Farzana: The Tumultous Life and Times of Begum Sumru

An abolsutely brilliant work by Julia Keay. Reminds one of the melancholy prose of her husband - John. Became his fan when i first read the Great Arc - the epic story of how India was mapped by the Theodolyte. Since then, have always kept my ears open for the name Keay, and i was wonderfully rewarded when i read the other Keay. Regrettably, as the introduction by William Dalrymple mentioned, she passed on soon after the first draft of this work was finished. That made me deeply sad, for, from this pen so many works could have been inked, telling those stories of people in times that have since flown off trees like leaves in winter, leaving the bare reality of what we know standing firm - stark and without beauty. Leaves that in this case fluttered and swayed gently in the late Mughal period with gusts of intrigue, wars, barbarity, political machinations, guilt, fear, forgiveness, the foolishness of love and betrayal. From a nautch girl to an Empress journeying from Chawri Bazaar to Sardhana and back, but now a Queen in her own right, Farzana is a sweeping narrative that is unputdownable. As John Keay in his afterword mentions, as a homage to the two women who made this book - the main protagonist about whom little is known and the author, who had so much more to tell - "The result is a triumph, - both for her who wrote nothing, and for her who would have so loved to have written more." RIP Julia Keay, with the knowledge that you still can tell the most wondrous of stories, from far beyond the grave.

It is a neat sketch of India's history unknown to most. The details and their veracity are nicely taken care of.A must read for all, specially for every Indian.

Never knew that a lady such as the heroine of this great book could have a head strong personality to alter and charm the people and their views around her and make them do her bidding.

I've read about Begum Sumru and her relationship with Walter Reinhardt. I also read about how she propped up the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam.However, my information about this incredible lady was always sketchy. Julia Keay, bless her soul, did us a favor by writing this incredible book. It was her last book before her death.Julia starts with a brief introduction to the nautch girl culture and how the British later denigrated them (as they denigrated tawaifs). We lost much of our cultural heritage because of this.Farzana's beginnings were inauspicious, as was the life of the renegade mercenary Walter Reinhardt. Their meeting changed their lives.They set up a small private army, later supporting the Mughal Empire.Julia Keay's account is exemplary, depicting her rise, loyalty to the king, humane treatment of Walter's wife, and ability to reinvent herself. Farzana's steely resolve and excellent administrative skills shine through in the tale, as does her military prowess.In the end, everything collapsed after her death, with no viable successor. Her buildings survive, as does Bhagirath Palace - her old home.An excellent tale of a remarkable woman.

I had come across the name of Begum Samru frequently when reading about Delhi in the days of the East India Company, but had no idea what her claim to fame was.Then I came across this book by Julia Keay and was amazed as I followed the journey of a “nautch girl” from a kotha in Chauri Bazar in Delhi to the status of royalty during the twilight years of the Mughal era.Farzana (1746-1836) was the daughter of a Kashmiri dancing girl and an Arab soldier. She herself became a nautch girl in Delhi's Chauri Bazar where she was spotted by a German mercenary, Walter Reinahrdt 'Sombre' (Indianised to Samru) who was then in the service of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam.Samru was besotted by Farzana's beauty and took her as his 'bibi'. (Much like today's live-in couples, Europeans those days often had Indian bibis who were virtually their unwed wives as long as they were in India.) Farzana was 15 and Sombre 45.Shah Alam felt much obliged to Sombre because of his military help and gave him, in reward, the jagir of Sardhana, a large estate of about 800 square miles in Haryana. As Samru's bibi, Farzana became known as Begum Samru.Farzana was a spirited girl, and soon she was riding out with the troops on every sortie that Sombre led, getting close to the action and learning useful lessons on how to lead and how not to conduct a military campaign.Within five years of leaving her kotha in Chauri Bazar, Farzana had grown into "an assertive twenty- year-old, as secure in Reinhardt's affections as in those of his men, party to all their decisions, and a respected member of the wider freelance fraternity. She rode with the best and jested with the least."Farzana had occasion to meet Shah Alam as Reinhardt's bibi. She treated him with flattering deference, yet was not afraid to speak her mind; and he, like Reinhardt, came to value her judgement and delight in her company.At Sardhana Farzana proved herself as an outstanding manager and soon European visitors were marvelling at the estate's productivity and prosperity.In 1780, when Farzana was 34, Reinhardt died. Given her informal relationship with him, she faced a return to oblivion. But she was made of sterner stuff. To her "opportunities were there to be grasped, adversities to be defied."She worked her charm on Pauli, Reinhardt's second-in-command of his military brigade and won him over. She then leveraged her rapport with Shah Alam who, ere long, not only confirmed the Begum in the charge of the Sardhana Brigade but also in possession of the jagir of Sardhana. Thus she became an independent ruling princess with an army of her own.Just a year after Reinhardt's death, Farzana converted to Roman Catholicism. No explanation is available for this. But she was the only Roman Catholic ruler that India has ever had.After Pauli, Farzana had another European lover in an English mercenary named George Thomas and later formally married a French soldier of fortune named Pierre Antoine Levassoult.The Frenchman was much disliked by the brigade and the troops, once so loyal to the Begum, revolted. Levassoult was killed and Farzana herself lashed to a canon and left to perish in the hot sun. Unwilling to give up, she managed to send word to her estranged lover George Thomas who rushed to her rescue and effected a rapprochement between the Begum and her army.By now Begum Samru had acquired legendary status. The musical soirees and dinners that she frequently hosted attracted the créme de la créme of Indian society. She was described as 'a Taj Mahal whom no foreign visitor could afford to miss'.When Begum Samru died at age 90 in 1836, her funeral would have been the envy of any prince. But Farzana had died childless. She had adopted a son but the British went back on their written assurance to her, took over her estate, and very soon Begum Samru was all but forgotten

Farzana, by Julia Keay, is beautifully written and at times the reader will be teleported by vivid descriptions and elegant passages to the Mughal era. It is the story of Begum Sumru of Sardhana - she was born to a Nautch woman and herself became one after her mother Zeldah was thrown out after her husband's death. Farzana's story follows a similar course, but is 'discovered' by Walter Reinhardt, who takes her with him - as was customary during those days to have a Bibi.She was saddened by the suicide of Pierre Antoine Levassoult, who killed himself thinking Farzana had killed herself first to escape their revolting brigade. However, Farzana, maybe out of desperation or from lust, once again had a new partner: George Thomas. Her story is not just hers but also of the decline of Mughal Empire pitched against the British Empire, and also a tale of the ways of an era long gone by.

Very interesting.....