LONDON was once a wonderland for people living in British India. A native who had the good luck to visit the golden city returned stupefied with fantastic tales to tell his countrymen. He seemed overawed and enamoured by the firangis, who appeared as fairies of Koh Qaf. And he was now entitled to write ‘London Returned’ after his name, a prestige which few enjoyed in those times.
The same kind of prestige is enjoyed by a 19th century travelogue, Ajaibat-i-Farang, written by an enigmatic personality known as Yusuf Khan Kambalposh. Researchers seem to agree that it is the first travelogue written in Urdu.
In the past century, Prof Tahseen Firaqi had brought it out as his research work under the title Ajaibat-i-Farang. Now Ikram Chaghtai has come out with some new researched facts about it. He has dug out its first edition, claiming it had originally been published under the title, Tarikh-i-Yusufi. It is under this title that it has now been published by Sang-i-Meel Publications, Lahore, with a detailed introduction by Ikram Chaghtai.
Chaghtai’s research tells us that it was only during the last quarter of the 18th century that a few people from India got the opportunity to travel to London. On return, they recorded their impressions about that city in Persian, the main medium of expression in those days. Chaghtai has referred to a number of Persian travelogues written by authors who had travelled to a number of Western countries, along with England. Yusuf Khan Kambalposh, too, had initially written his travelogue in Persian. But this Persian manuscript remained unpublished. He then rewrote it in Urdu. This version was published in 1847 by Delhi College’s Maktabul Uloom, under the title, Tarikh-i-Yusufi. As researched by Chaghtai, it was only the second edition which was published under the title, Ajaibat-i-Farang, at the suggestion of the publisher, which now was Maktba Naval Kishore. This second edition was published in 1873.
Kambalposh had embarked on this journey on March 30, 1837. After visiting London, he also travelled to Paris. While returning to his country he also visited Lisben, Gibraltar, Malta, Egypt and Ceylon. After reaching Bombay, he travelled to different cities of India from the South to the North, the last destination being Lukhnow. So the travelogue is not confined to his experiences in London alone. The entire journey with its changing geographical and social scenes has been covered here.
But who was this man? He talks so much about places and people but only briefly about himself. The researchers, too, don’t help us much. So we know about him with certainty only about what he tells of himself. That Hyderabad Deccan was his ancestral home and that in 1828, he left his city and took to visiting places such as Dhaka, Azimabad, Gorakhpur, Nepal, Akbarabad, Shahjehanabad. Reaching Lukhnow, he tried to settle there. He succeeded in getting a job in the army of Nawab Nasiruddin Hayder and was soon promoted to Subedar.
It was during his stay in Lukhnow that he felt an urge to learn English, which in consequence kindles in him a desire to journey to London. He takes a two-year leave and embarks on the desired journey. Even after his return, he appears in no mood to lead a settled life. He is now seen intent on a journey to Iran, Turkey and Russia.
The travelogue speaks of this man’s passion for travelling, his attraction for strange lands and his desire to know foreign people, their habits, customs and social life. Arriving in London, he feels like he has landed in a wonderland. Well-versed in English, he soon finds an entry in British social circles. He enjoys moving in mixed gatherings and doesn’t mind indulging a bit in their parties. But he reserves his right to observe critically and judge them in the light of certain moral values. But he is liberal enough to appreciate the freedom women enjoy in that social system. This makes him conscious of the social evils at home. He censures the purdah system, which, according to him, is responsible for so many evils in society. How cruel of men, he seems to think, that they themselves enjoy life unreservedly but keep their women imprisoned behind closed doors.
LONDON was once a wonderland for people living in British India. A native who had the good luck to visit the golden city returned stupefied with fantastic tales to tell his countrymen. He seemed overawed and enamoured by the firangis, who appeared as fairies of Koh Qaf. And he was now entitled to write ‘London Returned’ after his name, a prestige which few enjoyed in those times.
