# Mahbub Ali — Kim character guide

> Mahbub Ali in Kim by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Mahbub, Ali Beg, old Mahbub Ali, Old Mahbub

**First appearance:** 0000-i

## Snapshot

A Pathan horse trader who moves between Peshawar and the Punjab, he is also a seasoned agent for British intelligence and Kim's first recruiter into the Great Game.

## Who they are

Mahbub Ali operates in the borderlands where commerce and espionage blur, selling horses to Rajahs while carrying coded messages for Colonel Creighton. He recognizes Kim's potential as a spy and becomes both mentor and employer, though he treats the boy with the wary respect of one professional to another. His fierce Pathan pride and his pragmatic loyalty to the British paymaster create a tension he manages through careful indirection. He represents the possibility that loyalty in the Great Game is always a matter of degrees.

## Relationships

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

_professional_

Mahbub Ali is a horse trader and secret agent who recruits Kim into the British intelligence network, acting as a mentor and handler.

### [Colonel Creighton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/colonel_creighton)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton and Mahbub Ali are colleagues in British intelligence, with Creighton relying on Mahbub for field reports and recruitment.

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

_professional_

Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali are fellow intelligence operatives who coordinate Kim's training and assignments within the Great Game.

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

_social_

Mahbub Ali and the Teshoo Lama meet occasionally, with Mahbub showing respect for the lama's holiness while keeping his own espionage secret.

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

_professional_

Mahbub Ali is a horse trader and secret agent who recruits Kim into the British intelligence network, acting as a mentor and handler.

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

_professional_

Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali are fellow intelligence operatives who coordinate Kim's training and assignments within the Great Game.

### [Colonel Creighton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/colonel_creighton)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton and Mahbub Ali are colleagues in British intelligence, with Creighton relying on Mahbub for field reports and recruitment.

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

_social_

Mahbub Ali and the Teshoo Lama meet occasionally, with Mahbub showing respect for the lama's holiness while keeping his own espionage secret.

### [Colonel Creighton](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/characters/colonel_creighton)

_professional_

Colonel Creighton and Mahbub Ali are colleagues in British intelligence, with Creighton relying on Mahbub for field reports and recruitment.

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

_professional_

Mahbub Ali is a horse trader and secret agent who recruits Kim into the British intelligence network, acting as a mentor and handler.

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

_professional_

Lurgan Sahib and Mahbub Ali are fellow intelligence operatives who coordinate Kim's training and assignments within the Great Game.

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

_social_

Mahbub Ali and the Teshoo Lama meet occasionally, with Mahbub showing respect for the lama's holiness while keeping his own espionage secret.

## In the story

### [Chapter VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/vi)

Arrives at the barracks and mocks Kim in front of Colonel Creighton, but secretly helps him.

### [The Gates of Learning](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/vii)

Kim considers Mahbub Ali's hospitality and reflects on his relationship with the horse trader, though he decides not to test it.

### [The Road to Simla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/viii)

Mahbub Ali travels with Kim to Simla, discussing horse-trading, faiths, and Kim's future. He is the target of an assassination plot.

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

Referenced indirectly as one of those with a price on his head; Kim thinks of him during training.

### [The Great Game Intensifies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/x)

Guides Kim in the Great Game, gives him a revolver and clothes, and involves him in espionage tasks such as stealing a ledger.

### [Chapter XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/kim_se/chapters/xv)

Visits the lama; discusses Kim's future and the Great Game; expresses concern about Kim becoming a teacher.

## Links

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