An Anglo-Indian born to an Irish mother, who died when he was born, and an Irish father, a former Colour Sergeant who died of a drug overdose. Kim is left in the care of a half caste woman who was implied to be a prostitute. She smoked opium, and pretended to sell antiques in a shop in the square "where all the cheap cabs wait". In the hot dry location where they lived, Kim's skin was "burned black as any native. He looked like, and lived as a low caste Hindu street urchin. He was unable to speak english very well, and could not read or write, so from the very beginning he was neither wholly British or Indian, and that remained a big issue in Kim's search for his identity. Teshoo Lama, a Tibetan .
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lama, wandered into Lahore looking for Buddhist relics in a museum. The lama is on a quest to find the holy "River of the Arrow" which supposedly sprang from an arrow shot by Buddha. Anyone who bathes in this river shall be cleansed of all sin. The location of this river is unknown and he is on a quest to find it . Kim is fascinated by the stranger, and the lama assumed that Kim had been sent to him as his "chela", or disciple. Kim accepts this and joins him on his journey. Kim thought that while on this holy quest, he could fulfill his own destiny. Teshoo Lama becomes Kim's spiritual mentor, and the street wise, cunning Kim, becomes the naiive lama's protector, and disciple. Early in the novel, Kim is captured by British soldiers. The white men try to save him from his life as a "wild animal who talks the same as a nigger". He is forced to go to school and dress as a European, where he meets Colonel Creighton.