Public Spaces in Lucknow -the influence of power (page 2)

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Begum Hazrat Mahal also known as Begum of Avadh, her legacy to Lucknow is amply chronicled in Mutiny accounts by the British and numerous articles and books written by Indian authors, although there is no full length biography of her life". Her rise to power may be attributed to the unique set of historical circumstances in 1856-58 during which the fall of the House of Avadh and the departure of the last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, her husband, not only created a vacuum in leadership but also a politically volatile situation. Ruggles has described six categories of empowerment for women in Islamic societies: financial independence, Sons, natal family, celibacy, education, and voice." Of these, having a son, the heir to the kingdom, positioned his mother as the regent and wielder of power in the harem and royal court. This was ostensibly the route to power for Hazrat Mahal, whose 12year-old son, Birjis Qadar, was put on the throne of Avadh in the momentous Weeks following the uprising of sepoys in the Marion Cantonment in May 1857. As the queen mother and regent, she was the de facto ruler, but since these were no ordinary times, the call to leadership went far beyond the skills needed to govern a pliant court.

Chroniclers of her life agree on her lowly origins, some even calling her a dancing girl procured for Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and ensconced in his Parikhana at Kaiserbagh Palace. He called her his 'Mahak Pari' and gave her the title of "Hazrat Mahal' when he ascended the throne in 1848. Although she bore him a son, she did not accompany him in his exile to Matiya Burj in 1856 and neither did they correspond after his departure. Rapidly unfolding events a year later thrust her in a role that grew larger with life as the months passed. The disgruntled taluqadars, Zamindars, and sepoys were looking for a figurehead to rally around, which they found in Birjis Qadar and his mother Hazrat Mahal.

In extremis Hazrat Mahal demonstrated an innate leadership that nobody could have suspected she possessed. She governed over a hastily set up administrative structure, coordinated the different factions and cemented over the developing fissures among them, and sold her personal jewels to pay the sepoys when the treasury became bankrupt. She broke from the practice of purdah and often appeared on an elephant in Alam Bagh and Musa Bagh to exhort the demoralised sepoys. Not only did the British questioned her very right to govern calling into question her son's legitimacy, she also had to contend with the lack of cooperation by the rival leader Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah, who was emerging as a force to reckon with.

(Continues...)

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