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The book contains relevant photos and there are full indexes and other references for the scholar. A most interesting and informative read! (reviewed by Beverly Hallam, a FIBIS trustee)
* Dalrymple, William
''White mughals : love and betrayal in eighteenth-century India''.
London: HarperCollins, 2002
This award-winning book unfolds the romantic story of Major James Achilles Kirkpatrick (1764-1805), the British Resident at the Court of the Nizam of Hyderabad, and the high-born Khair un-Nissa. Their marriage by Muslim rite in 1800 caused a scandal and secret investigations by the British, but, as the author clearly documents, James was not unusual in his appreciation of local culture and arts, nor in his adoption of local customs and an Indian wife. What was changing were British attitudes to assimilation, and long before the death of the children of James and Khair, the term 'gone native' had become one of contempt. The book provides a wealth of detail concerning the political maneuvering of the British EIC, their relationship with the French and key figures in the princely state, as well as the architecture of the city of Hyderabad.This [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/dec/09/britishidentity.india article] by William Dalrymple gives some background.
This is a highly unusual perspective on the people and events of India in 1947-48 provided by the diary of the last Viceroy of India's teenage daughter. Now as an elderly woman, Pamela Mountbatten has added explanatory text and a mass of family photographs to present a highly personal picture in which momentous events and great leaders, many of whom became friends of the family, are interspersed with some of the minutiae of life in the Viceroy's vast house and her work at a free clinic and the Allied Forces Canteen. The anecdotes about her pet mongoose with its insatiable appetite for fried eggs are a particular delight. There is the occasional repetition of detail between the commentary and journal entries but this is a minor irritation. As a non-politician's insider's account of the transfer of power this easy to read memoir is recommended. Includes an index and a list of key figures.
==Family histories==
