“The Man Who Would Be King” was first published in The Phantom Rickshaw and Other Tales (A. H. Wheeler, Allahabad, 1888). It is the longest and greatest of Kipling’s Indian stories — a novella of roughly twenty thousand words — and the one that most fully embodies his vision of British imperial adventurism as simultaneously magnificent and insane.
Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan, two disreputable ex-soldiers, tell the narrator (a thinly disguised Kipling) their plan: they will cross the border into Kafiristan (now Nuristan, in northeastern Afghanistan), a region unconquered by any power since Alexander the Great, and make themselves kings. They succeed through a combination of military discipline, Martini-Henry rifles, and the Masonic rituals that the Kafirs mistake for the signs of ancient gods.
Dravot, the dominant partner, begins to believe his own myth. He decides to take a local wife — a fatal error, because when the bride bites him in fear and draws blood, the Kafirs realize he is mortal. The rebellion is immediate and total. Dravot falls to his death from a rope bridge. Carnehan is crucified but survives (the Kafirs, marveling at his endurance, release him). He returns to India a broken, raving wreck, carrying Dravot’s crowned head in a bag.
The story operates simultaneously as imperial adventure, psychological study (the moment when a confidence man believes his own con), and mythic pattern (the god-king who must be sacrificed). John Huston’s 1975 film adaptation, with Sean Connery and Michael Caine, is one of the finest literary adaptations in cinema.
The Huston Film
John Huston’s 1975 film, starring Sean Connery as Dravot and Michael Caine as Carnehan, is one of the great adventure films — and one of the most faithful literary adaptations in cinema. Huston had wanted to make the film since the 1950s (originally planning it with Humphrey Bogart and Clark Gable). The Connery-Caine chemistry perfectly captures the story’s mixture of bravado, comedy, and tragedy. Christopher Plummer plays Kipling as narrator.
The Alexander Parallel
Kafiristan (Nuristan) was genuinely believed to have been unconquered since Alexander the Great. The Kafirs’ fair colouring and blue eyes were attributed to descent from Alexander’s soldiers. Kipling uses this legend to give Dravot’s claim to divinity a historical plausibility: if the Kafirs believe themselves descended from Alexander’s Greeks, a tall, commanding European claiming to be Alexander’s successor might genuinely convince them. The story’s power depends on this thin layer of plausibility beneath the absurdity.
Collecting The Man Who Would Be King
First edition in The Phantom Rickshaw (A.H. Wheeler, Allahabad, 1888): Paper wrappers, Indian Railway Library No.5.
Approximate market values:
- First edition in original wrappers, fine: $2,000–$8,000
- Very good: $800–$2,000
- Later collections containing the story: $50–$200
Value trajectory (2016–2026): Strong appreciation for original Wheeler editions.
Projected values (2026–2036): Fine copies should reach $5,000–$15,000.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this based on a true story? Kipling drew on several real figures, including Josiah Harlan, an American adventurer who styled himself “Prince of Ghor” in Afghanistan in the 1830s, and James Brooke, the White Rajah of Sarawak. The specific details are fictional, but the type — the European adventurer who carves out a kingdom beyond the frontier — was a real phenomenon of the imperial era.
Is Dravot a hero or a fool? Both. His initial success is genuinely impressive — he imposes order, builds infrastructure, and trains an army. His failure comes not from incompetence but from hubris: he begins to believe his own divinity. The story is a tragedy of self-deception, told within a comedy of imperial ambition.