William Dalrymple

William Dalrymple is an award-winning British historian and travel writer. A prolific author, Dalrymple is best known for his works on South Asia and the colonial era under the British Raj, often focusing on the individuals and events that shaped this period of history. His distinctive style has been praised by scholars and readers alike.

Born into a Scottish family, Dalrymple graduated from Trinity College Cambridge with a B.A. in history in 1984. Five years later, he achieved an M.A. from the same institution. Following his studies, he moved to the south of India, near Cochin port, and it was there that he began his first book, In Xanadu. Published in 1989, it detailed his travels to Turkey, Central Asia and the Far East, introducing readers to the many cultures and places he encountered during his travels.

Upon release, In Xanadu garnered critical acclaim. This propelled Dalrymple to pursue his writing and research in South Asia, which had begun to fascinate him during his own travels. In 1992, he published his breakthrough work White Mughals, which would win the prestigious Wolfson and Duff Cooper History Prize.

In 1997, Dalrymple relocated to India and began delving into his research on the history of the British Raj. His resulting works, City of Djinns, The Last Mughal and The White Mughals and the Making of Empire, written between 1994 and 2008, firmly established Dalrymple as an expert on South Asian history in the colonial era. Aside from detailing the history of the region, these books also offer a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people, and the impact of British colonialism on Indian society.

In 2013, Dalrymple published the non-fiction book Nine Lives, which focuses on the lives and stories of nine ordinary Indians. This was followed by the critically-acclaimed book The Anarchy in 2019. The subject of this work is the East India Company, which has long been a source of fascination for Dalrymple. He also wrote The Age of Kali: Indian Travels and Encounters (2000), which is a compilation of his thoughts and travels throughout South Asia.

Dalrymple's influence extends to other mediums. In 2011, he co-produced a full-length documentary, Stones of the Raj, which weaved together interviews and film footage he had collected over the years. He has served as the curator of two major exhibitions; Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi (2013-2014) at the British Library and Empire (2018) at Tate Britain.

Throughout his career, Dalrymple's writing has been praised for its vivid descriptions of South Asian culture and history. He has won numerous awards, including the Raffles Prize, the Thackeray Prize, the Scottish Amendment Award, and the Harper-Collins/India History Prize. Today, he continues to explore the history of the Asia-Pacific region, and his works have firmly established him as one of the foremost contemporary authors focusing on this topic.