Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal"

[moonshado]

I was fortunate a while back to pick up a copy of William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal" on kindle for the princely sum of 99p. I've just finished reading it and can not recommend it highly enough to anyone interested in the Indian Mutiny. I nearly quit at the start, as in the preface Dalrymple comes across as a rather arrogant piece of work, acting as though he is the only historian to have ever carried out original research. He then proceeded to worsen my opinion of him by appearing initially to be totally pro Indian and utterly anti British. fortunately I persevered and it paid dividends big time. He uses a lot of previous unused material not only from the Indian point of view but also the British. Although he does not concentrate on the fine details of the military side, he still produces enough new information to fill in some obvious gaps(he identifies brigades of mutineers and shows how the brigades remains together and acted as independent cohesive units during the seige). Where he excels is at the portrayal of life inside Delhi during the siege for the inhabitants of Delhi, who in most cases suffered the extortion and looting of first the mutineers and then the avenging British forces. He also followed the aftermath of the capture of Delhi and the British occupation and the trial of the last Mughal PaShah.
It did leave me wiser and more than a bit uncomfortable about how our troops and senior officers had handed out retribution on a vast scale to in many instances totally innocent individuals.
Based on the quality of this book I will certainly be keeping an eye out for his other in particular-"White Mughals", which is about the British officers and officials  who become "indianised" in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

[cdr]

I also quite enjoyed his book on the First Afghan war 'Return of the King'

Carl

[sepoy1857]

I was fortunate a while back to pick up a copy of William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal" on kindle for the princely sum of 99p. I've just finished reading it and can not recommend it highly enough to anyone interested in the Indian Mutiny. I nearly quit at the start, as in the preface Dalrymple comes across as a rather arrogant piece of work, acting as though he is the only historian to have ever carried out original research. He then proceeded to worsen my opinion of him by appearing initially to be totally pro Indian and utterly anti British. fortunately I persevered and it paid dividends big time.

My thoughts exactly! I don't like him as a person, or his attitudes, but the book is well worth having in any Mutiny Library worth it's salt.

[Sakura]

"White Mughals" is a good read and gives a very interesting view of Victorian values and attempted censorship.

[Romark]

I'm a fan of the First Afghan War and am struggling through his book Return of the King,not an easy read.I've read Hibbert's Great Mutiny and found it a great read,contains lots of examples of how badly the British troops behaved towards natives,how does the Last Mughal compare ?any thing new to add to the period.

[moonshado]

I read Hibbert a long time back, so my memory of what was in there is no longer perfect, but I thought that the Last Mughal did bring a lot of new material to my notice. As i said in original post it is not a military history but even there he bought some new information to my attention- how the mutineers upon there arrival in Delhi remained within their original brigades and almost competed against each other, with at one point the different brigades attacking the ridge on different days. The main material that was new to me and of interest was the accounts of inside Delhi during the siege and how the delhiwallahs suffered under the "occupation" of the Mutineers. It also gives a clearer understanding of why the royal family did and did not support the mutineers. I would say that Last Mughal compliments Hibbert and fills in some of the missing detail.

[Romark]

Thanks Moonshado,good to know,perhaps I'll give it a go once Return of the King gets finished.Romark