Emperor Shah Alam’s Beloved Daughter
By Dr Syed Amir
Bethesda, MD
During the twilight of the Mughal Empire in the eighteenth century, India witnessed the emergence on the country’s turbulent landscape of a colorful and intriguing woman.
Known as Begum Samru, she eventually founded the mini autonomous state of Sardhana in Meerut, in present-day Utter Pradesh, the only Catholic-ruled principality that ever existed in India. Although a well-known, dynamic figure in her time, Begum Samru, curiously, finds scant mention in contemporary Indian chronicles.
Many details of her early life are shrouded in mystery. John Lall of the Indian Civil Service, a historian and prolific author who served as Commissioner of Agra in the fifties, drawing upon old archives, has authored a well-researched book that constitutes the single most reliable source of information about her. A young woman of dazzling beauty, Begum Samru’s original name was Farzana Zeb-un Nissa. She was brought up as a dancing girl in the old city of Delhi, in its infamous Chauri Bazar, in the shadows of Shah Jahan’s magnificent Jama Masjid. Author Dalrymple in his book, The Last Mughal, cites 1751 as the year of her birth and her ethnicity as Kashmiri.
Societal disintegration often accompanies general moral decay. It was a common practice of the rich and powerful in decadent eighteenth-century Delhi to patronize courtesans, frequently adopting them as mistresses or concubines. Farzana, daughter of a courtesan and a Muslim aristocrat, landed in Delhi as destitute. She was adopted and brought up by an aging courtesan, trained in the tools of trade -- singing, dancing, and the long established etiquettes of the profession. Her reputation spread widely. The imperial authority at Delhi had largely dissipated, and the vacuum caused by the absence of a central power was filled by rogue states, Maratha, Jats, Sikhs and Rohilla. The prevailing anarchy attracted many foreign fortune seekers who arrived in droves. These mercenaries raised private armies, became warlords and supported various warring factions, all for a price.
One such adventurer was General Walter Joseph Reinhardt, known as Samru Sahib, who is believed to have been an Austrian. He spoke both Urdu and Persian with a heavy accent, had adopted Mughal dress and many local customs. Most importantly, he had four battalions of soldiers and guns at his command and was actively courted by various warring groups. Reinhardt had also amassed a fortune in Bengal, robbing the treasuries of Nawab Mir Qasim, with whom he was allied for a time, after Nawab’s defeat by the British. After drifting about, he finally settled in Delhi.
On one of his visits to Chauri Bazar establishments, he came in contact with Farzana and became besotted with her. She was fifteen at the time and he 45. Reinhardt admitted Farzana to his Harem in 1765 as a concubine. From then on, she became known as Begum Samru, a more prestigious and dignified title, though there is no evidence that they were ever legally married. Delhi at the time was ruled by the last effective sovereign of the Mughal dynasty, Shah Alam II (1728–1806), who had been placed on the throne by the victorious Afghan King, Ahmad Shah Durrani. The emperor, with progressively dwindling powers and shrinking territory, was beset with a host of insurgencies. In the year 1773, Agra was occupied by bands of Jats, who were pillaging the city, raiding Lal Qilla and Taj Mahal. At this difficult time, Samru Sahib provided crucial help to the Mughal army which drove Jats out of the city. The emperor was so appreciative of the help that he rewarded the Austrian mercenary with the estate of Sardhana, with annual revenue of six lakh rupees, and bestowed upon him a royal Sanad.
Begum Samru was an active participant in her husband’s various campaigns. In fact, author John Lall comments that “Reinhardt would have been completely lost in the snake pit of intrigues without his begum’s intervention, active and behind the scene.” Samru, however, did not last long to enjoy his sovereignty over Sardhana and, after thirteen years of marriage, died in 1778. Begum Samru became a widow at the young age of 27 years.
The Begum, meanwhile, had already established herself as an able battlefield commander, earning the respect and loyalty of her troops and officers. She had inherited enormous wealth from her husband. Her battlefield exploits became legendary, transforming her into a mystical figure with mythical powers. When the issue of legal succession to the estate came up, she received strong support from both native and European officers of her militia. Emperor Shah Alam, favorably disposed, extended recognition to her as the legitimate heir and ruler of Sardhana. The time soon arrived for Begum Samru to return the favors bestowed upon her by Shah Alam.
The Rohilla chieftain, Ghulam Qadir, described by historians as a crazy, avaricious, ruffian maneuvered himself as the prime minister at Delhi in 1788. Then, he employed the most evil methods to extort money from the old king, treating him and his family in a barbarous manner. Qadir himself brutally blinded Shah Alam with a crude knife, and pulled his beard to humiliate him. However, he could find no money, since there was none.
The news of the emperor’s pathetic condition and shabby treatment generated much sympathy and anger across the region. His supporters, under the command of Begum Samru, fought their way into Delhi, drove Ghulam Qadir out and rescued the old emperor. The grateful monarch honored Begum Samru in the majestic Delhi Red Fort, calling her “his most beloved daughter.” Ghulam Qadir was soon caught and summarily executed.
Begum Samru had an enigmatic, flamboyant personality. Years after the death of her presumed husband, in 1788 she converted to Roman Catholicism and built the largest cathedral in North India, designed by an Italian architect, in her capital of Sardhana. Some of the clergy doubted the sincerity of her conversion. According to author Dalrymple, she continued to observe many Muslim practices, including covering her head. Several European visitors noted that she, unlike most Indian women, on formal occasions adorned a Mughal-style turban, while a servant carried around a hucca for her at dinner parties she hosted. At her court, established Mughal etiquettes were scrupulously observed. Begum Samru had eclectic interests. She took pride in her patronage of Urdu poetry, and the annual Christian festivities also included, an Urdu poetry reading session. Three European mercenaries serving at her court became well-recognized Urdu poets. When the British finally took effective control of India, Governor General Lord Cornwallis reaffirmed her title to the estate of Sardhana. Her highness Farzana Zeb un-Nissa, known as Begum Samru, the first and only Catholic ruler of an Indian state died in 1837. Her age at the time of her death has been reported variably as eighty-five or ninety.
India had not seen a female leader like her, both sagacious and audacious, since the brief reign of Razia Sultana Begum (1205-1240) nearly seven centuries earlier.
