Ayesha Durrani

• Name — Ayesha Durrani • Born — 1771 • Birthplace — Afghanistan • Died — c.1852 (aged 81) • Occupation — Poet • Notable Works — ديوان عايشه (Collected Poems of Aisha Durrani) • Spouse — Tīmūr Shāh Durrānī

Ayesha Durrani was born in late-18th century Afghanistan. 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. 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. Durrani was also noted by several sources as having founded the first school for girls in Afghanistan. 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.