Sultan Mahommed Shah, Aga Khan III, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GCVO, PC (November 2, 1877 - July 11, 1957)
Aga Khan III was the 48th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims. He was one of the founders and the first president of the All-India Muslim League, and served as President of the League of Nations from 1937-38.

Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, CBE, DSO, (3 June, 1910 - August 24, 2003)
Thesiger left Eton in 1929 and went on to become one of the best known explorers of the Middle East. In 1945, Thesiger worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation. Meanwhile, from 1945 to 1949, he explored the southern regions of the Arabian peninsula and twice crossed the Empty Quarter. His travels also took him to Iraq, Persia, Kurdistan, French West Africa, Pakistan, and Kenya. Thesiger is best known for two travel books. Arabian Sands (1959) recounts his travels in the Empty Quarter of Arabia between 1945 and 1950 and describes the vanishing way of life of the Bedouins. The Marsh Arabs (1964) is an account of the Madan, the indigenous people of the marshlands of southern Iraq.

There is currently a permanent exhibition of Thesiger's photos courtesy of the Abu Dhabi Authority of Culture and Heritage (ADACH) at the Al Jahili Fort in Al Ain which has recently been restored to its former glory. Please click here for more details.

Sir Ranulph Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes, 3rd Baronet OBE (born 7 March 1944)
Fiennes is known as "the world's greatest living explorer". He was the first man to visit both the north and south poles by surface means and the first man to completely cross Antarctica on foot. Fiennes also spent time in the Middle East serving in Oman from 1968 to 1970 as a "contact" officer on loan with others from the British Army to aid the Sultan in his skirmishes with the Marxist-indoctrinated guerrillas (the PFLOAG) in Dhofar, treacherous territory on the border of the People's Democratic Republic of South Yemen. He was decorated for bravery by the Sultanate.

Rory Stewart, OBE (born 1973)
After a brief period as an officer in the British Army, Stewart joined the Foreign Office. He served as Coalition Deputy Governor of Maysan and Senior Advisor in Dhi Qar, two provinces in southern Iraq during 2003-2004. Stewart is also Chief Executive of The Turquoise Mountain Foundation. Turquoise Mountain is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation whose mission it is to regenerate Afghanistan's traditional crafts and historic areas, creating jobs, skills, and a renewed sense of national identity

His first book, The Places in Between (2004), was a critically lauded account of his experiences in Afghanistan, and a New York Times bestseller. His second book, The Prince of the Marshes: And Other Occupational Hazards of a Year in Iraq (2006) outlines his experiences in Iraq. It was particularly well-reviewed in the UK and was short-listed for a number of major awards.

Henry Hemming
Hemming is a writer and an artist. He has written Edge of Arabia, an illustrated book on contemporary art in Saudi Arabia and Misadventure in the Middle East, an account of an artist's journey through the Middle East armed with little more than a pick-up truck called Yasmine and a paintbrush. His journey takes him from the ski-slopes of Iran to some of the region's secret beaches, via palaces, army barracks, police cells, nightclubs, torture chambers, brothels and artists' studios to a 4th July part in one of Saddam's former palaces.