Ayesha Durrani
Front cover of an 1882 collection of Ayesha Durrani's most famous poems
Born	late-18th century Afghanistan
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Afghan
Notable works	ديوان عايشه (Collected Poems of Aisha Durrani)
Spouse	Tīmūr Shāh Durrānī

Ayesha Durrani, also known as Aisha-i-Durani and Aisha Durrani (18th-century) was an Afghan poet, one of the wives of Timur Shah Durrani of the Durrani Empire. A number of her poems were compiled into a manuscript in 1882, and Durrani is credited with founding the first school for girls in Afghanistan.

Biography

Ayesha Durrani was born in late-18th century Afghanistan.^[1] She was born into the powerful Barakzai family as the daughter of Yaʻqūb Ali Khān Barakzai, and she later married Tīmūr Shāh Durrānī, the second ruler of the Durrani Empire.^[1] Ayesha is recorded as having become an active poet by the waning years of the 18th century, and continued composing poetry into the 19th century; she wrote qasidas, ghazals, and was well versed in Arabic, Persian literature and in Islamic law.^[2] Durrani was also noted by several sources as having founded the first school for girls in Afghanistan.^[1][3]

Following the collapse of the Durrani Empire and the rise of the Barakzai-ruled Emirate of Afghanistan in the 19th century, Ayesha's poetry garnered renewed interest. Many of her poems were compiled by an unnamed Afghan scribe into a 336-page manuscript in 1882.^[1]

Legacy

Following the 1978 Saur Revolution, the Afghan government promoted the study of Durrani's works in an effort to mobilize female support for the government's social programs.^[2]

After the United States-led overthrow of Afghanistan's Taliban government (which had barred women from pursuing an education after age eight),^[4] a German foreign aid agency rebuilt two girls' schools in Kabul, naming one the Aisha-i-Durani School in honour of the poet.^[3]

References