Past Programmes

Dreams of Alexander: Kafiristan and Kipling

The enigma of Kafiristan (today, a part of Afghanistan) tantalized observers in Britain and India throughout the course of the nineteenth century. Who were the Kafirs, and where had they come from? The thrill aroused by the existence of a group of people that might be the descendants of Alexander the Great and racially closer to Europeans than their Afghan neighbours led to intense speculation. At numerous times in the century, British colonial administrators, ethnographers, and explorers attempted to take up the challenge of the Kafirs and discuss their location, race, history, religion, and customs. This lecture looks at some early British writings about Kafiristan and concludes with a discussion of Rudyard Kipling’s story, “The Man Who Would Be King”, which is largely set in the region

Phiroze Vasunia

Phiroze Vasunia has written extensively about the classical Greek and Roman tradition. He teaches at the University of Reading, in the UK. He is the author of The Gift of the Nile (2001) and the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Hellenic Studies, among other publications. His monograph about India, Britain, and the classics is due to be published in 2013.