- Paperback: 292 pages
- Publisher: Long Riders' Guild Press US (1 Oct 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1590480872
- ISBN-13: 978-1590480878
- Product Dimensions: 21.9 x 15.9 x 2.1 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 847,209 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Trade in My Khyber Marriage (Adventure Travel Classics) for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Product details |
Product Description
Book Description
In this new age of 21st century problems and concerns, perhaps we can take comfort in the life of a remarkably brave woman? Her name was Morag Murray Abdullah, and sadly, though her story has been forgotten, the resonating echoes of her life still ring as true now as they did back in the 1920s when she wrote her amazing autobiography.
In 1916 Morag was leading what can only be termed as a conventional life. The First World War was raging in nearby Europe. But the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, where she lived, was quiet and safe. In fact everything about her life, up till this point, had been predictable. Then she met Syed Abdullah.The handsome student was attending university there in Scotland, but his roots were far away. Abdullah’s father was a chief of the Pathan tribe, those legendary tribesmen who ruled the lands around the fabled Khyber Pass in distant India. Regardless of these vast cultural and religious, (she was Protestant - he a Muslim), the two young people fell in love and were married.
Nothing in Morag’s life was ever the same. She followed her new husband out to the war-filled, North West Frontier Province of India. There she took up residence among one of the most martial races on Earth. For the next two decades the former Scottish lass became a witness to blood feuds, ruthless tribal politics, and the seclusion of her fellow women in one of the most remote and dangerous portion of the world. Yet this is in no way a tale of exploitation, rather it is the true story of two people from vastly different countries, religions, and families, who learned to live and love each other despite all the odds.
In 1916 Morag was leading what can only be termed as a conventional life. The First World War was raging in nearby Europe. But the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, where she lived, was quiet and safe. In fact everything about her life, up till this point, had been predictable. Then she met Syed Abdullah.The handsome student was attending university there in Scotland, but his roots were far away. Abdullah’s father was a chief of the Pathan tribe, those legendary tribesmen who ruled the lands around the fabled Khyber Pass in distant India. Regardless of these vast cultural and religious, (she was Protestant - he a Muslim), the two young people fell in love and were married.
Nothing in Morag’s life was ever the same. She followed her new husband out to the war-filled, North West Frontier Province of India. There she took up residence among one of the most martial races on Earth. For the next two decades the former Scottish lass became a witness to blood feuds, ruthless tribal politics, and the seclusion of her fellow women in one of the most remote and dangerous portion of the world. Yet this is in no way a tale of exploitation, rather it is the true story of two people from vastly different countries, religions, and families, who learned to live and love each other despite all the odds.
From the Publisher
This is part of our Adventure Travel Classic collection.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet on Amazon U.K.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)
5.0 out of 5 stars
An AWAIR Pick!!!, 4 Jun 2011
By AWAIR Reviews - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: My Khyber Marriage (Adventure Travel Classics) (Paperback)
I read this work years ago, when it was published by Octagon Press in 1990. In this remarkable autobiography with great appeal, Morag Murray describes how during World War I she fell in love with the son of an Afghan chieftain, married him and left her safe middle-class life in Scotland to travel to the distant stronghold of her husband's family.
Stories of her adaptation give intriguing insight into the lives of these Muslim people - their culture, lives and code of honor - dispelling some of the Western myths of harems, brigands, and Muslim women. Murray's openness, curiosity, and zest for life are inspirational, and she describes her adventures in exquisite detail: the luxurious spa-like treatment in preparation for her marriage; a fairytale wedding with thousands of gift-bearing guests spread out for miles in a city of tents; defending a fort with her sisters-in-law during a raid by a rival tribe.
Imagine this reviewers surprise, now years later, when reading a work by Tahir Shah, The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca, when pieces begin to fall together. Tahir Shah is Morag Murray's grandson and a portion of his story in this work is retracing his grandfather's last years spent in Tangier. The grandfather (a young warrior in Murray's autobiography) Shah writes about: ". . raised in a tribal fiefdom in the Hindu Kush. As is traditional in our family, he was encouraged to master many fields of study, to live many lives in one. He was a medical doctor and a diplomat, a professor of philosophy, and expert on folklore, mysticism, and political science. He was an adviser and confidant to half a dozen heads of state, and the author of more than sixty books - on poety, politics, biography, literature, religion, and travel."
Morag and Ikbal's marriage edured for more than forty years, until her death suddenly of cancer in 1960. "My grandfather could hardly contain his grief. He vowed that he would not return to any place they had been together, or look at anything that would remind him of his beloved wife. . . Morocco was a country where they had never traveled. My grandfather had heard of the kingdom's mountains, its kasbahs, and the proud tribal traditions. The sound of such a place was alluring. So that summer, he packed his sea trunk with some books and a few clothes and set sail for Tangier. . . and a life waiting to be reunited with (her)."
Here then, in another work, two generations later, I find the end of this love story begun in My Khyber Marriage.
Teachers/Librarians: 7th to 12th grades - Social Studies. This work of authenticity by an insider will hold students' interest. And could be more timely, since the US is in a war in this mountainous area of Afghanistan, among the very Pathan people of whom she shares her life.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
