Begum Hazrat Mahal



Begum Hazrat Mahal

Queen of Awadh

 

Her maiden name was Muhammadi Khanum and she was born at Faizabad, Awadh, She was a courtesan by profession and had been taken into the royal harem as a Khawasin, after being sold by her parents to Royal agents . Then promoted to a Pari. She became a Begum after being accepted as a royal concubine of the King of Oudh. She was also known as the 'Begum of Awadh' after marriage with Lucknow ruler, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. She was bestowed the title 'Hazrat Mahal' after the birth of their son, Birjis Qadr.

The British had annexed Oudh in 1856 and Wajid Ali Shah was exiled to Calcutta. After, her husband was exiled to Calcutta; she took charge of the affairs of the state of Awadh despite her divorce from the Nawab, which then was a large part of the current state of Uttar Pradesh, India.

 Begum Hazrat Mahal was a great Indian freedom-fighter.She played a major role in India's first struggle for independence against the British. Begum Hazrat Mahal was gifted with inborn qualities of physical charm and organizational skills. . She worked in cooperation with a group of supporters, like Sarafad-daulah, Maharaj Bal Krishna, Raja Jai Lal and Mammon Khan to revive the fortunes of Awadh.

During India's First War of independence (1857-58), Hazrat Mahal led a band of her supporters and worked in close association with leaders including Nana Saheb. Hazrat Begum was not only a good strategist but also fought in the battlefield. For six months she defended Lucknow from the British army.

The people of Oudh supported her and she proclaimed independence from the British rule. She fought bravely and had urged the rural folk to take part in the war. Along side Nana Sahib, Rani Laxmi Bai, Tatya Tope, Bakht Khan and Maulvi Ahmadullah, she played a unique role in the 1857 struggle.

She fought to regain the territory lost to the British. She was able to seize control of Lucknow and declared her 14-year-old son, Prince Birjis Qadr, as the King of Avadh. When her forces lost the battle, she escaped from Lucknow and tried to organize soldiers again in other places. She joined the Maulvi of Faizabad in the attack on Shahjahanpur.

She rejected the offer to accept a pension of Rs12 lakh allowance and status held out to her by the British against whom her hatred was unrelenting.

The role of Begum Hazrat Mahal in the first full scale war of independence to overthrow the British rule (1857) is often overlooked. Like Bahadur Shah Zafar, she also couldn’t get buried in her motherland, and her grave in Kathmandu (Nepal) has somehow survived 150 years.

She spent some time in Terai and ultimately left for Nepal. After bearing misfortune and misery throughout the period of resistance, she died in 1879. Begum Hazrat Mahal's grave is in an Imambara, in Nepal's capital. Rana Jang Bahadur who had given refuge to Begam and her seven companions ordered the construction of the grave.

Postal Stamp

 

Begum Hazrat Mahal is an icon of the India's first Freedom Struggle. To commemorate her contributions to the Indian Independence, the stamp was issued in her honor in 10th May, 1984 by the Government of India.

Begum Hazrat Mahal Park

 

On 15 August 1962, she was honored at a simple yet serious ceremony in the old Victoria Park. A marble memorial was announced as open that was built by the state Government in the memory of the Begum as she played a very crucial role during the era of the first freedom movement in 1857. This memorial was adorned with strings of flowers and brightened by multi-colored bulbs and neon tubes. There is also a marble tablet that has four round brass plaques that bear the Coat of Arms of Awadh Royal Family.

Here are few notable quotes on the Queen of Oudh - Begum Hazrat Mahal:

"She was a better man than her husband and lord"-S. N. Sen

"She wiped out the blot of cowardice from the face of the ruling family of Avadh"-Prince Anjum Quder

"Begum Hazrat Mahal, Raja Jia Lal ....they were the lodestar of the first war of independence"-Roshan Taqui

"Hazrat Mahal, Begum of Oudh, during the national liberation uprising of 1857-59 in India headed the rebels"-Karl

"Begum Hazrat Mahal of Oudh was the last of the breed of able queens and generals. The queen led her kingdom's army into battle during the revolt of 1857. Even after she was defeated she defied Queen Victoria's famous Proclamation and issued a counter Proclamation...."-Qurratulain Hyder