Lilian Starr was a British missionary nurse, best known for her role in the retrieval of the kidnapped Mollie Ellis and for her books about the North-West Frontier and its people. Her husband, a missionary doctor, was stabbed to death by an Afridi tribesman in 1918 before her eyes when he answered a late-night knock at the front door. The Afridi’s son had been admitted as a patient in the hospital and, apparently, had shown interest in converting to Christianity after being exposed to Christian teaching there. Enraged, the Afridi first killed his own son and then murdered Mrs. Starr’s husband.
Her first book was Frontier Folk of the Afghan Border and Beyond (1920).
In 1923 she was tasked by the British authorities to assist in the recovery of Mollie Ellis from Ajab Khan Afridi, since she spoke Pashto fluently and was well acquainted with Afridi tribesmen through her frequent interactions with them at the hospital. For her role in the rescue she was hailed as a heroine by the British press, decorated with the Kaiser-i-Hind medal, and recognised by the Order of St John. The incident also inspired her next major book, Tales of Tirah and Lesser Tibet (1923), which combined her diary of the Ellis rescue with sketches of frontier life and accounts of her travels into Baltistan.
.jpg "Historic photo of Mrs Starr and Afridis")
%20(1)%20(1).webp "Ajab Khan Afridi")
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