Begum Samru

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

The first week of October is said to mark the 200th anniversary of the completion of the Basilica of Our Lady of Graces, one of India’s minor basilicas situated in Sardhana in Uttar Pradesh.

It was constructed in 1822 by Begum Samru, a woman of humble origins that came to be popularly known as the only Catholic queen of India.

Begum Samru

• Begum Samru (1750’s – 1836) was a figure that defied any fixed identity. 
• She was a Muslim who converted to Catholicism, a nautch-girl (dancing girl) who became a warrior and an aristocrat, and was described by her contemporaries as dressing more like a man than a woman, sporting a dark turban and ever-puffing away at a hookah.
• She was a shrewd leader who was able to find a favourable position in the ever-dynamic political terrain of 18th century northern India.
• While she had first supported the waning Mughal empire, from the 1790’s the Begum began to provide service to the rising Marathas, before joining the British to ensure that she could maintain her landholding rights if they emerged victorious.
• Some sources claim that Begum Samru, birth name Farzana, was born to a second wife of a poor noblement in present day Meerut.
• In 1767, the teenage-Farzana became the much older Reinhardt’s close companion, and remained so until his death, assuming the role of his wife and became known as Begum Samru.

The Basilica of Our Lady of Graces:

• It is one of the 23 minor basilicas of India, and the only one in the north, after the church was bestowed the status by Pope John XXIII in 1961.
• The architect was an Italian engineer, Antonio Reghellini.
• Completed in 1822, it is commonly believed that the church was built as a replica of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
• The structure consists of a blend of architectural styles, of Indian and Islamic features added to a European cross-plan church.
• The church’s domes lie next to large steeples reminiscent of Islamic minarets, while the central altar contains pietra dura or parchinkari designs that are found in the Taj Mahal and Red Fort.