Tahir Shah was born into the respected Afghan family, the Sadaat of Paghman, on 16th November 1966. The family is directly descended to the Prophet Mohammed, and are authorized to use irrovocably the titles Sayed, Amir, Badshah and Sharif. Shah's father was the celebrated Sufi scholar Idries Shah (16th June 1924-23rd November 1996). As well as holding large estates at Paghman, near the Afghan capital, Kabul, his ancestors owned the Jagir of Sard...
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Tahir Shah was born into the respected Afghan family, the Sadaat of Paghman, on 16th November 1966. The family is directly descended to the Prophet Mohammed, and are authorized to use irrovocably the titles Sayed, Amir, Badshah and Sharif. Shah's father was the celebrated Sufi scholar Idries Shah (16th June 1924-23rd November 1996). As well as holding large estates at Paghman, near the Afghan capital, Kabul, his ancestors owned the Jagir of Sardhana, a principalist north of Meerut, formerly owned by the Kashmiri warrior Princess, the Begum Samru. He has a twin sister, Safia Nafisa, and is the brother of the award-winning television journalist Saira Shah.
Tahir Shah was educated at Rose Hill Preparatory School in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and at Bryanston School, Dorset. He attended universities in London, Nairobi and San Diego, and took a graduate degree in International Relations, specializing on dictatorships of sub-Saharan Africa.
Shah was raised to be a bridge between East and West, a philosophy carried out by his father and grandfather (Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah) before him. The duty of he and other like him was instilled in him at a young age, with a focus very much being on reminding 'the West' of the merits of Arab culture, and the sense that extremist exponents of Islam are leading people away from the real message of the faith.
Travel and exploration have always been a large part of Shah's working life. He has often mentioned in interviews that 'rough travel' was more powerful than any classroom. And his study in particular of the 19th century 'Victorian' travelers was an extremely powerful reminder of what we are all capable of accomplishing. Shah's particular interest in the Arabist and linguist Sir Richard Francis Burton is often mentioned. He revealed recently that he has for many years owned on extremely rare unpublished handwritten manuscript by Burton on the wealth of the Sultan of Zanzibar. The paper was thought to have been written secretly for the British Foreign Office. It is one of the few manuscripts of Burton to remain in private hands.
Tahir Shah's work has included more than a dozen books, most of them concerned with inter-intercultural themes. In 2003 he moved to Morocco, and lives in Casablanca, and has over praised the form of Islam in that country, and the tolerant nature of its people. His books have appeared in more than 50 editions and have made him a best-selling author. In addition to writing, he presents documentaries from some of the most inhospitable regions of the earth.
From time to time Shah lectures on the subjects of East-West issues and Eastern culture, as well as on business leadership. He spends a great deal of his time currently working towards East-West projects 'explaining the East the the West, and the West to the East', much of it through his Qantara Foundation('Qantara' being the word for 'bridge' in Arabic).
Shah is a member of the respected Athenaeum Club (2001) in London, and an honorary member of the Traveller Club (2007), both of which are situated on Pall Mall in St. James's. He is a member of various academic and cultural associations, such as the Royal Society of Literature in London, and is a governor of the Royal Humane Society (since 1997).
Tahir Shah is married to Indian-born graphic designer Rachana Shah. They have two children, Ariane (born 2001) and Timur (born 2003).
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