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{{Short description|Queen of Oudh}}{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name = Malika Kishwar
| title = Jenab Aliya Begum
| image = Departure of the Queen of Oude from Southampton.jpg
| caption = [[The Illustrated London News]], 1856
| birth_date = 1803
| death_date = {{death date and age|1858|01|24|1803|df=y}}
| burial_place = [[Pere Lachaise Cemetery]], Paris, France
| spouse = [[Amjad Ali Shah]]
| issue = [[Wajid Ali Shah]]
}}

'''Malika Kishwar''' '''Bahadur''' '''Fakr-ul-Zamani Nawab Taj Ara [[Begum]]''' (1803 – 24 January 1858), also known as '''Jenab Aliya Begum''', was Queen Mother of the last King of [[Oudh State|Awadh]].<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Llewellyn-Jones |first=Rosie |title=Images of Lucknow |publisher=New Royal Book Co. |isbn=81-89267-04-3 |location=Lucknow |pages=59–74 |chapter=5 The Queen Mother's Visit to England |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.14602/page/n71/mode/2up?q=malika+awadh|date=2000}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Bhatta |first=Ravi |url=https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofnawab0000bhat/page/52/mode/2up?q=malika |title=The life and times of the Nawabs of Lucknow |date=2006 |publisher=Rupa & Co. |isbn=8129109891 |location=New Delhi |pages=53–54}}</ref> The wife of the tenth [[King of Awadh]], [[Amjad Ali Shah]], her son [[Nawab Wajid Ali Shah]] succeeded his father when she was widowed in 1847.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Ahmed |first=Riffat |date=21 November 2019 |title=Forgotten Queen of Oudh: Malika Kishwar |url=https://dailyasianage.com/news/206071/forgotten-queen-of-oudh--malika-kishwar |access-date=2026-05-01 |work=The Asian Age}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=MacGregor |first=Arthur |title=The Indian Museum Revisited |date=2023 |publisher=UCL Press |pages=165–207 |chapter=7 The mirror of India: clothing, dress and ornament |chapter-url=https://www.jstor.org/content/oa_chapter_monograph/jj.16430722.14|via=[[JSTOR]]}}</ref> When British officials announced their annexation of the kingdom, she had an audience with General [[Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet|James Outram]] in [[Lucknow]] to plead their case.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last1=Brisland |first1=Martin |last2=Lochead |first2=Sandra |date=22 April 2022 |title=How an Indian Queen came to stay in Southampton |url=https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/20085846.indian-queen-came-stay-southampton/ |access-date=2026-05-01 |work=Daily Echo}}</ref> In 1856, Queen Malika travelled to England with one of her sons and grandson and met with [[Queen Victoria]] in 1857.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Faruqui Anjum Taban |date=January–April 1998 |title=The Coming of the Revolt in Awadh: The Evidence of Urdu Newspapers |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3517578 |journal=Social Scientist |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=16–24 |doi=10.2307/3517578 |jstor=3517578}}</ref> After the intervention of France, she was given permission to travel to [[Mecca]] on her way home, but died two days after arriving in Paris.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":5" /> She is buried in a grave at [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

== Early life and marriage ==
Malika Kishwar Taj Ara Begum was born in 1803.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":2" /> She was a descendant of [[Mughal Empire|Mughal]] court poet and minister [[Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khanan]] of Delhi,<ref name=":11">{{Cite news |last=Sharda |first=Shailvee |date=23 October 2025 |title=Celebrating 250 years of Lucknow's legacy: The begums who left their mark on Awadh |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/celebrating-250-years-of-lucknows-legacy-the-begums-who-left-their-mark-on-awadh/articleshow/124751218.cms |access-date=2026-05-02 |work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> and granddaughter of the sixth Nawab of Awadh, [[Saadat Ali Khan II]].<ref name=":5" />

She married [[Amjad Ali Shah]], who became the tenth [[Nawab]], or King of [[Awadh]], from 1842 to 1847.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> He was the most religiously devout of the [[Islam in India|Muslim]] nawabs, and she did not play a significant role in political matters during her husband's reign.<ref name=":3" /> Malika Kishwar remained in [[purdah]] all her life, surrounded and served by females within the royal enclosures and gardens of [[Lucknow]] before the [[Oudh State|fall of the kingdom]].<ref name=":5" /> She travelled outside infrequently, and was carried in a closed [[palanquin]] or [[howdah]] when she did.<ref name=":5" /> She hosted female [[Durbar (court)|durbars]] where the women of the kingdom of all backgrounds could present their requests, complaints, and gifts.<ref name=":5" />

She had four children with Amjad Ali Shah, including his successor [[Wajid Ali Shah]] and his younger brother Sikander Hashmat Bahadar.<ref name=":3" /> She was widowed in 1847, when her husband died at age 41.<ref name=":3" /> Following his death, she spent many hours reading the [[Quran]].<ref name=":5" />

== Reign and overthrow of son ==
On 13 February 1847, her son [[Wajid Ali Shah]] became the eleventh Nawab of Awadh at the age of 25.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mohan |first=Surendra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B29uAAAAMAAJ&q=Wajid%20Ali%20Shah |title=Awadh Under the Nawabs: Politics, Culture and Communal Relations 1722–1856 |date=1997 |publisher=Manohar Publishers |isbn=9788173042034 |pages=149,150,170}}</ref> He began to consult Malika Kishwar in political matters such as appointing high-ranking officials.<ref name=":3" /> One example of her influence was when she persuaded him to divorce eight of his wives, citing [[Hindu]] tradition which considered the snake mark on their bodies to be inauspicious.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Burman |first=Tanya |date=2025 |title=Badshah Begum, Ritual Innovation, and an Achhuti's Dream in Eighteenth-Century Awadh |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1086/734222 |journal=Early Modern Women: An Interdisciplinary Journal |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=229–248 |doi=10.1086/734222 |via=EBSCOhost}}</ref><ref name=":5" /> They included [[Begum Hazrat Mahal]], whom Malika Kishwar disliked.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":4" /> Following the intervention of Hindu priests, the wives were invited to return to the [[zenana]] or inner quarters within the royal enclosures, but some including Hazrat Mahal refused.<ref name=":4" /> Although British officials acomplained about the Queen Mother's "interference", Colonel James L. Sleeman, the British resident in the royal court, recommended that she be consulted in nominating members of a Regency Council of Awadh, in the event that Wajid Ali Shah suddenly died.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Llewellyn-Jones |first=Rosie |title=The Last King in India |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2014 |isbn=9781849045353 |pages=11–48,100}}</ref>

=== Annexation of Awadh ===
At the end of January 1856, British military forces proceeded from [[Cawnpore]] to [[Lucknow]] as General [[Sir James Outram, 1st Baronet|James Outram]] sought to carry out the [[Oudh State#British annexation|annexation of Awadh]].<ref name=":8">{{Cite news |date=22 March 1856 |title=Annexation of Oude |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015066472278&seq=290&q1=Oude |access-date=2026-05-04 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |via=[[Hathi Trust]]}}</ref> Lacking sufficient military strength to oppose the 12,000 British troops advancing toward the capital, the king Wajid Ali Shah ordered his army to stand down.<ref name=":8" /> On 4 February 1856, Outram had an audience with Wajid Ali Shah in which he and other members of his mission tried to convince the king to sign a deed of abdication.<ref name=":8" /> The king refused, after which Outram issued a proclamation deposing the king.<ref name=":8" />The queen mother Malika Kishwar requested an interview with Outram, speaking to him through a curtain and an interpreter.<ref name=":5" /> Despite her appeal against annexation, he was unable to reverse the decision, which had been made by [[Lord Dalhousie]] with the backing of the Court of Directors of the [[East India Company]] and the British government.<ref name=":5" />

In April, Malika Kishwar left [[Lucknow]] with her two sons, including Wajid Ali Shah and his brother, arriving in [[Calcutta]] in 13 May 1856.<ref name=":5" /> Historian [[Rosie Llewellyn-Jones]] suggests that she likely urged Wajid Ali Shah to make the difficult journey to Calcutta, despite being discouraged by British authorities to do so.<ref name=":5" /> While in Calcutta, Wajid Ali Shah appointed his friend Captain Robert Wilberforce Bird, a former assistant resident at court in Awadh with family ties to the East India Company, to travel to London to lobby [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|members of Parliament]], the company's court of directors, and the [[British press]] on his behalf.<ref name=":5" /> When Malika Kishwar learned that Bird had demanded an advance of £17,000, she barred Bird from seeing the king, insisting that he would not sign the money transfer and instead offering to send him a smaller sum of money via intermediaries.<ref name=":5" /> Bird openly expressed his anger and departed for England.<ref name=":5" />

== Mission to England ==

=== Journey from Calcutta ===
On 15 June 1856, the [[Governor-General of India|Governor General of India]] learned that Malika Kishwar had secretly left Calcutta at night with her son Sikandar Hashmat, the former commander-in-chief of Awadh, and her grandson Prince Hamid Ali, the heir apparent.<ref name=":5" /> The royal party was on a mission to England to see [[Queen Victoria]] and petition for the reinstatement of [[Wajid Ali Shah]] as ruler of [[Awadh]].<ref name=":6" /> Accompanying them were Mary Ann and John Rose Brandon, a former gardener at the royal palace in Awadh, who had helped Wajid Ali Shah, his family, servants and courtiers to leave [[Lucknow]] for [[Cawnpore]] two months prior via horse-drawn carriages.<ref name=":5" /> Wajid Ali Shah had originally planned to make the journey to England himself, but had decided to remain in Calcutta.<ref name=":5" /> The official reason given was that he was too unwell to travel so far.<ref name=":5" /> Historian Llewellyn-Jones suggests that there were also diplomatic reasons behind his decision to send his mother in his place, including avoiding a loss of face if restoration of the kingdom were refused by the British.<ref name=":5" />

The group, including an estimated 70 staff, had private use of a steamer which took them down river to board the ''SS Bengal'', which transported them to the port of [[Suez]].<ref name=":5" /> While disembarking in Suez, a eunuch who had been entrusted with a jewel case containing jewels worth £50,000, including a necklace intended as a gift for Queen Victoria, somehow let it slip into the [[Red Sea]].<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":6" /> Divers were hired to search for the jewels to no avail.<ref name=":10">{{Cite news |date=9 August 1856 |title=East Indian Potentates |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013762649&seq=152&q1=Oude |access-date=2026-05-04 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |via=[[Hathi Trust]]}}</ref> From Suez, they travelled overland on closed carriages to the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref name=":6" /> From [[Alexandria]], they were transported on the Peninsular and Oriental Company steamship ''SS Indus'', arriving in [[Malta]] on 10 August and finally in [[Southampton]] on 20 August 1856.<ref>{{Cite news |date=19 August 1856 |title=Military and Naval Intelligence |url= |access-date= |work=The Times |via=[[The Times Digital Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 August 1856 |title=The Queen of Oude at Southampton |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013762649&seq=204&q1=Oude&start=1 |access-date=2026-05-04 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |via=[[Hathi Trust]]}}</ref>

=== Arrival in Southampton ===
Crowds of people gathered near the dock at [[Southampton]] for the highly anticipated arrival of the royal party of Awadh (referred to as Oude).<ref name=":6" /> The question of how to shield Malika Kishwar from public view posed logistical challenges, but in the end she was carried, veiled, in a sedan chair.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |date=28 August 1856 |title=The Queen of Oude |url= |access-date= |work=[[The Times]] |via=[[The Times Digital Archive]]}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> The entourage headed directly to the Royal York Hotel, which they took over for ten days.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" />

Curious members of the public crowded the high street near their hotel, leading ''[[The Globe (London newspaper)|The Globe]]'' to comment that "it is one thing to show hospitality to ladies and gentlemen in distress, and another to convert them into a spectacle".<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":7" /> On 23 August 1856, the Princes held an afternoon levee.<ref name=":9">{{Cite news |date=30 August 1856 |title=Levee of the Queen of Oude |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013762649&seq=217&q1=Oude&start=1 |access-date=2026-05-04 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |via=[[Hathi Trust]]}}</ref> Among the guests received by the royal family that day were "the mayor, an earl, a countess, three ladies, two baronets, and an admiral".<ref name=":7" /> According to ''The Globe'', the mayor of Southampton [[Richard Andrews (industrialist)|Richard Andrews]] shook hands with a female hand through a curtain, thought to be that of the Queen of Oude.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" />

Following the Princes' levee, about 30 ladies of Southampton were presented to the Queen Dowager of Oude.<ref name=":9" /> ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' reported that the Queen sat on a sofa attended by eight ladies, "dressed in splendid shawls", with her hair "cut rather short, and brushed back over the head ''à la Chinoise''", and with "two massive earrings" but no other jewellry around her head.<ref name=":9" /> Mary Ann Brandon was the interpreter.<ref name=":9" />

On 30 August 1856, the royal entourage of 110 people departed Southampton for London on a specially reserved train.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 September 1856 |title=The Royal Family of Oude |access-date= |work=[[The Times]] |via=[[The Times Digital Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=6 September 1855 |title=The Royal Family of Oude at Southampton |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013762649&seq=265&q1=Oude&start=1 |access-date=2026-05-07 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |via=[[Hathi Trust]] |issue=265}}</ref> As they took carriages to the station, their servants waved back at the crowds which once again lined the streets.<ref name=":6" /> At Southampton station, which the stationmaster had refused to close to the general public, their eunuchs stood guard while their servants held up calico sheets, forming a corridor through which Malika Kishwar could alight from the closed carriage to cross the platform and board the train unseen.<ref name=":6" />
[[File:Departure of the Queen and Royal family of Oude from Southampton.jpg|center|thumb|600x600px|"Departure of the Queen and Royal family of Oude from Southampton" in ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' (6 September 1856)]]

=== Residence in London ===
After arriving at [[London Waterloo station|Waterloo station]] in London on 30 August 1856, Malika Kishwar and the royal entourage of took up residence at Harley House in [[Marylebone]].<ref name=":6" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=11 October 1856 |title=Residence of the Ex-Royal Family |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015013762649&seq=371&q1=Oude |access-date=2026-05-07 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |via=[[Hathi Trust]] |issue=363}}</ref> The free-standing house was on the north side of [[Marylebone Road]], enclosed by a brick wall with a side entrance to [[Regent's Park]].<ref name=":6" /> It was rented for them by John Rose Brandon for £550 a year.<ref name=":6" /> One of the most senior officials accompanying the royal party was the king's legal representative [[Maulvi]] Masih-uh-din Khan, a former employee of the [[East India Company]], fluent in English, [[Persian language|Persian]], and [[Urdu]].<ref name=":5" /> In total, there were more than 100 staff including the king's aide-de-camp; the queen mother's chief of household staff, chief eunuch, and medical advisor; the heir apparent's bodyguards, medical advisor, and tutor; the general's own staff; and many other servants.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />

The royal party's audience with [[Queen Victoria]] did not take place until more than ten months later.<ref name=":5" /> Arranging the meeting was complicated for political and diplomatic reasons.<ref name=":5" /> Malika Kishwar had hoped that by speaking to Queen Victoria directly, queen to queen, she would be able to persuade her to restore the kingdom of Awadh.<ref name=":5" /> She was devastated to learn after arriving in England that Queen Victoria had no such power.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":11" /> She requested an interview with [[Robert Vernon Smith]], [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] and [[President of the Board of Control]], who turned down the request.<ref name=":5" /> Behind the scenes, Vernon Smith had sought to send Sir George Clark, former [[Governor of Bombay]], to see her as a gesture of respect, but the Court of Directors of the East India Company was against it.<ref name=":5" /> The law firm of Gregory, Gregory, Skirrow & Rowcliffe were hired as "Parliamentary agents" on behalf of the royal family of Awadh, but progress in filing an appeal to the [[British Parliament]] was slow.<ref name=":5" /> In the meantime, Wajid Ali Shah was struggling to pay the costs they were incurring in London and in exile in Calcutta.<ref name=":5" /> In response to a petition from Wajid Ali Shah on 10 December 1856, the Court of Directors of the East India Company offered the former king a pension of 12 lakhs per year (£120,000).<ref name=":5" /> Vernon Smith wrote to [[Charles Canning, 1st Earl Canning|Charles Canning]], the [[Governor-General of India]], that he thought it was a very generous offer that should not be interpreted as a concession to the royals' demands for reinstatement, and that Queen Victoria herself was "most anxious [Wajid Ali Shah] should be more liberally treated and I think it good policy, if we take Kingdoms, to pay Kings".<ref name=":5" />

To generate further publicity for the delegation from Awadh, on 3 March 1857, the Queen Mother and Princes visited the [[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]] to see a pantomime based on ''[[Babes in the Wood|Babes in the Woods]]''.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=14 March 1857 |title=The Queen and Princes of Oude and Suite at Drury-Lane Theatre |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010948779&seq=237&q1=Oude&start=1 |access-date=2026-05-08 |work=[[The Illustrated London News]] |issue=237}}</ref> It was the first time that Malika Kishwar had appeared in public, though she sat with her female attendants in the Royal Box behind blue and silver [[Tissue (cloth)|tissue fabric]].<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":12" /> According to ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', her appearance "created considerable interest and curiosity", and that "The effect of so many different Oriental costumes was rich and peculiar".<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":5" /> At Queen Victoria's prompting, Vernon Smith finally went to visit the Malika Kishwar later that month.<ref name=":5" /> He and other ministers of Parliament were still nervous that arranging a meeting with Queen Victoria would signal an acknowledgement of the mission from Awadh.<ref name=":5" /> According to Vernon Smith, however, Victoria herself was starting become "rather anxious" that the Court of Directors of the East India Company were preventing her from showing the courtesy she felt was due.<ref name=":5" />

=== Visit with Queen Victoria ===
When news of the first incidents in the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]] reached the United Kingdom, [[Robert Vernon Smith]] thought it might be a good excuse to cancel any meeting between the two queens.<ref name=":5" /> The meeting went ahead regardless, with prior agreement that there would be no discussion of politics and that [[purdah]] would be suspended during the audience.<ref name=":5" />

The visit was scheduled for 4 July 1857 at [[Buckingham Palace]].<ref name=":5" /> [[Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha|Prince Albert]] and their two eldest sons stood behind Queen Malika Kishwar, while Sir George Clark was the intrepreter.<ref name=":5" /> [[Queen Victoria]] entered the room with their seven younger children.<ref name=":5" /> Malika Kishwar threw back her veil and kissed Victoria's hand.<ref name=":6" /> Victoria shook hands with the two princes from Awadh.<ref name=":6" /> A few words were exchanged, and Victoria was presented with a letter and what she described in her diary as "a handsome ornament of pearls and precious stones" with perfume flask attached.<ref name=":6" /> Historian Kamal ud-Din Haider later published an account of the meeting in [[Urdu]], likely after interviewing one of the female attendants.<ref name=":5" /> According to that account, the ensuing conversation was awkward, focusing on sailing and the sea journey from Calcutta.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> Victoria also asked if Malika Kishwar had had the opportunity to visit English mansions and offered to arrange some visits for her.<ref name=":6" /> She offered to meet with her again the following week, but no such meeting ever took place.<ref name=":6" />

=== Arrest of Wajid Ali Shah ===
[[Wajid Ali Shah]] was arrested and imprisoned at [[Fort William, West Bengal|Fort William]] in Calcutta on 15 June 1857, but the news took almost four weeks to reach Malika Kishwar and the Awadh delegation in London.<ref name=":6" /> Prior to the outbreak of the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857|rebellion in India]], their representatives including Masih-uh-din Khan, Major Robert Bird, and barrister Samuel Lucas had argued vigorously against the annexation of Oude and the corruption of the [[East India Company]], publishing books, a pamphlet, and letters in major newspapers such as ''[[The Times]]''.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /> Following the arrest, the focus of the mission shifted to distancing the king from any involvement in the rebellion and protesting his innocence.<ref name=":5" />

On the 6 August 1857, [[John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell|Lord Campbell]], Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, presented a petition to the [[House of Lords]] on their behalf, which was rejected due to a technical error.<ref name=":5" /> The petition then went to the [[House of Commons of England|House of Commons]], which declined to discuss it.<ref name=":6" /> The mission to England thus ended in failure one year after their arrival, but their departure was delayed for several months.<ref name=":5" /> Malika Kishwar wanted to visit [[Mecca]] on the way back to Calcutta, but the Secretary of State [[George Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon|Lord Clarendon]] refused to issue papers to her so she could travel, saying that she had not formally requested a passport as a British subject.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" /> Historian Llewellyn-Jones suggests that he was concerned that she would stir up sympathy when she travelled, as international public opinion about British conduct in India was negative.<ref name=":5" /> By the end of the year, Malika Kishwar's health had worsened.<ref name=":5" /> Finally, the French Embassy in London intervened to allow her to travel in January 1858.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":0" />

== Death in Paris ==
Between 40 to 45 members of the delegation traveled with the queen mother to France.<ref name=":5" /> They traveled by ferry to [[Dieppe]] and then by train to Paris, arriving at [[Gare Saint-Lazare]] on 22 January 1858.<ref name=":5" /> Malika Kishwar died two days later in a hotel on [[Rue Laffitte]] in Paris.<ref name=":5" /> She was buried on 27 January 1858 in a funeral in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]], which had opened a Muslim section the year prior.<ref name=":5" /> She was buried with her baby granddaughter who also died in Paris at the age of one.<ref name=":5" /> Her funeral was attended by the Turkish and Persian ambassadors to France.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":11" /> Today her grave can be found near the grave of [[Marcel Proust]].<ref name=":11" />

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:1858 deaths]]
[[Category:1803 births]]
[[Category:Indian royal consorts]]

Malika Kishwar - Revision history

Swastikholidays at 09:50, 8 May 2026