Josiah Harlan
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Josiah Harlan (June 12, 1799 - 1871) was an American adventurer, best known for travelling to Afghanistan and Punjab with the intention of being made king. While there, he became involved in local politics and factional military actions, eventually winning the title Prince of Ghor in perpetuity for himself and his descendants in exchange for military aid. Rudyard Kipling's book The Man Who Would Be King is believed to be based on Harlan.
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Harlan's childhood
Josiah Harlan was born in Newlin Township in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His parents, Joshua and Sarah Harlan, were Quakers, and Josiah and his nine siblings were raised in a strict, pious home. His father Joshua was a merchant broker in Philadelphia, and several of his sons would later enter the merchant business.
Losing his mother at the age of thirteen, Josiah delved into the books. A contemporary records that he at the age of fifteen amused himself with reading medical books and the history fo Plutarch, as also the inspired Prophets. He read Latin and Greek, and spoke French fluently. He also developed a passion for botany that would last for life. In addition, he studied Greek and Roman history, and was particularly taken by the stories about Alexander the Great.
Early travels
In 1820, Harlan embarked on his first travels. His father secured him job as supercargo on a merchant ship bound for the East, sailing to Calcutta and Canton and back. Returning from this first trip and preparing for the next, he fell in love. It was arranged that they were engaged, and to be married when he returned after his next journey. This was later to influence his life greatly: In Calcutta he received noticed that not only had his fiancé broken the engagement, she was already married to another!
Shattered, Harlan vowed never to return to America again, and instead sought adventure and danger. In July 1824, without any formal education, he enlisted as a surgeon with the British East India Company. The Company was about to enter a war in Burma, and was in need for qualified surgeons. Relying on his self-studies and some pratice while at sea, Harlan presented himself to the medical board for examination and was appointed as surgeon to the Calcutta general hospital. From January 1825 he served with the army in Burma, until he was injured or became ill. Meanwhile, the Treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 ended hostilities. Once recuperated, Harlan was posted to Karnal, north of Dehli, where he soon grew weary with taking orders from The Company. In the summer of 1826, he left their service. As a civilian, he was granted a permit to stay in India by the Governor General Lord Amherst.
Into Afghanistan
After a stay in Simla, Harlan came to Ludhiana, a border outpost of the British on the Sutlej river which formed the border between the Punjab and British India at the time. He had decided to enter the service of Ranjit Singh, the Maharaja of Punjab. Here, while awaiting an answer on his request to enter Punjab, he met the exiled Afghan ruler Shuja Shah and eventually entered his service. With financial support from the exiled monarch, Harlan travelled along the Indus and into Afghanistan and to Peshawar, then Kabul. Here he met the man who he had come to depose, Dost Mahommed Khan.
In Peshawar, Harlan had met the nawab Jubber Khan, a brother of Dost Mohammed Khan. Jabber Khan was important as a possible rival of Dost Mahommed, and thus a possible ally to Shuja Shah. While staying with Jubber Khan, Harlan evaluated the situation and realised that Dost Mahommed's position was too strong, and that influence from outside Afghanistan was needed. He decided to seek his luck in Punjab.
In the service of Ranjit Singh
Harlan came to Lahore, the capital of Punjab, in 1829. He sought out the French general Jean-François Allard, who introdused him to the Maharaja. Harlan was offered a military position but declined, looking for something more lucrative. This, he eventually found: After lingering at the court for some time he was offered the position of Governor of Gujarat, a position he accepted. Before giving him this position, however, the Maharaja decided to test Harlan.
In December 1829, he was instated as Governor of Nurpur and Jasrota, described by Harlan himself as two districts then newly subjugated by the King in Lahore, located on the skirt of the Himalah mountains. These districts had been seized by their rajah in 1816 and were fairly wealth at the time Harlan arrives. Little, if anything, is known of Harlan's tenure here, but he must have favoured well. In May 1832 he was transferred to Gujarat. In Gujarat, Harlan was visited soon after his instatement by Henry Lawrence who later described him as a man of considerable ability, great courage and enterprise, and judging by appearance, well cut out for partisan work.
While appointing an European governor was rare, Harlan was certainly not the only one. His colleague Paolo Di Avitabile was made governor of Wazirabad, and Jean-Baptiste Ventura was made governor of Dera Ghazi Khan in 1831. Harlan was also in turn followed in his position in Gujarat by an Englishman named Holmes.
Back to Afghanistan
Prince of Ghor
Homeward bound
See also
Scott Reiniger, star of cult classic horror film Dawn of the Dead, is Harlan's great-great-great-grandson, and thus (as of 2004) heir to the title Prince of Ghor.
External links
- US movie actor is 'Afghan prince' (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3750931.stm), BBC
References
- Macintyre, Ben (2004). Josiah the Great. London: Harper Perennial. ISBN 0-00-715107-1.