White Mughals: Love And Betrayal In Eighteenth-Century India (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a scholarly work of Indian history, extensively researched and written with a passion and a nostalgia for a not so distant past when there was wholesale interracial sexual exploration and substantial cultural assimilation between Indians and the British in India. Author Dalrymple says that till the early years of the 19th century, there was an Indian conquest of the European imagination when one in three British residents in India acquired Indian women as wives or mistresses and maintained substantial harems. They adopted Indian dresses as conventional wear, smoked the hookah and children born to them often spoke Hindustani or Persian or even Tamil as their first language. Even though some British Generals did the puja and participated in the Kumbh Mela, it was essentially a fusion of Britain and Indian Islamic culture. So, how did we get from the days of these 'White Mughals' to the violent Mutiny in 1857 and the bitter struggle for Independence over the next 100 years? This book provides the historical background for the final days of this cultural mix through the love story of General James Kirkpatrick, a British Resident in Hyderabad, and Khair-un-Nissa, a Sayyid Shia of Indo-Persian aristocratic upbringing and said to be a descendant of the Holy Prophet himself.Towards the end of the 18th century, the Mughal empire in India was plagued by endless skirmishes, wars and invasions and gradually broke up into smaller kingdoms ruled by regional leaders. As the diminished Mughal emperors in Delhi became just figureheads, there arose three indigenous power centers in India, namely the Maratha confederate of the Peshwas in Western India piloted by the brilliant minister Nana Fadnavis, Tipu Sultan of Mysore and the Nizam of Hyderabad in the south. At this juncture, the East India Company sent Richard Wellesley as Governor-General to Calcutta even as the French were also casting their eye on the 'jewel of India'. Lord Wellesley, while not an Indophile like Warren Hastings who preceded him as the first G-G of India, believed that India was no longer a place to embrace and be transformed by; instead it was a place to conquer and transform. He embraced the European view at the end of the 18th century that the 'undaunted spirit and irresistible ardour' of the West will bring blessings to India, which was sapped of its strength by its 'effeminate rulers and luxurious tyrants'.In such a volatile context, we come across the love story that is set in the state of Hyderabad. James Kirkpatrick, a 'White Mughal' and the British Resident of Hyderabad, falls in love with Khair-un-Nissa, who at age 14, was engaged to be married to a Hyderabadi Muslim. Khair also was quite smitten by James and with the help of her mother and grandmother, they get married against all odds in a society where it was unthinkable for such a cross cultural marriage among the high society. They have two children over the next few years but the tumultuous situation in India at that time is not conducive to an Indophile like James. He manages to get into the good books of the imperial Wellesley by helping in the defeat of Tipu Sultan of Mysore but eventually comes under great pressure to abandon Khair, which he steadfastly refuses to do. Sadly, not only does James send both his Anglo-Indian children away to England but dies soon after at age 41, when Khair was still only 19. In widowhood, as if the tragedy of her children and husband being snatched away from her is not enough, Khair is further disgraced, then banished and finally rejected. When she dies at age 27, this fiery, passionate, beautiful woman dies as much from a broken heart, from neglect and sorrow as from any apparent physical cause.Apart from the love story, there are other interesting details in the book about life in India those days. Apparently, young British women used to sail to India on the look-out for an eligible husband among the British officers living there. Unfortunately for them, most Englishmen in India preferred Indian women to Europeans. Part of the problem was said to be the 'unattractive' busks and corsets worn by English women which failed in competing with the Indian bibis wearing the sari, which was described by General 'Hindoo' Stuart as the sexiest garb imaginable. It is also equally likely that the Englishmen preferred Indians for the opportunity of having multiple women as companions instead of being married to one Englishwoman. This resulted in many women returning to England without a husband and were cruelly termed 'returned empties'.The book also chronicles the sad situation of Anglo-Indian children born out of this union. They suffered racism both in India and England - oddly more from the British in India. The White Mughal parents generally sent these children away - from their moorings in India and from their own parents - to England to be educated, often to be converted from Islam to Christianity and renamed with Christian names. The other surprising detail in the book is about how Britons died in droves in India while still rather young, possibly due to ill health, disease etc brought on partially by not adapting to the necessary changes required to live in a tropical country.This is a poignant and compassionate book about life in India when it was at a crossroads where the British decided to transform themselves from traders to imperial rulers. It is an authoritative and seminal contribution to Indian history. School Text books in India simply repeat the colonial view of 'the Twain shall never meet' when it comes to the Indo-British colonial engagement. It is time to rewrite our textbooks and say that it wasn't necessarily always so. The author ends the book by denouncing the post 9/11 penchant for the 'clash of civilizations' with the following words:"As the story of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and Khair un-Nissa shows, East and West are not irreconcilable, and never have been. Only bigotry, prejudice, racism and fear drive them apart. But they have met and mingled in the past and they will do so again."
In the eighteenth century, when the East India company was not yet the force it would one day be, there existed a few Englishmen (and other Europeans) who took up the ways of the fading Mughal culture. These were the White Mughals and among them was James Achilles Kirkpatrick, who arrived in India a soldier and soon rose to be the Resident of Hyderabad, mostly thanks to the influence of his older brother William. Friend of the Nizam, and an ardent lover of the Indian culture he came in contact with, he was willing to sacrifice everything to marry Khair un Nissa, a Hyderabadi noblewoman, who was already engaged to be married. Although the core of the book is their love story, and its aftermath, Dalrymple does take a while to get to it. He first gives us the prevalent scenario and glimpses of the other White Mughals like Hindoo Stuart, David Ochterlony etc to set the context. Even after James is fully in the picture, he focuses on the Nizam's court, its players and its intrigues in which James is heavily involved, Hyderabad's strained relationship with the Marathas and the charged political atmosphere which the Company was trying to profit from. But this also gives us an elaborate view of Hyderabad, its people, its art and culture and finally James' relationship with Khair. In this broad canvas, we can also see the various Governor Generals and their varied stance on relationships with India and Indians. The images allow us to visualise the life and the times.(view spoiler)[ After the death of James, the book follows the life of Khair as the story moves from Hyderabad to Calcutta to Masulipatnam (and tangentially Chennai) giving us tiny glimpses of the social milieu there, even as Khair pines for her children who have been taken away from her. Dalrymple provides a touching description of the very young children shedding their Muslim identity and donning a Christian one as they board the ship to England. In fact, the painting of the children with Sahib Begum's (soon to be Kitty Kirkpatrick) teary face is extremely poignant. Khair's only consolation is the presence of her mother, the correspondence with her grandmother and her (ultimately) tragic relationship with another Englishman. Except for the well being of Kitty Kirkpatrick, James' and Khair's daughter, the lives involved all have tragic endings, many of which cause lump-in-the-throat moments. Khair's mother dies in penury and her son dies an invalid at a young age. Though Kitty corresponds with her grandmother, they never get to meet each other. As the author says, the death of Kitty in 1889 was the end of an era, of a world where cultures and people mixed freely without the biases and clashes that came later. A wonderful read for those interested in history. (hide spoiler)]
What do You think about White Mughals: Love And Betrayal In Eighteenth-Century India (2004)?
This book is a historical, romance, thriller, cultural pluralism, politics and many more things all rolled into one. In describing the blossoming love between James Kirkpatric, an Englishman, with Khair U Nissa, a Hyderabadi noblewoman (a teenage girl actually), the author has brilliantly produced a work of scholarly persuasion that enlightens us to the late 18th century and early 19th century cultural pluralism of India under the Mughals and the increasingly imperial British.As an Indian, we have only learnt about the latter half of British imperialism in India, by which time the colonialist had a single point agenda- to transform and rule. This book, however, narrates an almost romanticised period of 1790s to 1820s, during which many Englishmen were at much ease to get transformed by the local culture and milieu, and believed in governance rather than rule. James was one such officer, who, despite being at a relatively higher posting as a representative 'Resident' of the British at Hyderabad, had acquired and imbibed much of what the local environment had to offer, right from clothes, to living, to food. For his love, he eventually converted to Islam, and because of his marriage, was almost derided to the point of loosing his job, career and reputation. It was a perfect example of East meeting West, something that in today's intolerant times of fundamentalist beliefs becomes pertinent to ponder over and learn from.Read it if you are an Indian, for it will show you an India that we never knew of, and will be amazed not just by story of love but also by the sheer narration of the socio-political situation of India, and the fact that the British rule did not cover entire India at any given point in time. Read it if you are English, for it will show you a side of the English who saw only symbiosis between East and West, between Christianity and Islam. Read it if you are from anywhere else, for it will introduce you to an era long bygone, from which one be inspired to become tolerant of the dissimilarities around us.True, like any historical research work, we may only get a picture that the author wanted us to see. But then, that is true for most historical records and "history" in general. Highly recommended!
—Anand
I really enjoyed this book, particularly as a scholar of South Asian history and politics. The book is a handful of examples where there was perfect synergy of British and Indian culture, and it's very idealist understanding of Colonial India and the role the British chose to play in it. It makes for charming storytelling, but not exactly accurate history, which segues into my criticism of the book. It does not address the overwhelming evidence of British racial segregation policies that began to take shape in these years. These policies not only created problems for those who did decide to incorporate into Indian culture, but also prevented many people from even attempting to interact across cultures. But keeping that in mind, we should still study the fringes of Colonial Indian society, which Dalrymple is most certainly illuminating, to understand the full picture of this complicated history. Of course, Dalrymple is an excellent historian and writer, which makes this book read like a novel (always making history easier to learn!)
—Zahreen
At first glance one might dismiss this book as a pulp-fiction "bodice-ripper" EXCEPT that it is a) beautifully written & b) a true story. This book really hit home as aspects of it are echoed in my family history. A major misconception held by many post-modern americans is that the Anglo-Indian relationship can be summarized (and ignored) as Ben Kingsley in "Ghandi". Dalrymple gives a much more nuanced and complex view of the early days of "The Company" and the final years of the Mughal Empire.
—John
