James Achilles Kirkpatrick

James Achilles Kirkpatrick
James Achilles Kirkpatrick, an oil painting by George Chinnery. Circa 1805.
Born	1764 Fort St. George, Madras, India
Died	15 October 1805 Calcutta, India
Nationality	British
Occupation	Lieutenant Colonel British Resident at Hyderabad
Known for	Built the historic Koti Residency in Hyderabad, a landmark and major tourist attraction. One of the first interracial love affair between him (British) and an Indian noblewoman Khair-un-Nissa Begum.
Spouse(s)	Khair-un-Nissa

Lieutenant Colonel James Achilles Kirkpatrick (1764 – 15 October 1805) was the British Resident at Hyderabad from 1798 to 1805. He also built the historic Koti Residency in Hyderabad, a landmark and major tourist attraction.

James Achilles Kirkpatrick was born in 1764 at Fort St. George, Madras. He replaced his brother William and arrived as resident in Hyderabad in 1795 (according to William Dalrymple) as a "cocky young imperialist intending to conquer India". There he became thoroughly enamoured of Indo-Persian culture of Nizam's court, and gave up his English manner of dress in exchange for Persian costumes.

Although a colonel in the British East India Company's army, Kirkpatrick wore Mughal-style costumes at home, smoked a hookah, chewed betelnut, enjoyed nautch parties, maintained a small harem in his zenanakhana, spoke fluent Hindustani and Persian, and openly mingled with the elite of Hyderabad. Kirkpatrick was adopted by the Nizam of Hyderabad, who invested him with many titles: mutamin ul mulk ('Safeguard of the kingdom'), hushmat jung ('Valiant in battle'), nawab fakhr-ud-dowlah bahadur ('Governor, pride of the state, and hero'). He converted to Islam (in particular Shi'ism) and married a local Hyderabadi noblewoman called Khair-un-Nissa, the teenage granddaughter of Nawab Mahmood Ali Khan, the prime minister of Hyderabad. Towards the end of autumn of 1801, a major scandal broke out in Calcutta over Kirkpatrick's behaviour at the Hyderabad court. It raised a major furore because of the interracial nature of the marriage.