William Dalrymple facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
William Dalrymple
|
|
|---|---|
.png)
Dalrymple in 2025
|
|
| Born | 20 March 1965 Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Historian, writer & broadcaster |
| Education | Trinity College, Cambridge (BA) |
| Period | 1989–present |
| Subject | The East India Company in 18th century South Asia and Afghanistan, Eastern Christianity and the Muslim world; Hindu and Buddhist art; late Mughal and Company school painting |
| Spouse | Olivia Fraser |
| Children | 3 |
William Dalrymple is a Scottish historian, writer, and broadcaster. He was born on March 20, 1965. He lives in Delhi, India, for most of the year. He spends much of his time on his farm there.
He helped start and now co-directs the Jaipur Literature Festival. This is one of the world's biggest writing festivals.
Dalrymple's books have won many awards. These include the Wolfson Prize for History and the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize. He also won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award. His BBC TV show, "Shiva's Matted Locks," won the Grierson Award in 2002. This show was part of his Indian Journeys series.
He has received special honors from universities like Princeton and Brown. In 2018, he received the President's Medal from the British Academy. This is a very high honor for people who do great work in history and social sciences. In 2023, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This was for his important work in literature and the arts.
Contents
About William Dalrymple's Life
William Dalrymple is the son of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple. His mother, Lady Anne-Louise Keppel, was related to Queen Camilla. This makes him a third cousin to the Queen. He is also a great-nephew of the famous writer Virginia Woolf. His brother, Jock, was a cricketer.
Dalrymple grew up in North Berwick, Scotland. He described his childhood as very happy and old-fashioned. He studied at Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He focused on history there.
He first visited Delhi, India, in 1984. He has lived in India on and off since 1989. He spends most of the year at his farmhouse near Delhi. In the summers, he stays in London and Edinburgh. His wife, Olivia Fraser, is an artist. Her family also has strong ties to India. They have three children together.
One of his sons, Sam Dalrymple, is also a historian. Sam helped start a peace project called Project Dastaan.
William Dalrymple's Work
William Dalrymple is known for his work as a curator. A curator helps organize and present art exhibitions.
Exhibitions He Curated
In 2012, Dalrymple curated an art show called Princes and Painters in Mughal Delhi 1707–1857. This show featured late Mughal paintings. It was held at the Asia Society in New York. He also helped write the book for this exhibition.
More recently, he curated another exhibition. This one was about Company style painting. It was called Forgotten Masters: Indian Painting for the East India Company. This show was at the Wallace Collection in London.
His Books and Writings
Dalrymple is very interested in the history and art of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. He also studies Eastern Christianity and the Muslim world. All ten of his books have won literary awards. His first three books were about his travels in the Middle East, India, and Central Asia.
He has written many essays about current events in India. He also wrote four award-winning history books. These books are about the East India Company and its interactions with people in India and Afghanistan. His books have been translated into over 40 languages.
He writes regularly for major publications. These include The New York Review of Books and The Guardian. He also wrote many articles for Time magazine.
In 2008, he attended the Palestine Festival of Literature. He gave readings and led workshops there.
His 2009 book, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, explored different spiritual practices in India. It became a bestseller in India. After the book came out, he toured with some of the people featured in his book. These included Sufis and other spiritual performers.
His book Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan was published in 2013. It tells the story of the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42). After this book, he was asked to share his knowledge with the Afghan President and the White House.
In 2019, he published The Anarchy. This book covers the history of India from 1739 to 1803. It describes how the Mughal Empire declined. It also shows how the East India Company grew powerful. This book was nominated for several awards. It won the Arthur Ross Bronze Medal in 2020.
His latest book, The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World, was published in September 2024. It looks at how ancient India influenced Asia, China, and Europe.
TV, Radio, and Podcasts
Dalrymple has written and presented several TV series. These include Stones of the Raj (1997) and Indian Journeys (2002). He also presented Sufi Soul (2005).
Stones of the Raj explored the history behind British colonial buildings in India. Indian Journeys had three parts. One episode, "Shiva’s Matted Locks," followed the source of the Ganga river. Another, "City of Djinns," looked at Delhi's history. The third, "Doubting Thomas," explored the connection of St Thomas to India.
He also created a six-part radio series for BBC Radio 4 called The Long Search. In this series, he explored the spiritual history of the British Isles.
In 2015, a BBC documentary called Love and Betrayal in India: The White Mughal was broadcast. It was based on Dalrymple's book White Mughals.
In 2022, Dalrymple and journalist Anita Anand started a podcast called Empire. The first series of this podcast explores the British East India Company. It also looks at how Britain influenced India. The Empire podcast quickly became very popular. It reached number one in the UK Apple Podcast charts. It had over five million downloads in its first six months.
Awards and Honors
William Dalrymple has received many awards for his writing and broadcasting:
- In Xanadu (1990) won the Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award.
- City of Djinns (1994) won the Thomas Cook Travel Book Award.
- He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1995.
- From the Holy Mountain (1997) won the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award.
- The Age of Kali (1998) won the French Prix d'Astrolabe in 2005.
- White Mughals: Love & Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India (2002) won the Wolfson Prize for History.
- He received the Mungo Park Medal in 2002 for his travel writing.
- His TV series Stones of the Raj and Indian Journeys won the Grierson Award in 2002.
- His radio series The Long Search won the Sandford St Martin Prize in 2002.
- White Mughals also won the Scottish Book of the Year Prize in 2003.
- He received the Sykes Medal in 2005 for his work on understanding Islam.
- He has received several honorary doctorates from universities. These include the University of St. Andrews (2006) and the University of Lucknow (2007).
- The Last Mughal (2007) won the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize.
- Nine Lives (2010) received the Asia House Award for Asian Literature.
- He won the Hemingway Prize and the Kapuściński Prize in 2015 for Return of a King.
- He was awarded the President's Medal of the British Academy in 2018.
- In 2022, he received the Minerva Medal for his contributions to history writing.
- He became a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
See also
- Yvonne, Lady Cochrane
