Bhopal Begum Strikes Back

Sultan Jahan made quick preparations for her journey to England and boarded the SS Kaiser-e-Hind in September 1925, accompanied by her son, her three granddaughters, her nephews (Obaidullah Khan’s sons), the usual retinue of ministers, relatives, household staff and the inevitable jars of pickles and spices.

Throughout England’s bleak winter of 1925-26, the Begum fought a battle that was almost lost, but her tenacity, her passion and her pleading left all her interlocutors if not impressed, deeply moved by her arguments. Young Hamidullah also helped his cause by cutting the figure of the loyal Begum and her ‘educated’ debonair, sporting son who had received a decoration for his effort in the war, rubbing out some of the imagery of an anti-British pro-Turkish rebel. Long after the allure of England’s social round had faded and the Begum’s stock of spices and pickles depleted, the Begum stuck it out, in pursuit of the only aim left in her life. The Begum made her rounds of calls on British royalty, presenting to the young Duke of York (later King George VI) and the Duchess a ceremonial offering of chatti, a traditional Muslim ceremony, in which, on the sixth day after the birth of an heir, family members carry gifts to the parents household, on the birth of their daughter Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II).

King George V and Queen Mary received the loyal Begum at Buckingham palace. Sultan Jahan launched herself into a tirade of bathos, loyalty and pleading for justice. King George was sympathetic, but explained the he was only a constitutional monarch. Sultan Jahan refused to accept, responding the British monarchy had always sustained the women rulers of Bhopal. She reminded His Majesty that women’s rule in Bhopal had only been possible because of Queen Victoria’s support. She had been like a mother to the Begums and her grandson could not turn away Queen Victoria’s ‘daughter’. With this emotional and heart-rending appeal, Sultan Jahan burst into tears and fainted! This led to consternation in the King’s chamber and Queen Mary appeared, calling for smelling salts and water to help the Begum recover composure. Undoubtedly, the scene was embarrassing, but it also created a deep feeling of sympathy for the loyal, venerable and dignified Begum.

The wave started to turn against Habibullah and in favor of Hamidullah. Sir Arthur Hertzel, Under Secretary to the Secretary of State for India in London, questioned the basis on which Delhi’s legal foundations had been built in favor of Habibullah. Hertzel’s letter was immediately followed up by Lord Birkenhead’s telegram to the Viceroy, calling for a re-examination of the case. Reading was forced to send the case back, a fourth time, to his advisors for further scrutiny. Hertzel had commented regarding practices in Muslim states in pre-Mutiny days, which were glossed over previously. These were brought out and practices in all Muslim states – ranging from Egypt to Iran – examined in great details. By December 1925, the India Office’s legal torpedoes from London had holed the Viceroy’s ship in Delhi. On 24^th December, Reading overruled Thompson and reversed his earlier decision. After London agreeing to the withdrawal of the 21^st May memorandum, the Viceroy’s Council signed a second memorandum supporting Hamidullah’s claim on 14^th January 1926. Rarely if ever had the British government in India reversed itself on a decision of such importance. Within seven months of the first memorandum (21 May), the Viceroy proffered legal arguments justifying a 180-degree turn in the second memorandum (14 January).