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GARRETT (H. L. O.), THE TRIAL OF BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR, 1932.
GRAFF (VIOLETTE), Lucknow: Memories of a City, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1997.
GUBBINS (MARTIN RICHARD), An Account of the Mutinies in Oudh, R. Bentley, London, 1858.
HALIM SHARAR (ABDUL), Lucknow: The Last Phase of an Oriental Culture, 1915. Translated from the Urdu by Fakhir Hussain and edited by E. S. Harcourt; Paul Elek, London, 1975.
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HOWARD RUSSELL (WILLIAM), My Indian Mutiny Diary, Cassell & Company, London, 1957.
HUSSAIN (SAHIBUDDIN), The 1857 Mutiny, Lucknow, unpublished thesis.
JAMES (LAWRENCE), Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India, Little, Brown & Company, London, 1997.
LLEWELLYN-JONES (ROSIE), A Fatal Friendship: The Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1985. Engaging Scoundrels: True Tales of Old Lucknow, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000.
MALLESON (COLONEL GEORGE BRUCE), The Indian Mutiny of 1857, Seeley and Co., London, 1891.
MISRA (AMARESH), Lucknow: Fire of Grace: The Story of Its Renaissance, Revolution and the Aftermath, Rupa Paperback, New Delhi, 1998.
MUKHERJEE (RUDRANGSHU), Awadh in Revolt 1857-1858: A Study of Popular Resistance, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1984. Spectre of Violence: The 1857 Kanpur Massacres, Penguin Books India, 1998.
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PEMBLE (JOHN), The Raj, the Indian Mutiny, and the Kingdom of Oudh, 1801-1859, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1979.
SANTHA (K. S.), Begums of Awadh, Varanasi, Bharati Prakashan, 1980.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would first of all like to thank my Indian and Pakistani friends for the documents and the precious information they provided during the difficult research involved in the elaboration of this book, where Begum Hazrat Mahal’s life is recounted for the first time.
In particular, my sister-in-law Subhashini Ali in Kanpur.
In Lucknow, Professor Roshan Taqui, Rajkumar Amir Naqi of Mahmudabad, Rajah Suleiman of Mahmudabad, the Rajah of Jehangirabad, Begum Habibullah and the highly cultivated bookshop owner Mr. Ram Advani.
As well as the Amir-ud-Daula Public Library at Kaisarbagh and its director, Nusrat Naheed, who made numerous documents available to me.
In Karachi, I would like to thank the historian and journalist, Said Hassan Khan, my cousin Anees Uddin Ahmed and his wife Yasmine.
In Lahore, late Qamar F. R. Khan and her daughter Nusrat.
In London, my friends Nasreen Rehman and Mariam Faruqui.
In France, for their loyal friendship and their encouragement, I thank Ken Takase, Marie Deslandes, and Rana Kabbani.
And for their hospitality in places conducive to writing: Janine Euvrard, Jacques Blot, Manuela and Olivier Bertin-Mourot, Brendan and Beatrice Murphy, my brother Jean-Roch Naville and his wife Marie-Louise, Princess Rose de Croy as well as Her Excellency Malika Berak, the French Ambassador to Oman.
Lastly, for her careful reading, patience and sensible advice, I thank my friend Ishtar Kettaneh-Mejanes.
I would like to express my gratitude to all the others who supported and helped me, whose names I am unable to include here for lack of space.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
For almost fifteen years, Kenizé Mourad was a reporter and war correspondent, working, most notably, at Le Nouvel Observateur. Her autobiographical novel, Regards from the Dead Princess, has sold over a million copies worldwide and has been translated into over thirty languages. In the City of Gold and Silver is her second novel.
NOTES
* All the quotes followed by an asterisk are taken from historical texts and some have been retranslated from French texts.
* Retranslated from the French.
1Sometimes written as Oudh.
2The local pronunciation of the word “Anglais,” meaning “English,” spread by the French in India.
3Wide stole, supposed to hide the shape of a woman’s body.
4Wide trousers worn by both men and women.
5A loose-fitting tunic falling either just above or somewhere below the knees.
6The women’s quarters. In India, for both Muslims and Hindus, the separation between men and women is known as “purdah.”
7Grand vizier: prime minister; vizier: minister.
8Courteous form of Muslim greeting: the hand is raised to the forehead while bending forwards. The lower one bends, the greater the respect. The tradition of adab flourished in Lucknow, which was known as the centre of the most sophisticated manners in the whole of India.
9Your Majesty, Your Grace.
10Joseph Garcin de Tassy in particular. He was a specialist in Oriental languages, a member of the French Academy and professor of Hindustani at the Imperial School.
11Latticed wooden screens.
12Mahal: the title given to a woman who has given birth to a male heir.
13Hazrat Mahal’s origins are uncertain. She came from a poor family. Another version is that she may have been born in Farrukhabad, two hundred and fifty miles from Lucknow, her father being the caretaker of a mausoleum.
14Velvet or silk hats that were fashionable among the aristocracy.
15Floor-length trousers resembling a wide skirt, ending in a train.
16Embroidery on fine muslin.
17A cone of bitter leaf filled with betel nut chips and a small amount of tobacco that is chewed for a long time before spitting it out.
18Sitar, sarangi: stringed instruments. Tabla: a pair of small drums played by striking them with fingers and palms.
19One of the most popular dances of north India born out of a blend of Hindu and Muslim cultures. Very rhythmical, the feet and arms move very fast, while the bust remains immobile. King Wajid Ali Shah took it to a high level of perfection.
20Excerpt from a poem dedicated to Hazrat Mahal.
21Documents of the time show, in fact, that the terms ‘niggers’ and ‘negroes’ (sic) were commonly employed by the British to designate Indians.
22“The beloved of the world.” Wajid Ali Shah was often called by this name.
23In every state that was not annexed, the East India Company was represented by a British resident. All t
he residents were accountable to the Company’s governor general at the headquarters in Calcutta.
24Khan: a sign of nobility.
25Regional feudal lords who control a number of villages. A taluqdar can sometimes receive the title of rajah or nawab from a king.
26Rice-based dish accompanied by a variety of side dishes.
27Young girls and married women who looked after the cows; they were particularly known for their unconditional devotion to the god Krishna.
28A dome-covered seat, fixed on an elephant’s back, where one or several dignitaries sit.
29Doctor trained in traditional, plant-based medicine.
30One mile is equivalent to 1.6 km.
31For the Shiites, muta, a temporary marriage, is permitted and celebrated by a maulvi, a religious person. In the event of a child being born out of however short a relationship, it allows the child to be recognised and to be entitled to the same advantages as the other children, particularly the inheritance
32Pleated trousers of Mughal origin, well fitted at the calves.
33“Observe purdah!”
34Contrary to the custom that stipulates that women of the royal family remain behind a curtain when receiving a man, for the occasion the Queen Mother has chosen the burqa, which despite everything allows more direct contact.
35In the past, salt was a rare substance, indispensable for survival. “To eat someone’s salt” signifies to owe your life to the person who employs you.
36Literally “the gentlemen’s wives,” as Indians called white women.
37Published in Akola, in the State of Maharashtra.
38In an annexed state, the resident becomes the chief commissioner.
39British soldiers out in India did indeed lead extravagant lifestyles which they were unable to afford on their pay.
40A plain, round, flat wheat bread that serves as a staple.
41Reception hall in the men’s apartments.
42Scholar. Singular of “ulema.”
43Canopied divans topped by golden domes for noble ladies.
44Richly decorated sedan chairs.
45Small hookah made of clay.
46Quranic schools.
47The Punjab, the Sikhs’ homeland, was annexed by the British after the 1846 and 1849 Wars. Defeated, the Sikhs, who were also sworn enemies of the Mughals, chose to side with the British during the Sepoy Revolt.
48Official reception.
49Kanpur is located fifty miles away from Lucknow.
50A Mahratti term for “lady.”
51An evening during which poems are recited and improvised.
52Large house.
53Laddus and burfis: sweetmeats made from milk cream, sugar syrup and flavoured with different spices; gajar halwa: a sweet made from carrots.
54Emperor Akbar, warrior and philosopher, the grandson of Babur, the first great Mughal, reigned from 1542 to 1605 and unified India under his authority.
55The Peacock Throne can be admired today at the Golestan Palace in Tehran.
56The great Mughals took pride in being descended from Timur Lang or Tamerlane.
57Independence—this is the first time the word is used in India. It was taken up by Gandhi sixty years later
58“Down with the British!”
59Sharpened reed or quill pen.
60Traders and moneylenders.
61Long-handled fans made of peacock feathers.
62Sahiban: gentlemen, plural of sahib.
63Monument used for ceremonies, characterised by twelve open archways.
64Wide raised seat, covered with brocade cushions, on which one sits cross-legged.
65A coiled, gold turban decorated with a black pearl at the centre, surmounted by an egret’s feather.
66Percussion instruments.
67Royal decree.
68Hindu scholars.
69“Come on, brave men!”
70Named after a previous resident of Lucknow.
71Indian non-commissioned officers.
72Princely title.
73Court dress worn by men over a churidar.
74Piece of cotton fabric worn by peasants, tied at the waist. One end is brought up through the legs and fixed at the waistband. It was later popularised by Gandhi as the common man’s garment.
75A long, rigid stick used to maintain order.
76Holy mendicants who roam the streets, going from one ashram to the next, and whom the people look up to for their powers.
77Elegiac poems commemorating the martyr Hussain and his followers.
78Cloth worn by men, tied around the waist like a skirt.
79Infidels.
80Siege train: artillery for attacking fortified places.#
81Imperial prince.
82Firoz means turquoise, a stone particularly appreciated by Shia Muslims, who consider it lucky.
83Judge
84Surah 24, verse 31 from The Holy Qur’an (translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali), Wordsworth Edition, 2000.
85Surah 33, verse 59 from The Holy Qur’an (translated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali), Wordsworth Edition, 2000.
86Cannons mounted on wheels that spit fire very rapidly in all directions. They are equipped with a new device which eliminates the need to reload each time, as was the case with traditional cannons.
87Later it was rumoured that the letter was a counterfeit written by the British to divide their adversaries.
88The aristocrats.
89Drawn from British military reports.
90Bed made of woven rope.
91Darling
92A Year of Service in India, Vivian Majendie, London, 1859.
93Decorations did not exist at the time. The sovereign presented court robes or shawls of unbelievable value.
94Popular form of transport: a small carriage.
95Excerpt from My Indian Mutiny Diary, William Russell, 1858.
96ibid., p. 353
97ibid., p. 353.
98ibid., p. 353.
99“Yes, my respected father.”
100Rajah for the Nepalese, sometimes used in Bihar too.
101Mother Mumtaz.
102Respected mother.
103Also called Powayan.
104The British estimate that in the kingdom of Awadh alone about one hundred and fifty thousand fighters were killed, of which thirty-five thousand were sepoys, the others being men belonging to the general population.
105An expression that dates back to the Hundred Years’ War and was imported into India by the French, who had opposed the British from the 18th century onwards.
106As confirmed by a report by General Ramsay, the British resident in Nepal: “So far, the rebels have committed no outrages in the Terai, they pay for everything they take and treat the village authorities with deference and respect.” Excerpt from Foreign Political Consultation, National Archives of India, New Delhi.
107Brazier.
108Azimullah is to be assassinated in Istanbul, certainly eliminated for political reasons.
109In a letter to the governor general in Calcutta, the resident writes: “Although he is not willing to admit it, he is not sure he will be obeyed if he was to send his army to fight
the fugitives. He even fears it will lead to a revolt. The army leaders in fact consider that an unconditional amnesty should be granted to all the rebels: from the leaders to the lowest soldiers.”
110Nepali script identical to Hindi.
111The only one who manages to escape is Firoz Shah, “the prince of Delhi.” He is able to flee via Kandahar, Bukhara and Teheran, and finally stops at Mecca, where he dies in misery in 1877.
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