Annette Susannah Beveridge (née Akroyd) (1842–1929) was a British
Orientalist known for her translation of the ''
Humayun-nama'' and the ''
Babur-nama''.
Background and education
Annette Akroyd's father William Akroyd was a
Unitarian industrialist associated with the establishment of the
Bedford College, London
file:Bedford College in York place - photographer is unknown but guess 1908.png, Bedford College was in York Place after 1874
Bedford College was founded in London in 1849 as the first higher education college for education of women, women in th ...
in 1849, where she completed her study in 1863.
Works in India
In October 1872, she sailed for
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 ...
. Around 1875, she was involved in a public controversy with
Keshub Chandra Sen
Keshub Chandra Sen ( bn, কেশবচন্দ্র সেন; also spelled Keshab Chunder Sen; 19 November 1838 – 8 January 1884) was a Hindu philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within ...
, an Indian philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought. Akroyd was shocked by her discussions with him and felt that Sen, who spoke up for women's education in England, was a typical Hindu obscurantist back home in India, trying to keep knowledge from the minds of women. This dispute spilled into the native press and had its impact on the
Bethune School
Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879.
...
. Akroyd was also dismayed with Sen's associates such as
Bijoy Krishna Goswami
Bijoy Krishna Goswami (; 2 August 1841 – 4 June 1899) was a prominent Hindu social reformer and religious figure in India during the British period.
Brahmo Samaj was started at Calcutta on 20 August 1828 by Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Debendran ...
,
Aghore Nath Gupta and
Gour Govinda Ray, who were traditionally Hindu in educational background and resisted the education of women.
:"Mr. Sen had a strong prejudice against university education, in fact, against what is generally regarded as high education, of women. He objected to teaching them, for instance, such subjects as Mathematics, Philosophy and Science, whereas the advanced party positively wanted to give their daughters and sisters what is generally regarded as high education. They did not object to their university education and were not disposed to make much difference in point of education between men and women. There was no hope of compromise between two such extreme schools of thought, Accordingly, the radical party proceeded to start a separate female school of their own, called the
Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya
Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya (School for Hindu Women) was an all-female boarding school located at 22 Beniapukur Lane, Entally, Kolkata, India.Bagal, Jogesh Chandra, ''History of the Bethune School and College (1849-1949)'' in ''Bethune College and Sc ...
for the education of the adult young ladies belonging to their party. The successful manner in which they carried on the work of this school under Miss Akroyd, subsequently Mrs. Beveridge, attracted much public notice and was highly praised by the officers of Government. This school did excellent work for many years and was subsequently conducted under the name of the
Banga Mahila Vidyalaya
Banga may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''Banga'' (album), a 2012 album by Patti Smith
* A song by Ali Shaheed Muhammad from the 2004 album '' Shaheedullah and Stereotypes''
* The name of Pontius Pilate's dog in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel ' ...
and was at last amalgamated with the
Bethune College
Bethune College is a women's college located on Bidhan Sarani in Kolkata, India, and affiliated to the University of Calcutta. It is the oldest women's college in India. It was established as a girls' school in 1849, and as a college in 1879.
...
for ladies, to which it furnished some of its most distinguished students."
Translation
Annette Beveridge translated the diaries of the first
Mughal Emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...
Babur
Babur ( fa, , lit= tiger, translit= Bābur; ; 14 February 148326 December 1530), born Mīrzā Zahīr ud-Dīn Muhammad, was the founder of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. He was a descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan through his ...
, the
Baburnama
The ''Bāburnāma'' ( chg, ; literally: ''"History of Babur"'' or ''"Letters of Babur"''; alternatively known as ''Tuzk-e Babri'') is the memoirs of Ẓahīr-ud-Dīn Muhammad Bābur (1483–1530), founder of the Mughal Empire and a great-great- ...
, publishing it in four books from 1912 to 1922. She used both Persian and Turki sources.
She also translated the biography of the second
Mughal Emperor
The Mughal emperors ( fa, , Pādishāhān) were the supreme heads of state of the Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent, mainly corresponding to the modern countries of India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The Mughal rulers styled t ...
,
Humayun
Nasir-ud-Din Muhammad ( fa, ) (; 6 March 1508 – 27 January 1556), better known by his regnal name, Humāyūn; (), was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, who ruled over territory in what is now Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Northern ...
, from Persian into English. The memoir had been written by his sister
Gulbadan Begum
Gulbadan Begum ( 1523 – 7 February 1603) was a Mughal princess and the daughter of Emperor Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire.
She is best known as the author of ''Humayun-Nama'', the account of the life of her half-brother, Empero ...
, whom Beveridge affectionately called "Princess Rosebud".
Her other translated works include ''The key of the hearts of beginners'', 1908.
Marriage and children
She married
Henry Beveridge of the
Indian Civil Service
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947.
Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...
.
The couple had two children: a daughter, Annette Jeanie Beveridge (d. 1956), who went up to
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
in 1899 and married
R. H. Tawney
Richard Henry Tawney (30 November 1880 – 16 January 1962) was an English economic historian, social critic, ethical socialist,Noel W. Thompson. ''Political economy and the Labour Party: the economics of democratic socialism, 1884-2005''. 2nd ...
,
[Chapter 2 "Courtship and marriage", of ''The Life of R. H. Tawney: Socialism and History'' By Lawrence Goldman] and a son,
William Beveridge
William Henry Beveridge, 1st Baron Beveridge, (5 March 1879 – 16 March 1963) was a British economist and Liberal politician who was a progressive and social reformer who played a central role in designing the British welfare state. His 194 ...
(1879–1963), a noted economist who gave his name to
the report associated with the foundation of the
welfare state
A welfare state is a form of government in which the state (or a well-established network of social institutions) protects and promotes the economic and social well-being of its citizens, based upon the principles of equal opportunity, equitabl ...
.
[
The Beveridges lived at Pitfold, Shottermill, ]Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
, England.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beveridge, Annette
1842 births
1929 deaths
People from Stourbridge
English orientalists
English Indologists
English translators
English women non-fiction writers
Translators from Persian
British social reformers
English educational theorists