 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".Kirkpatrick, born in India, educated in England, had Tamil as his first language, wrote poetry in Urdu, and added Persian and Hindustani to his linguistic armoury.With fluent Hindustani and Persian, he openly mingled with the elite of Hyderabad.