This book explores the remarkable life of Begum Samru (c. 1750–1836), a North Indian ruler who rose from courtesan to sovereign, using art and architecture to navigate power in early modern India. A key ally of the Mughal emperor and the East India Company, she engaged with global leaders, patronized Catholic institutions, and forged a unique political identity. Through her story, the book reveals how women defied gender norms to shape public and political spheres in innovative ways.
Begum Samru (b. circa 1750-d. 1836) was a north Indian woman ruler who used art and architecture to facilitate her social, political, and financial station in early modern India. Rising from the ranks of courtesans in Mughal Delhi to become the commander of her own mercenary army, she later became the ruler of an independent territory of Sardhana (60 km northwest of Delhi). The begum (Urdu/ Hindustani title for noblewoman) was a trusted ally to the Mughal emperor and the English East India Company, two of the dominant political powers in north India at the time. As a sovereign ruler, she corresponded with two popes and King Louis Philippe of France, exchanging portraits, architectural drawings, and letters with these powerful men in addition to her Mughal counterparts in India. Art and architecture played a key role in establishing Begum Samru as a powerful but non-threatening ruler; as an upholder and patron of the Catholic faith in India; as a political ally to several European and Indian factions that were vying for power; and as ruling matriarch of a cosmopolitan household, court, and army. In narrating the story of a single woman in nineteenth-century India, this book offers a path to think of the creative ways in which women participated in public and political spheres. It also illustrates how women without pedigree, women who did not bear biological children or produce male heirs, and women who lived in contravention of gendered norms found alternative methods of recognition, dignity, power, and sometimes, as in the case of Begum Samru, global visibility.
