymous with ‘Pashtun.’ In the past, it was exclusively used to refer to Pashtuns.
2- Jonathan L. Lee writes: “In 1150 Ghazni was destroyed by the Ghurids, a Persian-speaking dynasty”
Ghurids can be referred to as Tajiks since they claimed to be descendants of Arabs. However, their actual Persian-speaking status is debatable. Sultan Masud of Ghazni required local interpreters to communicate with a Ghurid chieftain, as recorded in the Tarikh-i-Bayhaqi.
3- Jonathan L. Lee writes: “Eventually Farid al-Din Khan, of the Suri clan of the Kakar tribe”
Farid Khan Sur was not a Kakar. Sur is a branch of the Lodi tribe, as confirmed by Makhzan-i-Afghani and other sources. His original name was simply Farid Khan, not ‘Farid al-Din Khan.’ ‘Farid-ud-duniya wa din’ was the title he adopted upon ascending the Delhi throne.
4- Jonathan L. Lee writes: “He [Sher Shah] ruled Delhi and much of northern India for fifteen years”
Sher Shah ruled Delhi only for five years.
5- Jonathan L. Lee writes: “Humayun defeats Islam Shah Suri, son of Sher Shah, and reasserts Mughal power in Delhi.”
Humayun never defeated Islam Shah. The former invaded India when the latter died.
6- Jonathan L. Lee writes: “From the mid-1570s onwards Pir Roshan began to claim he was the Mahdi,”
Halnama (based on the autobiography of Pir Roshan) informs us that he did not claim to be Mahdi.
7- Jonathan L. Lee writes: “Ibn Battuta notes that the Afghans of the Kabul–Jalalabad region were Persian-speakers”.
Ibn-i-Batuta does not talk about the language of Afghans. He refers to them as Ajami which is usually translated as Persian but was also used for any non-Arab populations to their east, including those of present-day Afghanistan.
8- [Jonathan L. Lee writes], “These Afghan ghulams certainly lived up to this reputation during their campaigns in India and the Ghurids rewarded their commanders with hereditary estates, or jagirs, in the plains of northern India.”
There is no record of Afghans ever serving as ghulams/mamluks of Ghurid Sultans. Khaljis and Afghans were mercenaries or volunteers enrolled on the eve of campaigns. [“The Pathans” by Olaf Caroe, chapter “Mahmud and the Khaljis”]
9- [Jonathan L. Lee writes], “In 1451 Bahlul Khan, a Khalji of the Lodhi clan”
Lodis never referred to themselves as Khaljis. Khalji was a contemporary dynasty reigning in Malwa (1436 to 1531).
10- [Jonathan L. Lee writes], “To this end he [Babur] married the daughter of a Yusufzai khan, the most numerous and powerful tribe in the region of the Khyber Pass”
Yousafzai did not and do not inhabit Khyber Pass.
11- [Jonathan L. Lee writes] “Khan Jahan fled to the Punjab, where he tried to raise an army from the Afghan tribes, only for his appeal to fall on deaf ears.”
It was intention of Khan Jahan Lodi to go to Punjab in that uprising, but he could not reach Punjab. He was intercepted and killed near Kalinjar (in Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh). [See Mathir-ul-Umara for details]. And his appeal did not fall on deaf ears. Afghan tribes from Kabul to Indus responded to his call according to official Mughal histoires and rose in rebellion under the banner of Shaikh Kamaluddin Daudzai, a supporter of Khan Jahan Lodi. Read The revolt of Shaikh Kamaluddin Daudzai and Khan Jahan Lodi
