White Mughals is a poetic saga that made me revisit my concept of the British Raj, it personalizes history and sketches a profound panorama of the lives of initial European settlers-white men who ‘went native’ adopted Indian dress , customs , religion and its way of life married Indian women and lived lives of prosperous Mughals. These European adventurers who like all migrants before them were seduced and became part of the great Hindustani cultural melting pot before they were overcome by racial self righteousness had them perceiving themselves as our overlords. Dalrymple, in painstaking detail describes the 19th century Hyderabad with all its eccentricities, nuanced follies and achievements .
With skills of a seasoned detective Dalrymple traces the life and times of two star crossed lovers Khair –un-Nissa, a lady of aristocratic descent related to the lady related to the Prime Minister in the Nizam’s Court and James Kirkpatrick the representative of the East India company there. The White Mughal speaks of their grand passion which defied the religious and racial barriers and the prejudice of their time to marry and live together in harmony as man and wife. While in background the political upheavals which will transform India forever ensued. Many such couplings between white men and Indian women, both legitimate and otherwise are described. Having an Indian Bibi was almost de-rigueur for any company official of note. The natural children from such unions were either ripped from their mothers and sent to England to be raised as English Sahibs or brought up in their mother’s religion, the choice was a game of chance-a lot depended on their skin colour sex.. Dalrymple is without doubt an engaging and brilliant story teller who brings out the texture and the flavor of the period. However, he sometimes loses objectivity in his narrative and is swept away with his unconditional love for the Islamic history of India. In the end It poses a haunting question that why unlike all previous invaders of India, the British could never amalgamate with the Indian society(not for a long time, anyway),why a race of people who were fascinated and awestruck by the Indian civilization turned condescending racial bigots within a frame of half a century. However, as brilliant as it is, it just falls short of answering it.
With skills of a seasoned detective Dalrymple traces the life and times of two star crossed lovers Khair –un-Nissa, a lady of aristocratic descent related to the lady related to the Prime Minister in the Nizam’s Court and James Kirkpatrick the representative of the East India company there. The White Mughal speaks of their grand passion which defied the religious and racial barriers and the prejudice of their time to marry and live together in harmony as man and wife. While in background the political upheavals which will transform India forever ensued. Many such couplings between white men and Indian women, both legitimate and otherwise are described. Having an Indian Bibi was almost de-rigueur for any company official of note. The natural children from such unions were either ripped from their mothers and sent to England to be raised as English Sahibs or brought up in their mother’s religion, the choice was a game of chance-a lot depended on their skin colour sex.. Dalrymple is without doubt an engaging and brilliant story teller who brings out the texture and the flavor of the period. However, he sometimes loses objectivity in his narrative and is swept away with his unconditional love for the Islamic history of India. In the end It poses a haunting question that why unlike all previous invaders of India, the British could never amalgamate with the Indian society(not for a long time, anyway),why a race of people who were fascinated and awestruck by the Indian civilization turned condescending racial bigots within a frame of half a century. However, as brilliant as it is, it just falls short of answering it.
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