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The Last Mughal

by William Dalrymple

3.97 · rating details · 659 ratings · 89 reviews

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On a hazy November afternoon in Rangoon, 1862, a shrouded corpse was escorted by a small group of British soldiers to an anonymous grave in a prison enclosure. As the British Commissioner in charge insisted, “No vestige will remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Moghuls rests.”

Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal Emperor, was a mystic, an accomplished poet and a skilled calligrapher. But while his Mughal ancestors had controlled most of India, the aged Zafar was king in name only. Deprived of real political power by the East India Company, he nevertheless succeeded in creating a court of great brilliance, and presided over one of the great cultural renaissances of Indian history.

Then, in 1857, Zafar gave his blessing to a rebellion among the Company’s own Indian troops, thereby transforming an army mutiny into the largest uprising any empire had to face in the entire course of the nineteenth century. The Siege of Delhi was the Raj’s Stalingrad: one of the most horrific events in the history of Empire, in which thousands on both sides died. And when the British took the city—securing their hold on the subcontinent for the next ninety years—tens of thousands more Indians were executed, including all but two of Zafar’s sixteen sons. By the end of the four-month siege, Delhi was reduced to a battered, empty ruin, and Zafar was sentenced to exile in Burma. There he died, the last Mughal ruler in a line that stretched back to the sixteenth century.

Award-winning historian and travel writer William Dalrymple shapes his powerful retelling of this fateful course of events from groundbreaking material: previously unexamined Urdu and Persian manuscripts that include Indian eyewitness accounts and records of the Delhi courts, police and administration during the siege. The Last Mughal is a revelatory work—the first to present the Indian perspective on the fall of Delhi—and has as its heart both the dazzling capital personified by Zafar and the stories of the individuals tragically caught up in one of the bloodiest upheavals in history.

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Published (first published 2006)

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Dec 15, 2009

Monica rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: recommendations-from-ned, politics, history

Fast paced, flashing like an epic movie, round about page 100 I was convinced of Dalrymple's brilliant talent, incorporating Urdu texts and British writings from the era to show how a tolerant creative, if excessive Mughal court was torn asunder by violence and racism; how something so small and inconsiderate as to how bullets were manufactured could erupt into such violence, followed by even greater revenge. I wanted insight into complicated Muslim, Sufi, Hindu, Christian relations and got exa...more

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Aug 09, 2007

D. rated it

· review of another edition

I'm giving this book four stars because although it's very interesting material, I didn't get "hooked" very easily and it took me longer to read than a book this size usually takes me.

The book is about Delhi during the Indian Mutiny of 1857, and about the fall of the Mughals. I came out of reading this book disgusted and angry with both sides, and very sad for all the horrible things that happened in Delhi at that time. To think that Chandni Chowk, my favorite spot in D...more

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Jul 29, 2007

Sandhya rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Anyone with a penchant for history and great writing

Author: William Dalrymple
Publishers: Penguin Viking
Published In: 2006
Price: Rs 695
Pages: 586
Genre: Historical
BY Sandhya Iyer

Last glow of light

Being fairly intrigued by Mughal history, Dalrymple has always been one author whose books I’ve wanted to read. I missed out on his White Mughals but got an opportunity to read The Last Mughal and must say, it turned out to be every bit the rich, luxuriant and fascinating experience I imag...more

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Feb 26, 2009

Prashant R rated it

· review of another edition

The further backward you look....the further forward you can see." This is what Sir Winston Churchill said when talking about the relevance of history to one's current circumstance.

I cannot help but recall these words, after reading William Dalrymple's brilliant
"The Last Mughal".

William Dalrymple's latest book uses Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor of the Mughal dynasty, to recreate the vibrant city of Delhi, in the 1850's. A culturally diverse, al...moreThe further backward you look....the further forward you can see." This is what Sir Winston Churchill said when talking about the relevance of history to one's current circumstance.

I cannot help but recall these words, after reading William Dalrymple's brilliant
"The Last Mughal".

William Dalrymple's latest book uses Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last emperor of the Mughal dynasty, to recreate the vibrant city of Delhi, in the 1850's. A culturally diverse, almost cosmopolitan city, of which Bahadur Shah Zafar, was the mere figurehead. A city which epitomized,the India of the Mughals, where the Hindus and Muslims co-existed peacefully. In fact a rich culture and social fabric existed due to this pluralistic co-existence.

The mutiny of 1857 proved to be the fall of the Mughal Dynasty, and the end of this vibrant way of life.

Dalrymple, researched this book for over 4 years and accessed sources, which were until now, never used to narrate the history of those seminal times. "The Mutiny Papers", which were found on the shelves of National Archives of India, detailed through "great unwieldy mountains of chits, pleas, orders, petitions, complaints, receipts, rolls of attendance and lists of casualties...notes from spies of dubious reliability and letters from eloping lovers...", a very uniquely Indian point of view and perspective. An important voice, which until now has been missing in the retelling of the "Sepoys Mutiny".

For me as an Indian, it is very important to understand this point of view. To know about my true cultural heritage, about strands of my identity which were sundered by the British, along their (in)famous "Divide and Rule" policy.
Consider this, most of the history books, have been written by the British in some form...so the opinions I have formed, and the perspectives I have, have been developed by the "British" outlook and essentially the Victorian take on history.
I think, India as a society is richer due to the Mughals and despite the popular opinion and recorded history (who wrote it, you guessed it right...the British !!), they went out of their way to ensure a secular society and a safe environment, for Hindu religion, culture and arts to flourish. In fact as mentioned in the book, the only thing Zafar was decisive about in those trying times was his "refusal to alienate his Hindu subjects by subscribing to the demands of the jihadis."

Did you know for instance that most of the Indian intellectuals of the late 19th century and the early 20th century, were schooled in madrassas, including people like Raja Rammohan Roy...The madrassas, were considered to provide well rounded education, not just math and science, but also the humanities, eastern philosophy and the arts...it was only due to the rising influence of Christianity in India, in the late 19th century and the drive for conversions, which lead the madrassas to reinforce the study of Islam in their curriculum, and for them to increasingly move along the path of fundamentalism.

It is due to all this and also because of an extremely evocative account of 1857 skirmishes, that this book is a must read.

You owe it yourself, as a citizen of the world, living in a these troubled times terrorized by religious fundamentalism.

As Sir Churchill, prophesied, it will only help us look "further forward." (less)

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Jan 11, 2009

Jan rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: anyone interested in world history

This book is a marvelous account of the end of Hindustan's nominal autonomy in 1857, sparked by a revolt of indigenous soldiers against the British.

The first half of the book is nothing short of intoxicating; Dalrymple's descriptions of old Mughal Delhi are amazing, and he does a good job of getting across the tenor of relations between the British and the Muslims, as well as between the Muslims and the Hindus, and how they changed in the first half of the nineteenth century. Certai...more

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Feb 06, 2012

Ben Dutton rated it

· review of another edition

Bahadur Shah Zafar II was the last of the Great Mughals, a monarch whose reign saw the city of Delhi transformed from backwater into a place of cultural brilliance and learning, only to be devastated in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. In his history of this man, this city and the Uprising, William Dalrymple has produced a work of astounding power, informed by his erudite reading of events, backed up by exhaustive primary materials, many of which have never been employed before to tell this story.
...moreBahadur Shah Zafar II was the last of the Great Mughals, a monarch whose reign saw the city of Delhi transformed from backwater into a place of cultural brilliance and learning, only to be devastated in the Indian Mutiny of 1857. In his history of this man, this city and the Uprising, William Dalrymple has produced a work of astounding power, informed by his erudite reading of events, backed up by exhaustive primary materials, many of which have never been employed before to tell this story.

I first became aware of Dalrymple through his 1994 book City of Djinns (which is sitting in my book cupboard waiting to be read again), and over the decade and a bit between that book and this, he has taken much time to learn and study the city of Delhi: and has produced numerous books that explore the connections between East and West, Christian and Islamic and Hindu. His latest work, for instance, is Nine Lives: in Search of the Sacred in Modern India, in which he explores how modern faith is transforming this rapidly changing nation. It is easy to see it is a natural continuation of work begin in City of Djinns and advanced here.

The Indian Mutiny of 1857 is a rather infamous and bloody moment in British Colonial rule in India. Until I read this book, I had no idea the extent or sheer bloodiness of the conflict, and I admire the manner and sober attitude Dalrymple takes in telling it. His writing is so evocative and humane, it is easy to picture the horror – and though that is a good thing, it doesn’t always feel so. Details in this book turned my stomach. It is no surprise it won him the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize.

What becomes initially surprising about his book, is that he informs us he is using Indian documents regarding the Mutiny, documents that include personal testimonies and diaries of both Muslims and Hindus, and that barely any of these documents have ever been used to recount the story. It is use of these materials, along with the already familiar British documents, that give his tale equality, and provides deeper understanding. It highlights the mistakes made by all sides, and the sheer brutal ignorance of native cultures shown by the British (no surprise there, though).

This conflict had been brewing in India for some time, but all sides managed to find equilibrium again before it rose to violence on a grand scale. However, it was the introduction of the Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle that was to prove the final insult, and kick-start the rebellion. To load one of these rifles, the Sepoys (Hindu and Muslim soldiers in the British army) had to bite the cartridge open – the cartridge was coated in both pork fat and tallow. For those who do not understand the problem here: pork is regarded as unclean by Muslims, and tallow, which is beef fat, comes from the cow, sacred to Hindus. To fight in the English regiments, both the Muslims and Hindus were forced to break their sacred vows. Disgust at this was expressed to British rulers, but their complaints were roundly ignored. Very soon afterward, the city of Delhi was at war.

The bulk of Dalrymple’s excellent book is given over to an extremely detailed breakdown of events in Delhi, from British, Muslim and Hindu perspectives. It reveals the inability to act by Zafar II, the stupidity of the British forces who allowed themselves to be caught off guard more than once, and the hunger and illness that ravaged the city as clean water and food became scarce. When the British retake Delhi, the savagery they show is so total, and so harrowingly described, it is almost like one is there, with these men. Dalrymple’s writing roves the devastated city streets, into the nearby caves and settlements, into the royal court and the British camp, and excavates the truth of the Mutiny. He shows how it all could have been avoided. He reveals the end of an era and shows the beginning of another – and how events of this conflict lead directly into the modern conflict between East and West. For the Uprising became the first jihad – lessons that should have been learnt after Delhi have been ignored, as they are ignored now… and it is this that makes Dalrymple’s book more than history, it is a warning, a lesson, a plea for the peoples of the world to not commit to another holy war.

The Last Mughal then is a great book. It is unique, powerful, and one that should be read by all and especially by those in power. William Dalrymple should be applauded.(less)

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Aug 18, 2010

Nathan rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history, nashville-library

The raw material here is grand: the epically momentous dissolution of a glorious dynasty under massive and sometimes odious forces. It is a classic story, tailor-made for the popular historian. The problem is, Dalrymple is not the right sort of historian; he is too calculated, too bloodless, too starchy to imbue his narrative with the life it deserves. He leans heavily on contemporary accounts, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage: it saves us from completely losing the story to his co...more

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Jun 22, 2010

Grace rated it

· review of another edition

This book was a bit of a desperation purchase at Singapore airport when I realised I was about to finish my book just before a 4hr flight, during which I was going to have to sit in the middle of a row. What a prospect! Anyway, it is well written and very engaging - you can tell he's a writer rather than an academic historian (and also that he's fairly posh, as previously noted by Terry). Using a wide range of quotes and longer extracts from Indian and British contemporary sources, Dalrymple foc...more

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Apr 19, 2008

Srin rated it

· review of another edition

Okay, I was sceptical that another anglo is once again writing the "other's" history and was waiting for this eurocentric patriarchal slant, but wow, the research he conducted (which only scratched the surface) put forth an eye opening view of the complex situation in 1850s...for you history buffs, I say this is a "blhaddy good" read.

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Nov 14, 2011

Rk barman rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: william-dalrympple

A nicely narrated historical account of the late mughal dynasty.A vivid story. for me the best part has been the historical part of that particular time.A very well reaserched book, much better than any native author's account.This is a powerful retelling of the fateful course of events.He ellaborates with facts on history of the Mughal empire in its dying days as well as on history of dalhi. It also presents on Hindu-Muslim collaboration and Indo-British relations during the phase,rise and fal...more

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Nov 22, 2011

Susan rated it

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I finished this book exhilarated by the sweeping aside of historical biases, ecstatic at the glimpses of a wondrous vibrant past Delhi and exhausted by the agony of war and prejudice exhibited by almost all sides in 1857, except, perhaps of Bahadur Shah Zafar.

The writers diligence to primary sources has created a panoramic view of the events of 1857, so that it can no longer be thought of a Mutiny, or the First War of Independence..rather the birth throes of modern India, and perhaps ...more

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Jul 16, 2011

Liam rated it

· review of another edition

"When someone once praised the poetry of the pious Sheikh Sahbai in his presence, Ghalib shot back, 'How can Shabai be a poet? He has never tasted wine, nor has he ever gambled; he has not been beaten with slippers by lovers, nor has he seen the inside of a jail.'" (41)

"Take a new woman each returning spring / For last year's almanac is a useless thing" (quoting Ghalib, 41)

"'The Emperor was powerless to repulse them [the sepoys]; their forces gathere...more

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Dec 23, 2011

Usman W. Chohan rated it

· review of another edition

Perhaps what is more beautiful than the elegance of one's victory is the elegance of one's defeat. Following this premise, Dalrymple portrays the decline of the Mughal Empire in astounding detail. Zafar's personality is exposed using much evidence in archives still in existence, helping to show readers what tremendous sorrow must overcome the man who was, at least nominally, in charge of the wealthiest region of the world, only to see it slip away. This book is a must-read for all Pakistanis, fo...more

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Mar 03, 2009

itpdx rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Fascinating! This book tells the story of the Great Uprising of 1857 in the area around Delhi. The author uncovered a treasure trove of previously unpublished and/or untranslated records and accounts of this time period. And he can write! Whether he is describing a typical day in Dehli before the uprising; the British inhabitants deaths and escapes; the suffering of the inhabitants of Dehli during the seige; or the tenous position of the Dehli Field Force outside the walls, he makes it come ...more

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Nov 06, 2009

Nicholas rated it

· review of another edition

Dalrymple wrote this book from an Indian perspective which is absolutely remarkable given the fact that some of his previous books had a stereotypical westerner's view of India. He is brutally honest about the British injustices committed in India. He also brings out clearly a side of Indian history that had been deliberately whitewashed by the Brits during their rule in India. Its true that history is written by the conquerors and so, many Indians even today only know a side of history that had...more

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Jul 17, 2010

Jenny rated it

· review of another edition

This isn’t comfortable reading, mainly because it’s mostly about a war, a violent and excruciating war. It’s set in India, at the end of the Mughal Empire. It’s 1857, and the British have been slowly taking more and more power into their own hands, even though they are set up as merely a commercial interest and not an occupying power. The revolt begins with the Indian soldiers who were working for the British East India Company, encompasses the emperor and his court, sucks up a lot of eager ...more

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Feb 19, 2009

niloy rated it

· review of another edition

Amazing read: a delicate balance between history, accuracy, and an interesting/enthralling read. I enjoyed it. May be its also special to read the being while in Delhi -- since we have explored parts of the places described in the book. Or rather the parts which remain. The book seems to be very well researched. The writing style is fresh and interesting. Lots of lessons to be taken from the book -- some good, some obvious, some unpleasant but true. In hindsight it is almost depressing to observ...more

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Jul 18, 2011

Ruka rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: people who like to read history in the buff

Shelves: history-current-events-polysci

A localized and surgical history of the Indian Rebellion of 1857, limited to the events in Delhi and the final implosion of the reigning Mughal Empire. Dalrymple is something of an authority on Indian history, having written countless other books on the subject and spent decades living in the country itself; this knowledge and experience is what lends this book the flavor and authenticity that one would usually only get from fragmented first-hand accounts.

While the events of the Mutin...more

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Aug 05, 2008

Jesse rated it

· review of another edition

Maybe my favorite book I read this summer. Dalrymple started out as a travel writer (In Xanadu, which intrepidly follows the Silk Road) when he was only 22. Since then, he's turned into a resident of India and a historian who seems bound and determined to undo the bad effects of the Raj. This and its prequel, White Mughals, which I'm now reading, sketch a world of connections and links and love between the two sides--Englishmen who convert to Islam to marry high-caste women, some who learn Urdu ...more

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Dec 31, 2008

D.W. rated it

· review of another edition

Since the events of 1857—the fall of the Mughal Empire and the beginning of the Raj—the history of that time has, as the saying goes, not only been written by the victors, but told only from their perspective. With this book, Dalrymple adds to a growing library of works by British authors intent on restoring the voices of those they once defeated, despoiled or otherwise silenced. He begins The Last Mughal by describing how, in researching the book, he discovered vast, unused collections of Urdu ...moreSince the events of 1857—the fall of the Mughal Empire and the beginning of the Raj—the history of that time has, as the saying goes, not only been written by the victors, but told only from their perspective. With this book, Dalrymple adds to a growing library of works by British authors intent on restoring the voices of those they once defeated, despoiled or otherwise silenced. He begins The Last Mughal by describing how, in researching the book, he discovered vast, unused collections of Urdu and Persian primary sources in archives across South East Asia. His excitement over the finding is palpable, and seems to have changed his purpose for the book. "Mountains of chits, pleas, orders, petitions, complaints, receipts, rolls of attendance and lists of casualties, predictions of victory and promises of loyalty, notes from spies... letters from eloping lovers... even more exciting was the street-level nature of much of the material." His sources, rather than being the subtext to the story, instead become its focal point, with his own writing feeling, at times, overshadowed. He happens to be an amazing writer, with first-rate material, so for the most part this backward approach doesn't harm his story. At their best, the sources he quotes are like bits of rough poetry, bringing color to events and shape to his characters, who I found myself loving or hating as real, complex people who had once actually lived. He displays an artist's skill for reconstructing the past, extracting narrative, the tone and feeling of by-gone events, and conjuring the dead back to life, all from a jumble of historical ephemera. Where his sources drag the story down is in its pacing. It took the British four months to recapture Delhi, after the sepoy uprising, and Dalrymple subjects the reader to every grueling moment—twice (once for those under siege in Delhi, and again from the British perspective). I believe as a writer he knew better, but was seduced by all those primary sources, all those opportunities to be the first among historians. In spite of its flaws this book brings to life, with immense talent, a time and place as rich as any in history, and for the first time tells the story from both sides, that of the victorious and the defeated.(less)

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Jan 10, 2009

Jesse rated it

· review of another edition

Few writers have influenced me more than William Dalrymple. He single-handedly turned me on to Asian history, which massively affected my reading choices as well as my view of the world. He also made me love India - and want to understand it. His affect on me is all the more interesting because I frequently don't agree with him.

Last Mughal is not, however, his best work - not that it's less than brilliant, and not that I didn't savor it. But it's not as intimate as, say, White Mugha...more

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Dec 15, 2007

Adam rated it

· review of another edition

Book Description
On a hazy November afternoon in Rangoon, 1862, a shrouded corpse was escorted by a small group of British soldiers to an anonymous grave in a prison enclosure. As the British Commissioner in charge insisted, -No vestige will remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Moghuls rests.-

Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal Emperor, was a mystic, an accomplished poet and a skilled calligrapher. But while his Mughal ancestors had controlled most of India, the...moreBook Description
On a hazy November afternoon in Rangoon, 1862, a shrouded corpse was escorted by a small group of British soldiers to an anonymous grave in a prison enclosure. As the British Commissioner in charge insisted, -No vestige will remain to distinguish where the last of the Great Moghuls rests.-

Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the last Mughal Emperor, was a mystic, an accomplished poet and a skilled calligrapher. But while his Mughal ancestors had controlled most of India, the aged Zafar was king in name only. Deprived of real political power by the East India Company, he nevertheless succeeded in creating a court of great brilliance, and presided over one of the great cultural renaissances of Indian history.

Then, in 1857, Zafar gave his blessing to a rebellion among the Company-s own Indian troops, thereby transforming an army mutiny into the largest uprising any empire had to face in the entire course of the nineteenth century. The Siege of Delhi was the Raj-s Stalingrad: one of the most horrific events in the history of Empire, in which thousands on both sides died. And when the British took the city-securing their hold on the subcontinent for the next ninety years-tens of thousands more Indians were executed, including all but two of Zafar-s sixteen sons. By the end of the four-month siege, Delhi was reduced to a battered, empty ruin, and Zafar was sentenced to exile in Burma. There he died, the last Mughal ruler in a line that stretched back to the sixteenth century.

Award-winning historian and travel writer William Dalrymple shapes his powerful retelling of this fateful course of events from groundbreaking material: previously unexamined Urdu and Persian manuscripts that include Indian eyewitness accounts and records of the Delhi courts, police and administration during the siege. The Last Mughal is a revelatory work-the first to present the Indian perspective on the fall of Delhi-and has as its heart both the dazzling capital personified by Zafar and the stories of the individuals tragically caught up in one of the bloodiest upheavals in history. (less)

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Jun 26, 2007

Raghu rated it

· review of another edition

This book is a timely one on this 150th anniversary of the Great Indian mutiny of 1857. This is also the first ever book that looks at the mutiny from the Indian point of view, though it is written by an Englishman. William Dalrymple has spent much of the past twenty years in India and so is eminently qualified to write this book. Using the extensive and valuable material in the National Archives in Delhi, he pieces together the kind of life that ordinary people lived in Delhi in 1857 and how th...moreThis book is a timely one on this 150th anniversary of the Great Indian mutiny of 1857. This is also the first ever book that looks at the mutiny from the Indian point of view, though it is written by an Englishman. William Dalrymple has spent much of the past twenty years in India and so is eminently qualified to write this book. Using the extensive and valuable material in the National Archives in Delhi, he pieces together the kind of life that ordinary people lived in Delhi in 1857 and how they viewed the uprising of 1857. The picture that emerges is quite different to what one has read in the high school curriculums in India or in the 'accounts' of many Britishers or even that written by Karl Marx right then in 1857, calling it the first Indian war of independence.
Some of the salient points from the research are:
The uprising was triggered off by the insensitivity of the British rulers towards the religious sentiments of both Hindus and Muslims. Initially, it was a composite assault by both Hindus and muslims on the British rule but gradually, the jihadi elements among the muslims took control and when they entered Delhi, they totally massacred the Christians(read British) there brutally, regardless of women and children. When the British eventually gained ascendency, they retaliated with equal and even more brutality with no regard to any of the human rights they professed. They developed most distrust and hatred for the Indian muslim and slaughtered them with no mercy and sowed the seeds of the eventual 'divide and rule' policy in India. The Sikhs and Gurkhas and later the Marwaris aided the British in defeating the mutiny. This is something not highlighted in our history books for obvious reasons.
Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar was 82 years old when the mutiny started. He was a product of the composite syncretic culture of India and believed strongly in protecting the Hindus against extremist elements among the jihadis. He did not want the mutiny but was too weak and 'poor' to resist it. He was caught in the storm in his final years and sadly he had to preside over the demise of the great Mughal dynasty.
His treason trial by the British was totally illegal because the East India company was at the the emperor's behest and not the other way around. There are so many parallels to what is happening today in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
The story Bahadur Shah Zafar is so sad to red. It is also sad that in Indian history books today, the composite heritage of the Indo-islamic culture is not emphasised. Instead, we repeat the oft-repeated British negative view of the Indian muslim.
The book is brilliant and scholarly. All Indians are indebted to Dalrymple for his seminal work.
A must read for all Indians.(less)

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Aug 23, 2010

Feroz Hameed rated it

· review of another edition

The Last Mughal.......will take you in depth and breadth inside the walls of Delhi City in 1857. A great reading for understanding how the last Mughal was caught-up in this Revolt of 1857 that lead to the END of Mughal dynasty in India.
Will bring tears to the eyes of all Indians who knows about Mughals, who never forgot the importance of preserving that special bond between their Hindus & Muslim subjects....that was ofcourse rooted out by the British later-on.

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Jul 10, 2010

David (Dafydd) rated it

· review of another edition

An engrossing account of the circumstances, actuality and consequences of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. Dalrymple provides a vivid picture of life at the Mughal Court and among the British Raj in the 1850s and a balanced account of the religious and political prejudices and sheer brutality on both sides. The vicious suppression of by the Mutiny by the East India Company and the bigotry of the fanatical Evangelical Christians who dominated the Company at that time served only to demonstrate the ve...more

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Sep 02, 2010

Ian rated it

· review of another edition

Oh man this book is big. And fantastic. It tells the story of the end of the Mughal Empire of India through the first-hand accounts of people in Delhi at the time, woven together into an amazing rich story.

I picked it up in Ghana and tore through most of it. I ended up taking forever to finish the book because the end gets really depressing. The brutality of the British as they suppressed the 1857 rebellion was horrible, and the fate of Shah Zafar was grim. I put the book down and only...more

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Jan 12, 2009

Peter rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: history, religion

A majesterial account of what the West calls the Indian Mutiny and what India refers to as the first war of National Independence. A detailed and engrossing account of one of the first modern confrontations between the world of Islam and Western Imperialism. Dalrymple may be the perfect writer to transcend the cultural, linguistic and historical fault lines that are integral to the subject matter and our ability to understand.

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Jan 31, 2008

Sharon Howe rated it

· review of another edition

I read this immediately after returning from India. I was disappointed that it focused so much on minute battle details and historical blurbs, and not so much on the lives of generations of mughals leading up to the last mughal.

It is historically ACCURATE. Colonization is disturbing, and it is a depressing expression of mankind. (Writing good history would make me chronically depressed.)

Well, if you want to know how Britain won over Delhi and disposed the last of the mugh...more

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Mar 07, 2010

Prasan Kaikini rated it

· review of another edition

One of the best books I've read. Extremely well researched, extremely well written. It brings the Delhi of the early 1800s alive. I had never read about the brutality of the British described so vividly anywhere before. It captures the life of the last Mughal court, that had already been stripped of all its power and prestige, as well as that of the common people. It is hard to believe that it is NOT a novel.

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Sep 05, 2011

Jim rated it

· review of another edition

I like Dalrymple's books because they're historical, eccentric, personal, and thought provoking. I've read a number of his on India as well as non-Indian history, and am never disappointed. Visiting the sites the events in this book, it was helpful to have read his books concerning the wars. I was so eager to see Delhi, Agra and much of Northern India because of The Last Mughal.

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About William Dalrymple

William Dalrymple was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth. He wrote the highly acclaimed bestseller In Xanadu when he was twenty-two. The book won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award; it was also shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. In 1989 Dalrymple moved to Delhi where he lived for six year...moreWilliam Dalrymple was born in Scotland and brought up on the shores of the Firth of Forth. He wrote the highly acclaimed bestseller In Xanadu when he was twenty-two. The book won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award; it was also shortlisted for the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. In 1989 Dalrymple moved to Delhi where he lived for six years researching his second book, City of Djinns, which won the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday Times Young British Writer of the Year Award. From the Holy Mountain, his acclaimed study of the demise of Christianity in its Middle Eastern homeland, was awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award for 1997; it was also shortlisted for the 1998 Thomas Cook Award, the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. A collection of his writings about India, The Age of Kali, won the French Prix D’Astrolabe in 2005.

White Mughals was published in 2003, the book won the Wolfson Prize for History 2003, the Scottish Book of the Year Prize, and was shortlisted for the PEN History Award, the Kiryama Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

William Dalrymple is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal Asiatic Society, and is the founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival.

In 2002 he was awarded the Mungo Park Medal by the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his ‘outstanding contribution to travel literature’. He wrote and presented the television series Stones of the Raj and Indian Journeys, which won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Series at BAFTA in 2002. His Radio 4 series on the history of British spirituality and mysticism, The Long Search, won the 2002 Sandford St Martin Prize for Religious Broadcasting and was described by the judges as ‘thrilling in its brilliance... near perfect radio’. In December 2005 his article on the madrasas of Pakistan was awarded the prize for Best Print Article of the Year at the 2005 FPA Media Awards. June 2006 he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa from the University of St Andrews “for his services to literature and international relations, to broadcasting and understanding”. In 2007, The Last Moghal won the prestigous Duff Cooper Prize for History and Biography. In November 2007, William received an Honourary Doctorate of Letters, Honoris Causa, from the University of Lucknow University “for his outstanding contribution in literature and history”, and in March 2008 won the James Todd Memorial Prize from the Maharana of Udaipur.

William is married to the artist Olivia Fraser, and they have three children. They now live on a farm outside Delhi.
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Books by William Dalrymple

White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India

The Age of Kali: Indian Travels & Encounters

From the Holy Mountain: A Journey among the Christians of the Middle East

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