{"id":6115,"date":"2015-07-11T09:23:28","date_gmt":"2015-07-11T07:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/?p=6115"},"modified":"2015-07-11T09:41:13","modified_gmt":"2015-07-11T07:41:13","slug":"bengali-classic-deshe-bideshe-which-chronicles-afghan-history-and-politics-translated-into-english-see-more-at-httpafghanzariza-com20150706bengali-classic-deshe-bideshe-w","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/2015\/07\/bengali-classic-deshe-bideshe-which-chronicles-afghan-history-and-politics-translated-into-english-see-more-at-httpafghanzariza-com20150706bengali-classic-deshe-bideshe-w\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengali classic \u2018Deshe Bideshe\u2019, chronicles Afghan history and politics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Afghan Zariza<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bengali classic\u00a0\u2018Deshe Bideshe\u2019, which provides an insight into Afghanistan’s history and politics, has now been published in a new\u00a0English\u00a0translation\u00a0titled \u201cIn a Land Far from Home\u201d.<\/p>\n

First penned by Syed Mujtaba Ali in 1948, the memoir is the only published eyewitness account of that tumultuous period by a non-Afghan.<\/p>\n

The travelogue chronicles with a keen eye and \u201ca wicked sense of humour\u201d Ali’s eventful days in Kabul, a journey from Peshawar to the Khyber Pass, narrated through a colourful cast of characters drawn from varied socio-political backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Ali’s work provides an ‘Indian perspective’ brought to life by the contact he enjoyed with a colourful cast of characters \u2013 ranging from garrulous Pathan friend Muhammed, the gentle Russian giant Bolshov, his servant Abdur Rahman and his tennis partner and crown prince Enayatullah.<\/p>\n

\n

The English translation published by Speaking Tiger Books, a new publishing house, was launched recently in the presence of Shaida Abdali, Ambassador of Afghanistan in India<\/h3>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe book can be a very good introduction to Afghanistan, its society, people and history,\u201d says Nazes Afroz, the translator and former BBC Executive Editor of South and Central Asia.<\/span>

Ali, a noted author, academician, scholar and linguist draws on his teaching stint in Kabul from 1927 to 1929 to provide an account of sociological changes taking place in Afghanistan in the 1920s.<\/span>

The then reformist King Amanullah tried to steer his country towards modernity by encouraging education for girls and giving them the choice of removing the burqa. He was branded a ‘kafir’.<\/span>

<\/p>\n

\"Written<\/a>

Written by Syed Mujtaba Ali in 1948, \u2018Desh Bideshe\u2019 is the only published eyewitness account of that tumultuous period by a non-Afghan.<\/p><\/div>\n

The King was overthrown by bandit leader Bacha-e-Saqao. According to the Bengali author, the bandit was backed by the British who wanted to maintain the power play in the region.<\/span>

\u201cAll the modernisation programs, if the Afghan King Amanullah could carry it forward then Afghanistan would have been a different Afghanistan,\u201d says Afroz.<\/span>

The English translation published by Speaking Tiger Books, a new publishing house, was launched recently in the presence of Shaida Abdali, Ambassador of Afghanistan in India, and Syed Muazzam Ali, Bangladesh High Commissioner, who is also the grand-nephew of the Bengali author.<\/span>

\u201cThe book which has been translated has a great value for us. We are pleased that this book has been translated into English because we need to have more readers,\u201d says Abdali.<\/span>

\u201cSayed Mujtaba Ali was a friend of King Amanullah, a cherished king of ours, who brought modernity to Afghanistan. He is so highly remembered in every household for what he did.\u201d<\/span>

\u201cAli is a name to reckon with in Bengali literature. And I personally thought it would be very difficult, even impossible to translate ‘Deshe Bideshe’ into English,\u201d says says Syed Muazzam Ali.<\/span>

\u201cI was impressed when Nazes Afroz pleasantly surprised me with the translation. Parts of book have also been translated into Russian.\u201d – See more at: http:\/\/afghanzariza.com\/2015\/07\/06\/bengali-classic-deshe-bideshe-which-chronicles-afghan-history-and-politics-translated-into-english#sthash.XJFApGul.dpuf<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bengali classic \u2018Deshe Bideshe\u2019, which chronicles Afghan history and politics, translated into English. Written by Syed Mujtaba Ali in 1948, \u2018Desh Bideshe\u2019 is the only published eyewitness account of that tumultuous period by a non-Afghan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,91,88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-afghanistan","category-new-book","category-slider"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6115"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6125,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6115\/revisions\/6125"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openasia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}