MIRZA SHEIKH I'TESAMUDDIN'S WONDERS OF VILAYET

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This is the first-book-lenght account of the West by an Indian . Mirza Sheikh I'tesamuddin, a munshi who had served the East India Company before becoming a Mughal courtier, was entrusted by Emperor Shah Alam II with a diplomatic mission to the British Court. He set sail in January 1766, and thought the mission was aborted, the journery of nearly three years resulted in a remarkable memoir. Written in Persian, "Shigurf Nama-e-Vilayet' or 'Wonderful Tales about Europe' is a unique historical document and a vastly entertaining travel narrative. Though never published in the original, an abridged and flawed English translation appeared in 1827. This book is the first complete English version. About Author : Kaiser Haq was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and educated at the Universities of Dhaka and Warwick, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He has been a Senior Fulbright Scholar and Vilas Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at SOAS, London University. He is a professor of English at Dhaka University, where he has been teaching since 1975. He has published six volumes of poetry, most recently Published in the Streets of Dhaka: Collected Poems 1966-2006. His translations include Selected Poems of Shamsur Rahman and Quartet (Rabindranath Tagore's Chaturanga). He lives in Dhaka with his wife and daughter. Contents : Translator's IntroductionBackground, Personal and Historical On the Sea and SailingMauritius and Ohter PlacesRounding the CapeVilayet at LastLondonLondon EntertainmentsThe Madrassah of OxfordScotlandThe HighlandsOn History and ReligionMore on ReligionThe English PolityEducation and Code of LifeVilayeti MiscellaneaThe ReturnIndex