Tahir Shah
A storyteller who treats the world as his manuscript, chasing myths, magic, and forgotten histories from the souks of Morocco to the mountains of Afghanistan.
Born 1966 (age 60)·British author, journalist and documentary maker·Birthday: November 16·Generation X
Biography
Tahir Shah writes from the crossroads of adventure and anthropology. Born into a distinguished Afghan-Indian family with a deep literary heritage—his father was the writer Idries Shah—he rejected a conventional path to instead pursue the strange and wondrous. His work is a form of immersive archaeology; he doesn't just visit places, he lives in them, whether restoring a dilapidated palace in Casablanca that was once a den of sorcerers or tracing the path of a medieval explorer. Shah's books and documentaries are quests, blending travelogue, history, and personal memoir with a detective's curiosity. He operates on the belief that the world is still filled with enchantment, and his mission is to document it before it vanishes, giving voice to storytellers, craftsmen, and mystics operating on the fringes of the modern world.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Tahir was born in 1966, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Tahir Was Born
The biggest hits of 1966
#1 Movie
The Bible: In the Beginning
Best Picture
A Man for All Seasons
#1 TV Show
Bonanza
Tahir's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1966Born
Star Trek premieres on television
Gas: $0.32/galHome: $14,200Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"The Ballad of the Green Berets" — SSgt Barry SadlerBest Picture: A Man for All Seasons
1971Started school
Voting age lowered to 18 in the US
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $18,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Joy to the World" — Three Dog NightBest Picture: The French Connection
1979Became a teenager
Iran hostage crisis begins; Three Mile Island accident
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $37,900Min wage: $2.90/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"My Sharona" — The KnackBest Picture: Kramer vs. Kramer
1982Could drive
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1984Could vote
Apple Macintosh introduced
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $59,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"When Doves Cry" — PrinceBest Picture: Amadeus
1987Turned 21
Black Monday stock market crash
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $72,400Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Walk Like an Egyptian" — The BanglesBest Picture: The Last Emperor
1996Turned 30
Dolly the sheep cloned
Gas: $1.23/galHome: $99,700Min wage: $4.75/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Macarena" — Los del RioBest Picture: The English Patient
2006Turned 40
Twitter launches; Pluto reclassified as dwarf planet
Gas: $2.59/galHome: $174,700Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Bad Day" — Daniel PowterBest Picture: The Departed
2016Turned 50
Donald Trump elected president; Brexit vote
Gas: $2.14/galHome: $181,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Love Yourself" — Justin BieberBest Picture: Moonlight
2026Turned 60
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Wrote the bestselling travel memoir 'The Caliph's House', detailing his family's move and renovation of a haunted house in Casablanca.
- Produced and directed documentary films for the BBC and Channel 4 on subjects ranging from magic to ancient engineering.
- Authored 'In Search of King Solomon's Mines', retracing an ancient Arabian trading route through Ethiopia and Yemen.
- Has published over 30 books spanning genres including travel, fiction, and collections of Eastern folklore.
Did You Know?
His family home in Casablanca, Dar Khalifa, is a former palace and is said to be inhabited by jinns (spirits).
He is a direct descendant of the 16th-century Afghan ruler and poet, Bayazid Ansari.
He was imprisoned in Ethiopia while researching a book, an experience he wrote about in 'The House of the Tiger King'.
He maintains an extensive archive of rare books and manuscripts on exploration and the occult.
“The place of dreams is also the place of jinns, and it is a place where nothing is quite as it seems.”
