Autobiographies of the Powerful
By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
Two US presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, are believed to have received 10- and 7-million-dollar advances, respectively, for their autobiographies. Even Ronald Regan, who certainly did not write his own and most people believe did not even read it, received a substantial sum.
The publication of US presidential autobiographies has not always been as lucrative a business as it is now, but monetary rewards have been a strong incentive for writing them. Until 1958, former presidents received no pensions and some of them fell on hard times soon after leaving office. In some cases, they resorted to writing and selling their autobiographies just to raise money, with varying degrees of success.
When President Truman left office in 1953, he was in a state of financial insolvency, and wrote his memoirs in the hope of buying some financial security for his family. However, the amount of money he received from his publishers, $670,000, a princely sum at the time, only temporarily relieved his worries. He had incurred a large amount of debt and after paying for various expenses, the money was soon gone. The financial worries of retired US presidents were largely over when the US Congress in 1958 enacted a law providing a life-long pension for them. At the time, it set the amount as $25,000 per year; however, over the years it has increased and now stands as $199,700.
Thomas Carlyle, the nineteenth-century Scottish philosopher and historian had commented in his book “On Heroes and Hero Worship” that “the history of the world is but biography of great men.” What motivates “great men” to write their life stories, sometime revealing their inner thoughts and sharing intimate details about their family and friends? Besides the lure of money, which has become a factor only recently, many are powerfully driven by a desire to showcase their achievements and preserve their narratives for posterity.
Zahiruddin Babar (1483–1530), the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India, is credited with writing the first detailed and perceptive autobiography, which spawned the genre of memoir writing. Copies of Babarnama available today, however, are not believed to be the complete text, and some parts are likely to have been lost over the centuries. The original text was written by Babar in Chaghatay Turkish, his native tongue, which is very different from modern Turkish. Babarnama was reportedly translated into Persian by Abdur Rahim Khankhanan, Akbar’s favorite courtier in 1589 and presented to the emperor on his return from a visit to his grandfather’s tomb in Kabul.
Babar was still working on his memoirs when he died in 1530 at age 47, but the text available today showcases his great interest in his surroundings and his power of observation as he describes in detail with some bewilderment the customs, climate, plants and animals of India, his new domain. Since the celebrated study of India and its people recorded by Abu Rehan Al Beruni (973-1048), the illustrious medieval scholar and astronomer, in his book, Kitab-ul-Hind, no one had provided such a comprehensive account of the demographics, religious practices and geography of Northern India.
During his brief four-year stay in India, Babar, found nothing to his liking, except its riches, gold and money. He noted, “Hindustan is a place of little charm. There is no beauty in its people, no graceful social intercourse, no poetic talent or understanding. There are no good horses, meat, grapes, melons, or other fruits. There is no ice, cold water, good food or bread in the market.” He did not even want to be buried in the Indian soil, and his body was eventually carried to Kabul for burial as he had willed.
Among the Mughal rulers, the only other who wrote his memoirs was Babur’s great grandson, Nur-uddin Mohammad Salim, Jahangir. By that time, Mughals had been thoroughly Indianized and loved India’s people, flora and fauna. Jahangir started to keep a diary of his activities from 1569, the year of his accession to the throne, much as Babur had done. However, five years before his death in 1622, he was so ill that he could not write it himself and a secretary had to do it. He edited the text afterwards. Although the memoirs are entitled Tuzuk-e-Jahangiri, the emperor himself did not mention this designation in his memoirs, instead referring to it as Jahangirnama. The memoirs have been translated into several languages. The English translation from the original Persian by Wheeler Thackston (Oxford University Press) is of exquisite quality and adorned with many paintings that were commissioned by the emperor for inclusion in his memoirs.
Jahangir was a keen observer of nature and had an insatiable curiosity about natural phenomena. He relates a number of instances when he came to know of some usual animal, fruit or plant, and was not satisfied until he investigated it fully. Today, he would be acknowledged as a naturalist. He intended his book to serve as a guide for other rulers and the public. However, apart from the twelve decrees documented at the opening pages, related to the administration of justice and conduct of his functionaries, there is not much guidance in the Jahangirnama for governance. During the twilight years of his reign, he had ceded his authority to his beloved wife, Noor Jahan, remarking rather poignantly, “I require nothing beyond a sir of wine and half a sir of meat.”
In recent times, two Pakistani rulers have published their memoirs: Ayub Khan authored, Friends not Masters, and Pervaiz Musharraf, In the line of Fire. The former is a political autobiography that had no new revelations, except the bizarre behavior of the then Governor General Ghulam Mohammad and the author’s plans to upend the civilian Government. While Friend not Masters did not sell well outside Pakistan, In the line of Fire, was promoted heavily both inside and outside the country and made much money for Mr Musharraf. He did provide some details of Pakistan’s decision to side with America in its war against Taliban in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attack. Neither book, however, helped the authors to stay in power. Both were forced out soon after publication of their autobiographies
Future historians will lament that Pakistan’s founding fathers, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan and others, left no documents or memoirs that would provide details, still unknown, of the behind-the-scene struggles that culminated in the creation of Pakistan. It would have been especially interesting to learn what vision Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah had for the future form of Government in Pakistan and the role of religion in it.
