Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan was a person mentioned with awe in Almora, the small town which is also my birthplace. Since her family and mine had been close for two generations, I practically grew up on anecdotes about her achievements. The extent of these achievements became real to me only after I discovered a file of press cuttings with her nephew Jitendra Kumar Pant. That was when it struck me that her life story would make a remarkable book. Years later, when circumstances and good fortune brought it about, Jitendra, ‘Jitu’ to me, was extremely cooperative about sharing all the information he had about the family history and Begum Ra’ana’s subsequent life in Pakistan, despite his deteriorating health. Sadly, he passed away before this biography came into print. My heartfelt acknowledgment and thanks to Jitu.
Only family members can provide those incidents of everyday life that make a personality real. I am extremely grateful to the Begum’s younger son Akber Liaquat Ali Khan for sharing whatever childhood memories he could dig up, considering he was just six years old at the time of Partition, which is where my portion of the book ends.
Rati Sawhney is one of the few people in this country who had close contact with Begum Ra’ana, as her younger sister Meera Sawhney’s niece-in-law. Many thanks, Rati, for your kindness in sharing personal memories of this remarkable lady, putting me in touch with Akber and giving patient ear to my constant requests for information. Also connecting me to Vishwanath Anand who obliged me by sharing his memories of Meera Sawhney to round off the image of Ra’ana’s family.
No matter how much information you gather, the picture seems incomplete sometimes. Meera Pant, the wife of Begum Ra’ana’s nephew, the late Hemant Pant, obligingly helped to fill in many puzzling gaps over several conversations. She shared various details about the Begum’s other siblings, and thus helped create a more complete portrait in my mind. Many thanks, Meera, for your enthusiastic inputs. I am very grateful to her son Rahul too for sharing the family photographs with me.
Many fascinating details were shared by Sanjay Joshi, a historian working on the subject of conversion in Kumaon, who spent considerable time in Almora. Thanks so much, Sanjay, for helping to add depth and colour to this portrait.
Begum Ra’ana’s stint as a lecturer in Indraprastha College, Delhi, before she married Liaquat Ali Khan, represents a significant period of her life. I offer earnest thanks to Dr Babli Saraf, the present principal, and Dr Meena Bhargava of the history department for permitting access to the college museum and archives and guiding me through them. Discovering letters written by Irene Pant brought me closer to her and provided invaluable insights into her character.
A complete and detailed biography of Begum Ra’ana does not exist, surprisingly, so I had to glean information from biographical sketches like the one written by her lifelong companion Kay Miles, newspaper interviews, biographies of her husband Liaquat Ali Khan and other books on the freedom movement, studies and articles. They are all listed in my bibliography.
And how can I forget my lively co-author Tahmina Aziz Ayub, with whom I shared this voyage of discovery. Thanks a ton, Tahmina, for all the snippets of information we shared and the fun chitchat.
There is another person who made a huge contribution to this book—our charming editor Ranjana Sengupta. Ever patient and ever forthcoming with her insightful comments and suggestions. It’s been wonderful to work with you, Ranjana, many, many thanks!
Heartfelt thanks to my husband Dilip too, who provided supportive companionship and useful advice during our numerous trips to Almora.
Writing this book has been an illuminating experience indeed. I fervently hope this portrait of a remarkable woman will reach out to and resonate with many readers.
Namita Gokhale
This book is a composite of many memories and recollections. My gratitude to Dhruv and Rati Sawhney for so generously sharing their vivid recollections; Ina Chhabra and Vayu Naidu for help with research inputs; Maliha Khan for her valuable perspectives and Maha Khan Phillips and Mariam Saeedullah for a glimpse into the past.
I’m indebted to Laila Sarfaraz for her invaluable insights in the Afterword into Begum Ra’ana Liaquat Ali Khan’s great contribution to APWA and to the cause of women’s empowerment in the subcontinent.
Muneeza Shamsie, Ameena Saiyid and Razi Ahmed gave this book their constant support; T.C.A. Raghavan pointed us towards relevant books and articles and was a wise and learned sounding board.
My thanks also to the hardworking team at Oxford University Press Pakistan, particularly to Noman Ahmed for all their help.
Finally, this book would not have been possible without our stellar editor Ranjana Sengupta and the able support of Anushree Kaushal and Saloni Mital and all at Penguin Random House India, particularly Gunjan Ahlawat for the inspired cover.
THE BEGINNING
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This collection published 2019
Copyright © Deepa Agarwal and Tahmina Aziz Ayub 2019
The moral right of the author has been asserted
Jacket images © Ahlawat Gunjan
ISBN 978-0-670-09118-8
This digital edition published in 2018.
e-ISBN: 978-9-353-05450-2
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The Begum Page 20