May's title:White Mughals by William Dalrymple

AT FIRST SIGHT, this book seems to explore territory made familiar by such modern classics as E. M. Forster’s A Passage to India and Paul Scott’s The Raj Quartet (filmed by Granada as The Jewel in the Crown ). In practice, the story is set 200 years ago, and features historical characters.

Its “villains” will nevertheless be familiar to readers of those 20th-century novels. They are the uptight, pompous British administrators who (from the beginning of the 19th century) saw India not as an exotic, sophisticated playground, but as a heathen desert that had to be tamed, converted, and rendered thoroughly British.

In this setting, and in the tradition of E. M. Forster, the book’s hero and heroine are sensuous, spontaneous, and deeply in love. But he is a servant of the Raj, and she is a Mughal princess.

The Islamic Mughal Empire was founded by Babur, who had become ruler of Turkestan when he was 12. In 1525, he invaded India and conquered large areas of the country. When his grandson Akbar became emperor, he doubled the size of the territory, so that the Mughal Empire stretched across almost all of what is now India and Pakistan.

The Empire was attacked by the Persians in 1739, and later the British conquered the country — overcoming French rivalry on the way. Even so, it was not until 1857, for example (long after the period covered by White Mughals), that the northern city of Delhi was captured by the British.

During the transitional 18th century, the world of the Mughals was unlike our modern image of an Islamic state. It celebrated the arts and science — and opulence.

It was open-minded to the extent that many upper-class Mughal families hoped to marry at least one daughter to a British Resident; that is, to one of the young British men in the growing colonial service who acted as ambassadors to the Indian courts.

These men, like James Kirkpatrick, who is at the centre of this story, were often sons of colonial families; they had been brought up in India, and spoke the local languages. Isolated by their jobs, they made their friends among the better-off Muslim and Hindu families.

Like many of his contemporaries, James Kirkpatrick adapted to the ways of Hyderabad, the city to which he was posted: he became one of the “white Mughals”. Although he wore British clothes during the day, he changed into Muslim dress in the evenings, smoked his hookah, and “took to belching after meals”.

His acceptance by and knowledge of the Muslim world won approval from his employers, the East India Company. But when he glimpsed, fell in love with, and, early in 1801, married a young Mughal princess, Khair un-Nissa, he converted to Islam and had himself circumcised.

Much earlier, the Inquisition had concerned itself with Portuguese settlers in India who had adopted Indian ways. Those who “cooked rice without salt as Hindus do” were denounced as heretics. Even more “sinful” was a refusal to eat pork.

But, as the 18th century progressed, there developed a considerable degree of tolerance, even licence. A typical evening’s entertainment in Hyderabad might include exotic Indian dancing girls and “the reading of Dryden out loud”.

Then, around 1800, unfortunately for Kirkpatrick, attitudes began to change. The British were no longer merely east-coast traders: the East India Company was on its way to becoming a colonial power.

At the same time, the sexual licence of 18th-century London was giving way to the first stirrings of 19th- century, later to be Victorian, morality. Evangelical missionaries with little sympathy for Hinduism or Islam (they were often unable to tell them apart) began to arrive in India.

It is in this context that this extraordinary, moving, and ill-fated love story is set. But, despite the cover of the paperback edition, it is not a novel, nor is it a biography.

The reader needs to be aware that we do not really meet the Mughal princess until we have read 150 pages. This is a serious history of a little-known (but fascinating) world, and Dalrymple is a serious historian who has undertaken a mammoth amount of research.

The unkind critic will say that the book comes close to sinking under that research, all of which the author seems determined to share with us. One day, an enterprising dramatist will fillet out a populist screen epic from its pages.

Meanwhile, it well repays careful reading. The story of James Kirkpatrick and Khair un-Nissa (a variant on the theme of Romeo and Juliet) is captivating, but it also speaks to our times, reminding us that East and West, Islam and Christianity, need not be mutually irreconcilable.

As the author says: “Only bigotry, prejudice, racism and fear drive them apart.” They intermingled happily in the time of the White Mughals, and, Dalrymple trusts, “will do so again”.

David Self’s book 21st Century Islam will be published this summer by Hodder Wayland.

White Mughals by William Dalrymple is published by Perennial/ HarperCollins at £8.99  CT Bookshop  £8.10; 0-00-655096-7).

WHITE MUGHALS — SOME QUESTIONS
Why does the author find the White Mughals so fascinating?

What are the similarities and differences between the Islam of India and that of Iran
as depicted in the book? How do they connect with our perceptions of that religion today?

What was the place of women in Indian life at the time of James Kirkpatrick?

“India was no longer a place to be transformed by; instead it was a place to conquer and transform” (page 454). How is this shift represented in the book?

How would you describe James Kirkpatrick? Do you warm to him as an individual?

What were the joys and difficulties of a mixed marriage in James Kirkpatrick’s India? Are there similar issues for mixed marriages today?

What factors persuaded parents to send their European children “home”? What challenges faced those who continued to live in India?

“I hope that if I’ve done my work properly it should be quite clear that this has a contemporary relevance,” William Dalrymple said in an interview about the book. What do you think he has in mind?

IN OUR next reading-groups page, on 3 June, we will print extra information about the next book. This is The Book of Creation by Philip Newell. It is published by Canterbury Press at £7.99 ( CT Bookshop  £7.20); 1-85311-539-8.

Author notes
The Revd J. Philip Newell is a Church of Scotland minister. He was born in Canada, but now lives in Scotland, where he is Writer Theologian of the Cathedral of the Isles on Cumbrae. He spends much of his time lecturing and leading retreats on Celtic spirituality. He has previously been employed as Warden of Iona Abbey and spirituality adviser in the Anglican diocese of Portsmouth. He has written a number of books, including Listening for the Heartbeat of God (SPCK, 1997), Celtic Benediction, and Echo of the Soul (both Canterbury Press, 2000).

Book notes
The Celtic tradition sees in creation a self-giving of God. Philip Newell takes the reader on a journey through the seven days of creation, looking at them through the lens of Celtic spirituality, with its roots in the Old Testament wisdom tradition and the mysticism of St John’s Gospel. Each chapter explores one aspect of creation and how it is a manifestation of God.

Books for the next two months:
July: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
August: The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa