BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT: Translation of 100-year old Urdu ms.

[Lars Martin Fosse]

Alberto M. Cacopardo and Ruth Laila Schmidt (eds.)

My Heartrendingly Tragic Story

Shaikh Muhammad Abdullah Khan 'Azar'

The autobiography of Shaikh Muhammad Abdullah Khan 'Azar', a Kati from the
Bashgal Valley in Afghanistan, was written in 1908, in exile in India, after
a long period of service with the colonial rulers. In his account, Azar
recollects the laws, customs, religion and history of his people, and adds
his own life story. It is the only insider account of the Katis as they
lived before their subjugation and conversion by Amir Abdur Rahman Khan in
1895-96, as well as an account of the Amir's campaign; and a rare
description of his English masters by a colonial subject, at a time when the
British Empire was at the height of its power.
        The entire original manuscript is reproduced in facsimile as the
second part of the book. Extensive annotations by Alberto Cacopardo shed new
light on the manuscript's historical background.
        Alberto Cacopardo is a member of the Istituto Italiano per l'Africa
e l'Oriente and has done anthropological research on the cultures of the
Hindu Kush.
        Ruth Laila Schmidt is professor of Urdu at the University of Oslo,
and has done research on Urdu and the Dardic language Shina.

ISBN 978-82-7099-432-8
331 pp.
Hardcover
Map, photographs
Introduction by Georg Morgenstierne

NOK 390,-
EUR 46,80
Postage to Europe EUR 15; all other EUR 22

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