White Mughals Page 2
Fyze Baksh, Begum Palmer (aka Sahib Begum, c.1760-1820): Daughter of‘a Persian Colonel of Cavalry’ in the service of the Nawabs of Oudh. Her sister Nur Begum was married to General Benoît de Boigne. Fyze married General Palmer and had four sons and two daughters by him, including William Palmer the banker, whom she lived with in Hyderabad after the General’s death. Best friend of Khair un-Nissa: when the latter died, she locked herself up for a month, saying ‘she had lost the only real friend she ever had’.
John Palmer (1767-1836): ‘The Prince of Merchants’. General Palmer’s son by his first wife Sarah Hazell.
Captain William Palmer (1780-1867): Son of General Palmer by Fyze Palmer. Initially James Kirkpatrick found him a job in the Nizam’s service, where he wrote a letter to Wellesley criticising the Governor General’s treatment of James under the nom de plume Philothetes. William subsequently became a powerful banker in Hyderabad, before suffering a catastrophic bankruptcy.
The Russells
Sir Henry Russell (1751-1836): Chief Justice of Bengal and father of Henry and Charles.
Henry Russell (1783-1852): Kirkpatrick’s Private Secretary and assistant. Later a lover of the Begum.
Charles Russell: Commander of the Resident’s bodyguard and obedient younger brother to Henry.
The Residency Staff
Captain William Hemming: Commander of the Resident’s bodyguard. Named by Henry Russell as the principal enemy of James in the Residency.
Samuel Russell: ‘The Engineer’. Son of Academician John Russell, and no relation to Henry and Charles. Briefly the Nizam’s engineer, he helped James finish the Residency.
Thomas Sydenham: Secretary to the Resident. James came to distrust him, and called him ‘Pontifex Maximus’. On James’s death he became Resident, attempting to weed out James’s ‘Mughalisation’ of the Residency, and sacking many of James’s key staff.
Munshi Aziz Ullah, Munshi Aman Ullah: Two highly educated brothers from Delhi who became James’s trusted munshis.
Dr George Ure: Surgeon to the Residency.
Mrs Ure: Wife of Dr Ure and a fluent Urdu speaker, she was a vast woman with an apparently unquenchable appetite. She accompanied James’s children to England in 1805.
The Subsidiary Force
Lieutenant Colonel James Dalrymple (1757-1800): Commander of the Subsidiary Force.
Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Dalrymple: Cousin of James Dalrymple and friend of Henry Russell. Was on board ship with James Kirkpatrick on his final journey. His wife Margaret was generally regarded as ‘odious’.
Dr Alexander Kennedy: The Subsidiary Force doctor.
Other Miscellaneous British
Edward, Lord Clive (1754-1839): Son of Robert Clive (‘Clive of India’), he was the notably unintelligent Governor of Madras.
Mountstuart Elphinstone (1779-1859): Traveller and East India Company civil servant who rose to be Governor of Bombay; visited Hyderabad with Edward Strachey in August/September 1801 en route to a position in Pune.
Edward Strachey (1774-1832): Traveller and civil servant; visited Hyderabad with Mountstuart Elphinstone in August/September 1801 en route to a position in Pune. In 1808 he married Julia, the youngest and prettiest daughter of William Kirkpatrick.
2 . THE FRENCH
Michel Joachim Marie Raymond (1755-98): Mercenary commander of the French Battalion in Hyderabad.
Jean-Pierre Piron: Raymond’s successor.
3 . THE HYDERABADIS
The Nizam’s Family
Nawab Mir Nizam Ali Khan, Asaf Jah II (1761-1803): Nizam of Hyderabad, father of Sikander Jah. The fourth son of the first Nizam, Nizam ul-Mulk, he succeeded his father having dethroned and imprisoned his brother Salabat Jung.
Bakshi Begum: First wife of Nizam Ali Khan and adoptive mother of Sikander Jah. Very powerful: ‘in charge of the Privy Purse and control of all Mahal disbursements’. In 1800 was considered ‘elderly’.
Tînat un-Nissa Begum: Wife of Nizam Ali Khan and mother of Sikander Jah. Also old and powerful: according to James Kirkpatrick she had custody over the family jewels.
Ali Jah (d.1798): Son of Nizam Ali Khan who rebelled in 1798. Ali Jah surrendered near Bidar to Mir Alam and General Raymond, and shortly afterwards ‘committed suicide’ in somewhat suspicious circumstances.
Dara Jah: Son-in-law of Nizam Ali Khan who revolted against him in 1796. Dara Jah was recaptured by James Dalrymple at Raichur and returned to Hyderabad, where he subsequently disappears from the record.
Nawab Mir Akbar Ali Khan, Sikander Jah, Asaf Jah III (1771-1829): Nizam of Hyderabad; only surviving son of Nizam Ali Khan.
Jahan Pawar Begum: Also known as Hajji Begum. Daughter of Ma’ali Mian and Farzand Begum, granddaughter of Aristu Jah from whom she inherited Purani Haveli, and wife of Nizam Sikander Jah. Mistreated by Sikander Jah, she warned James of Sikander Jah’s plan to assassinate him.
Mama Barun, Mama Champa: Aseels at the court and the principal attendants at the durbar of Nizam Ali Khan. Also commanded the female regiment—the Zuffur Plutun—at the Battle of Khardla.
Aristu Jah’s Household
Ghulam Sayyed Khan, Aristu Jah, Azim ul Omrah (d.9 May 1804): The Nizam’s Minister, dubbed ‘Solomon’ by the Kirkpatrick brothers. Started his career as qiladar (fortress-keeper) in Aurangabad, and after the assassination of Minister Rukn-ud-Dowlah became First Assistant Minister, then Minister. Following the defeat at Khardla, he was sent in March 1795 as a hostage to Pune. After his return in 1797 he resumed office, a position he held until his death in 1804. His granddaughter Jahan Pawar Begum married Nizam Sikander Jah.
Sarwar Afza, Nawab Begum: Aristu Jah’s chief wife. Mir Alam plundered her of all her property after the death of her husband.
Ma’ali Mian: Son of Aristu Jah; died young in 1795 on the Khardla campaign.
Farzand Begum: Sister of Munir ul-Mulk and the Minister’s daughter-in-law, married to Ma’ali Mian, and close friend of Sharaf un-Nissa. According to some sources she put pressure on Sharaf un-Nissa to marry Khair to James Kirkpatrick.
The Shushtaris
Sayyid Reza Shushtari (d.1780): Shi’a divine who travelled from Shushtar first to Mughal Delhi then to Hyderabad, where he was given land by Nizam ul-Mulk. Sayyid Reza ‘refused all public office, even the post of Chief Judge’, retiring to a life of prayer. His reputation for integrity was the foundation upon which his son, Mir Alam, and so the rest of the Shushtari clan, rose to power in Hyderabad.
Mir Abul Qasim, Mir Alam Bahadur (d.8 December 1808): Aristu Jah’s vakil and representative of the Nizam in Calcutta; led the Nizam’s army on the Seringapatam campaign (1799); exiled in 1800; restored to favour and made Prime Minister in July 1804 to succeed Aristu Jah; first cousin of Bâqar Ali Khan. Until his death from leprosy in 1808 he was in receipt of a pension from the British government of two thousand rupees a month.
Mir Dauran (d.1801): Son of Mir Alam. Died of leprosy in 1801.
Mir Abdul Lateef Shushtari: Cousin and colleague of Mir Alam. His representative at the court after Mir Alam’s disgrace. Author of the Tuhfat al-’Alam.
Bâqar Ali Khan, Akil ud-Daula: A native of Shushtar in Iran. First cousin of Mir Alam: he was the son of the sister of Mir Alam’s father. Accompanied Mir Alam on his embassy to Calcutta. Later became the bakshi or Paymaster of the Subsidiary Force, in which capacity he accompanied the Subsidiary Force to Seringapatam; father of Sharaf un-Nissa and grandfather of Khair un-Nissa. Following Khair’s marriage to James, Aristu Jah ‘exalted the head’ of Bâqar Ali Khan, ‘awarding him a title and an estate consisting of some villages’. Said to be defective in sight and hard of hearing.
Durdanah Begum: Wife of Bâqar Ali Khan, mother of Sharaf un-Nissa, grandmother of Khair un-Nissa. From the family of Mir Jafar Ali Khan.
Sharaf un-Nissa Begum (c.1765-21 July 1847): Daughter of Bâqar Ali Khan; mother of Khair un-Nissa, and much younger second wife of Mehdi Yar Khan, who died in the late 1780s or 1790s, leaving her a widow with two unmarried teenage dau
ghters, after which she returned to her family deorhi. Following Khair’s marriage to James, she was given an estate by the government ‘and maintained it herself’. In her old age her estates were confiscated and she died in poverty.
Mehdi Yar Khan: Son of Mirza Qasim Khan; father of Khair un-Nissa; husband of Sharaf un-Nissa. Died sometime in the late 1780s or 1790s leaving his much younger widow with two unmarried teenage daughters.
Khair un-Nissa Begum: The daughter of Sharaf un-Nissa and granddaughter of Bâqar Ali Khan; wife of James Achilles Kirkpatrick. She was originally engaged to Mohammed Ali Khan, son of Bahram ul-Mulk.
Nazir un-Nissa Begum: Sister of Khair un-Nissa.
Dustee Ali Khan: Half-brother of Khair un-Nissa and son of Mehdi Yar Khan by an earlier wife.
Other Hyderabadi Omrahs
Rajah Ragotim Rai: Brahmin nobleman in the circle of Aristu Jah. James disliked him: ‘This enormous vulture must be got rid of somehow’. Sacked and plundered by Mir Alam after the death of Aristu Jah.
Rajah Chandu Lal: Protégé first of James then of Mir Alam, whom he succeeded in power. Long-time diwan of Nizam Sikander Jah, he was responsible for confiscating the estates of Sharaf un-Nissa. Great patron of poetry.
Mah Laqa Bai Chanda: Poet, historian and courtesan, initially attached to the durbar of Aristu Jah. Became the lover of both Mir Alam and Mustaqim ud-Daula.
4. LONDON, 1820
Charles Buller MP, Barbara Isabella Buller: William Kirkpatrick’s daughter and son-in-law. James died in their house in Calcutta; later it was at their house that Kitty met the young Thomas Carlyle.
Julia Kirkpatrick: Daughter of William Kirkpatrick, wife of Edward Strachey, friend and cousin of Kitty Kirkpatrick.
Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881): Savant; tutor to the sons of Charles Buller, in whose Calcutta house James died.
DYNASTIC LISTS
The Nizams of Hyderabad
Nizam ul-Mulk 1724-48
Civil war 1748-62
Nizam Ali Khan 1762-1803
Nizam Sikander Jah 1803-29
Nizam Nasir ud-Daula 1829-57
Ministers
Aristu Jah 1778-1804
Mir Alam 1804-08
Munir ul-Mulk 1809-32
Rajah Chandu Lal 1832-43
British Residents
John Kennaway 1788-94
William Kirkpatrick 1794-98
James Achilles Kirkpatrick 1798-1805
Henry Russell (Acting) October-December 1805
Thomas Sydenham 1805-1810
Charles Russell (Acting) June 1810-March 1811
Henry Russell December 1811-1820
Sir Charles Metcalfe 1820-1825
Governors General
Warren Hastings 1774-85
Marquis Cornwallis 1786-93
Sir John Shore (Acting) 1793-98
Lord Wellesley 1798-1805
Marquis Cornwallis (again) 1805
George Barlow (Acting) 1805-07
Lord Minto 1807-13
Acknowledgements
I began work on this book in the spring of 1997. Over the five years—and many thousands of miles of travel—since then, innumerable people have been incredibly generous with their hospitality, time, expertise, advice, wisdom, pictures, editing skills, bottles of whisky, family papers, camp beds and cups of tea. They range from the nameless Sufi in a tomb in Bijapur who was kind enough to wave a peacock fan over me while I sat writing notes in the shade of his shrine, through to the best Biryani cook in Hyderabad (he’s called Salim and you can find him in the dhaba facing the Chowk Masjid), to the old shepherd in Bidar who led me up a cliff face to show me the best view of the necropolis of Ashtur. Then of course there are the historians who explained the intricacies of Company, Maratha or Nizami politics, and the large number of very patient librarians in India and Britain who put up with my incessant manuscript queries. Perhaps most important of all, I should mention the descendants of James Achilles and Khair un-Nissa Kirkpatrick who, while choosing to remain anonymous, let me have unconditional access to their unique archive.
I would also like to thank the following by name:
In the UK: Bob Alderman, Charles Allen, Chris Bayly, Mark Bence-Jones, Richard Bingle, Richard Blurton, Jonathan Bond, Anne Buddle, Brendan Carnduff, Lizzie Collingham, Patrick Conner, Jeremy Currie, Jock Dalrymple, Philip Davies, Simon Digby, Alanna Dowling, Jenny Fraser, Sven Gahlin, Nile Green, Charles Grieg, Christopher Hawes, Amin Jaffer, Rosie Llewellyn Jones, Wak Kani, Paul Levy, Jerry Losty, John Malcolm, Sejal Mandalia, Peter Marshall, Gopali Mulji, Doris Nicholson, Henry Noltie, Alex Palmer, Iris Portal, Kathy Prior, Addie Ridge, Mian Ridge, Mahpara Safdar, Narindar Saroop, Ziaduddin Shakeb, Nick Shreeve, Robert Skelton, Fania Stoney, Allegra Stratton, Susan Stronge, Fariba Thomson, David and Leslie Vaughan, Philippa Vaughan, Brigid Waddams, Lucy Warrack, Theon Wilkinson, Amina Yaqin and the late Mark Zebrowski. Particular thanks are due to Mary-Anne Denison-Pender of the wonderful Western & Oriental Travel, who covered much of the cost of my various peregrinations around the Deccan, and also to the Scottish Arts Council whose generous travel grant covered a long research trip to the Delhi National Archives.
In the US: Indrani Chatterjee, Sabrina Dhawan, Michael Fisher, Bob Frykenberg, Durba Ghosh, Navina Haidar, Ali Akbar Husain, Maya Jasanoff, Omar Khalidi, Elbrun Kimmelman, Karen Leonard, Nabil Matar, Gail Minault, Eleni Phillon, Robert Travers, Sylvia Vatuk, Stuart Cary Welch and Peter Wood.
In India: Javed Abdulla, Mohamed Bafana, Rohit Kumar Bakshi, Pablo Bartholomew, V.K. Bawa, John Fritz, S. Gautam, Zeb un-Nissa Haidar, Elahe Hiptoola, Mir Moazam Husain, S. Asmath Jehan, Bashir Yar Jung, J. Kedareswari, A.R. Khaleel, Nawab Abid Hussain Khan, Pradip Krishen, Jean-Marie Lafont, Narendra Luther, George Michell, Jagdish Mittal, Sarojini Regani, Arundhati Roy, Laeeq Salah and Prita Trehan. I would especially like to thank Bilkiz Alladin for her generosity in sharing her Khair un-Nissa research, and also Nausheen and Yunus Jaffery for their help with Persian and Urdu sources.
David Godwin and Giles Gordon both worked incredibly hard in pushing this book forward. For their energy and enthusiasm many, many thanks. My different publishers have all been full of good advice—Robert Lacey, Helen Ellis, Arabella Pike and Aisha Rahman at HarperCollins; Ray Roberts and Paul Slovak at Penguin Putnam; David Davidar at Penguin India; Paolo Zaninoni at Rizzoli. Most of all I would like to thank Michael Fishwick, who has been as frank, funny, generous and wise in his guidance with this, our fifth book together, as he was with our first, In Xanadu, which he took on some sixteen years ago now.
Olivia has, I think, found living in a ménage à trois with Khair un-Nissa a little more trying than she did previous cohabitations with Byzantine ascetics, taxi-stands full of Sikh drivers and the courtiers of Kubla Khan, but she has borne the five-year-long ordeal with characteristic gentleness and generosity. To her—and to Ibby, Sam and Adam—a million thanks and much, much love yet again.
I would like to dedicate this book to Sam and Shireen Vakil Miller for their constant affection and friendship, first in Delhi and then in London, over the course of more than a decade; and to Bruce Wannell whose incredibly wide-ranging scholarship and wonderful translations from the Persian have done more than anything else to make this book quite as unfeasibly long as it is.
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
Page’s Yard, 1 July 2002
The British Residency complex that James Achilles Kirkpatrick built in Hyderabad, now the Osmania Women’s College, is recognised as one of the most important colonial buildings in India, but its fabric is in very bad shape and it was recently placed on the World Monuments Fund’s list of One Hundred Most Endangered Buildings. A non-profit-making trust has now been set up to fund conservation efforts. Anyone who would like more information, or to make a donation, should contact Friends of Osmania Women’s College, India, Inc., a tax-exempt 501(c)3 not-for-profit organisation aimed at restoring the Osmania/British Residency buildings and site:800 Third Avenue, Suite 3100
New York, NY 10022
Facsimile: 212/223 8212
E-mail: osmaniafoundation@hotmail.com
Donations may be sent by wire to:
Bank of New York
530 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10036
ABA #: 021-000018 Account #: 630-1601059
In the name of: Friends of Osmania Women’s College, India, Inc.
Introduction
I first heard about James Achilles Kirkpatrick on a visit to Hyderabad in February 1997.
It was the middle of Muharram, the Shi’a festival commemorating the martyrdom of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet. I had just finished a book on the monasteries of the Middle East, four years’ work, and was burnt out. I came to Hyderabad to get away from my desk and my overflowing bookshelves, to relax, to go off on a whim, to travel aimlessly again.
It was spring. The stones of the mosques were warm underfoot, and I wandered through the shrines of the old city, filled now with black-robed Muharram mourners reciting sinuous Urdu laments for the tragedy of Kerbala. It was as if Hussain had been killed a week earlier, not in the late seventh century AD. This was the sort of Indian city I loved.
It was, moreover, a relatively unexplored and unwritten place, at least in English; and a secretive one too. Unlike the immediate, monumental splendour of Agra or the Rajput city states of the north, Hyderabad hid its charms from the eyes of outsiders, veiling its splendours from curious eyes behind nondescript walls and labyrinthine backstreets. Only slowly did it allow you in to an enclosed world where water still dripped from fountains, flowers bent in the breeze, and peacocks called from the overladen mango trees. There, hidden from the streets, was a world of timelessness and calm, a last bastion of gently fading Indo-Islamic civilisation where, as one art historian has put it, old ‘Hyderabadi gentlemen still wore the fez, dreamt about the rose and the nightingale, and mourned the loss of Grenada’.1