HIGH on HISTORY

India’s favourite author and historian, William Dalrymple, can tell you stories you won’t find anywhere else. The award-winning author puts the spotlight on the process of writing his book, his competitors in India and the bad press, or lack of it, that he has faced thus far

- Lubna Salim

When I first connected with British historian and writer, William Dalrymple, over a call to request him for a quote at short notice many years ago, the anxiety of the stiff upper lip melted away the moment he said “Hello”. Not only did he immediately share the quote on the same call, but a few years later during the pandemic, when I messaged him to participate in a virtual book reading session, Dalrymple promptly agreed, despite being on a holiday in Italy.

The Scotland-born award-winning author, who wrote his first book, In Xanadu: A Quest, at 22 (which became a bestseller), moved to Delhi in 1989, where he spent five years researching his masterpiece, The City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi. His other bestselling works include From the Holy Mountain: A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium, The Age of Kali, White Mughals, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, and The Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan.

“For the current book that I’m now on, The Golden Road, I’m reaching towards the end of the research phase, and the writing bit is getting closer and closer, and I’m dreading putting pen to paper again, but every day that moment draws more imminent. Writing these books, the research is always the fun part to do. The least fun is the actual part of writing, which is hard work,” chortles Dalrymple, 56, over a Zoom call from London, where he spends summertime each year.

The morning we speak, he is working on early Afghan history with the beginning of Kushan art in Afghanistan, how that links to Mathura and Gandhara. “It’s completely fascinating,” he says.