An Indo-Afghan Border Story: Unto us a Child is Born

This material is held atRoyal Asiatic Society Archives

  • Reference
    • GB 891 SC23
  • Dates of Creation
    • [1960]
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • 1 file typed manuscript

Scope and Content

'Unto us a Child is Born' - a manuscript documenting the story of the rise and fall of a supposed miracle or holy child in a village near the Indo-Afghan border. The narrator describes himself as a junior officer serving in an administrative capacity. The story is of interest to him for its potential disruption to the area as people took sides believing or negating the child, who showed his holiness by wanting his father rather than his mother. The incident occurred a little while after Halley's comet had been visible in the night sky which some took to be a portent. The matter died down once the child started preferring its mother.
The story would seem to be related by somebody in the nineteenth century, but the document is from the mid-twentieth century. There are no identifiers as to the author or the narrator, so it is possibly a transcription of an earlier text or a work of fiction.

Administrative / Biographical History

The creator is unknown.

Access Information

Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.

Acquisition Information

It is not known how the material came into the Society's collections.

Note

The creator is unknown.

Archivist's Note

This material was catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.

Conditions Governing Use

Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.

Custodial History

The author and owner are unknown.

Additional Information

Published

gb891-sc23