M.A.R. Barker is a retired professor of Urdu and South Asian Studies. In his youth, he created the world of Tekumel, a fantasy world based on Ancient India, the Middle East, the Aztecs and Mayans, and other non-European sources. Tekumel has spawned three professionally-published roleplaying games over the course of the years ("Empire of the Petal Throne", "Swords & Glory" and "Gardasiyal: Adventures in Tekumel"), as well as fan-produced rules ("Tirikelu" and others). A brand-new roleplaying game set in Tekumel is due to be published in November of 2003 by Guardians of Order, currently titled "Tekumel: Empire of the Petal Throne". Currently resides in Minneapolis, MN, USA..

M.A.R Barker has also written 5 novels set in the world of Tekumel Man of Gold and Flamesong were published in the 1980's by Daw Books and will be re-released in 2004 Within the last year two more books have been published By Zottola Publishing, Inc. www.zotpub.com Prince of Skulls and Lords of Tsamra a 5th novel Death of Kings is due out in September of 2003 all 3 of these books are in a 6x9 format with a true binding and include maps and some illistrations.