Mirza Abu Taleb Khan (1752\u20131806) was a Persian travel writer from India. His writings would later inspire the Shah of Persia to embark on a years-long journey through Europe. In Khan\u2019s travelogue, which the Shah read with great interest, the West is described through the gaze of the East, producing a sort of \u201creverse travelogue\u201d to Orientalism\u2014an Occidentalism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Khan\u2019s travelogue relies on comparing and contrasting the different cities to which he traveled, thus offering a comparative account of European cultures through the eyes of an outsider, someone who hailed from the East. At times, Khan\u2019s observations inadvertently\u2014and humorously\u2014capture some of today\u2019s clich\u00e9s about the places he visited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One example is rudeness. He first came across it while traveling in Ireland. But whatever incident made an impression on him (he does not relay it in detail), he quickly puts it into a broader perspective: \u201cafter experiencing the mode of traveling in France, I was convinced my former complaints [in Ireland] were all groundless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe customer is king\u201d is another example, even before the phrase was coined. Khan captures this sentiment when he poopoos the modes of transportation on which he traveled throughout Europe\u2014all except for one place: \u201cthere is no country where the same attention is paid to the comfort and ease of the passengers as in England.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He generally found London to be \u201csuperior\u201d to Paris, as he put it, even though the latter offered \u201cmore superb buildings.\u201d He adds of Paris, \u201cit is neither so regular, kept so clean, nor so well lighted at night, nor does it possess so many squares or gardens [as London].\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn short, I thought I had fallen from Paradise into Hell,\u201d he proclaims, humorlessly, referring to his arrival in Paris after having visited Britain\u2019s capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But fear not, lest the lovers of Paris be left disappointed in Khan\u2019s conclusion, he gives us this nugget:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I arrived in Italy, I was made sensible of the beauty of Paris.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n