Understanding the anti-Mughal Struggle of Khushal Khan Khattak

Khushal Khan Khattak, a seventeenth century Pakhtun writer, poet and swordsman, and his forefathers had served the Mughal for a long time. However, his fortune took a sudden twist when Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb imprisoned him in 1664, and kept him in solitary confinement at Ranthambore fort. After his release from prison, Khushal Khan was a different person. He remained no more a loyal Mughal official afterwards. Although, Aurangzeb Alamgir and a number of Mughal governors of Kabul tempted him several time to accept a position in the frontier areas but he out-rightly declined. This transformation is clearly visible in his poetry. He took up arms against the Mughals in 1673 and declared a war against them despite the fact that some of his family members even his son had sided with the Mughals. He continued his anti-Mughal struggle till his death in 1689. Some of the critics look at the antiMughal role of Khushal Khan with suspicion and have raised a few queries in this connection. This study looks into the circumstances that saw transformation in his outlook towards the Mughals. Then it explores, whether it was a personal vendetta or the start of a collective anti-Mughal Pakhtun struggle. The article looks into various dimensions, nature and direction of his struggle. This research paper is an attempt to evaluate objectively as to why and how Khushal Khan joined the anti-Mughal camp in the borderland area. Some more related questions are also discussed in details in this article.

Role of Islamic Leadership in Value Based Corporate Management

Value crisis in corporate world around the globe significantly increased the need to find new management paradigm to deal with existing ethical dilemma. Study investigates inherent flaws of the contemporary corporate management in general and value based corporate management in particular. Study identifies that weaknesses of current corporate management stem form two main factors first lack of values and ethics and second loss of leadership integrity. A questionnaire containing 50 items was developed and validated. Study was carried out by taking a sample of 302 managers from manufacturing and service sectors of Pakistan. Data was processed and analyzed in SPSS and VPLS. Results of the study indicate that there is significant and positive relationship among values and ethics, managerial performance and welfare and protection of all stakeholders of organization. Findings suggest that management by example is a better management paradigm to curb many ethical ailments of modern enterprise. The current study developed ‘Islamic VBM Score’ to assess VBM practices in an organization from Islamic perspective. Furthermore, results suggest that Islamic leadership tries to take the organization towards total value based management through ensuring welfare and protection for all stakeholders of organization including shareholders, employees, customers and society at large. This study concludes that Islamic leadership in value based corporate management theory ensures satisfaction of all stakeholders of organization.