Khattak Attan (Dance) (Pashto: خټک اتڼ , ) is a swift martial attan dance usually performed while carrying a sword and a handkerchief by the tribesmen from the agile Khattak tribe of Pashtuns. Khattak dance is also the National dance of Pakistan. It was performed by Khattak warriors before going to wars in the time of Malik Shahbaz Khan Khattak and then Khushal Khan Khattak. It was used as a war-preparation exercise and is known to be the only dance with swordplay. Aside from the Pashtun's classical literature, popular ballads, the Pashtunwali (the common code of social values), the khattak is part of the group's collective identify. History It originated in the Pashtun regions of present-day Pakistan amongst the Khattak tribe of Pashtuns. It is a varied form of Athan, or Attan, which has been preserved in one of its earliest forms by members of the Khattak and other Pashtun tribes, including the Ghilzais. There are many regional variations of Athan. In traditional Pashtun areas, the dance Athena had the same definition and reverence attached to it as Pashtuns accord to Athan. Athena seems to appeared era while Athan survived in present eastern Afghanistan and north western Pakistan amongst Pashtuns. A journalist of Pashtun origin, Amanullah Ghilzai, traced the roots of Khattak to an ancient Greek dance. According to his theory, Khatak, or Athan, is one of the earliest forms of the ancient Greek dance dedicated to Athena. The Greeks had bequeathed the conventional dance for ancient Pashtun-dominated regions when they had colonised this region for several centuries ago. In ancient Greece, Athena had the same definition and reverence attached to it as Pashtuns accord to Athan. Athena seems to have disappeared in Greece during the Christian era while Athan survived in Afghanistan and Pashtun parts of Pakistan. Details Khattak style is men performing this dance with their weapons in their hands. A Khattak dancer performs with the zeal of a hero, displaying his physical fitness through body movements while holding one, two or even three swords at a time. Each sword weighs about kilograms. The dance is a 5-step routine involving spins, with the swords crossed over their backs and elbows outward, or it can be performed with the swords out to the sides and typically attain half spin in place leading to a full spin. Depending on the rhythm of the beat, this spin can be completely reversed