So I Saw William Dalrymple Monday Night

for the launch of the The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty: Delhi, 1857. I decided against buying the book after hearing his response to the question "how do you explain the support the Sikhs and Afgans (i assume the questioner meant Ghurkas) for the British.

Dalrymple's lame response: the Brits offered better pay and they wanted revenge on the Sepoys for defeating them in the Sikh war.

Gawd, he nearly broke the dial on my bs meter. Lucky for WD, the question session ended before I could ask "how could reply with so stupid and inane an answer"?

A. it was primarily British forces that defeated the Sikhs in the Sikh wars. The Sikhs gained respect for the British as a fellow 'martial' people.

B. the tradition of not cutting the hair or beard comes from a pledge not to do so until the last drop of Muslim blood was expelled from the Punjab - apparently this isn't a compelling enough reason to oppose the restoration of Muslim ruler to India. the Ghurkas likewise remained loyal for similar reasons -their 'blood and soil' religion was fused in opposition to the Muslim invasion much like Spanish Catholicism circa 1492.

C. At Cawnpore the Sikhs demanded the right to 'go through the breech' - an 'honor' that carries with it and 80% chance of not coming out alive. Odd choice for people who just care about a few extra rupees isn't it? (The scots who had discovered the bodies of British women and children hacked to death with butcher knives after they were promised safe passage gained the honor. They attacked the mutineers with such ferocity that the mutineers were convinced they were jinns and threw down their arms and surrendered - the Scots, however would not accept their surrender).

Yet we're supposed to believe that hatred of Muslim rule had nothing to do with it?

He also referred to the mutineers as the "indian side' being told through newly discovered documents in persian. ...odd, I thought that people who spoke Persian were Persian, not Indian.

I can go on. He said the only reason the british won was better supplies (wrong, wrong and wrong they were surrounded at lucknow for 4 months - 3000 vs. 30,000 mutineers and the mutineers couldn't beat them) ....But sad to say Dalrymple's a PC cow-towing guilt tripping groveling Brit -( a type i became so nauseated with in India that avoided anyone with a British accent). Which is probably why he was allowed to speak at the Asia society.

Maybe I will drop him a letter and see what he has to say.