Unique letters written by the first Indian ruler to perform the Hajj

Begum, Sikandar, Nawab of Bhopal (1817-1868). Two autograph letters with seals.

€ 45,000.00

A unique record of a woman ruler’s Hajj and the difficulties she encountered on her journey: two letters from Sikandar Begum (1817-68), Nawab of Bhopal and the only Indian woman of her era to rule as an independent sovereign. The only female head of state of British Colonial India and the only woman knighted by the British Empire outside Queen Victoria, she remains one of the most remarkable Muslim rulers of the 19th century.

Sikandar Begum’s travel narrative survives today only in a single Urdu manuscript copy (formerly in the possession of Lady Durand) and in an English translation published in Calcutta in 1866 by Mrs. Willoughby-Osborne; the original autograph in the author's hand is lost. By contrast, the present two documents are independent letters, one in Persian and one in Urdu, both relating to the same episode when she decided to forgo the onward journey to Medina. They are stamped several times with her personal seal, reading “Nawab Sikandar Begum” in Urdu, testifying to their authenticity as direct communications from one of the most successful female rulers of the subcontinent.

In 1864, Sikandar Begum was the first Indian ruler to fulfil the obligation of performing the Hajj to Mecca, but she found herself prevented from travelling on to Medina. In the Persian letter she records, "thanks be to God: the humble one was enabled, in the year 1276, to complete the obligation of the Hajj of Islam. But because of the rebellion of the Bedouins, this humble servant was not able to go to Medina … the humble one was deprived of the visitation of the blessed Rawda of our master (peace be upon him), and the Bedouins were deprived of the gain of the property of this caravan in full". The Urdu letter, dated June/July 1864, likewise discusses her return journey, underscoring her preoccupation with the safety of her caravan at a time of danger. Confronted with these threats and the rebellion between Bedouin and Ottoman forces, she returned to Jeddah and thence to Aden before sailing on to Mumbai, where she arrived on 21 July 1864. Far from giving the account of a triumphant pilgrimage, the present correspondence shows a ruler weighing her faith against immediate dangers to her life and entourage, forming an unvarnished record of prudence in the face of adversity.

Sikandar herself eschewed female seclusion (purdah) and did not veil her face; she was an accomplished hunter, archer, horsewoman, swordswoman, and polo player, embodying both the martial training of a ruler and the contradictions of her position. Though her pro-British policies sometimes provoked discontent, she secured an unusual degree of autonomy for Bhopal under colonial oversight.

These two letters form a rare and direct female-authored perspective on rulership, Islam, and the lived experience of performing the Hajj in the 19th century.