{"product_id":"white-mughals-love-and-betrayal-in-eighteenth-century-india-by-william-dalrymple","title":"White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India by William Dalrymple","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 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. n nEditorial Reviews n nWilliam Dalrymple's new book, White Mughals, is devoted to a particularly colorful example of just how intimate the encounter between British and Indian could get, and how barbed the consequences could be: the story of James Achilles Kirkpatrick and a young and beautiful woman of Persian descent, Khair un-Nissa, who, amidst intrigue and conspiracy, became his bride. - Sunil Khilnani n- The Los Angeles Times n nAt the end of the eighteenth century, James Achilles Kirkpatrick, the promising young British Resident at the Shia court of Hyderabad, fell in love with Khair un-Nissa, an adolescent noblewoman and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. The story of their romance and semi-secret marriage endured in local legend and family lore but was otherwise forgotten. After five years' work with a trove of documents in several languages, Dalrymple has emerged not only with a gripping tale of politics and power but also with evidence of the surprising extent of cultural exchange in pre-Victorian India, before the arrogance of empire set in. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Book Express","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43856871194698,"sku":"6895ad","price":9.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0618\/9101\/8826\/files\/6895ad.jpg?v=1785119235","url":"https:\/\/www.bookexpress.nz\/products\/white-mughals-love-and-betrayal-in-eighteenth-century-india-by-william-dalrymple","provider":"Book Express","version":"1.0","type":"link"}