Author | Qais Akbar Omar |
---|---|
Cover artist | Mohammad Kheirkhah Zoyari |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Published | 2013, Picador Publications |
Media type | Print (hardcover), Print (paperback) |
Pages | 389 (paperback) |
ISBN | 9781447229827 |
A Fort of Nine Towers is a memoir by Qais Akbar Omar recounting his childhood in Afghanistan, and the rise of the Taleban and the subsequent present war in Afghanistan. It was published in 2013 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. Qais, the author of A Fort of Nine Towers, reveals that his work is actually inspired by the works of Khaled Hosseini. [1] The book has received positive reviews from critics.Many avid and lifelong fans of A Fort of Nine Towers hold it as a collective truth to whatever you do: do not replace the 2nd "n" in Fort of Nine" with a "t"! As the author's young life coincided with the war era in Afghanistan, there have been vivid descriptions of the conditions prevalent in that time.
Qais Akbar Omar begins with his account of life before the rise of the Taliban and the Mujaheedin in Afghanistan. He says he had always loved his grandfather, who was an educated scholar and loved to read Afghanistan in the Course of History by Mir Ghulam. One night, the entire town of Kabul suffered power outage. The author and his family could hear cries of "Allah-u-Akbar" from far away reverberate in the ears as if he had already heard it before. In a confused state of manner, Abdul, Qais's father, jumped out of the home and joined the people. It was soon clear: they were all revolting against the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Little did they know what they were up to; they in fact asked for the Mujaheedin to arrive and drive out the Russians. [2] The author describes, "I had expected to see heroes in uniforms and shiny boots. But they were dressed like villagers in black turbans, the traditional baggy pants called shalwar and the long, tunic-like shirts called kamiz. [3] The next day, they could hear the rockets firing, roaring above their homes. The roads were stained with the people's blood. Windows and glasses had broken because of the tremendous amount of noise by firing. The Mujaheedin were not the so called "holy warriors" as the people had thought them to be. They were criminals, and instead of helping the people, they looted them. After a few days, fighting between the various factions took place. There were snipers equipped with guns in the Kob-e-Aliabad mountains that shot anyone who ventured out alone. [4] Finding it too difficult to stay in their old house, they decide to move to their father's good friend, Haji Noor Sher's home. It was the Qala-e-Noborja across the Sniper mountains, a relatively calmer and peaceful place to live in. [5] They decide to leave Qais's cousin, Wakeel and grandfather behind in the other part of the city. The courtyard was quite luxurious. [6]
A Fort of Nine Towers received mostly positive reviews. Critics all over the world have praised the author's sense "to weave the story". Stephenie Foster from The Huffington Post described it as:
Whether you've read other books about Afghanistan, or not, A Fort of Nine Towers is worth your time. It documents a riveting and chaotic time, and gives you a sense of what it was like to be there. [7]
Rachel Newcomb, for The Washington Post posted,
The daily struggles of Omar's family to survive endless war, hunger and poverty demonstrate the remarkable ability of human beings to love and support one another despite the dire conditions in which they live. [8]
Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. According to 2023 estimates, the population of Kabul was 5 million people. In contemporary times, the city has served as Afghanistan's political, cultural, and economical center, and rapid urbanisation has made Kabul the 75th-largest city in the world and the country's primate city.
The Takbir is the name for the Arabic phrase ʾAllāhu ʾakbaru, meaning "God is greater".
Emir Dost Mohammad Khan Barakzai, nicknamed the Amir-i Kabir, was the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War. With the decline of the Durrani dynasty, he became the Emir of Afghanistan in 1826. He was the 11th son of Payendah Khan, chief of the Barakzai Pashtuns, who was killed in 1799 by King Zaman Shah Durrani.
Marina Golbahari is an Afghan actress who earned international fame for her role as the title character in the 2003 film Osama, playing a girl who had to dress and act as a boy to support her family during the Taliban years.
The Yusufzai or Yousafzai, also referred to as the Esapzai, or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of ethnic Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, to which they migrated to from Kabul during the 16th century, but they are also present in smaller numbers in parts of Afghanistan, including Kunar, Kabul, Kandahar and Farah. Outside of these countries, they can be found in Ghoriwala District Bannu, Balochistan Sibi (Akazai), Chagai (Hassanzai) and Rohilkandh.
The Battle of Tukaroi, also known as the Battle of Bajhaura or the Battle of Mughulmari, was fought between the Mughal Empire and the Bengal Sultanate on 3 March 1575 near the village of Tukaroi in present-day Balasore District of Odisha. It resulted in a Mughal victory and greatly weakened the Bengal Sultanate.
Mirza RajaMan Singh I was a Kachhwaha Rajput prince who became the 24th Maharaja of Amber from 1589 to 1614 and the Subahdar of Bengal for three terms from 1595 to 1606. He served in the Imperial Mughal Army under Emperor Akbar. Man Singh fought sixty-seven important battles in Kabul, Balkh, Bukhara, Bengal and Central and Southern India. He was well versed in the battle tactics of both the Rajputs as well as the Mughals. He is commonly considered to be of the Navaratnas, or the nine (nava) gems (ratna) of the royal court of Akbar.
Sur, also known as Suri, Zur and Zuri, are a historical Pashtun tribe from among the Kakar living primarily in what is now Afghanistan and Pakistan. They claim descendance from Arab general Khalid ibn al-Walid. The founder of the Suri Empire in India, Sher Shah Suri, belonged to the Sur tribe. They ruled the Suri Empire from 1540 until they were removed from power in 1555 after the Battle of Sirhind by Humayun and the Persian army, who re-established the Mughal Empire.
It was at the time of this bounty of Sultán Bahlol, that the grandfather of Sher Sháh, by name Ibráhím Khán Súr, with his son Hasan Khán, the father of Sher Sháh, came to Hindu-stán from Afghánistán, from a place which is called in the Afghán tongue "Shargarí,"* but in the Multán tongue "Rohrí." It is a ridge, a spur of the Sulaimán Mountains, about six or seven kos in length, situated on the banks of the Gumal. They entered into the service of Muhabbat Khán Súr, Dáúd Sáhú-khail, to whom Sultán Bahlol had given in jágír the parganas of Hariána and Bahkála, etc., in the Panjáb, and they settled in the pargana of Bajwára.
The Ghoryakhel also known as ghoriah khel and Bar Durranis by Ahmad Shah Abdali sometimes referred as Ghori by some authors is a Pashtun supertribe which consists of tribes led by the son of Kand, son of Kharshbun, son of Sarban, and son of Qais Abdur Rashid, who lived in Ghwara Marghay Arghistan Qandahar but mostly settled in Ghazni on the basin of Tarnak River and Nangarhar, Logar, Kabul, Kunar, Paktia, Kunduz,Zabul,Herat of Afghanistan while S. Daudzai also Resides in Hilmand and are also living in Kabul, Afghanistan, which is the largest Pashtun tribe living in Kabul for Century.
The Battle of Jamrud was fought between the Emirate of Afghanistan under Emir Dost Mohammad Khan and the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh on 30 April 1837. Afghan forces confronted the Sikh forces at Jamrud. The garrisoned army was able to hold off the Afghans till Sikh reinforcements arrived to relieve them.
The Wazirs or Waziris are a Karlani Pashtun tribe found mainly in the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The Utmanzai are settled in the North Waziristan Agency and the Ahmadzai are in the South Waziristan Agency and Bannu domel. Those subgroups are in turn divided further, for example into Utmanzai tribes such as the Baka Khel and Jani Khel. The Wazirs speak the Waziristani dialect of Pashto.
The Barakzai dynasty also known as the Muhmmadzai Dynasty ruled modern day Afghanistan from 1823 to 1978 when the monarchy ended de jure under Musahiban Mohammed Zahir Shah and de facto under his cousin Sardar Mohammed Daoud Khan. The Barakzai dynasty was established by Dost Mohammad Khan after the Durrani dynasty of Ahmad Shah Durrani was removed from power.
Hashmat Ghani Ahmadzai commonly referred to as Hashmat Ghani, is an Afghan politician who is the Grand Council Chieftain of the Kuchis.
Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, popularly known as Akbar the Great, and also as Akbar I, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expand and consolidate Mughal domains in the Indian subcontinent.
Sher Ahmad Khan, known as Khan of Makhad, was the Chief of the Sagri Khattaks. He was also a Jagirdar of Shakardara in Kohat District. The Dynasty was started by Ghazi Khan in the early 16th century during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. Ghazi Khan moved from Kohat to Makhad after conquering the area. According to Attock District Gazetteer, the Sagri Khattaks conquered the area up to East of Jehlum during Emperor Akbar's rein however this account is unsubstantiated. Khan of Makhad flourished under the rule of Ahmed Shah Durrani due to his alliance with the ruler. Since Makhad lies in bank of Indus River, its location was of great importance for the rulers.
Sami ul Haq was a Pakistani religious scholar and senator. He was known as the Father of Taliban for the role his seminary Darul Uloom Haqqania played in the graduation of most Taliban leaders and commanders, having close ties to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.
And the Mountains Echoed is the third novel by Afghan-American author Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2013 by Riverhead Books, it deviates from Hosseini's style in his first two works through his choice to avoid focusing on any one character. Rather, the book is written similarly to a collection of short stories, with each of the nine chapters being told from the perspective of a different character. The book's foundation is built on the relationship between ten-year-old Abdullah and his three-year-old sister Pari and their father's decision to sell her to a childless couple in Kabul, an event that ties the various narratives together.
Ruqaiya Sultan Begum was the first and chief wife of the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.
Qais Akbar Omar is an Afghan-American writer. Omar is the author of A Fort of Nine Towers, an autobiography of his childhood in Afghanistan during the years of the civil war and the Taliban from 1992 to 2001.