Tahir Shah
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Tahir Shah with a Shaman's skull, Peruvian Highlands |
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| Born: | November 16, 1966 (age 40) London, England, United Kingdom |
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| Occupation: | Writer, documentary maker |
| Subjects: | Travel, cross-cultural studies |
| Website: | Official website |
The Anglo-Afghan author Tahir Shah (born in London, 16 November 1966) was educated at Bryanston School, Dorset, England.
Shah is the son of the Sufi writer Idries Shah, and the brother of the television journalist Saira Shah. He also has a twin sister, Safia.
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[edit] Life
Tahir Shah is a writer, documentary maker, and champion of what he calls "the East-West Bridge". He is a Life Governor of the Royal Humane Society, and a member of various professional and academic associations, as well as a member of London's Athenaeum Club.
[edit] Works
Tahir Shah is the author of more than ten books and several documentary films.
His books have appeared in more than a dozen languages and published in more than forty editions, and his films have been screened on National Geographic Channel, Channel 4, and The History Channel, as well as in cinemas worldwide.
Shah is regarded as an author with a uniquely observant eye for people, places and for detail. He often says that nothing is so important for a traveller as sitting in a café and watching or listening to the surroundings. Shunning tourist sights and national monuments, he strives characteristically to decipher the precious underbelly of the lands through which he travels. Tahir Shah has developed an immense and faithful international readership, and is regarded in literary circles as one of the most original writers of his generation.
His latest book is The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca, where he lives with his wife, Rachana, and two small children, Ariane and Timur.
His books include (in order of publication):
- The Middle East Bedside Book
- Beyond the Devil's Teeth
- Sorcerer's Apprentice
- Trail of Feathers
- In Search of King Solomon's Mines
- House of the Tiger King
- The Caliph's House
In The Middle East Bedside Book, Shah examines the Arab and Islamic worlds through their literature and folklore.
Beyond the Devil's Teeth, Shah's first traditional travelogue, published in 1995, is the narrative of an epic journey, made through Africa, India and much of Latin America. The book follows the geological concept of an ancient supercontinent known as Gondwanaland, and links the mysterious Victorian idea to a primitive aboriginal tribe, known as the Gonds, once dominant in central India.
Sorcerer's Apprentice (1998) is an account of Shah's initiation into the world of Indian "Godmen".
Trail of Feathers (2000) is an examination into the idea that man may have been able to glide -- albeit in the most rudimentary way -- in ancient times. Having read in a Spanish manuscript that "the Incas flew over the jungle like birds," Shah set out to see what truth there could have been for a Conquistador monk to have penned such words. After a journey into the heart of the Peruvian Amazon, to the world of the Shuar tribe, he concluded that the Incas were taking a powerful hallucinogen known as Ayahuasca that induces a sense of imaginary flight.
Shah's next book, In Search of King Solomon's Mines (2002), chronicles a journey to Ethiopia. Obsessed by the location of the source of King Solomon's astonishing wealth since childhood, Shah travelled to Ethiopia, which he equated with the biblical land of Ophir.
House of the Tiger King (2004) was the result of a seventeen-week journey through the Madre de Dios jungle of Peru, in search of the lost city of Paititi. The book considers matters such as the importance of searching for a lost city, and finding it.
Sick of living in a London apartment, Tahir Shah moved to Morocco "on a whim" along with his wife and two infant children, where he bought a crumbling mansion in Casablanca. The Caliph's House charts the highs and lows of integrating into the new life, and exorcising the Jinns from the house they now call home.
His main films include:
- The Search For King Solomon's Mines
- House of the Tiger King
- Search For the Lost City of Gold
- Afghan Gold (in production)
[edit] Other projects
In addition to writing and film making, Shah writes screen material, and lectures on problem-solving and leadership. He is currently working on a book about the vision of Mohammed VI of Morocco, and is researching the role and power of storytelling in Morocco and the Arab World for a book that will be entitled In Arabian Nights. Further, he is working on a book entitled 'Arab Chic' celebrating the cultural highlights of the Arab World now and throughout history.
[edit] Pakistani Torture Prison
In July 2005 (a week after the 7 July London bombings) Shah and two colleagues from Caravan Film in London were arrested in Peshawar in Pakistan's NWFP, and held without charge in solitary confinement in a torture prison. Much of the time they were handcuffed, stripped virtually naked, and blindfolded. After sixteen days of interrogations in a "fully equipped torture room," Shah and his colleagues were released. The Pakistani government claimed that they had done nothing wrong. Tahir Shah gave an interview which was screened on British TV's Channel 4 News, and published an article in the British Sunday Times about the ordeal. Shah has publicly maintained his affection for Pakistan, despite the rough treatment he and his film crew received at the hands of the Pakistani secret services.
[edit] East-West Bridge
In the aftermath of 9/11, Tahir Shah began to devote a great deal of time and energy into establishing and promoting a "cultural bridge" made up by those who, like him, are both from the East and from the West. One example of this work is the Qantara Foundation (from "qantara" meaning "bridge" in Arabic). He has spoken and written on the idea that people such as he have a responsibility to "show the East to the West, and the West to the East," highlighting the common cultural heritage of the two, and working towards a common goal.
