"Pashto Language: Where It Is Spoken and Useful Phrases"

The Pashto language is the mother tongue of 18.1 per cent of Pakistanis, according to the 2023 census, which makes it the country's second language after Punjabi. It is spoken across most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in northern Balochistan around Quetta and by a large community in Karachi, and it is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan. It has two main forms, a "hard" northern Pashto, or Pakhto, spoken in Peshawar and Swat, and a "soft" southern Pashto spoken in Quetta and Kandahar.

This guide covers where Pashto is spoken, why people in Peshawar say Pakhto and people in Quetta say Pashto, the two poets every Pashtun knows, and a handful of phrases that work anywhere.

Where is Pashto spoken in Pakistan?

Pashto is the main language of most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Peshawar, Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi, Swat, Dir, Bajaur, the former tribal districts and the southern districts down to Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan. In Peshawar district, 93 per cent of people gave Pashto as their first language in the 2023 census.

The main exceptions inside the province are Hazara, where Hindko is the majority language; Chitral, where Khowar is; and the Kohistani-speaking upper valleys of Swat and the Indus. Our guides to the Hindko language and the Khowar language cover those.

Outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pashto is the main language of northern Balochistan, including Quetta, and Karachi has a large Pashto-speaking community. Across the border it is spoken through southern and eastern Afghanistan, including Kandahar.

What are the main Pashto dialects?

Pashto divides into two large groups, each with several dialects. The clearest difference between them is how two letters are pronounced, the letters written ښ and ږ.

Northern Pashto, the "hard" dialects

Northern Pashto is spoken in central, northern and eastern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Peshawar, and in eastern Afghanistan. Here ښ is pronounced as a rough kh and ږ as g, so the language's own name comes out as Pakhto and Pashtuns call themselves Pakhtun. The Yusufzai dialect of Peshawar, Mardan and Swat is the prestige form of northern Pashto.

Southern Pashto, the "soft" dialects

Southern Pashto is spoken in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northern Balochistan including Quetta, and southern and western Afghanistan including Kandahar. It keeps the older pronunciation of the two letters as sh and zh, hence Pashto and Pashtun. The Kandahari dialect is the prestige form of the south and, linguists say, the most conservative in its sounds.

The Karlani dialects

Between the two lie the Karlani dialects of the tribal belt, including Waziri, spoken in the Waziristans and nearby. They are known for strong vowel shifts and local vocabulary, and a speaker from Peshawar may need a moment to tune in. The Wanetsi dialect of Balochistan is usually described as the most distinctive of all.

In practice, speakers of all these dialects understand each other, and the kh or sh in the language's name is the quickest way to tell where someone is from.

Who are Pashto's great poets?

Pashto has a long oral tradition of verse, and written literature grew quickly in the 17th century. Two poets from that time are known to every Pashtun, and both are buried in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Khushal Khan Khattak (1613 to 1689)

Khushal Khan Khattak was chief of the Khattak tribe, a warrior and a poet, often called the father of Pashto literature. He was born at Akora Khattak, in today's Nowshera district. He served the Mughals under Shah Jahan, but under Aurangzeb he was imprisoned from 1658, probably in the fort at Gwalior, for about ten years. After his release he turned against Mughal rule and called on the Pashtun tribes to unite.

His output was enormous. Wikipedia credits him with tens of thousands of verses and around 260 works, including the Baz-nama, a book on falconry, and the Swat-nama, a description of the Swat valley. He died in Tirah in 1689 and was buried at Akora Khattak, reportedly where, as he wished, the dust of Mughal horses would not fall on his grave. Our guide to Khushal Khan Khattak's tomb covers a visit.

Rahman Baba

Abdur Rahman Mohmand, known as Rahman Baba, was a Sufi poet of Peshawar, born around 1632. Sources give his death between 1706 and 1715. Where Khushal wrote of war, honour and politics, Rahman wrote of love for God, humility and tolerance. His Diwan of 343 poems was first printed in Lahore in 1877, and many Pashtuns regard it as second only to the Quran.

His domed shrine stands at Hazar Khwani, on the Ring Road at the southern edge of Peshawar. Militants bombed it before dawn on 5 March 2009, badly damaging the marble tomb. It was rebuilt at a cost of PKR 39 million and reopened in November 2012. The annual urs has been marked with a mushaira, a poetry gathering, at the shrine.

The UK government currently advises against all travel to Peshawar, and against all but essential travel to Nowshera, where Akora Khattak is. Pakistani visitors still go, but check local news and police advice before visiting either shrine; our Peshawar safety guide has the current picture.

How is Pashto written?

Pashto uses the Perso-Arabic script, written right to left, with extra letters for sounds that Arabic, Persian and Urdu do not have, including the two letters that split the dialects. A reader of Urdu will recognise most of the alphabet but not all of the spelling.

The Pashto Academy, set up in 1955 at the University of Peshawar with Maulana Abdul Qadir as its first director, works on standardising and promoting the language. It has published more than 500 books, from classical texts to translations and dictionaries, and keeps a library of rare Pashto manuscripts.

Useful Pashto phrases

These come from the Wikivoyage Pashto phrasebook, written in simple roman letters. Northern speakers will say kh where southern speakers say sh.

For a longer list aimed at travellers, with directions and food words, see our basic Pashto phrases guide. Most people you meet in towns will also speak Urdu.

Is it worth learning some Pashto?

For getting around Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no. Urdu works in every town and on every bus, and English is common in hotels. In the countryside and among older people, Urdu can thin out, but someone nearby will always help.

For the trip itself, a few words of Pashto are worth more than in almost any other part of Pakistan. Pashtuns are proud of their language, and manana or tsenga yee? from a visitor usually gets a smile and often an invitation to tea. Our guide to Pashtun etiquette explains the hospitality that tends to follow, and the Pakistan travel guide covers the practical basics. If you want to hear the language at its best, a mushaira or a programme around Pashtun Culture Day on 23 September is a good place to start.

Frequently asked questions