----- Original Message ----- From: "Pat Dugan" To: "Urban Legends" Sent: Thursday, May 27, 2004 7:38 PM Subject: [UL] The Man Who Would Be King
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3750931.stm > > A Hollywood actor who starred in horror film Dawn Of The Dead has found he > is prince of the Afghan province of Ghor. > Scott Reiniger, who appeared in the 1978 movie, is the great, great, great > grandson of Josiah Harlan, the first American to set foot in Afghanistan. > As a result of a treaty Harlan signed, his heirs are granted the title > Prince of Ghor in perpetuity. > Reiniger only found out his title after UK journalist Ben Macintyre > published a book on his ancestor's life. > "My reaction initially was that it seemed incredibly surreal," Reiniger told > BBC World Service's Outlook programme. > He discovered he was the prince of the western province of Ghor when his > younger brother - who is named Harlan - emailed him after reading reviews of > Macintyre's book. > Macintyre said he was as surprised as Reiniger himself to find Harlan's > descendent was a cult horror star. > "I'd rather assumed that I'd done my best to track down his decedents," he > said. > "But as [Josiah] Harlan had only one daughter, it was extremely hard to find > them. And frankly we'd given up. So I was absolutely thrilled." > But Reiniger said he had no intention of claiming his title officially, and > added that he felt his brother should have it anyway. > "He has the name and he's the historian in the family," he said. > "So I think he really should have the title." > Reiniger said he remembered his father talking about Josiah Harlan and also > Alexander The Great when he was a child. > "He would demonstrate Alexander the Great's movements... sometimes he would > pull out Josiah Harlan's sword, which my father had, and my brother now > has," he said. > Macintyre, who had been examining the history of Afghanistan's troubles in > the wake of 11 September, decided to investigate after he found that Josiah > Harlan's name continually cropped up. > He found Harlan had agreed a treaty with the Hazaras, the decedents of the > Mongols who lived in the principality of Ghor. > Harlan was a Pennsylvania-born adventurer who travelled to Afghanistan in > the early 19th century, having sworn never to return to the US after an > incident in Calcutta left him stranded. > He headed to Afghanistan with the intention of being made a king. He soon > met up with Afghanistan's exiled king, to whom he was contracted to stir up > rebellion in Kabul. > He was skilled at playing two sides against each other and continually > switched his allegiance. But his skill as a military general was noted and > the Emir of Kabul, Dost Muhammad Khan, made him commander-in-chief of > Afghanistan's army. > In the winter of 1839, Khan asked him to take on a prince on the other side > of the Hindu Kush with 4,000 men, 600 camels and an elephant. > This mission formed the basis for Rudyard Kipling's book The Man Who Would > Be King, which, in a further Hollywood twist, was made as a film starring > Sean Connery. > It was during this expedition that Harlan stuck his deal with the Hazaras, > and in particular - Refee Beg, the Prince of Ghor at that time. > Harlan agreed to return with a large, trained army with which they would > conquer Refee's neighbours. In return, Refee agreed to hand over sovereignty > over Ghor to Harlan, and his heirs, in perpetuity. > "The treaty remains in effect," Macintyre explained. > "Although it would be a brave man who attempted to reassert his claim to be > the Prince of Ghor at this stage." > > xponent Wild Stories Maru rob
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