 Begums, Thugs & White Mughals
Fanny Parkes
The journals of Fanny Parkes
Editor: with an introduction by William Dalrymple Pages: 400
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 0 907871 88 7
Area of interest: India
Genre: British Abroad, Travel Date of first publication: 1850
Eland publication date: November 1, 2002
Price: £12.99
Fanny Parkes, who lived in India between 1822 and 1846, was the ideal travel writer - courageous, indefatigably curious and determinedly independent. Her delightful journal traces her journey from prim memsahib, married to a minor civil servant of the Raj, to eccentric, sitar-playing Indophile, fluent in Urdu, critical of British rule and passionate in her appreciation of Indian culture.
Fanny is fascinated by everything, from the trial of the thugs and the efficacy of opium on headaches to the adorning of a Hindu bride. To read her is to get as close as one can to a true picture of early colonial India - the sacred and the profane, the violent and the beautiful, the straight-laced sahibs and the more eccentric "White Mughals" who fell in love with India and did their best, like Fanny, to build bridges across cultures.
biography of Fanny Parkes
extract from Begums, Thugs & White Mughals
"Her beautifully descriptive journals provide a remarkable insight into this crossroads in Anglo-Indian history."
Saul David, Sunday Telegraph
"The observant reader cannot fail to notice Parkes’s wonderful flair for freezing the fleeting moment for others to enjoy, a hallmark of good travel writing. At their best, her journals appeal as much today as they did a century and a half ago."
Krishna Dutta, Tablet
"Gossipy, garrulous and energetic…The pleasures of this funny, lovable and slightly absurd book lie in her inexhaustible interest in India and an enthusiasm that never fails."
Philip Hensher, Daily Telegraph
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