A remarkable tale of harem politics, secret assignations, court intrigue, religious disputes and espionage, William Dalrymple’s,”The White Mughal” possesses all the sweep of a great 19th century novel. Read the full review by Medha Kulkarni.
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Author: Medha Kulkarni
A remarkable tale of harem politics, secret assignations, court intrigue, religious disputes and espionage, William Dalrymple’s, “The White Mughal” possess all the sweep of a great 19th century novel.
Specifically, White Mughals came about when Dalrymple wrote City of Djinns. He discovered a man called William Fraser, who was a ‘white mughal’,he had an Indian wife, wore Indian clothes, and had sort of rejected his own culture and accepted north Indian culture.Subsequent research revealed , a great many of these characters.
However, KirkPatrick whom the book is about ,proved to be the most interesting of the lot and hence gradually took over a book that started out as a general history of all these different Mughals. So in the end, you have a fabulously well documented love affair, onto which several other characters have been appended who come in and out of that one story.
It’s a novelistic style narrative unlike Dalrymple’s previous work which was always written in the first person, hence this book is very different in that sense , writing about this love affair, but it is entirely non-fiction. Dalrymple presents the story of Kirkpatrick and Khair-Un-Nissa extremely well; it is a page-turner.Dalrymple’s scholarship shines in these pages and It also reflects a maturing of sorts for the travel writer and historian.
The ultimate beneficiary of this excellent work will be the Deccan, whose history has been not been documented accurately . Dalrymple has created a history lesson that is immensely readable and also increasingly relevant. White mughals is scholarly and marvelously entertaining, which, in itself is a considerable feat.It is a sympathetic and engaging portrait of a love that has endured great obstacles and not just survived but also flourished.
A must read for all those looking for drama. excitement and brilliant writing…white mughals is an excellent blend of fine writing,thourough research and a romantic legend by the brilliant William Dalrymple.
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