Mughal musings

"That’s the Chandbibi of Bijapur ... she was a of Joan of Arc figure. And those red flowers are pretty commonly used," says author William Dalrymple, pointing to a miniature painting displayed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastusanghralay. His enthusiasm and understanding of Indian history is apparent from his body of works on the country including acclaimed books such as The City of Djinns, In Xanadu and The Age of Kali.
Dalrymple’s high level of energy is obvious when one glances at his hectic schedule across the country — Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai — to promote his new book the White Mughals which is currently enjoying the top position in the UK.
White Mughals is part love story and part tragedy revolving around Colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the British resident at the court of Hyderabad between 1797 and 1805 and a Hyderabadi noblewoman Khair un-Nissa. Kirkpatrick not only married her according to Muslim law and adopted Mughal clothes and ways of living but converted to Islam and became a double agent working against the East India Company.
He adds, "When I started researching for the White Mughals, I thought it would be a series of portraits of these individuals but I came across Kirkpatrick and Khair un-Nissa’s story. I realised then I had struck gold. I changed all my plans, remorgaged my house — I played a gamble and it paid off!"
On whether he wanted to demolish the myth of the White man in the Raj — gora saheb with his solar topee and utter disdain for the desi — Dalrymple says, "White Mughals is not a book about the Raj. It is about how the Mughal culture was so attractive that it swallowed the British up." Apart from the image of the gora saheb, the book also gives a different image of Muslim women, who in the book control the main action.
When one does ask whether the book could be turned into a film, William adds with a glint in his eyes, "Actually 3 studios have approached me. But I strongly feel that this film is Shekhar Kapur’s and we’ve already had three meetings and negotiations are on."