12 Facts About Khalilullah Khalili

Khalilullah Khalili was Afghanistan's foremost 20th century poet as well as a noted historian, university professor, diplomat and royal confidant.

Khalilullah Khalili was the last of the great classical Persian poets and among the first to introduce modern Persian poetry and Nimai style to Afghanistan.

Khalilullah Khalili had expertise in Khorasani style and was a follower of Farrukhi Sistani.

Khalilullah Khalili's works have been praised by renowned Iranian literary figures and intellectuals.

Khalilullah Khalili is known for his major work "Hero of Khorasan", a controversial biography of Habibullah Kalakani, Emir of Afghanistan in 1929.

Khalilullah Khalili lived and attended school in Kabul until he was 11, when Shah Habibullah Khan, king of Afghanistan, was assassinated, purportedly at the behest of his reformist son Amanullah Khan, who quickly arrested and executed Khalilullah Khalili's father among others associated with the previous regime.

Khalilullah Khalili's stay in Kabul was cut short when, in 1944, some elders of the Safi-Clan rebelled and both uncle and nephew were imprisoned.

Khalilullah Khalili became a confidant to King Zahir Shah whom he often joined on hunting expeditions.

Khalilullah Khalili was a member of the 1964 Constitutional Assembly and a representative from Jabal al-Siraj.

Khalilullah Khalili was buried in Peshawar next to the tomb of the Pashto poet Rahman Baba.

Khalilullah Khalili was a prolific writer, producing over the course of his career an eclectic repertoire ranging from poetry to fiction to history to biography.

Khalilullah Khalili published 35 volumes of poetry, including his celebrated works "Askha wa Hunha", composed during the Soviet occupation, and "Ayyar-e az Horasan".