White Mughals : love and betrayal in the eighteenth-century India

From Publishers Weekly Dalrymple, author of the bestselling In Xanadu, now anchors himself in India around the turn of the 19th century to focus on James Kirkpatrick, an officer for the East India Company and the British Resident, representing the British government, in the Indian city-state of Hyderabad. Kirkpatrick, who converted to Islam and, after a celebrated and notorious romance, married Khair un-Nissa, the teenage great-niece of the region's prime minister, exemplifies the "White Mughals," British colonialists who "went native." One of the book's strengths is its stunningly detailed depiction of day-to-day life-gardens, food, sexual mores, modes of travel and architecture-and portraits of British governors-general, Indian politicians, their wives and families, and adventurers. It is also an astute study of the political complications Kirkpatrick faced because of his conversion and cross-cultural marriage, and the difficulties his divided loyalties caused him in his role as agent of the increasingly imperialistic British. But most suspenseful is the fate of Kirkpatrick's willful and charismatic wife, just 19 when he died in 1805, and the fate of their children. The twists and turns in the life of their daughter-sent to England when she was five, never to return to India or see her mother again-are fascinating. Dalrymple makes note of the present schism, which some believe unbridgeable, between Western and Eastern civilizations and Kirkpatrick's tale as a counterexample that the two can meet. Illus., maps. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From The New Yorker At the end of the eighteenth century, James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the promising young British Resident at the Shia court of Hyderabad, fell in love with Khair un-Nissa, an adolescent noblewoman and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The story of their romance and semi-secret marriage endured in local legend and family lore but was otherwise forgotten. After five years' work with a trove of documents in several languages, Dalrymple has emerged not only with a gripping tale of politics and power but also with evidence of the surprising extent of cultural exchange in pre-Victorian India, before the arrogance of empire set in. His book, ambitious in scope and rich in detail, demonstrates that a century before Kipling's "never the twain"—and two centuries before neocons and radical Islamists trumpeted the clash of civilizations—the story of the Westerner in Muslim India was one not of conquest but of appreciation, adaptation, and seduction. Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker White Mughals is the romantic and ultimately tragic tale of a passionate love affair that crossed and transcended all the cultural, religious and political boundaries of its time. James Achilles Kirkpatrick was the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad when in 1798 he glimpsed Kahir un-Nissa'Most excellent among Women'the great-niece of the Nizam's Prime Minister and a descendant of the Prophet. Kirkpatrick had gone out to India as an ambitious soldier in the army of the East India Company, eager to make his name in the conquest and subjection of the subcontinent. Instead, he fell in love with Khair and overcame many obstacles to marry hernot least of which was the fact that she was locked away in purdah and engaged to a local nobleman. Eventually, while remaining Resident, Kirkpatrick converted to Islam, and according to Indian sources even became a double-agent working for the Hyderabadis against the East India Company. It is a remarkable story, involving secret assignations, court intrigue, harem politics, religious and family disputes. But such things were not unknown; from the early sixteenth century, when the Inquisition banned the Portuguese in Goa from wearing the dhoti, to the eve of the Indian mutiny, the 'white Mughals' who wore local dress and adopted Indian ways were a source of embarrassments to successive colonial administrations. William Dalrymple unearths such colourful figures as 'Hindoo Stuart', who travelled with his own team of Brahmins to maintain his temple of idols, and who spent many years trying to persuade the memsahibs of Calcutta to adopt the sari; and Sir David Ochterlony, Kirkpatrick's counterpart in Delhi, who took all thirteen of his wives out for evening promenades, each on the back of their own elephant. In White Mughals , William Dalrymple discovers a world almost entirely unexplored by history, and places at its centre a compelling tale of love, seduction and betrayal. It possesses all the sweep and resonance of a great nineteenth-century novel, set against a background of shifting alliances and the manoeuvring of the great powers, the mercantile ambitions of the British and the imperial dreams of Napoleon. White Mughals , the product of five years' writing and research, triumphantly confirms Dalrymple's reputation as one of the finest writers at work today. "James Achilles Kirkpatrick was the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad when in 1798 he glimpsed Khair un-Nissa - "Most Excellent among Women" - the great-niece of the Nizam's prime minister and a direct descendant of the Prophet. Kirkpatrick had gone to India as an ambitious soldier in the army of the East India Company, eager to make his name in the conquest and subjection of the subcontinent. Instead, he fell in love with Khair and overcame many obstacles - not the least of which was the fact that she was locked away in purdah and engaged to a local nobleman - to marry her. Eventually, while remaining Resident, Kirkpatrick converted to Islam and, according to Indian sources, even became a double agent working for the Hyderabadis against the East India Company." "It is a remarkable story, involving secret assignations, court intrigue, harem politics, religious disputes, and espionage. But such things were not unknown: From the sixteenth century, when the Inquisition banned the Portuguese in Goa from wearing the dhoti, to the eve of the Indian Mutiny, the "white Mughals" who wore local dress and adopted Indian ways were a source of difficulty and embarrassment to successive colonial administrations. William Dalrymple has unearthed such colorful figures as "Hindoo Stuart," who traveled with his own team of Brahmins to maintain his templeful of idols and who spent many years trying to persuade the memsahibs of Calcutta to adopt the sari; and Sir David Ochterlony, Kirkpatrick's counterpart in Delhi, who took all thirteen of his Indian wives out for evening promenades, each on the back of her own elephant."--BOOK JACKET

Conjuring all the sweep of a great nineteenth-century novel, acclaimed author William Dalrymple unearths the fascinating story of the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, James Kirkpatrick, who in 1798 fell in love with the great-niece of the Hyderabadi prime minister. To marry her, Kirkpatrick converted to Islam and even became a double agent working against the East India Company. Shedding light on the many eccentric Westerners during this period who turned Turk, adopting Indian customs, dress, and religions, Darymple brings to life a compelling and largely unwritten story of Britain's rule over India.

Author Biography: William Dalrymple is the author of several highly acclaimed books, including City of Djinns.

The Los Angeles Times

William Dalrymple's new book, White Mughals, is devoted to a particularly colorful example of just how intimate the encounter between British and Indian could get, and how barbed the consequences could be: the story of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and a young and beautiful woman of Persian descent, Khair un-Nissa, who, amidst intrigue and conspiracy, became his bride. — Sunil Khilnani

"In 1798 James Achilles Kirkpatrick, British resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, fell in love with the great-niece of the Nizam's prime minister and a direct descendant of Muhammed. To marry her Kirkpatrick converted to Islam and even, according to Indian sources, became a double agent working for the Hyderabadis against the East India Company. This remarkable story, unearthed by William Dalrymple during five years of research, casts light on the many British colonizers in India who "went native," taking on the dress, customs, and religions of the sub-continent. These "white Mughals" were a source of difficulty and embarrassment to colonial administrations from the sixteenth century until the 1850s, when a new breed of Crown subjects took the reins. With a colorful supporting cast of other "white Mughals" from the era -- including "Hindoo Stuart," who traveled with his own team of Brahmins, and Alexander Gardner, whose tartan turban sported egret plumes -- this exotic love story conjures all the sweep and resonance of a great nineteenth-century novel. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET The true story of a tragic and passionate love affair--and a testament to the Indian conquest of the British imagination. Conjuring all the sweep of a great nineteenthcentury novel, acclaimed author William Dalrymple unearths the fascinating story of the British Resident at the court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, James Kirkpatrick, who in 1798 fell in love with the great-niece of the Hyderabadi prime minister. To marry her, Kirkpatrick converted to Islam and even became a double agent working against the East India Company. Shedding light on the many eccentric Westerners during this period who "turned Turk," adopting Indian customs, dress, and religions, Darymple brings to life a compelling and largely unwritten story of Britain's rule over India Traces the practice by British colonizers in India to assume local customs and religious practices, offering a particular focus on James Kirkpatrick, who converted to Islam and spied on the East India Company while having an affair with the great-niece of the region's prime minister. Reprint. 15,000 first printing Colonel James Kirkpatrick ('The Handsome Colonel' 1729-1818): The raffish father of William, George and James Achilles.