William Dalrymple

William Dalrymple is a historian and a travel writer. He grew up in the Firth of Forth, Scotland and is the son of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, 10th baronet, and a cousin to Virginia Woolf. He studied at the Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge.  Ther...

William Dalrymple is a historian and a travel writer. He grew up in the Firth of Forth, Scotland and is the son of Sir Hew Hamilton-Dalrymple, 10th baronet, and a cousin to Virginia Woolf. He studied at the Ampleforth College and Trinity College, Cambridge.  There he went on to work as a history exhibitioner and history teacher. Now he divides his time between Mehrauli in Delhi, and London, and Edinburgh. He regularly writes for The New York Review of Books, The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Time Magazine, and The New Yorker. He is currently working on the history of the First Afghan War (1839-42). He has also written for the Ox Travels published by Profile Books Ltd. He will also work as a curator for a key show titled Princes and Poets of the late Mughal and Company School painting for the Asia Society in New York scheduled for 2012.

William Dalrymple draws his inspiration from India, Pakistan, the Middle East, the Mughal Age, Afghanistan, early Eastern Christianity (there is a marvelous account of this in From the Holy Mountain), Jainism, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. He has been influenced by travel writers such as Bruce Chatwin, Eric Newby, and Robert Byron. His essay on Business as Usual in the special edition of India Charges Ahead for the Time Magazine celebrated the 60th year of India’s independence. He is associated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign; and in 2008 he participated in the Palestine Festival of Literature reading excerpts of his work in Jerusalem, Ramallah, and Bethlehem. He is also a founder and director of the Jaipur Literature Festival referred to as the’ greatest literary show on earth ‘by the Daily Beast.