Talk:Josiah Harlan

About the references

Aren't the two references by Macintyre referring to the same book, just with different titles? I think the book was published with a differen title in the US than my UK(?) copy. The full title of the first reference is Josiah the Great: The True Story of the Man Who Would Be King. Havard 13:33, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Death?

How did he die? It isn't mentioned in the article. I would have thought this was a necessary part of a biographical article. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 137.122.200.251 (talk) 05:13, 7 December 2006 (UTC).

Also, "Harlan now proposed to raise a regiment" ... and then what? What happened to that regiment? This article is not complete!

I don't have any sources on hand, so I won't be contributing, but from memory:

Harlan's regiment performed well, although his officers attempted to carry out a mutiny, which the soldiers defeated. He then travelled out west, eventually dying as a doctor in California, his possessions containing a priceless carved ruby, a golden sword, and the papers proclaiming him the Prince of Ghor. Along the way, he attempted to import camels to the US.

If I get my hands on a copy of Mackintyre's book again, I'll update the article with the information. Timothy Kew 212.159.30.215 21:59, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Date of Death

If the external link to an online biography is correct, Mr. Harlan died on October 21, 1871 in San Francisco, California.

204.65.104.135 22:36, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Inaccuracy

It seems from the summary that he never provided the military aid he promised to Ghor. So it seems unlikely that anyone would have accorded him or descendants the title 'prince of Ghor' after he left without returning.

As a result, this line should likely be removed from the trivia section: "Scott Reiniger, star of cult classic 1978 horror film Dawn of the Dead, is Harlan's great-great-great-grandson, and thus (as of 2004) heir to the title Prince of Ghor." – SJ + 12:01, 12 August 2012 (UTC)

I agree. Also, we have no reason to believe Reiniger would take precedence over other descendants. I will remove it. Gvros8 (talk) 20:56, 7 September 2021 (UTC)

I also agree, and am taking the same action on Scott Reiniger's page. Theturbolemming (talk) 14:05, 27 April 2022 (UTC)

Misleading Heading?

My only expertise is based on reading the book a few years ago. But the book did not suggest, as the first paragraph states, that Harlan went "travelling to Afghanistan and Punjab with the intention of making himself a king." He certainly aspired to Generalship, but it was only on visiting the Hazaras and finding them congenial (and interested in a mutually beneficial relationship) that the prospect of kingship was raised.

Junckerg (talk) 13:16, 19 October 2012 (UTC)

The Language Needs Some Major Cleanup

This article reads to me like it was written by a non-native English speaker. I've made several small corrections (misuse of principle/principal, odd spellings like tee-toiler for teetotaler, etc), but the whole thing could use an overhaul to make it read like an encyclopedia article.Mpaniello (talk) 18:38, 14 October 2018 (UTC)

Copy editor notes

Cut out some lengthy stuff about his broken heart, etc. Still just looking at language. Going to tag as refimprove; nothing wrong with the one source, but it could use more. Elinruby (talk) 19:31, 30 August 2021 (UTC)

Tartan is not a color; always multi-colored; can be predominantly blue, green, or red. I changed the reference to “print”. If anybody has the book *which* tartan is rather important Elinruby (talk) 09:33, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

first-pass copy edit finished, concentrating on verbs and slightly wrong wording. For example, he was invalided out of the Union Army, not invalidated. Likely missed some of this, as there was a lot of it, and it should also get an edit for length and focus. A lot of time is spent on one slave’s castration, for example, of which Harlan was merely a horrified witness Elinruby (talk) 10:39, 31 August 2021 (UTC)

We need more sources

Reading through this I get the impression the book in question is mainly based on Harlan's own manuscript. To what extent can we actually collaborate his claims? Are there independent sources even verifying his travel to Ghor. Are there sources on his time among the Hazara other rhan himself?John Pack Lambert (talk) 03:52, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

Coatracking

Do we need do many details on the British East India Company. Our articles should not be extended paraphrased of books.John Pack Lambert (talk) 03:53, 19 May 2024 (UTC)

Another possible source

Here https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/08850600290101695 is a link to another possible source. I have not been able to dig it out more. I am still having a sense that we have Harlan's stories of his life, but not collaboration that he did what he claimed. I am also not convinced that the claims that this is the inspiration for Kipplong's "The Man Who Would Be King" is believable. Harlan was not the only Euro-Akerican or European to wander about Afghinstan, assuming his wanderings were any more than in his book.John Pack Lambert (talk) 04:02, 19 May 2024 (UTC)