| Malika Kishwar | |
|---|---|
| Jenab Aliya Begum | |
 | |
| Born | 1803 |
| Died | 24 January 1858 (aged 54–55) |
| Burial | Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France |
| Spouse | Amjad Ali Shah |
| Issue | Wajid Ali Shah |
Malika Kishwar Bahadur Fakr-ul-Zamani Nawab Taj Ara Begum (1803 – 24 January 1858), also known as Jenab Aliya Begum, was Queen Mother of the last King of Awadh.[1][2][3] The wife of the tenth King of Awadh, Amjad Ali Shah, her son Nawab Wajid Ali Shah succeeded his father when she was widowed in 1847.[4][5] When British officials announced their annexation of the kingdom, she had an audience with General James Outram in Lucknow to plead their case.[2][6] In 1856, Queen Malika travelled to England with one of her sons and grandson and met with Queen Victoria in 1857.[6][7] After the intervention of France, she was given permission to travel to Mecca on her way home, but died two days after arriving in Paris.[6][2] She is buried in a grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery.[6][7]
Early life and marriage[edit | edit source]
Malika Kishwar Taj Ara Begum was born in 1803.[2][4] She was a descendant of Mughal court poet and minister Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan of Delhi,[8][3] and granddaughter of the sixth Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Ali Khan II.[2]
She married Amjad Ali Shah, who became the tenth Nawab, or King of Awadh, from 1842 to 1847.[3][4] He was the most religiously devout of the Muslim nawabs, and she did not play a significant role in political matters during her husband's reign.[3] Malika Kishwar remained in purdah all her life, surrounded and served by females within the royal enclosures and gardens of Lucknow before the fall of the kingdom.[2] She travelled outside infrequently, and was carried in a closed palanquin or howdah when she did.[2] She hosted female durbars where the women of the kingdom of all backgrounds could present their requests, complaints, and gifts.[2]
She had four children with Amjad Ali Shah, including his successor Wajid Ali Shah and his younger brother Sikander Hashmat Bahadar.[3] She was widowed in 1847, when her husband died at age 41.[3] Following his death, she spent many hours reading the Quran.[2]
Reign and overthrow of son[edit | edit source]
On 13 February 1847, her son Wajid Ali Shah became the eleventh Nawab of Awadh at the age of 25.[9] He began to consult Malika Kishwar in political matters such as appointing high-ranking officials.[3] One example of her influence was when she persuaded him to divorce eight of his wives, citing Hindu tradition which considered the snake mark on their bodies to be inauspicious.[10][2] They included Begum Hazrat Mahal, whom Malika Kishwar disliked.[2][10] Following the intervention of Hindu priests, the wives were invited to return to the zenana or inner quarters within the royal enclosures, but some including Hazrat Mahal refused.[10] Although British officials acomplained about the Queen Mother's "interference", Colonel James L. Sleeman, the British resident in the royal court, recommended that she be consulted in nominating members of a Regency Council of Awadh, in the event that Wajid Ali Shah suddenly died.[3][2]
Annexation of Awadh[edit | edit source]
At the end of January 1856, British military forces proceeded from Cawnpore to Lucknow as General James Outram sought to carry out the annexation of Awadh.[11] Lacking sufficient military strength to oppose the 12,000 British troops advancing toward the capital, the king Wajid Ali Shah ordered his army to stand down.[11] On 4 February 1856, Outram had an audience with Wajid Ali Shah in which he and other members of his mission tried to convince the king to sign a deed of abdication.[11] The king refused, after which Outram issued a proclamation deposing the king.[11]The queen mother Malika Kishwar requested an interview with Outram, speaking to him through a curtain and an interpreter.[2] Despite her appeal against annexation, he was unable to reverse the decision, which had been made by Lord Dalhousie with the backing of the Court of Directors of the East India Company and the British government.[2]
In April, Malika Kishwar left Lucknow with her two sons, including Wajid Ali Shah and his brother, arriving in Calcutta in 13 May 1856.[2] Historian Rosie Llewellyn-Jones suggests that she likely urged Wajid Ali Shah to make the difficult journey to Calcutta, despite being discouraged by British authorities to do so.[2] While in Calcutta, Wajid Ali Shah appointed his friend Captain Robert Wilberforce Bird, a former assistant resident at court in Awadh with family ties to the East India Company, to travel to London to lobby members of Parliament, the company's court of directors, and the British press on his behalf.[2] When Malika Kishwar learned that Bird had demanded an advance of £17,000, she barred Bird from seeing the king, insisting that he would not sign the money transfer and instead offering to send him a smaller sum of money via intermediaries.[2] Bird openly expressed his anger and departed for England.[2]
Mission to England[edit | edit source]
Journey from Calcutta[edit | edit source]
On 15 June 1856, the Governor General of India learned that Malika Kishwar had secretly left Calcutta at night with her son Sikandar Hashmat, the former commander-in-chief of Awadh, and her grandson Prince Hamid Ali, the heir apparent.[2] The royal party was on a mission to England to see Queen Victoria and petition for the reinstatement of Wajid Ali Shah as ruler of Awadh.[1] Accompanying them were Mary Ann and John Rose Brandon, a former gardener at the royal palace in Awadh, who had helped Wajid Ali Shah, his family, servants and courtiers to leave Lucknow for Cawnpore two months prior via horse-drawn carriages.[2] Wajid Ali Shah had originally planned to make the journey to England himself, but had decided to remain in Calcutta.[2] The official reason given was that he was too unwell to travel so far.[2] Historian Llewellyn-Jones suggests that there were also diplomatic reasons behind his decision to send his mother in his place, including avoiding a loss of face if restoration of the kingdom were refused by the British.[2]
The group, including an estimated 70 staff, had private use of a steamer which took them down river to board the SS Bengal, which transported them to the port of Suez.[2] While disembarking in Suez, a eunuch who had been entrusted with a jewel case containing jewels worth £50,000, including a necklace intended as a gift for Queen Victoria, somehow let it slip into the Red Sea.[12][1] Divers were hired to search for the jewels to no avail.[12] From Suez, they travelled overland on closed carriages to the Mediterranean Sea.[1] From Alexandria, they were transported on the Peninsular and Oriental Company steamship SS Indus, arriving in Malta on 10 August and finally in Southampton on 20 August 1856.[13][14]
Arrival in Southampton[edit | edit source]
Crowds of people gathered near the dock at Southampton for the highly anticipated arrival of the royal party of Awadh (referred to as Oude).[1] The question of how to shield Malika Kishwar from public view posed logistical challenges, but in the end she was carried, veiled, in a sedan chair.[15][1] The entourage headed directly to the Royal York Hotel, which they took over for ten days.[6][1]
Curious members of the public crowded the high street near their hotel, leading The Globe to comment that "it is one thing to show hospitality to ladies and gentlemen in distress, and another to convert them into a spectacle".[2][15] On 23 August 1856, the Princes held an afternoon levee.[16] Among the guests received by the royal family that day were "the mayor, an earl, a countess, three ladies, two baronets, and an admiral".[15] According to The Globe, the mayor of Southampton Richard Andrews shook hands with a female hand through a curtain, thought to be that of the Queen of Oude.[15][1]
Following the Princes' levee, about 30 ladies of Southampton were presented to the Queen Dowager of Oude.[16] The Illustrated London News reported that the Queen sat on a sofa attended by eight ladies, "dressed in splendid shawls", with her hair "cut rather short, and brushed back over the head à la Chinoise", and with "two massive earrings" but no other jewellry around her head.[16] Mary Ann Brandon was the interpreter.[16]
On 30 August 1856, the royal entourage of 110 people departed Southampton for London on a specially reserved train.[17][18] As they took carriages to the station, their servants waved back at the crowds which once again lined the streets.[1] At Southampton station, which the stationmaster had refused to close to the general public, their eunuchs stood guard while their servants held up calico sheets, forming a corridor through which Malika Kishwar could alight from the closed carriage to cross the platform and board the train unseen.[1]
Residence in London[edit | edit source]
After arriving at Waterloo station in London on 30 August 1856, Malika Kishwar and the royal entourage of took up residence at Harley House in Marylebone.[1][19] The free-standing house was on the north side of Marylebone Road, enclosed by a brick wall with a side entrance to Regent's Park.[1] It was rented for them by John Rose Brandon for £550 a year.[1] One of the most senior officials accompanying the royal party was the king's legal representative Maulvi Masih-uh-din Khan, a former employee of the East India Company, fluent in English, Persian, and Urdu.[2] In total, there were more than 100 staff including the king's aide-de-camp; the queen mother's chief of household staff, chief eunuch, and medical advisor; the heir apparent's bodyguards, medical advisor, and tutor; the general's own staff; and many other servants.[2][1]
The royal party's audience with Queen Victoria did not take place until more than ten months later.[2] Arranging the meeting was complicated for political and diplomatic reasons.[2] Malika Kishwar had hoped that by speaking to Queen Victoria directly, queen to queen, she would be able to persuade her to restore the kingdom of Awadh.[2] She was devastated to learn after arriving in England that Queen Victoria had no such power.[2][8] She requested an interview with Robert Vernon Smith, Member of Parliament and President of the Board of Control, who turned down the request.[2] Behind the scenes, Vernon Smith had sought to send Sir George Clark, former Governor of Bombay, to see her as a gesture of respect, but the Court of Directors of the East India Company was against it.[2] The law firm of Gregory, Gregory, Skirrow & Rowcliffe were hired as "Parliamentary agents" on behalf of the royal family of Awadh, but progress in filing an appeal to the British Parliament was slow.[2] In the meantime, Wajid Ali Shah was struggling to pay the costs they were incurring in London and in exile in Calcutta.[2] In response to a petition from Wajid Ali Shah on 10 December 1856, the Court of Directors of the East India Company offered the former king a pension of 12 lakhs per year (£120,000).[2] Vernon Smith wrote to Charles Canning, the Governor-General of India, that he thought it was a very generous offer that should not be interpreted as a concession to the royals' demands for reinstatement, and that Queen Victoria herself was "most anxious [Wajid Ali Shah] should be more liberally treated and I think it good policy, if we take Kingdoms, to pay Kings".[2]
To generate further publicity for the delegation from Awadh, on 3 March 1857, the Queen Mother and Princes visited the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane to see a pantomime based on Babes in the Woods.[2][20] It was the first time that Malika Kishwar had appeared in public, though she sat with her female attendants in the Royal Box behind blue and silver tissue fabric.[2][20] According to The Illustrated London News, her appearance "created considerable interest and curiosity", and that "The effect of so many different Oriental costumes was rich and peculiar".[20][2] At Queen Victoria's prompting, Vernon Smith finally went to visit the Malika Kishwar later that month.[2] He and other ministers of Parliament were still nervous that arranging a meeting with Queen Victoria would signal an acknowledgement of the mission from Awadh.[2] According to Vernon Smith, however, Victoria herself was starting become "rather anxious" that the Court of Directors of the East India Company were preventing her from showing the courtesy she felt was due.[2]
Visit with Queen Victoria[edit | edit source]
When news of the first incidents in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 reached the United Kingdom, Robert Vernon Smith thought it might be a good excuse to cancel any meeting between the two queens.[2] The meeting went ahead regardless, with prior agreement that there would be no discussion of politics and that purdah would be suspended during the audience.[2]
The visit was scheduled for 4 July 1857 at Buckingham Palace.[2] Prince Albert and their two eldest sons stood behind Queen Malika Kishwar, while Sir George Clark was the intrepreter.[2] Queen Victoria entered the room with their seven younger children.[2] Malika Kishwar threw back her veil and kissed Victoria's hand.[1] Victoria shook hands with the two princes from Awadh.[1] A few words were exchanged, and Victoria was presented with a letter and what she described in her diary as "a handsome ornament of pearls and precious stones" with perfume flask attached.[1] Historian Kamal ud-Din Haider later published an account of the meeting in Urdu, likely after interviewing one of the female attendants.[2] According to that account, the ensuing conversation was awkward, focusing on sailing and the sea journey from Calcutta.[2][1] Victoria also asked if Malika Kishwar had had the opportunity to visit English mansions and offered to arrange some visits for her.[1] She offered to meet with her again the following week, but no such meeting ever took place.[1]
Arrest of Wajid Ali Shah[edit | edit source]
Wajid Ali Shah was arrested and imprisoned at Fort William in Calcutta on 15 June 1857, but the news took almost four weeks to reach Malika Kishwar and the Awadh delegation in London.[1] Prior to the outbreak of the rebellion in India, their representatives including Masih-uh-din Khan, Major Robert Bird, and barrister Samuel Lucas had argued vigorously against the annexation of Oude and the corruption of the East India Company, publishing books, a pamphlet, and letters in major newspapers such as The Times.[2][1] Following the arrest, the focus of the mission shifted to distancing the king from any involvement in the rebellion and protesting his innocence.[2]
On the 6 August 1857, Lord Campbell, Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, presented a petition to the House of Lords on their behalf, which was rejected due to a technical error.[2] The petition then went to the House of Commons, which declined to discuss it.[1] The mission to England thus ended in failure one year after their arrival, but their departure was delayed for several months.[2] Malika Kishwar wanted to visit Mecca on the way back to Calcutta, but the Secretary of State Lord Clarendon refused to issue papers to her so she could travel, saying that she had not formally requested a passport as a British subject.[2][6] Historian Llewellyn-Jones suggests that he was concerned that she would stir up sympathy when she travelled, as international public opinion about British conduct in India was negative.[2] By the end of the year, Malika Kishwar's health had worsened.[2] Finally, the French Embassy in London intervened to allow her to travel in January 1858.[2][6]
Death in Paris[edit | edit source]
Between 40 to 45 members of the delegation traveled with the queen mother to France.[2] They traveled by ferry to Dieppe and then by train to Paris, arriving at Gare Saint-Lazare on 22 January 1858.[2] Malika Kishwar died two days later in a hotel on Rue Laffitte in Paris.[2] She was buried on 27 January 1858 in a funeral in Père Lachaise Cemetery, which had opened a Muslim section the year prior.[2] She was buried with her baby granddaughter who also died in Paris at the age of one.[2] Her funeral was attended by the Turkish and Persian ambassadors to France.[2][8] Today her grave can be found near the grave of Marcel Proust.[8]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 Llewellyn-Jones, Rosie (2000). "5 The Queen Mother's Visit to England". Images of Lucknow. Lucknow: New Royal Book Co. pp. 59–74. ISBN 81-89267-04-3.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 2.21 2.22 2.23 2.24 2.25 2.26 2.27 2.28 2.29 2.30 2.31 2.32 2.33 2.34 2.35 2.36 2.37 2.38 2.39 2.40 2.41 2.42 2.43 2.44 2.45 2.46 2.47 2.48 2.49 2.50 2.51 2.52 2.53 2.54 2.55 2.56 2.57 2.58 2.59 2.60 2.61 2.62 2.63 2.64 Llewellyn-Jones, Rosie (2014). The Last King in India. Oxford University Press. pp. 11–48, 100. ISBN 9781849045353.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Bhatta, Ravi (2006). The life and times of the Nawabs of Lucknow. New Delhi: Rupa & Co. pp. 53–54. ISBN 8129109891.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ahmed, Riffat (21 November 2019). "Forgotten Queen of Oudh: Malika Kishwar". The Asian Age. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
- ↑ MacGregor, Arthur (2023). "7 The mirror of India: clothing, dress and ornament". The Indian Museum Revisited. UCL Press. pp. 165–207 – via JSTOR.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Brisland, Martin; Lochead, Sandra (22 April 2022). "How an Indian Queen came to stay in Southampton". Daily Echo. Retrieved 1 May 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Faruqui Anjum Taban (January–April 1998). "The Coming of the Revolt in Awadh: The Evidence of Urdu Newspapers". Social Scientist. 26 (1): 16–24. doi:10.2307/3517578. JSTOR 3517578.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Sharda, Shailvee (23 October 2025). "Celebrating 250 years of Lucknow's legacy: The begums who left their mark on Awadh". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 May 2026.
- ↑ Mohan, Surendra (1997). Awadh Under the Nawabs: Politics, Culture and Communal Relations 1722–1856. Manohar Publishers. pp. 149, 150, 170. ISBN 9788173042034.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Burman, Tanya (2025). "Badshah Begum, Ritual Innovation, and an Achhuti's Dream in Eighteenth-Century Awadh". Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal. 19 (2): 229–248. doi:10.1086/734222 – via EBSCOhost.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 "Annexation of Oude". The Illustrated London News. 22 March 1856. Retrieved 4 May 2026 – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "East Indian Potentates". The Illustrated London News. 9 August 1856. Retrieved 4 May 2026 – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ "Military and Naval Intelligence". The Times. 19 August 1856 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ↑ "The Queen of Oude at Southampton". The Illustrated London News. 23 August 1856. Retrieved 4 May 2026 – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 "The Queen of Oude". The Times. 28 August 1856 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 "Levee of the Queen of Oude". The Illustrated London News. 30 August 1856. Retrieved 4 May 2026 – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ "The Royal Family of Oude". The Times. 2 September 1856 – via The Times Digital Archive.
- ↑ "The Royal Family of Oude at Southampton". The Illustrated London News. No. 265. 6 September 1855. Retrieved 7 May 2026 – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ "Residence of the Ex-Royal Family". The Illustrated London News. No. 363. 11 October 1856. Retrieved 7 May 2026 – via Hathi Trust.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "The Queen and Princes of Oude and Suite at Drury-Lane Theatre". The Illustrated London News. No. 237. 14 March 1857. Retrieved 8 May 2026.