White Mughals By Dalrymple William
About this book
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 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 her not 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