Rescuing’ the last queen from obscurity
In a web session talking about her book, Divakaruni shared, “One of the reasons behind writing this book was to try and rescue this wonderful resourceful and powerful queen from obscurity and bring her amazing life and achievements to the attention of the people.”
It is believed that Maharaja Ranjit Singh was smitten by the young Jindan, who was the daughter of a royal kennel keeper. “One look at Jindan and the Maharaja told her that he would not make her his concubine but wife, and also that she would be his last queen and he would not marry again,” shared Chitra. She said this particular incident made her curious and interested in the personality of this lady, who could strike such passion in the hearts of men. “I had to explore her life, thoughts and contribution and thus I researched about the life of Maharani Jindan and was completely amazed by my work,” she said.
Her book prominently traces Jindan’s life after the death of her husband. “After she was imprisoned, she wrote letters to Lord Dalhousie and Queen Victoria sharing her plight and beliefs. She was supported by women workers – sweepers and seamstresses – who would help her in sneaking out those letters out of the Chunar Fort where she was imprisoned,” she shared. Chitra said Rani Jindan was successful in getting those missals published in Punjabi newspapers and when she managed to escape from the fort, she wrote a letter to the warden telling him that despite all his security, she had managed to escape.
“Such episodes fascinated me and drew me to write her biography. Her personality was so strong and influential that though the British tried a lot to malign her reputation, people who knew her didn’t believe in any of those baseless allegations. She remained their favourite queen even when she had stepped out of the ‘zenanah’ to deal with the political turmoil following the demise of her husband,” said Chitra. In her description of the incidents regarding Jindan and her royal life, Chitra also attempted to explain the position of women during the time.
“There was a bevy of women around Rani Jindan, all of them sharp and wily. She asked for their help and advice in political matters. Sidak Kaur was one such woman who helped her in difficult times and the ‘zenanah’ was a place of high intrigue,” she said. “When the British realised that it would not be easy to break her spirit, they stooped to the last resort and took Duleep Singh to England using underhand devious means. This shook her as she knew that following this her son would be isolated from their cultural heritage and would forget his values while growing up as a British citizen,” said Chitra. The author hopes that her book would make people interested in the life of the amazing last queen of Sikh empire once again.
