Ayesha Durrani

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]

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]