{{Short description|Ruler of Sardhana (c. 1753–1836)}} {{Use Indian English|date=November 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}} {{Infobox royalty | name = Begum Samru | image = File:Lens - Inauguration du Louvre-Lens le 4 décembre 2012, la Galerie du Temps, n° 195.JPG | caption = Portrait of Begum Samru | succession = Ruler of the Principality (''Jagir'') of Sardhana | reign = 1778 − 1836 | predecessor = Walter Reinhardt Sombre | successor = David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre | birth_name = Farzana Zeb-un-Nissa | birth_date = {{circa}} 1753 | birth_place = {{Nowrap|Kutana,<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Reina |editor-last=Pennington|title=Amazons to fighter pilots|date=2003|publisher=Greenwood Press|location=Westport, Conn. [u.a.]|isbn=9780313327070|page=48}}</ref> Meerut, Maratha Confederacy}} | death_date = 27 January {{death year and age|1836|1753}} | death_place = Sardhana, Mughal Empire | burial_place = Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, Sardhana | education = | spouse = Walter Reinhardt Sombre | occupation = Nautch girl<br>Ruler of Sardhana | parents = }}
'''Joanna Nobilis Sombre''' ({{Circa|1753}} – 27 January 1836), popularly known as '''Begum Samru''' (née '''Farzana Zeb un-Nissa'''),<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Sardhana |volume=24 |page=210}}.</ref><ref>[https://sardhanachurch.org/begumsumru.aspx Begum Sumru] The Church of Basilica</ref> a convert Catholic Christian,<ref>''The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination'' by Gautam Chakravarty, Cambridge; {{ISBN|0-521-83274-8}}<!-- publisher name, page(s), year of publication needed --></ref> started her career as a nautch (dancing) girl in 18th-century India, and eventually became the ruler of Sardhana, a small principality (''jagir'') near Meerut.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-09-08 |title=The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces in Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh |url=https://www.joinpaperplanes.com/the-basilica-of-our-lady-of-graces-in-sardhana-uttar-pradesh/ |access-date=2024-10-16 |website=Paper Planes |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Borpujari|first=Priyanka|date=5 July 2019|title=India's forgotten power broker—what was her secret?|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/india-forgotten-power-broker-begum-samru/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190705185523/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/07/india-forgotten-power-broker-begum-samru/|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 July 2019|access-date=2020-04-21|website=National Geographic}}</ref><ref name=EB1911/> She was the head of a professionally trained mercenary army, inherited from her European mercenary husband, Walter Reinhardt Sombre.<ref name=EB1911/> This mercenary army consisted of Europeans and Indians. She is also regarded as the only Catholic ruler in Northern India, as she ruled the principality of Sardhana in 18th- and 19th-century India.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sardhana.org.uk/|title=The Sardhana Project|website=www.sardhana.org.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V22_111.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 22, page 105 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|website=dsal.uchicago.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=19 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230919104001/https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V22_111.gif|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Begum Sumru died immensely rich but without an heir. Her inheritance was assessed at approximately 55.5 million gold marks in 1923 and 18 billion deutsch marks in 1953. Her inheritance continues to be disputed to this day.<ref name="Inheritance">{{cite web|url=http://www.reg-sardhana.de/inheritance.htm|title="Reinhard's Erbengemeinschaft" R.E.G.: The Inheritance|access-date=16 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929030758/http://www.reg-sardhana.de/inheritance.htm|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> An organisation named "Reinhards Erbengemeinschaft" still strives to resolve the inheritance issue.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reg-sardhana.de/chronology.htm|title="Reinhard's Erbengemeinschaft" R.E.G.: Chronology of the Heir Community|access-date=16 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929030804/http://www.reg-sardhana.de/chronology.htm|archive-date=29 September 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Life== [[File:Begum Samru's Household.jpg|thumb|300px|Begum Samru's Household. Chester Beatty Library]]
Begum Samru was of slight stature (never growing more than 4<nowiki>'8''</nowiki> tall<ref>{{Cite book |last=Keay |first=Julia |title=Farzana: The Woman Who Saved an Empire |date=2013 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |isbn=978-1784530556 |pages=27}}</ref>), fair complexion and distinguished by exceptional leadership abilities of an uncommon order. More than once, she headed her own troops in action. She was reportedly of Kashmiri descent.<ref>{{Harvnb|Dalrymple|2006|p=238}} "She was originally said to be a Kashmiri dancing girl named Farzana Zeb un-Nissa."</ref>
When she was in her early teens, she was sent to live as a concubine with a mercenary soldier Walter Reinhardt Sombre of Luxembourg, who was operating in India.<ref>"A short review of the Begam’s position may tend to elucidate the question of her posthumous claims. She is said to have been a dancing girl or prostitute, procured by Commission and sent from Delhi as a concubine to Walter Reynard, commonly called Sombre corrupted by the Natives into Sumroo, who then commanded a Brigade" Letter by Lt Governor of North Western Province to Lord Auckland, dated 4th May, 1836 reproduced in Sharma, MN. (1985). [https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.121304/page/192/mode/2up?q=prostitute The Life and Times Of Begam Samru Of Sardhana]. VIBHU PRAKASHAN. p.192 </ref> Walter Reinhardt Sombre, then 45 years old, came to Chawri Bazar and fell for the charms of Farzana, then a tawaif of 14, says Johan Lall in his "Begum Samru - Faded Portrait in a Gilded Frame".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tbsnews.net/feature/panorama/begum-samru-orphan-estate-ruler-131344 |title=Begum Samru: From an orphan to an estate ruler|date=11 September 2020 }}</ref>
A soldier of fortune, Sombre moved from Lucknow to Rohilkhand (near Bareilly), then to Agra, Deeg and Bharatpur and back to the Doab. Farzana helped him in those times of intrigue and counter-intrigue.
===Ruler=== thumb|Section of an illustration of Begum Samru and her army, made 1805–26 On the death of Walter Reinhardt in 1778, she succeeded to his principality yielding about £90,000 per annum. Over time, she became powerful, ruling over a large area from Sardhana, Uttar Pradesh. Her conduct in the internal management of her estate was highly commendable. On 7 May 1781, aged around thirty, Begum Samru was baptized ''Joanna Nobilis'', by a Roman Catholic priest. Throughout her life, she had only one friend, Begum Umdaa, belonging to the other Jagirdar family of Sardhana, who became her closest friend and remained so until her death. Even after Begum Umdaa was married, Begum Samru took out time to visit her to Meerut in good and bad. Farzana was courted by some of the European officers who were associated with her husband. Among them were Le Vassoult, a Frenchman, and George Thomas, an Irishman. The Begum favoured the Frenchman and when, in 1793, the rumour spread that she had married him, her troops mutinied. The couple sought to escape secretly by night - Le Vassoult on horseback and the Begum in a palanquin. Misinformed that Le Vassoult had been shot, she stabbed herself but survived. Her lover, however, died of a self-inflicted wound to the head. One version has it that she suggested a suicide pact but only nicked herself when the unsuspecting Le Vassoult shot himself dead. When British General Lord Lake met the Begum in 1802, in a fit of enthusiasm he gave her a hearty kiss, which appalled her troops. But with her customary tact, Begum Samru pacified them by saying that it was only "the kiss of the Padre to a repentant child".<ref name="EAH">{{cite book|first=Edward Arthur Henry|last=Blunt|author-link=E. A. H. Blunt|title=List of Inscriptions on Christian Tombs and Tablets of Historical Interest in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh|url=https://archive.org/stream/listofinscriptio00blunuoft#page/4/mode/2up|year=1911|page=16}}</ref> The Begum, though only {{frac|4|1|2}} feet tall, wore a turban and rode on horseback as she led her troops to battle. So invincible did she seem that the superstitious spread the word that she was a witch who could destroy her enemies just by throwing her cloak towards them. Her army occupied the left of the Maratha line at the battle of Assaye and hers was the only part of the Maratha force that was not driven in disarray from the battlefield. Having annihilated an advance by the 74th Highlanders and a picket detachment commanded by a Colonel Orrock, her army then withstood a cavalry charge from the Raj before marching from the field in good order.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=James |title=The Recollections of Skinner of Skinner's Horse |date=April 2006 |publisher=Leonaur Limited |isbn=1846770610}}</ref> She inducted Jats into her irregular armies.<ref name="bagartribune1">Nonica Datta, [https://www.tribuneindia.com/1999/99jul03/saturday/head1.htm "Forming an identity"], The Tribune, 3 July 1999.</ref><ref name="mulayjat1">Nonica Datta, 1999, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sBBuAAAAMAAJ "Forming an Identity: A Social History of the Jats], Oxford University Press, page 12.</ref> After the fall of Aligarh in September 1803, she was induced to surrender to Lord Lake and afterwards lived on good terms with the British, receiving visitors including the Bishop of Calcutta, Reginald Heber, Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army Lord Combermere and Italian adventurer Jean-Baptiste Ventura.<ref name="EAH" />
===Death=== She died at Sardhana in January 1837 at the age of 85, bequeathing the greater part of her property to David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre, who descended from Walter Reinhardt Sombre, from his first wife.<ref name="Inheritance"/> Several stories and novels have been written based on her political and diplomatic astuteness and on crucial battles fought by troops directly commanded by her.<ref>[http://www.natgeotraveller.in/magazine/journeys/critical-mass Profile] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401052616/http://www.natgeotraveller.in/magazine/journeys/critical-mass |date=1 April 2013 }}, natgeotraveller.in; accessed 28 August 2014.</ref>
==Palace at Chandni Chowk, Jharsa and Sardhana== thumb|Sowar of Begum Samru|left
She built palaces at Sardhana, Chandni Chowk in Delhi and Jharsa. The paragana of Badshahpur-Jharsa in Gurugaon in Haryana was also ruled by Begum Samru.<ref name=hart1/>
===Jharsa palace and cantonment in Gurugram=== Begum Samru Place at Gurugram lies between Badshahpur-Jharsa in Gurgaon. The pargana of Badshahpur-Jharsa was ruled by Begum Samru.<ref name=hart1>[http://www.haryanatourism.gov.in/Destination/begum-samru-palace Begum Samru Palace, Gurugram] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201110133/http://www.haryanatourism.gov.in/Destination/begum-samru-palace |date=1 February 2020 }}, Haryana Tourism.</ref><ref name="A queen's magnificent church">{{cite news|title=A queen's magnificent church|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-queens-magnificent-church/996392/0|newspaper=The Indian Express|date=2 September 2012}}</ref> She built a palace for herself between Badshahpur and Jharsa.<ref name=hart1/> Jharsa was the place of Samru's principal cantonment.<ref name=htj1/> Parts of her fort compound have been completely lost to encroachments. Palace building is located between Gurgaon and Jharsa village, which is used as the official residence cum camp office of the district collector of Gurugram district. The Jharsa palace is built in Islamic style.<ref name="A queen's magnificent church"/><ref name=htj1>[https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurugram/hope-for-decrepit-french-memorial-in-gurugram-as-official-issues-directions-for-restoration/story-2kCz8ul2IGKr7NYvyiWDXL.html Hope for decrepit French memorial in Gurugram as official issues directions for restoration], Hindustan Times, Jun 2018.</ref><ref name=htj2>[https://www.hindustantimes.com/gurugram/a-200-year-old-memorial-in-gurugram-dedicated-to-the-begum-who-commanded-an-army/story-gynCi7xMR0F7ZtJXEtP1vI.htmlA 200-year-old memorial in Gurugram dedicated to the Begum who commanded an army], Hindustan Times, Jun 2018.</ref> A 1882 land revenue settlement report records that the idol of Sitla Mata was brought to Gurugram 400 years earlier (15th century). Begum Samru claimed the offering to Sitla Mata temple of Gurugram during the Chaitra month and the revenue from the offerings given to the deity for rest of the month was distributed among the prominent Jat families of the area.<ref>[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Gurugram-plan-a-misdirected-govt-move-from-history-to-myth/articleshow/51961328.cms Gurugram plan a misdirected govt move from history to myth], Times of India.</ref> In 1818, Bharawas district was disbanded and Gurugram was made a new district. In 1821, the Bharaswas cantonment was also moved to Hidayatpur in Gurugram.<ref>Yashpal Gulia, 2012, Heritage of Haryana.</ref>
===Sardhana palace=== The palace built by her in Sardhana near Meerut was the centre of much activity during the reign of Mughal Emperor, Akbar Shah. Shah Alam II, the predecessor and father of Akbar Shah, regarded Begum Samru as his daughter. He did so because the Begum had saved Delhi from an invasion by a force of 30,000 Sikhs, under Baghel Singh in 1783. They had encamped at Tis Hazari (the name of the place being derived from the number of those who constituted the force, estimated at 30,000). Thanks to the Begum's parleys, the Sikhs did not enter the city and went back to Punjab after getting a generous monetary gift from Shah Alam. {{citation needed|date=August 2014}}
In 1787(?), when the emperor, Shah Alam II, blind and feeble, was in pursuit of Najaf Quli Khan and trying to quell the rebellion stirred up by him, an incident occurred at Gokalgarh that brought the Begum closer to Shah Alam. Seeing that the emperor's troops were wavering in their resolve to attack the rebel leader, she advanced with a force of 100 men and whatever big guns she had and opened fire on Najaf Quli Khan and his men. This did the trick and Najaf sought the Begum's help to make his peace with Shah Alam. Thankful for her intervention, the emperor bestowed special honours on her at the royal court and declared her to be "his most beloved daughter". Not only that, she was also confirmed in her estate at Sardhana, which was the subject of a dispute with Louis Balthazar alias Nawab Zafaryab Khan, another son of her late husband, General Sombre, by his first wife, Badi Bibi (senior wife).Until his death, Emperor Shah Alam and his major wives treated her almost as a relative, and embraced her when she entered the zenana (women) quarters. as the English visitor Ann Deane noted in late December 1808: " ....and afterwards I accompanied her to the royal residence ......we then ascended ....to the zenanah ['women's quarters'].... the begum now led the way through crowds of eunuchs ....Here we were met by the queen Dowager....an ugly, shriveled old woman, whom the begum embraced."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Deane|first1=Ann|title=Tour Through the Upper Provinces in Hindostan|url=https://archive.org/details/tourthroughupper00dean|date=1823|publisher=C and J.Rivington|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/tourthroughupper00dean/page/148 148]–175}}</ref>
===Chandani Chowk palace=== left|thumb|Heritage board at Begum Samru's Palace in Chandni Chawak [[File:The Bank at Delhi, from a photograph by Mr. Beresford. Illustrated Times 1857 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Chandani Chowk palace. Illustrated Times 1857]] [[File:1857 bank of delhi2.jpg|right|thumb|320px|Samru's Palace at Chandni Chowk, Delhi, 1857, after ''Ghadar'', Indian Rebellion of 1857]] Begum Samru's palace in Chandni Chowk, now called Bhagirath Palace, was built in a garden gifted by Akbar Shah, a later day mughal, to the Begum when he ascended the throne after the death of Shah Alam II in 1806. Her palatial building still stands in Chandni Chowk, Old Delhi. It is currently owned by the Central Bank of India, Chandni Chowk Branch.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/history-and-culture/history-is-bunk-at-this-delhi-palace/article5109192.ece|title=History is bunk at this Delhi palace|last=Madhur Tankha|newspaper=The Hindu|date=9 September 2013|access-date=January 18, 2018}}</ref>
==Death== thumb|Inscription on the Statue of Begum Samru at the Basilica of Our Lady Of Graces in Sardhana Begum Samru died on 27 January 1836 at the age of 82 or 83 and was buried under the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces which she had built.
== Popular culture == The Begum Samru is depicted as a prominent noble lady in TV drama series ''Beecham House'' first aired June 2019. The role was portrayed by Indian actress Lara Dutta.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lara Dutta Plays Begum Samru In 'Beecham House' & The Story Behind This Historical Figure Is Incredible |url=https://www.bustle.com/p/lara-dutta-plays-begum-samru-in-beecham-house-the-story-behind-this-historical-figure-is-incredible-18024071 |website=Bustle |date=23 June 2019 |access-date=30 July 2019}}</ref> She also features as a prominent character in the novel ''Flashman and the Cobra'' by Robert Brightwell.<ref name="Telegraphindia">{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/pressrelease/prnw/enuk201403264841_public.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924161203/http://www.telegraphindia.com/pressrelease/prnw/enuk201403264841_public.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 September 2015 |title=Flashman Rides Again |newspaper=Telegraphindia.com |date= |last= |access-date=2015-09-01}}</ref>
Begum Samru appears as the antagonist in the British colonial author William Browne Hockley's short story "The Natch". Sir Walter Scott's Old Mother Montreville in ''The Surgeon's Daughter'' is based on Begum Samru.
==See also== * Nautch * Tawaif * Prostitution in colonial India
==Citations== {{Reflist}}
==References== {{Commons category}} {{refbegin|2}} * {{cite book|last=Rajagopalan|first=Mrinalini|title=Marks she made: The art and architecture of Begum Samru|year=2026|isbn=9781526187130|doi=10.7765/9781526187130|publisher=Manchester University Press}} * {{cite book|last=Dalrymple|first=William|authorlink=William Dalrymple (historian)|publisher=Viking Penguin|title=The Last Mughal|year=2006|isbn=0-670-99925-3}} * {{cite book|last=Keay|first=Julia|authorlink=John Keay (historian)|publisher=I.B.Tauris|title=Farzana: The Woman who Saved an Empire|year=2014|isbn=978-1784530556|ref=none}}{{refend}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samru, Begum}} Category:1753 births Category:1836 deaths Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from Sunni Islam Category:People from Meerut district Category:Kashmiri people Category:Indian former Sunni Muslims Category:Indian courtesans Category:Indian female royalty Category:Indian Roman Catholics Category:Women in Jammu and Kashmir politics Category:Indian women in war Category:Women in 18th-century warfare Category:Women in 19th-century warfare Category:18th-century Indian women politicians Category:18th-century Indian politicians Category:19th-century Indian women politicians Category:19th-century Indian politicians Category:18th-century Indian women artists Category:19th-century Indian women artists Category:Dancers from Jammu and Kashmir Category:Women artists from Jammu and Kashmir Category:18th-century dancers Category:18th-century Indian artists