Date: 8 December 1930
Location: London
Speaker: Aga Khan III
Source: Speeches of Aga Khan III – K K Aziz
Full Text
At the height of Islamic civilization Muslim scholars wrote books of travel – similar works being written today – the value of Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah’s books.
At the height of its civilisation and glory there were many distin guished Moslems of learning, who visited every part of the Islamic world, and wrote books of travel that have remained classics even to this day.
One of the signs of the renaissance of learning and art in the East is the fact that men like Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah have travelled over such little-known countries as Afghanistan, Arabia and Persia, and are now writing books of travel which will differ from those of Western scholars by their angle of vision.
It is a well-known fact that works of art are differently inter preted by experts from the East or West. The same applies to the culture, habits and institutions of countries.
For these reasons, I think Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah’s books – and especially this latest book on Persia – should be read by those in the West who want to see the East through Oriental eyes.
Source: Sirdar lkbal Ali Shah, Eastward to Persia, Wright and Brown, London, n.d., pp. ix-x.
The Aga Khan’s Foreword is dated London, 8 December 1930. The book carries no date of publication, but must have appeared in early 1931. The text carries the following heading: “Foreword by His Highness Sir Agha Sultan Mohamed Shah, G.C.I.E., G.C.S.I., G.C.V.O., KC.LE., LL.D., better known in Europe as the Aga Khan”. The author’s own Preface is signed from Tehran without a date. Sirdar lkbal Ali Shah, an Indian resident of Britain, was the son of Sirdar Amjad Ali Shah of Sardhana.