Amador ledger., 1906-04-06
WOMEN RULERS OF INDIA.
Three Begums of Bhopal Who Have
Been at Head of a Large
Native State.

Among the interesting personages
whom the Prince and Princess of
Wales have met in the course of their
tour through India, none presents a
more engrossing study than the woman
ruler Of the State of Bhopal, Nawab
Sultan Jehan, Begun, if the London
accounts may be regarded as authen-
tic. The Begun is a daughter and a
granddaughter of a Begun, and be-
tween them these three women have
ruled, for the past sixty years, the
destinies of state comprising nearly
1000 square miles of territory and a
population of a million people.
The mother of the present ruler de-
scended from the famous Dost Moham-
mad Khan, the founder of the Bhopal
dynasty. She succeeded to the throne
in 1868, in which year she sent to
Queen Victoria quaint letter ac-
knowledging her majesty's kindness
in accepting the dedication of book
written by the Begum's mother, the
enlightened Sikandar, describing her
pilgrimage to Mecca.
The book in question is a pictur-
esque record of an oriental journey,
containing an appreciation of the char
acteristics of that place as seen and
understood by an Indian lady. The
Begun seems to have been particular
ly struck by the enormous quantities
of food VIII the inhabitants of Nee
ca were able to consume. She records
that they were in the habit of dispos-
ing of five or six pounds weight per
hand per day.
They appeared to thrive on it, how
ever, for the Begun vouches for the
fact that the average man was so alb
normally strong that he thought moth
ing of carrying weight of 900 pounds
from the street to the top of a house.
The Begun apparently took great in
terest in building operations in Mec-
ca, for she includes in her book a list
of building materials, with their cost.
Loyal to England.
The loyalty to the British Govern
ment, to which the present Begum's
mother referred in her letter to Queen
Victoria, was strikingly exhibited by
the famous Sikandar who ruled dur
ing the mutiny.
At the height of the insurrection a
deputation from her army gathered
outside the palace and expressed a
wish that the Begun would put her
self at the head of her men and lead
them on to Delhi to exterminate the
infidel British. The Begun promised
to do so, but during the night she,
with few faithful adherents, caused
the whole army, consisting of about
three thousand men all told, to be dis
armed and their weapons hidden. The
following day she offered to lead them
unarmed to Delhi, but the army
thought better of it. This plucky act
probably had a great influence on the
trend of events, and it undoubtedly
saved the British residents at a neigh
boring town from massacre.
Bhopal has always been one of the
most friendly of the Indian States. So
far back as 177S. when Gen. Goddard
marched across India, Bhopal was the
only Indian power which showed it.
self friendly. In 1918 the British Gov
ernment formed an alliance with Bho-
pal, guaranteeing to the Nawab the
possession of the State.
More Liberty for Women.
The Shah Gehan Begun, the daugh-
ter of Sikandar, succeeded in 1868 and
proved most worthy follower of her
mother. She threw aside the restric-
tions of the "purdah," which imposed
the strictest seclusion upon Indian
women, and was always accessible,
conducting business on her own initia-
tive with the greatest vigor. M. Louis
Rousselet, French explorer, thus de-
scribes meeting he had with her
many years ago.
II had an appointment with Her
Highness," he wrote, "and so l called
at the palace, which is full of Euro
pean treasures and luxuries. In the
room into which I was ushered sat a
little girl whom I took to be the daugh-