Mohammed Abdul Karim (1863 — 20 April 1909), also known as "the Munshi", was an
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
attendant of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
. He served her during the final fourteen years of her reign, gaining her maternal affection over that time.
Karim was born the son of a hospital assistant at
Lalitpur, near
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...
in
British India
The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...
. In 1887, the year of
Victoria's Golden Jubilee, Karim was one of two Indians selected to become servants to the Queen. Victoria came to like him a great deal and gave him the title of "
Munshi
Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in the Mughal Empire and India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, ...
" ("clerk" or "teacher"). Victoria appointed him to be her Indian Secretary, showered him with honours, and obtained a land grant for him in India.
The close platonic
relationship between Karim and the Queen led to friction within the
Royal Household, the other members of which felt themselves to be superior to him. The Queen insisted on taking Karim with her on her travels, which caused arguments between her and her other attendants. Following Victoria's death in 1901, her successor,
Edward VII
Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.
The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
, returned Karim to India and ordered the confiscation and destruction of the Munshi's correspondence with Victoria. Karim subsequently lived quietly near
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
, on the estate that Victoria had arranged for him, until his death at the age of 46.
Early life
Mohammed Abdul Karim was born into a
Muslim family at Lalitpur near
Jhansi
Jhansi (; Hindi: झांसी, Urdu: ) is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme south of Uttar Pradesh. Jhansi is the administrative head ...
in 1863. His father, Haji Mohammed Waziruddin, was a hospital assistant stationed with the
Central India Horse
The Central India Horse (formerly the 21st King George V's Own Horse, also known as Beatson's Horse) was a regular cavalry regiment of the British Indian Army and is presently part of the Indian Army Armoured Corps.
Formation
The regiment was r ...
, a British cavalry regiment. Karim had one older brother, Abdul Aziz, and four younger sisters. He was taught
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
and
privately and, as a teenager, travelled across North India and into Afghanistan. Karim's father participated in the conclusive
march to Kandahar, which ended the
Second Anglo-Afghan War
The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...
, in August 1880. After the war, Karim's father transferred from the Central India Horse to a civilian position at the Central Jail in
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
, while Karim worked as a ''vakil'' ("agent" or "representative") for the
Nawab
Nawab ( Balochi: نواب; ar, نواب;
bn, নবাব/নওয়াব;
hi, नवाब;
Punjabi : ਨਵਾਬ;
Persian,
Punjabi ,
Sindhi,
Urdu: ), also spelled Nawaab, Navaab, Navab, Nowab, Nabob, Nawaabshah, Nawabshah or Nobab, ...
of
Jaora
Jaora is a city and a municipality in Ratlam district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Jaora is located in the Malwa region, between Ratlam and Mandsaur. It was the capital of the Jaora princely state of Jaora before Independence. During ...
in the Agency of
Agar. After three years in Agar, Karim resigned and moved to Agra, to become a
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
clerk at the jail. His father
arranged a marriage between Karim and the sister of a fellow worker.
Prisoners in the Agra jail were trained and kept employed as carpet weavers as part of their rehabilitation. In 1886, 34 convicts travelled to London to demonstrate carpet weaving at the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition
The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...
in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
. Karim did not accompany the prisoners, but assisted Jail Superintendent
John Tyler
John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president in 1841. He was elected vice president on the 1840 Whig tick ...
in organising the trip, and helped to select the carpets and weavers. When
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
visited the exhibition, Tyler gave her a gift of two gold bracelets, again chosen with the assistance of Karim. The Queen had a longstanding interest in her Indian territories and wished to employ some Indian servants for her
Golden Jubilee. She asked Tyler to recruit two attendants who would be employed for a year. Karim was hastily coached in British manners and in the English language and sent to England, along with Mohammed Buksh. Major-General
Thomas Dennehy
Major-General Sir Thomas Dennehy (1829–1915), born in County Cork, Ireland and educated in Paris, was an administrator in British India.
Dennehy served in the suppression of Sonthal rebellion in 1855–56 and during the Indian Rebellion. He ...
, who was about to be appointed to the
Royal Household, had previously employed Buksh as a servant. It was planned that the two Indian men would initially wait at table, and learn to do other tasks.
Royal servant
![Munshi tuxen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Munshi_tuxen.jpg)
After a journey by rail from
Agra
Agra (, ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital New Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra i ...
to
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...
and by mail steamer to Britain, Karim and Buksh arrived at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original c ...
in June 1887. They were put under the charge of Major-General Dennehy and first served the Queen at breakfast in
Frogmore House
Frogmore House is a 17th-century English country house owned by the Crown Estate. It is a historic Grade I listed building. The house is located on the Frogmore estate, which is situated within the grounds of the Home Park in Windsor, Berkshi ...
at Windsor on 23 June 1887. The Queen described Karim in her diary for that day: "The other, much younger, is much lighter
han Buksh/nowiki>, tall, and with a fine serious countenance. His father is a native doctor at Agra. They both kissed my feet."
Five days later, the Queen noted that "The Indians always wait now and do so, so well and quietly." On 3 August, she wrote: "I am learning a few words of Hindustani to speak to my servants. It is a great interest to me for both the language and the people, I have naturally never come into real contact with before." On 20 August she had some "excellent curry
A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included.
There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in trad ...
" made by one of the servants. By 30 August Karim was teaching her , which she used during an audience in December to greet the Maharani Chimnabai
Maharani Chimnabai (1872 – 23 August 1958), also known as Chimnabai II, was the second wife of Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad of the princely state of Baroda, Gujarat, British India. She is the author of the treatise '' The position of Women in I ...
of Baroda
Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capital ...
.
Victoria took a great liking to Karim and ordered that he was to be given additional instruction in the English language. By February 1888 he had "learnt English wonderfully" according to Victoria. After he complained to the Queen that he had been a clerk in India and thus menial work as a waiter was beneath him, he was promoted to the position of "Munshi
Munshi is a Persian word, originally used for a contractor, writer, or secretary, and later used in the Mughal Empire and India for native language teachers, teachers of various subjects, especially administrative principles, religious texts, ...
" in August 1888. In her journal, the Queen writes that she made this change so that he would stay: "I particularly wish to retain his services as he helps me in studying Hindustani, which interests me very much, & he is very intelligent & useful." Photographs of him waiting at table were destroyed and he became the first Indian personal clerk to the Queen. Buksh remained in the Queen's service, but only as a ''khidmatgar'' or table servant, until his death at Windsor in 1899.
According to Karim biographer Sushila Anand, the Queen's own letters testify that "her discussions with the Munshi were wide-ranging—philosophical, political, and practical. Both head and heart were engaged. There is no doubt that the Queen found in Abdul Karim a connection with a world that was fascinatingly alien, and a confidant who would not feed her the official line." Karim was placed in charge of the other Indian servants and made responsible for their accounts. Victoria praised him in her letters and journal. "I am so very fond of him" she wrote, "He is so good & gentle & understanding all I want & is a real comfort to me." She admired "her personal Indian clerk & Munshi, who is an excellent, clever, truly p us & very refined gentle man, who says, 'God ordered it' ... ''God's Orders'' is what they implicitly obey! Such faith as theirs & such conscientiousness set us a g ea. example." At Balmoral Castle, the Queen's Scottish estate, Karim was allocated the room previously occupied by John Brown, a favourite servant of the Queen who had died in 1883.[ Despite the serious and dignified manner that Karim presented to the outside world, the Queen wrote that "he is very friendly and cheerful with the Queen's maids and laughs and even jokes now—and invited them to come and see all his fine things offering them fruit cake to eat".][Anand, p. 18]
Household hostility
In November 1888, Karim was given four months' leave to return to India, during which time he visited his father. Karim wrote to Victoria that his father, who was due to retire, had hopes of a pension and that his former employer, John Tyler, was angling for promotion. As a result, throughout the first six months of 1889, Victoria wrote to the Viceroy of India
The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...
, Lord Lansdowne, demanding action on Waziruddin's pension and Tyler's promotion. The Viceroy was reluctant to pursue the issues because Waziruddin had told the local governor, Sir Auckland Colvin
Sir Auckland Colvin (1838–1908) was a colonial administrator in India and Egypt, born into the Anglo-Indian Colvin family. He was comptroller general in Egypt (1880–2), and financial adviser to the Khedive (1883–87). From 1883–92 he wa ...
, that he desired only gratitude and also because Tyler had a reputation for tactless behaviour and bad-tempered remarks.
Karim's swift rise began to create jealousy and discontent among the members of the Royal Household, who would normally never mingle socially with Indians below the rank of prince. The Queen expected them to welcome Karim, an Indian of ordinary origin, into their midst, but they were not willing to do so. Karim, for his part, expected to be treated as an equal. When Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), hosted an entertainment for the Queen at his home in Sandringham Sandringham can refer to:
Places
* Sandringham, New South Wales, Australia
* Sandringham, Queensland, Australia
* Sandringham, Victoria, Australia
**Sandringham railway line
**Sandringham railway station
**Electoral district of Sandringham
* Sand ...
on 26 April 1889, Karim found he had been allocated a seat with the servants. Feeling insulted, he retired to his room. The Queen took his part, stating that he should have been seated among the Household. When the Queen attended the Braemar Games in 1890, her son Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, approached the Queen's private secretary, Sir Henry Ponsonby
Major-General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (10 December 182521 November 1895) was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary.
Biography
Born in Corfu, he was the son of Major-General Sir Frede ...
, in outrage after he saw the Munshi among the gentry. Ponsonby suggested that as it was "by the Queen's order", the Duke should approach the Queen about it. "This entirely shut him up", noted Ponsonby.
Victoria biographer Carolly Erickson described the situation:
The rapid advancement and personal arrogance of the Munshi would inevitably have led to his unpopularity, but the fact of his race made all emotions run hotter against him. Racialism was a scourge of the age; it went hand in hand with belief in the appropriateness of Britain's global dominion. For a dark-skinned Indian to be put very nearly on a level with the queen's white servants was all but intolerable, for him to eat at the same table as them, to share in their daily lives was viewed as an outrage. Yet the queen was determined to impose harmony on her household. Race hatred was intolerable to her, and the "dear good Munshi" deserving of nothing but respect.
When complaints were brought to her, Victoria refused to believe any negative comments about Karim. She dismissed concerns about his behaviour, deemed high-handed by Household and staff, as "very wrong". In June 1889, Karim's brother-in-law, Hourmet Ali, sold one of Victoria's brooches to a jeweller in Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
. She accepted Karim's explanation that Ali had found the brooch and that it was customary in India to keep anything that one found, whereas the rest of the Household thought Ali had stolen it. In July, Karim was assigned the room previously occupied by James Reid, Victoria's physician, and given the use of a private sitting room.
The Queen, influenced by the Munshi, continued to write to Lord Lansdowne on the issue of Tyler's promotion and the administration of India. She expressed reservations on the introduction of elected councils on the basis that Muslims would not win many seats because they were in the minority, and urged that Hindu feasts be rescheduled so as not to conflict with Muslim ones. Lansdowne dismissed the latter suggestion as potentially divisive, but appointed Tyler Acting Inspector General of Prisons in September 1889.[Basu, p. 74]
To the Household's surprise and concern, during Victoria's stay at Balmoral in September 1889, she and Karim stayed for one night at a remote house on the estate, Glas-allt-Shiel
Glas-allt-Shiel is a lodge on the Balmoral Estate by the shore of Loch Muick in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In its present form it was built in 1868 by Queen Victoria, who called it Glassalt, to be what she called her "widow's house" where she ...
at Loch Muick
Loch Muick (; Gaelic: Uisge Muice ()) is an upland, freshwater loch lying approximately south of Braemar, Scotland at the head of Glen Muick and within the boundary of the Balmoral estate.
Geography
Loch Muick trends in a southwest and nort ...
. Victoria had often been there with Brown and after his death had sworn never to stay there again.[ In early 1890, Karim fell ill with an inflamed ]boil
A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, which is an infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium '' Staphylococcus aureus'', resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by ...
on his neck and Victoria instructed Reid, her physician, to attend to Karim. She wrote to Reid expressing her anxiety and explaining that she felt responsible for the welfare of her Indian servants because they were so far from their own land.[Basu, p. 76] Reid performed an operation to open and drain the swelling, after which Karim recovered.[ Reid wrote on 1 March 1890 that the Queen was "visiting Abdul twice daily, in his room taking Hindustani lessons, signing her boxes, examining his neck, smoothing his pillows, etc."
]
Land grant and family matters
In 1890, the Queen had Karim's portrait painted by Heinrich von Angeli. According to the Queen, von Angeli was keen to paint Karim as he had never painted an Indian before and "was so struck with his handsome face and colouring". On 11 July, she wrote to Lansdowne, and the Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
, Lord Cross, for "a grant of land to her really exemplary and excellent young Munshi, Hafiz Abdul Karim". The ageing Queen did not trust her relatives and the Royal Household to look after the Munshi after she was gone, and so sought to secure his future. Lansdowne replied that grants of land were given only to soldiers, and then only in cases of long and meritorious service. Nevertheless, the Viceroy agreed to find a grant for Karim that would provide about 600 rupees annually, the same amount that an old soldier could expect after performing exceptionally. Victoria wrote to Lansdowne repeatedly between July and October, pressuring him on the land grant. Apart from wasteland, there was little government-controlled land near Agra; thus Lansdowne was having trouble finding a suitable plot. On 30 October, the Munshi left Balmoral for four months' leave in India, travelling on the same ship as Lady Lansdowne. On the same day, Lord Lansdowne telegraphed the Queen to let her know that a grant of land in the suburbs of Agra had been arranged. Lansdowne made a point of informing the Queen:
Lansdowne visited Agra in November 1890. He and the Munshi met, and Lansdowne arranged for Karim to be seated with the viceregal staff during a durbar
Durbar can refer to:
* Conference of Rulers, a council of Malay monarchs
* Durbar festival, a yearly festival in several towns of Nigeria
* Durbar floor plate, a hot-rolled structural steel that has been designed to give excellent slip resistance ...
. Lansdowne met both the Munshi and Waziruddin privately, and Lady Lansdowne met his wife and mother-in-law, who were smuggled into the Viceroy's camp in secrecy to comply with rules of purdah
Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...
.
In 1891, after Karim's return to Britain, he asked Reid to send his father a large quantity of medicinal compounds, which included strychnine, chloral hydrate
Chloral hydrate is a geminal diol with the formula . It is a colorless solid. It has limited use as a sedative and hypnotic pharmaceutical drug. It is also a useful laboratory chemical reagent and precursor. It is derived from chloral (trichl ...
, morphine
Morphine is a strong opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin in poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as a pain medication, and is also commonly used recreationally, or to make other illicit opioids. T ...
, and many other poisons. Reid calculated that the amount requested was "amply sufficient to kill 12,000 to 15,000 full grown men or an enormously large number of children" and consequently refused.[Basu, p. 100] Instead, Reid persuaded the Queen that the chemicals should be obtained at her expense by the appropriate authorities in India.[ In June 1892, Waziruddin visited Britain and stayed at both Balmoral and Windsor Castles. He retired in 1893 and in the ]New Year Honours
The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...
1894 he was rewarded, to Victoria's satisfaction, with the title of '' Khan Bahadur'', which Lansdowne noted was "one which under ordinary circumstances the Doctor ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
not have ventured to expect".
In May 1892, the Munshi returned to India on six months' leave; on his return, his wife and mother-in-law accompanied him. Both women were shrouded from head to foot and travelled in railway compartments with drawn curtains. Victoria wrote, "the two Indian ladies ... who are, I believe, the first Mohammedan purdah
Pardah or purdah (from Hindi-Urdu , , meaning "curtain") is a religious and social practice of female seclusion prevalent among some Muslim and Hindu communities. It takes two forms: physical segregation of the sexes and the requirement that wom ...
ladies who ever came over ... keep their custom of complete seclusion and of being entirely covered when they go out, except for the holes for their eyes." As a woman, Victoria saw them without veils. The Munshi and his family were housed in cottages at Windsor, Balmoral and Osborne, the Queen's retreat on the Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
.[Basu, p. 107] Victoria visited regularly, usually bringing her female guests, including the Empress of Russia
The emperor or empress of all the Russias or All Russia, ''Imperator Vserossiyskiy'', ''Imperatritsa Vserossiyskaya'' (often titled Tsar or Tsarina/Tsaritsa) was the monarch of the Russian Empire.
The title originated in connection with Russia' ...
and the Princess of Wales, to meet the Munshi's female relatives. One visitor, Marie Mallet, the Queen's maid-in-waiting and wife of civil servant Bernard Mallet, recorded:
Reid never saw Mrs Karim unveiled, though he claimed that whenever he was called to examine her, a different tongue was protruded from behind the veil for his inspection.
In 1892, the Munshi's name began to appear in the Court Circular among the names of officials accompanying the Queen on her annual March trip to the French Riviera. As usual, Victoria spent Christmas 1892 at Osborne House, where the Munshi, as he had in previous years, participated in tableaux vivants
A (; often shortened to ; plural: ), French for "living picture", is a static scene containing one or more actors or models. They are stationary and silent, usually in costume, carefully posed, with props and/or scenery, and may be theatrica ...
arranged as entertainment. The following year, during Victoria's annual holiday in continental Europe, he was presented to King Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
. In the words of a contemporary newspaper account, "The King did not understand why this magnificent and imposing Hindoo should have been formally presented to him. The popular idea in Italy is that the Munshi is a captive Indian prince, who is taken about by the Queen as an outward and visible sign of Her Majesty's supremacy in the East."
By 1893, Victoria was sending notes to Karim signed in Urdu. She often signed off her letters to Karim as "your affectionate mother, VRI" or "your truly devoted and fond loving mother, VRI".
Travels and Diamond Jubilee
The Munshi was perceived to have taken advantage of his position as the Queen's favourite, and to have risen above his status as a menial clerk, causing resentment in the court. On a journey through Italy, he published an advertisement in the ''Florence Gazette'' stating that " /nowiki>e is belonging to a good and highly respectful famiely".[Nelson, p. 82] Karim refused to travel with the other Indians and appropriated the maid's bathroom for his exclusive use. On a visit to Coburg
Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it ...
, he refused to attend the marriage of Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , later Grand Duchess Victoria Feodorovna of Russia (25 November 1876 – 2 March 1936), was the third child and second daughter of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and of Grand Duchess M ...
, because her father, Victoria's son Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert; 6 August 184430 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from ...
, assigned him a seat in the gallery with the servants. Confronted by the opposition of her family and retainers, the Queen defended her favourite. She wrote to her private secretary Sir Henry Ponsonby
Major-General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby (10 December 182521 November 1895) was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary.
Biography
Born in Corfu, he was the son of Major-General Sir Frede ...
: "to make out that the poor good Munshi is so ''low'' is really outrageous & in a country like England quite out of place ... She has known 2 Archbishops who were sons respectively of a Butcher & a Grocer ... Abdul's father saw good & honourable service as a Dr & he arimfeels cut to the heart at being thus spoken of."
Lord Lansdowne's term of office ended in 1894, and he was replaced by Lord Elgin
Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the ...
. Ponsonby's son Frederick Frederick may refer to:
People
* Frederick (given name), the name
Nobility
Anhalt-Harzgerode
*Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670)
Austria
* Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198
* Frederick ...
was Elgin's aide-de-camp in India for a short time before being appointed an equerry to Victoria. Victoria asked Frederick to visit Waziruddin, the "surgeon-general" at Agra.[Ponsonby, Frederick (1951) ''Recollections of Three Reigns'', London: Odhams Press, p. 12, quoted in Basu, p. 120 and Hibbert, p. 449] On his return to Britain, Frederick told Victoria that Waziruddin "was not the surgeon-general but only the apothecary at the jail", which Victoria "stoutly denied" saying Frederick "must have seen the wrong man".[ To "mark her displeasure", Victoria did not invite Frederick to dinner for a year.][
At Christmas 1894, the Munshi sent Lord Elgin a sentimental greeting card, which to Victoria's dismay went unacknowledged. Through Frederick Ponsonby, she complained to Elgin, who replied that he did "not imagine that any acknowledgement was necessary, or that the Queen would expect him to send one", pointing out "how impossible it would be for an Indian Viceroy to enter into correspondence of this kind".
Frederick wrote to Elgin in January 1895 that Karim was deeply unpopular in the Household, and that he occupied "very much the same position as John Brown used to".][ Princesses ]Louise
Louise or Luise may refer to:
* Louise (given name)
Arts Songs
* "Louise" (Bonnie Tyler song), 2005
* "Louise" (The Human League song), 1984
* "Louise" (Jett Rebel song), 2013
* "Louise" (Maurice Chevalier song), 1929
*"Louise", by Clan of ...
and Beatrice, Prince Henry of Battenberg
Prince Henry of Battenberg (Henry Maurice; 5 October 1858 – 20 January 1896) was a morganatic descendant of the Grand Ducal House of Hesse. He became a member of the British royal family by marriage to Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdo ...
, Prime Minister Lord Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...
, and Secretary of State for India
His (or Her) Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for India, known for short as the India Secretary or the Indian Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister and the political head of the India Office responsible for the governance of th ...
Henry Fowler had all raised concerns about Karim with the Queen, who "refused to listen to what they had to say but was very angry, so as you see the Munshi is a sort of pet, like a dog or cat which the Queen will not willingly give up".[Quoted in Anand, p. 54; Basu, p. 125 and Hibbert, p. 451] Elgin was warned by both Ponsonby and the India Office that the Queen gave his letters to the Munshi to read, and that consequently his correspondence to her should not be of a confidential nature. Victoria's advisors feared Karim's association with Rafiuddin Ahmed
Moulvi Sir Rafiuddin Ahmed (1865–1954) was an Indian Muslim barrister, journalist and politician. He was generally known as ''the Moulvi''.''The Times'', 25 March 1954, p. 10, col. E
He was educated at Deccan College, Pune, and King's Coll ...
, an Indian political activist resident in London who was connected to the Muslim Patriotic League. They suspected that Ahmed extracted confidential information from Karim to pass onto the Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan
Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Line Ag ...
. There is no indication that these fears were well-founded, or that the Munshi was ever indiscreet.
During the Queen's annual holiday in the French Riviera, in March 1895, the local newspapers ran articles on ''Le Munchy'', ''secrétaire indien'' and ''le professor de la Reine'', which according to Frederick Ponsonby were instigated by Karim. In the Queen's 1895 Birthday Honours that May, Karim was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:
#Knight Grand Commander (GCIE)
#Knight Commander ( KCIE)
#Companion ( CIE)
No appoi ...
(CIE), despite the opposition of both Rosebery and Fowler.[Basu, p. 130] Tyler was astonished by Karim's elevation when he visited England the following month.[
After the 1895 United Kingdom general election, Rosebery and Fowler were replaced by ]Lord Salisbury
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...
and Lord George Hamilton
Lord George Francis Hamilton (17 December 1845 – 22 September 1927) was a British Conservative Party politician of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who served as First Lord of the Admiralty and Secretary of State for India.
Backgroun ...
respectively. Hamilton thought Karim was not as dangerous as some supposed but that he was "a stupid man, and on that account he may become a tool in the hands of other men."[Hamilton to Elgin, 21 February 1896, quoted in Basu, p. 137; Hibbert, p. 449 and Longford, p. 538] In early 1896, Karim returned to India on six months' leave, and Hamilton and Elgin placed him under "unobtrusive" surveillance.[ They dared not be too obvious lest the Munshi notice and complain to the Queen. Despite fears that Karim might meet with hostile agents, his visit home appears to have been uneventful.
He left Bombay for Britain in August 1896, bringing with him his young nephew, Mohammed Abdul Rashid. Karim had no children of his own. Victoria had arranged for a female doctor to examine the Munshi's wife in December 1893, as the couple had been trying to conceive without success. By 1897, according to Reid, Karim had ]gonorrhea
Gonorrhea, colloquially known as the clap, is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria gonorrhoeae''. Infection may involve the genitals, mouth, or rectum. Infected men may experience pain or burning with u ...
.
In March 1897 as members of the Household prepared to depart for Cimiez for the Queen's annual visit, they insisted that Karim not accompany the royal party, and decided to resign if he did so. When Harriet Phipps, one of the Queen's maids of honour
A maid of honour is a junior attendant of a queen in royal households. The position was and is junior to the lady-in-waiting. The equivalent title and office has historically been used in most European royal courts.
Role
Traditionally, a queen ...
, informed her of the collective decision, the Queen swept the contents of her desk onto the floor in a fury. The Household backed down, but the holiday was marred by increased resentment and rows between the Household and Victoria. She thought their distrust and dislike of Karim was motivated by "race prejudice" and jealousy.[Letter from Frederick Ponsonby to Henry Babington Smith, 27 April 1897, quoted in Anand, pp. 76–77, Basu, p. 148 and Longford, p. 539] When Rafiuddin Ahmed joined Karim in Cimiez, the Household forced him to leave, which Victoria thought "disgraceful", and she asked the prime minister to issue an apology to Ahmed, explaining he was only excluded because he had written articles in newspapers and pressmen were not permitted. Ponsonby wrote in late April, " he Munshihappens to be a thoroughly stupid and uneducated man, and his one idea in life seems to be to do nothing and to eat as much as he can."[ Reid warned the Queen that her attachment to Karim had led to questions about her sanity, and Hamilton telegraphed to Elgin requesting information on the Munshi and his family in an effort to discredit him.][Basu, p. 144] On receiving Elgin's reply that they were "Respectable and trustworthy ... but position of family humble",[ Hamilton concluded "the Munshi has done nothing to my knowledge which is reprehensible or deserving of official stricture ... enquiries w ul not be right, unless they were in connection with some definite statement or accusation." He did, however, authorise further investigation of the "Mohamedan intriguer named Rafiuddin". Nothing was ever proven against Ahmed, who later became a Bombay government official and was knighted in 1932. The effect of the row, in Hamilton's words, was "to put him he Munshimore into his humble place, and his influence will not be the same in the future".
]
After the distress of 1897, Victoria sought to reassure the Munshi. "I have in my Testamentary arrangements secured your comfort," she wrote to him, "and have constantly thought of you well. The long letter I enclose which was written nearly a month ago is ''entirely'' and solely ''my own idea, not a human being will ever'' know of it or what you answer me. If you can't read it I will help you and then burn it ''at once''." She told Reid the squabbles placed her and the Munshi under strain, which he replied was unlikely in the latter's case "judging from his robust appearance and undiminished stoutness". Lord Salisbury told Reid he thought it unlikely in her case too, and that she secretly enjoyed the arguments because they were "the only form of excitement she can have".
Reid seems to have joined with the other Household members in complaining about the Munshi, for the Queen wrote to him, "I thought you stood between me and them, but now I feel that you chime in with the rest." In 1899, members of the Household again insisted that Karim not accompany the royal party when the Queen took her annual holiday at Cimiez. The Queen duly had Karim remain at Windsor, then when the party had settled into the Excelsior Regina hotel, wired Karim to come and join them.
Later life
In late 1898 Karim's purchase of a parcel of land adjacent to his earlier grant was finalised; he had become a wealthy man. Reid claimed in his diary that he had challenged Karim over his financial dealings: "You have told the Queen that in India no receipts are given for money, and therefore you ought not to give any to Sir F Edwards Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse">/nowiki> Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse">/nowiki>Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse">Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse">/nowiki>Keeper_of_the_Privy_Purse/nowiki>._This_is_a_lie_and_means_that_you_wish_to_''cheat''_the_Queen."_The_Munshi_told_the_Queen_he_would_provide_receipts_in_answer_to_the_allegations,_and_Victoria_wrote_to_Reid_dismissing_the_accusations,_calling_them_"shameful".
Karim_asked_Victoria_for_the_title_of_"Nawab_
Nawab_(_Balochi:_نواب;__ar,_نواب;
_bn,_নবাব/নওয়াব;
_hi,_नवाब;
Punjabi_:_ਨਵਾਬ;
_Persian,
Punjabi_,
Sindhi,
Urdu:_),_also_spelled_Nawaab,_Navaab,_Navab,_Nowab,_Nabob,_Nawaabshah,_Nawabshah_or_Nobab,_...