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Love and Betrayal in India: The White Mughal

Historian William Dalrymple travels to Hyderabad in India to explore the remarkable 18th-century love affair between a British diplomat and the Muslim princess he married.

Historian and author William Dalrymple travels to the Deccan Plains of India to trace the romantic love affair between a British diplomat and a young Muslim princess. James Achilles Kirkpatrick was the British East India Company resident at the court of Hyderabad when he risked everything, converting to Islam and, sources suggest, even becoming a double agent, to marry Khair un Nissa 'Most Excellent among Women.'

Pursuing this compelling story of seduction and betrayal through the archives across both continents, Dalrymple unearths a world almost entirely unexplored by history. Kirkpatrick's behaviour might appear to breach the conventional boundaries of empire, but it was not unique. At the turn of the 18th century, one in three British men in India, known as white mughals, lived with Indian women, wore local dress and adopted Indian ways, much to the embarrassment of successive colonial administrations. To protect them from growing disapproval their mixed race children were sent back to England for their education and were ultimately absorbed into Victorian society.

Dalrymple tells the story of the Kirkpatricks and their children through the art and architecture of the time - from the classic Georgian portraiture of George Chinnery and Thomas Hickey to the fantastical Deccani miniatures of Venkatchellam and Tajully Ali Shah. And in this melding of influences, he asks why Christian and Islamic cultures cannot be at one again when once they made great marriages and produced such outstanding art.

1 hour

Last on

Fri 13 Mar 2020 01:30
主播大秀 Four

Clips

See all clips from Love and Betrayal in India: The White Mughal (3)

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:24

    Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

    Mustt Mustt

  • 00:27

    Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

    Tracery

Credits

Presenter William Dalrymple
Production Company Edenwood Productions Ltd
Producer Lydia Conway
Director Spike Geilinger
Participant Maya Jasanoff
Participant Navina Haider
Participant Durba Ghosh
Participant Jagdish Mittal
Participant David Vaughan

Broadcasts

Who was the White Mughal?

Historian William Dalrymple explores the characters involved in this epic love story.