Egypt's Image in Yousuf Khan Kambalposh’s History Book Known as Ajaibāt-e-Farang (The Wonders of the West)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Abstract

Man’s desire todiscovernew worldsmade himtendtowardstravelling to fulfillthat desire, a desire that is not linkedto periods ofurbanizationandcivilization.Thefirst tale ofhumantravellingconveys theexitof "Adam" fromParadise, a metaphor for the greatjourney that will continue until the end ofhumanity;therefore, travellingis linked tothe beginning of humanity and will not end until its end.
Travel literature waswrittenin the Indian subcontinentby "Yusuf KhanKambalposh"in Farsi. Thisis why Ajaibāt-e-Farang (The Wonders of the West), our research material, is consideredthe first Urdu travel bookin the sub-continent although Kambalposh wrote it firstin Persianin 1843translated it into Urdu.
All of the aboveencouraged metotry to study this trip-although the study will be limited tothe partof Egypt– I have usedthe descriptive research methodology, which is based on thedescription andsurveyof whatKambalposh mentioned aboutEgyptduringthe period ofhis visit, whether from political perspectiveorcivilization perspective. On the otherside, I used the aestheticapproachusedto providea criticalaestheticimageof whatwas writtenabout the journey; as wemustnotforgetthatin the endwe this is a form ofliterature, andnot a history book.
The introduction of the study addresses thereasons for choosingthis topic andmethodology, the preambleencompassesinformation about the author of the book although scarce, thejourney itselfand hiswriting style.  A chaptertitled:artistic and historicalstudyof thehistory bookAjaibāt-e-Farang, whichintroducestheauthor’s views on                            his trip toEgyptinterms ofcustoms and traditions, transportation as well as his opinion ofthe ruler of Egyptat that time, Muhammad Ali...etc.
Then comes theconclusionandthekey findings of thestudyresultsfollowedabibliographyof sources and references. Additionally, I have attached a translation of the parts related to Egypt in Ajaibāt-e-Farang tomake it easier forthe readerfollow- up withKambalposh’s viewson Egyptduringhis visit.
This research reviews military operations of both axis and allied countries on the Libyan territory where the researcher  presents simple picture to events' currents during the second world two .The power scale shows that some sort of vacillation in force took place on the Libyan sand during the years 41-1942, i.e. a   struggle that never happens between the  German product and the Allied product with reference to the effective role  of  the Libyan army on the war events  e. g.  assistance that lead to the victory of Allied countries .