Criticism
Pata Khazana, one of Habibi's major works, has been questioned by several prominent scholars for lacking strong evidence. British Iranologist, David Neil MacKenzie, concludes from the anachronisms that the document was fabricated only shortly before its claimed discovery in 1944. MacKenzie's central argument refers to the use of the modern Pashto letters Dze (ځ ) and Nur (ڼ ) throughout the script. These letters were only introduced into the Pashto alphabet in 1936 when the Afghan government reformed the Pashto orthography. The two letters have never been found simultaneously in any genuine manuscript before 1935.
Habibi responded to his critics in 1977 by stating:
"I obtained the hand-written manuscript with the help of the late Abdul Ali Khanozay, a Kakkar at Psheen in 1943. First I translated it into Persian, provided explanatory notes and annotations and published it in 1944 through the Pashto Academy. In 1961 five thousand copies of the original edition were published by the Publications and Translation Department. Due to the great demand for the book, the third edition was published in 1976 by the Pashto Development Board of the Ministry of Information and Culture. This edition contained a complete facisimile of the original hand-written manuscript. Since its publication 33 years ago different opinions have been expressed about this book and certain people have cast their doubts upon it. Some have said that I have composed the book while others have claimed that it was forged by Shah Hussain, son of Haji Mirwais Khan. Such claims have been heard over the years, but unfortunately, the critics have not compiled any detailed or scholastic analyses of the work so that they may be studied, and if found refutable, commented upon scholastically. Scholars in the field have not discussed this book in detail so far. What has been written has been brief and expressions of doubts. No scholastic or positive criticism from the viewpoint of linguistics or etymology has been provided so that the authenticity or forgery of words may be evaluated and the facts clarified." —Abdul Hai Habibi, 1977Read more about this topic: Abdul Hai Habibi
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