# Hurree Chunder Mookerjee — Kim character guide

> Hurree Chunder Mookerjee in Kim by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Babu, Hurree Babu, Hurree, the Babu

**First appearance:** 0003-iv

## Snapshot

A Bengali intelligence agent who masks his sharp mind behind the comic persona of a bumbling babu, he becomes Kim's ally and guide in the later stages of the Great Game.

## Who they are

Hurree Babu is a man caught between worlds, a Western-educated Bengali who serves the British while feeling the pull of Indian nationalism. He plays the fool to disarm suspicion, but beneath the buffoonery lies a shrewd and sometimes fearful operative who knows the cost of failure. His relationship with Kim is one of professional camaraderie tinged with something like paternal concern. He embodies the ambiguous position of the Indian in the colonial intelligence apparatus, useful yet never fully trusted.

## Relationships

### [Kim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/kim)

_professional_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee is a Bengali intelligence agent who collaborates with Kim on missions, often acting as a fellow operative.

### [Teshoo Lama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/teshoo_lama)

_social_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee interacts with the Teshoo Lama with polite deference, often using the lama's presence as cover for intelligence work.

### [Lurgan Sahib](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/lurgan_sahib)

_professional_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee and Lurgan Sahib are fellow intelligence agents who share information and coordinate espionage activities.

### [Kim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/kim)

_professional_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee is a Bengali intelligence agent who collaborates with Kim on missions, often acting as a fellow operative.

### [Lurgan Sahib](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/lurgan_sahib)

_professional_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee and Lurgan Sahib are fellow intelligence agents who share information and coordinate espionage activities.

### [Teshoo Lama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/teshoo_lama)

_social_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee interacts with the Teshoo Lama with polite deference, often using the lama's presence as cover for intelligence work.

### [Kim](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/kim)

_professional_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee is a Bengali intelligence agent who collaborates with Kim on missions, often acting as a fellow operative.

### [Lurgan Sahib](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/lurgan_sahib)

_professional_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee and Lurgan Sahib are fellow intelligence agents who share information and coordinate espionage activities.

### [Teshoo Lama](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/teshoo_lama)

_social_

Hurree Chunder Mookerjee interacts with the Teshoo Lama with polite deference, often using the lama's presence as cover for intelligence work.

## In the story

### [IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/ix)

Visits Lurgan Sahib as a Babu spy; evaluates Kim's performance and discusses his own role as a chain-man.

### [XII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/xii)

Disguised as a hakim, Hurree Babu engages the lama in philosophical discussion and later reveals his true identity to Kim, congratulating him on his work.

### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/xiii)

Feigns drunkenness and treason to gain the trust of two foreign spies, then steals their kilta of documents.

### [The Woman of Shamlegh](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/xiv)

Hurree Babu sends a message to Kim via a messenger, indicating he will take the Russians to Simla and rejoin them later.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/hurree_chunder_mookerjee
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters