Putting Ancient India on the map, with thanks to William Dalrymple
In his latest book, rock star historian William Dalrymple chronicles the key ideas and clever innovations embraced by the world that emerged from Ancient India – and you can hear him talk about it all, too.
People have short attention spans nowadays and nobody wants to read big fat history books or listen to authors banging on about their work. Right?
Wrong? William Dalrymple is proof that readers still hanker for brain food and are willing to pay to hear authors chatting about their books.
The popularity of writers’ festivals proves that. So does Dalrynmple, a writer who now has a worldwide cult following. This Scottish historian, art historian, curator, broadcaster, critic and author filled the Powerhouse Theatre at Brisbane Powerhouse and other venues around the country when he was in Australia in late 2024 for his talk, The Golden Road With William Dalrymple, which explored how ancient India transformed the world.
He filled the Powerhouse Theatre twice, actually. In Brisbane he was so popular they had to schedule a second session, which we happened to be in. Sitting there watching them bring in extra chairs to accommodate the crowd was quite revelatory. All this to watch a bloke deliver a PowerPoint talk.
Dalrymple is a bit of a superstar nowadays and his books on India, particularly, have grabbed the popular imagination, while his Empire podcast is going gangbusters.
Such is his popularity in Australia that he’s returning to do a victory lap after his sell-out 2024 tour. He arrives in November for a tour that takes in Perth, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Newcastle. It will be a more expansive session with an interviewer. Yes, there will still be a slide show but it will be a more fulsome event looking at his career as well as his most recent book, The Golden Road.
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In this illuminating evening, Dalrymple will explore the rich tapestry of ancient Indian civilisation. Drawing upon a lifetime immersed in Indian culture, and the study of its history, Dalrymple will offer a panoramic view of India and its profound influence on the world as explored in his chart-topping podcast Empire and bestselling books including The Golden Road, The Anarchy, Return of a King and The Last Mughal.
Indian thought influenced global traditions, from the architectural marvels of Angkor Wat to the philosophical underpinnings of distant societies
From 250BCE to 1200CE, India was not merely a land of spiritual depth but a dynamic hub of innovation and exchange. Its contributions in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, art and philosophy traversed the vast expanse, from the Red Sea to the Pacific, shaping cultures and ideas across continents. Who knew? Dalrymple, of course.
Weaving narratives of emperors, monks, merchants and scholars, bringing to life the stories of India’s Golden Age, Dalrymple will examine how Indian thought influenced global traditions, from the architectural marvels of Angkor Wat to the philosophical underpinnings of distant societies. And we might get some tall tales about his career, too.
“This show will be more a conversation,” Dalrymple explains when I call him, wondering where he might be, being the globetrotter that he is. Turns out he’s back in his native Scotland.
“I live mainly in India but we come back to Scotland when it is raining and the snakes come out of their holes,” he says. “And when I come back to Australia this time it will be more of an overview of India and how I ended up there and why I have spent the last 40 years writing about it. I went there by chance.”
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Thereby hangs a tale, no doubt, and hopefully one he will embellish in his shows.
“I won’t be singing or playing an instrument, though, I promise you that,” he says.
Mind you, he doesn’t have to. His fans seem riveted by his every word, something we observed last time he was here. It’s an interesting phenomenon and it contradicts the idea that everyone has a short attention span, Dalrymple says.
“My experience and the popularity of literary festivals give the lie to that,” he says. “People still have an appetite for the long form. People read my East India Company books, which are 500 pages.”
His Empire podcast has now surpassed 80 million downloads and he figures that is one of the reasons his shows sell out.
“This whole podcast revolution is extraordinary,” Dalrymple says. “We graduated from oral literature to written literature but, in a weird way now, we are going back to that oral tradition. I do two episodes a week and it is hard work, but I’m encouraged by its popularity.”
So what’s next for William Dalrymple?
“I’m so upset about what’s going on in Gaza that I’m meditating on the idea of writing a history of Palestine,” he says. He has lived in Jerusalem and has visited the West Bank and thinks there is a multi-layered story there and one that hasn’t be told.
And that’s what he does – he tells stories we haven’t heard yet, and his fans love him for it.
An Evening With William Dalrymple, Concert Hall, QPAC, November 12, and Adelaide Town Hall, November 13.