Cover Illustration: G.F. Atkinson  
Format: 210 x 140 mm
Page: 72
Binding: Paperback
Language: English
Publisher: Orient Monographs, Jersey
Year: 2006
ISBN: 0-903971-02-X

ABOUT THIS BOOK

This monograph with its copious notes presents an analytical account of the making and shaping of Sir Richard Burton as an Arabist and Arabophile by the experience and opportunities of his seven years as an Indian Army officer. Simon Digby also adds a comment on the Indian influences upon two of the great cycles of travel in the Arabian Nights, the annotated translation of which is perhaps Burton’s weightiest scholarly achievement.

The steps to India taken by Burton are outlined along with the background to Burton’s study of oriental languages and the Indian context. Also considered is the important rôle of the munshi.

Burton’s inclination for disguise, rôle-playing and romantic encounters are considered as well as his work on Sind and the narrative of his travels in Southern India. It was after he had acquired the necessary linguistic skills, a fund of knowledge regarding the behaviour of individuals in Islamic society and a skill in rôle-playing that Burton felt himself impelled towards the climacteric of his life, the journey to Mecca.