William Dalrymple

“People think of our life as harsh, and of course in many ways it is. But going into the unknown world and confronting it without a single rupee in our pockets means that differences between rich and poor, educated and illiterate, all vanish, and a common humanity emerges. As wanderers, we monks and nuns are free of shadows from the past. This wandering life, with no material possessions, unlocks our souls. There is a wonderful sense of lightness, living each day as it comes, with no sense of ownership, no weight, no burden. Journey and destination became one, thought and action became one, until it is as if we are moving like a river into complete detachment.” 
- William Dalrymple, In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
By Premmath Kudva (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

ABOUT WILLIAM DALRYMPLE

William Dalrymple is a highly awarded writer and historian, famous for his travels through India and his interest in religion, history, and art of the Middle East.  When he was only twenty two years old, Dalrymple became recognized as a travel writer for his brilliant first book In Xanadu (1989); he recreated the path taken by Marco Polo by traveling from Jerusalem to Shangdu.  He lived in India for years and wrote several books stemming from his experience.  He next wrote City of Djinns (1993), an examination on the history of this remarkable city, quickly following that with a travel book called From the Holy Mountain (1997) and then the next year with The Age of Kali (1998), a collection of essays centered on troubles in the Indian subcontinent.  Dalrymple’s writing can be very academic at times, but it is always balanced with an excellent sense of humor.  His next books tend to focus more on the history of the region, including White Mughals (2002), which explores the relationship between the British and Indians in the 18th and 19th century, The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi (2007), and Nine Lives (2009), a highly praised book that explores traditional spirituality and faith in modern India.

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GREAT QUOTES:

“For two thousand years Jerusalem has brought out the least attractive qualities in every race that has lived there. The Holy City has had more atrocities committed in it, more consistently, than any other town in the world. Sacred to three religions, the city has witnessed the worst intolerance and self-righteousness of all of them.” 
- William Dalrymple, In Xanadu

“Such are the humiliations of the travel writer in the late 20th century: go to the ends of the earth to search for the most exotic heretics in the world, and you will find that they have cornered the kebab business at the end of your street in London.” 
- William Dalrymple, From the Holy Mountain: A Journey Among the Christians in the Middle East

INTERESTING LINKS:

  • Read the nice 2013 article "William Dalrymple: A Life in Writing" from the Guardian.
  • Dalrymple is a co-founder and regular participant in the Jaipur Literary Festival, perhaps the most prominent event on literature in the world.  Learn more about this outstanding festival here, at their official website.

A WALK WITH WILLIAM DALRYMPLE