Cover Tatler chats with William Dalrymple, an India-based Scottish historian and art historian, as well as a curator, broadcaster, and critic (Photo: Fady Younis)
Tatler chats with William Dalrymple, an India-based Scottish historian and art historian, as well as a curator, broadcaster, and critic (Photo: Fady Younis)
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Celebrated historian William Dalrymple is here to revive forgotten stories and neglected narratives of India’s intellectual power in his latest book, ‘The Golden Road’
“I believe history can be as pleasurable as travel,” William Dalrymple says. “When you read about a well-drawn historical figure, it’s like meeting someone fascinating from another time. They’re human like us, with the same flaws and desires, but shaped by a different world.”
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A bestselling author and co-founder of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Dalrymple is a Scottish historian whose works illuminate the history and art of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Jains, and early Eastern Christianity. He has written masterpieces like The Anarchy and The Last Mughal, which have won accolades such as the Wolfson History Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize.
I want my readers to feel as though they’re traveling through time.
He tells Tatler, drawing a comparison between the pleasure of reading history and the joy of exploring new lands. “You meet people who are like us yet subtly different. It’s fascinating.” This approach is immediately evident in his newest book, The Golden Road, where he introduces Xuanzang, the Chinese monk who journeyed to India in the 7th century CE in search of sacred texts, with the same reverence a director might reserve for an Oscar-worthy lead.
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Dalrymple, who describes himself as “thrilled” to be visiting Malaysia for the first time, is here to launch The Golden Road and is deeply engaged with the region’s historical intersections with India. Before this interview with Tatler in Kuala Lumpur, he made a trip to Penang and, to his great delight, visited Bukit Choras in Bujang Valley, located northwest of Malaysia, a site he also touches on in his book. He describes his enthusiasm for Bukit Choras—which recently gained prominence due to significant archaeological discoveries—as “absolutely fascinating”, mirroring his meticulous curiosity underpinning his writing.
‘The Golden Road’ and the Indo-Sphere
The Golden Road explores India’s soft power between roughly the first millennium BCE and the early medieval era, spanning over a thousand years. It focuses on India's role as a cultural and intellectual hub during antiquity and the early Middle Ages when ideas such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Sanskrit epics, and mathematical innovations travelled along the maritime trade routes. It’s a tale of ideas that travelled on the monsoon winds, shaping societies from the Malacca Straits to the Mediterranean.
“It’s fascinating to see how Indian ideas—whether in Buddhism, Hinduism, or mathematics—have left their imprint here,” he says. From shadow puppetry to the enduring legacy of Sanskrit epics, Southeast Asia is a living repository of India’s cultural export, he shares further.
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Central to The Golden Road are two captivating concepts: the “Golden Road” and the “Indo-Sphere.” The Golden Road refers to the maritime trade routes that enabled India to disseminate its ideas, technologies, and philosophies. “It’s geography,” Dalrymple explains. “The monsoon winds, triggered by the Tibetan Plateau, essentially turbocharged Indian sailors. They just raised their sails, and off they went—east to the Malacca Straits, west to the Red Sea.”
The Indo-Sphere, on the other hand, represents a vast cultural zone where Sanskrit served as a courtly language for over a millennium. Stretching from Kandahar to Bali, this region was bound not by military might but by shared cultural and intellectual traditions. “This wasn’t colonialism,” he asserts. “It was a voluntary adoption of Indian ideas, stories, and spiritual practices.” It was shaping global civilisations through peaceful exchange and mutual influence.
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As a historian, Dalrymple takes pleasure in overturning assumptions. He describes how Southeast Asia embraced Indian epics, art, and philosophy not as passive recipients but as active participants. “The spread of ideas was far more remarkable because it wasn’t enforced,” he notes. “These were violent times, yes, but the transmission of culture happened through missionaries, traders, and storytellers—not armies.”
Unlike the militaristic conquests often celebrated in Western histories, Dalrymple underscores the non-violent nature of this influence. “Indian ideas spread through the sheer power of attraction—not through the sword,” he remarks.
From the epic to the everyday
The Ramayana, for instance, became a cultural lodestar across the region, inspiring shadow puppetry in Java, dance forms in Cambodia, and even modern-day performances in Indonesia. He recounts a moment in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, where he stumbled upon a Ramayana dance rehearsal in a palace compound. “The gamelan music, the dancers, the legacy of a text that’s been celebrated for over a thousand years—it was magical,” he says. “And this is in a country that’s been predominantly Muslim for six centuries.”
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This anecdote is emblematic of Dalrymple’s approach to history: finding the extraordinary in what might otherwise be overlooked. He sees ancient epics not as relics but as living traditions, continually reinterpreted and cherished.
The Golden Road and Indo-Sphere also offer a counternarrative to the ubiquitous Silk Road—a term that Dalrymple notes was coined not by ancient traders but by German geographer Baron von Richthofen in 1877. By reviving these forgotten frameworks, Dalrymple reframes India as a cultural and intellectual powerhouse whose influence radiated far beyond its borders.
His method is rooted in meticulous research, but it is his gift for storytelling that sets him apart. Whether it’s the rise of Buddhism in fifth-century India or the mathematical breakthroughs of Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, Dalrymple distils complex histories into stories that resonate universally. “Take zero,” he says, “It’s not just the absence of something; it’s a number with its own rules. It’s the foundation of place value, the decimal system, and, eventually, modern computing.” He highlights that although other cultures may have conceived the idea of zero in some form, India was instrumental in formalising its mathematical properties and ensuring its widespread adoption.
The shadows of colonial narratives
For Dalrymple, writing about India also means grappling with the colonial legacy that sought to diminish its contributions. He points to Thomas Macaulay’s infamous statement that a single shelf of English books was worth all of India’s literature. “It’s laughable now, but it shaped how generations perceived India,” he says.
“Victorian attitudes cast a long shadow,” he observes. “The British had to downgrade India’s achievements to justify their rule.”
This colonial lens, Dalrymple argues, continues to obscure India’s historical role. For Dalrymple, the challenge lies in navigating these complexities with nuance and balance.
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A historian for the present
Despite his immersion in the past, Dalrymple is acutely aware of history’s relevance today. “Governments always rewrite history to suit their narratives,” he observes, “Whether it’s the British glorifying their empire or contemporary regimes reshaping curricula, history remains a battleground for identity and power.”
When asked about the role of historians in today’s polarised world, Dalrymple is candid. “Governments have always controlled historical narratives,” he says. “In India, textbooks are rewritten with every regime change. It’s the same everywhere.”
“Every historian is shaped by their own time and place,” he acknowledges, “but we owe it to our readers to present history fairly.”
Yet Dalrymple remains hopeful about the enduring power of ideas.
"The beauty of history,” he says, “is that ideas travel. They can’t be stopped.”
He pauses, then adds, “Though algorithms these days seem to be trying their best.” As our conversation draws to a close, Dalrymple reflects on his journey. “If I won the lottery tomorrow, I’d still be doing this,” he says. “Writing, travelling, uncovering stories—it’s the greatest joy.”
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Lynette loves travelling and dancing to Latin music almost as much as she enjoys period films and pastry desserts. She is constantly in search of the perfect nude lipstick and finds her best ideas through walks in nature.
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As the Editor-in-Chief of Tatler Malaysia, Lynette leads the content teams for print, digital and social media platforms of the brand. She has over 20 years experience in media, having been editorial director and editor-in-chief for lifestyle titles such as Cleo, ELLE, Esquire, Men’s Health, and Women’s Health.
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