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James Achilles Kirkpatrick

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Diplomat

The Resume

    (1764-October 15, 1805)
    Born in Fort St. George, Madras, India
    Lieutenant Colonel
    Served with the British East India Company
    British Imperial Resident at Hyderabad (1798-1805)
    Built the historic Koti Residency in Hyderabad
    Married the Indian noblewoman Khair-un-Nissa, in 1801
    Marriage set off an international debate over interracial marriage and miscegentation
    Main subject of William Dalrymple's 'White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India' (2003)

Why he might be annoying:

    He maintained a small harem.
    He liked to walk around his house in Mughal-style costumes.
    He smoked a hookah and chewed betelnut.
    He replaced his brother as an official Resident and later threw him under the bus to save his reputation.
    He caused a scandal due to his behavior at the Hyderabad court.
    He misrepresented his relationship with Khair to the head of the East India Company for over two years, resulting in his being publicly reprimanded and nearly stripped of his title once he was found out.
    He wrote poetry.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was described as strikingly handsome in his youth.
    He spoke Hindu, Urdu, Persian, and Tamil.
    He fully embraced the Indo-Persian culture of India.
    He negotiated a treaty between the British and Hyderabad which ensured peace for over 150 years.
    He exposed systematic embezzlement and corruption within the British military.
    He was pressured to end his relationship with Khair by the British government but continued to see her anyway.
    When Khair was revealed to be pregnant with his child, her grandfather urged her to have an abortion to save face. He would not allow it and instead converted to Islam to prove he would not abandon her.
    He fell ill with hepatitis on a ship bound from Madras for Calcutta, succumbing only a week later. He died in disgrace, away from his wife and two children.
    His marriage to Khair has gone down in history as one of the most tragic and beautiful love stories in history.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 26 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 103 Votes: 51.46% Annoying