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Muhammad Abd-al-Rahman Barker (born Phillip Barker; November 3, 1929 – March 16, 2012) was an American linguist who was professor of
Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
and
South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
n Studies and created one of the first roleplaying games, '' Empire of the Petal Throne''. He wrote several
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
/
science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...
novels based in his associated world setting of Tékumel. Between 1990 and 2002, he was a member of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the '' Journal of Historical Review'', which advocated
Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...
. In 1991 he published a
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
novel, '' Serpent's Walk'', under the pseudonym Randolph D. Calverhall.


Early life

Born in
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
, descended from ancestors who had originally settled in America in 1626, Barker's childhood was spent around Washington and
Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...
. As a youth he had an interest in "fairy stories, history and literature" which would be further influenced by such films as '' The Thief of Bagdad''; all of this helped to turn his casual "wargames" with toy soldiers more towards fantasy. From this, his fictional lands of Tsolyanu and others, in what was later to become Tékumel, emerged and were embellished further in middle and high school years during which time he commenced construction of armies of hand-carved figures to represent his creations. Also at an early age, Barker's interest in languages was piqued by neighboring children of
Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...
origin who were able to exclude others from their secret conversations in their native tongue.


Academic life and creative networking

In and just before 1950, while Barker was studying at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
under
Melville Jacobs Melville Jacobs (July 3, 1902 – July 31, 1971) was an American anthropologist and folklorist known for his work preserving indigenous cultures and languages of the Pacific Northwest United States. Jacobs was a doctoral student of Franz Boas, a ...
, he became involved with
science fiction fanzines A science-fiction fanzine is an amateur or semi-professional magazine published by members of science-fiction fandom, from the 1930s to the present day. They were one of the earliest forms of fanzine, within one of which the term "''fanzine''" w ...
, writing articles, short stories and contributing reviews to Portland-based ''Fanscient'' and to the local clubzine ''Sinisterra'',Barker's world, later known as Tékumel, was placed as the fourth planet in th
''Sinistra''
system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...
.
the latter of which contained his review of, and content from,
Jack Vance John Holbrook Vance (August 28, 1916 – May 26, 2013) was an American mystery, fantasy, and science fiction writer. He also wrote several mystery novels under pen names, including Ellery Queen. Vance won the World Fantasy Award for Life Ach ...
relating to his recently published book, ''
The Dying Earth ''The Dying Earth'' is a collection of science fantasy/fantasy short fiction by American writer Jack Vance, published by Hillman in 1950. Vance returned to the setting in 1965 and thereafter, making it the first book in the ''Dying Earth'' ser ...
''. Also at this time, Barker corresponded with other authors who contributed to those same publications, including
Lin Carter Linwood Vrooman Carter (June 9, 1930 – February 7, 1988) was an American author of science fiction and fantasy, as well as an editor, poet and critic. He usually wrote as Lin Carter; known pseudonyms include H. P. Lowcraft (for an H. P. Lov ...
in whose writings and linguistic experiments he took an interest and with whom he finally put to paper the story line of his own created world. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1951. That year, he received a
Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
to study the
languages of India Languages of India belong to several list of language families, language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indian people, Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians; both fami ...
, and on his first trip to India, converted to
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. Gary Fine wrote that Barker would attribute his conversion to "purely theological reasons nd thatit seemed like a more logical religion", though Barker himself admitted at the time to an " nimaginablefeeling of awe and religious ecstasy" upon hearing the recitations of the 99 Names of Allah at the
Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...
.


Later academic studies and career

Barker attended the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
for graduate studies, writing a dissertation on Klamath language, collecting traditional myths, legends, tales, and oral histories and later publishing a grammar and dictionary on the language. (21 Klamath myths collected in 1955-1957) He taught at the Institute of Islamic Studies at
McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
from around 1958/59 until 1972 and became active in the development of Urdu and Baluchi instruction materials for English-speaking students following a period of two years from 1960 when he was attached to the
University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...
. Some of these were still recommended university course study materials as of 2010. From 1972 he moved to teach at the
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
in
Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
, where he chaired the Department of South Asian studies until his retirement in the early 1990s; a few years after, the department was disbanded due to reduced funding.


Tékumel

While at Berkeley, Barker had not set aside his world creation project. Indeed, despite stepping back from an active role in
science fiction fandom Science fiction fandom or SF fandom is a community or fandom of people interested in science fiction in contact with one another based upon that interest. SF fandom has a life of its own, but not much in the way of formal organization (although ...
, he had commenced "proto-gaming" with a group of like-minded science fiction fans including fellow linguist Bill Shipley and Victor Golla, producing elaborate documents to support the exploration of that shared world. Having watched the ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'' games started by Mike Mornard, one of the original testers for D&D, when Mornard moved to Minneapolis from
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it was home to 8,277 people as of the 2020 census, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee and no ...
, Barker resolved to create his own ruleset based on his own created world and the game mechanics from D&D. After six weeks, this was self-published in August 1974 as '' Empire of the Petal Throne'' and play commenced forthwith, including such occasional members as
Dave Arneson David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), ''Dungeons & Dragons'', with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's fundamental ...
– who singled out Barker and Tékumel as being his favorite Dungeon Master and roleplaying game, respectively – from early days.(English translation)
/ref> Once
Gary Gygax Ernest Gary Gygax ( ; July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008) was an American game designer and author best known for co-creating the pioneering tabletop role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'') with Dave Arneson. In the 1960s, Gygax creat ...
's attention had been drawn to Barker's work, it was decided that TSR would publish a revised version of the game mechanics along with a condensed version of his
campaign setting A campaign setting is a setting for a tabletop role-playing game or wargame campaign. Most campaign settings are fictional worlds; however, some are historical or contemporary real-world locations. A '' campaign'' is a series of individual adve ...
. ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' was published by TSR in August 1975 for
Gen Con Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing ...
VIII, making it the third role-playing game from TSR. In a December 1976 editorial for '' The Dragon'' magazine, editor Tim Kask drew comparisons between the world of Tékumel and
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...
's
Middle-earth Middle-earth is the Setting (narrative), setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Midgard, Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf'' ...
not in terms of literature created, nor that his work was derivative of Tolkien's, but rather regarding the in-depth detail in the setting, mythos and linguistic backgrounds and concluded that "In terms of development of detail, I think EPT mpire of the Petal Thronehas it over Middle Earth in the matters that most concern gamers" since it had been developed by a "wargamer", whereas Tolkien had no such background and having died prior to the release of D&D was thus unable to address this new pastime personally. Barker disliked the limited support TSR gave to the setting, and after 1977 he took his Tékumel setting back from TSR and ultimately brought it from one publisher to another: Imperium Publishing (1978),
Adventure Games An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story, driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...
(1981), Gamescience (1983–1984), Tékumel Games (1983–1986), Different Worlds Publications (1987–1988), TOME (1991–1994), Tita's House of Games (1997–2002), Zottola Publishing (2002–2003), and Guardians of Order (2005). Barker had a personal friendship with Dave Arneson, which led to Arnesons's company Adventures Games releasing several books for Tékumel, such as army lists, maps and reference material. DAW published the novel '' The Man of Gold'' (July 1984) by Barker, which took place in Tékumel. His second novel, '' Flamesong'' (1985), was also published by DAW. Despite having had a head start on other in-depth campaign settings and seeing his game released no less than four times with various supplements and magazine articles, many of which he contributed to, and having authored five books using the same setting, Barker's Tékumel in both roleplaying and literary domains is still well known to only a relatively small audience, leading German magazine ''
Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'' in 2009 to publish an article on Barker's life entitled "" ("The forgotten Tolkien"). The article quotes friends and acquaintances who posit that this may be, at least in part, due to the unfamiliarity of the setting compared with Western society, echoing Fine's observations from 1983, and possibly even that Tékumel was released to the gaming world too early on, when players had only just started to experiment with their own invented worlds rather than fitting their play into preconfigured, non-literary domains with novel backgrounds. In 2008, Barker founded the Tékumel Foundation along with many of his long-time players "to support and protect the literary works and all related products and activities surrounding isworld of Tékumel and the Empire of the Petal Throne." The Foundation acts as his literary executor.


''Serpent's Walk'' and Holocaust denial

Barker wrote a sixth novel, '' Serpent's Walk'', under the pseudonym Randolph D. Calverhall. Randolph D. Calverhall is an allusion to one of Barker's ancestors, and the book is attributed to him in a library catalog. ''Serpent's Walk'' is a
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
story, presenting an
alternate history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...
in which SS soldiers begin an underground resistance after the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. A hundred years later, their descendants take over the United States of America. The book's protagonist becomes the and worldwide dictator of the Fourth Reich. The book espouses the belief in an
international Jewish conspiracy The international Jewish conspiracy or the world Jewish conspiracy is an antisemitic trope that has been described as "one of the most widespread and long-running conspiracy theories". Although it typically claims that a malevolent, usually gl ...
, suggests the solution to the "
Jewish question The Jewish question was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century Europe that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other " national questions", dealt with the civil, legal, national, ...
" is
genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
, and extensively quotes ''
Mein Kampf (; ) is a 1925 Autobiography, autobiographical manifesto by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler. The book outlines many of Political views of Adolf Hitler, Hitler's political beliefs, his political ideology and future plans for Nazi Germany, Ge ...
''. The novel was published in 1991 by National Vanguard Books, the book publishing division of the neo-Nazi group the National Alliance, which published white supremacist and neo-Nazi material including '' The Turner Diaries''. Between 1990 and 2002, Barker also served as a member of the Editorial Advisory Committee of the '' Journal of Historical Review'', a journal that advocates
Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...
and revisionist
pseudohistory Pseudohistory is a form of pseudoscholarship that attempts to distort or misrepresent the historical record, often by employing methods resembling those used in scholarly historical research. The related term cryptohistory is applied to pseud ...
. In March 2022, the Tékumel Foundation confirmed Barker's authorship of ''Serpent's Walk'' and association with the ''Journal of Historical Review''. The Foundation repudiated Barker's views in the novel, from which it does not receive royalties, and apologized for not acknowledging its authorship earlier.


Death

Barker died in home hospice on March 16, 2012. He was survived by his wife, Ambereen.


Partial bibliography


Language texts

Barker studied various languages academically and helped author and co-author various publications relating to some of those, including the following: Published by the
University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...
: * Klamath Texts (1963) * Klamath Dictionary (1963) * Klamath Grammar (1964) Published by the McGill University Institute of Islamic Studies: * A Course in Urdu (1967) * An Urdu Newspaper Reader (1968) * A Reader of Modern Urdu Poetry (1968) * A Course in Baluchi (1969)


Roleplaying

Tékumel has spawned five professionally published roleplaying games over the course of the years. It was also reportedly a major influence on other creations such as ''
Hârn Hârn is a campaign setting for fantasy role-playing games, designed by N. Robin Crossby, and published by Columbia Games in 1983. In 1998 Crossby founded Kelestia Productions (KP), an electronic publishing e-company. KP and Columbia Games now ...
'' and the '' Skyrealms of Jorune''. * ''Empire of the Petal Throne'' (1975) as a boxed set by
TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of '' Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had bee ...
following earlier self-publication in 1974, and reprinted later as a single book by
Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...
in 1987. * ''Swords & Glory'' (1983/4) in two volumes by Gamescience. * '' Gardásiyal: Adventures on Tékumel'' (1994) by Theatre of the Mind Enterprises; with Neil R. Cauley. * ''Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne'' (2005) by Guardians of Order; by various, with M.A.R. Barker. * ''Bethorm: The Plane of Tékumel'' (2014) by UNIGames; by Jeff Dee and M.A.R. Barker.


Novels

Barker wrote five novels set in the world of Tékumel - in chronological reading order these are: # '' The Man of Gold'' (1984) # '' Flamesong'' (1985) # ''Lords of Tsámra'' (2003) # ''Prince of Skulls'' (2002) # ''A Death of Kings'' (2003)


Novels (non-Tékumel)

# '' Serpent's Walk'' (1991)


See also

* Tsolyáni language


Notes and references


External links


Official Tékumel websiteBrett Slocum's Tékumel Site (last updated 2013)Tékumel Discussion Group - participants include Prof. Barker and regular players in his "Thursday Night Group"
*
Bibliography
on SciFan
Bibliography
on SFBookcase.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, M. A. R. 1929 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American fantasy writers Linguists from the United States American Holocaust deniers American male novelists American neo-Nazis Muslims from Minnesota Converts to Islam Linguists of Klamath Role-playing game designers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Constructed language creators University of Washington alumni