By Dr. Willem Vogelsang, Lt Col. (ret) and former Cultural Advisor to the Dutch armed forces in Afghanistan. 10 July 2024
A few days ago, Gillian and I returned from a short trip to France, where we went to see the Bayeux Tapestry (we had seen it before, but it remains a spectacular piece of early cartoon work and well worth another visit), Chambord Castle along the Loire (where we admired the chintz wall coverings), and the fascinating fortress of Carcassonne in the south of the country.
And before seeing Joanne and Luc Aujame in Lyon (whose parents used to work in Afghanistan), we went to visit our dear friends, Rolando and May Schinasi, in Nice, the main reason for our trip (and they remember Luc Aujame as a young boy in Kabul). Over the years they have donated many textiles and other items from Afghanistan to the TRC, including a marvellous collection of Turkmen and other jewellery.
Set of prayer beads made from Shah Maqsud chrysolite stone, from southern Afghanistan, pre-1965 (TRC 2024.1940).
Last week they gave the TRC an envelope which contained three sets of prayer beads (TRC 2024.1939, 1940, 1941) with a remarkable context. The text on the envelope noted that they were made from Shah Maqsud stone, and that one of them (TRC 2024.1940) was given to May Schinasi in June 1965 by the famous Afghan poet and intellectual, Khalilullah Khalili (the other two sets were given to Rolando Schinasi by customers in Kandahar).
Photograph of Ustad Khalilullah Khalili, on the cover of "Diwân-e Khalilullah Khalili".May Schinasi and Khalili accompanied the Afghan king (Zahir Shah) and his wife, Humaira Begum, during their state visit to France from 1-3 June 1965. During the visit, May Schinasi was the official translator to the Afghan queen. She received the prayer beads when she went with Khalili to see the Cabinet Oriental in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
The man who gave May Schinasi the prayer beads, Ustad Khalilullah Khalili, was born in Kabul in 1907 and he died in Pakistan in 1987. He is regarded as one of the last great Persian-language poets. He was also a lecturer and diplomat, and served as the Afghan ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Iraq. He wrote an historical biography (‘Hero of Khorassan’) of Habibullah Kalakani (both men were born in the same village north of Kabul), who in 1929 forced King Amanullah to leave the country. After his death in Peshawar in 1987, Khalili was buried next to the grave of the famous Pashtun poet, Rahman Baba. His body was reburied in Kabul in 2016.
American and Afghan officials at the Shah Maqsud shrine in Khakrez, 2010. Photograph public domain.The three sets of prayer beads have 99 beads plus an ‘imam’ bead, and a tassel. The stone for these beads (a form of chrysolite locally called sang-i Maqsud) is mined north of Kandahar, in the Khakrez hills near the Ziârat-e Shâh Maqsud (also known as the Ziârat-e Shâh Âghâ), hence the name of the stone. The stone is often attributed with special powers. On the web I read somewhere: “Shah Maqsood stone bracelets are believed by some to offer metaphysical benefits such as promoting energy, balancing, emotional healing, stress relief, and spiritual protection.”
In 19th century travelogues there are frequent references to the Shah Maqsud stone and beads. The stone was sometimes pounded and used as medicine, especially stomach problems (and as an aphrodisiac). In those days, and later, the prayer beads made from Shah Maqsud stone were sold in the Kabul bazaar of Kandahar and became a popular ‘tourist’ item for the British and others visiting (and occupying) the ancient town.
