When you think of Queen Victoria the picture that comes to your mind is of a grand lady reigning over perhaps the greatest empire in the modern history. The British Empire stretched so far and wide that there was no part of the globe where the empire did not have its presence. This is the reason why it is often said that the sun never set on this empire.
The influence of Britain had been growing all over the world well before the time of Victoria. But it was in her time that India came under the British fold.
This was a great moment for Britain. It had become the Great British Empire. Victoria had become an empress in the real sense of the word. Now she was the Queen Empress of India. It was perhaps because of this or the fascination of the west with the mysterious east that Victoria had become very fond of India and everything Indian.
So it should not be surprising that she should take an instant liking towards her Indian manservant Abdul Karim. Abdul Karim had come to Victoria as a gift from some Indian ruler at the time of the Golden Jubilee of her reign in 1887. He was to serve the queen at her dining table but soon Abdul Karim progressed to her sitting room where he started giving her lessons in Urdu and telling her about India. Recognizing his clerical skills, the queen made him her Personal Indian Clerk and then her personal Indian Secretary.
Such a meteoric rise of a mere servant and that too from a non-white colony was bound to raise the British heckles. Her staff threatened to resign. Courtiers tried to turn her away from Abdul Karim in every way they could. They accused him of espionage and being a liar. But Victoria would have none of it. She continued to shower favors upon Abdul Karim. She helped him bring his family to Britain at the royal expense and had them lodged in the grounds of royal palaces.
While Abdul Karim's detractors were fuming and fretting, the queen went on displaying her affection on Abdul Karim at every opportunity. She had his portraits painted by the famous Austrian painter Rudolf Swoboda along with her other favorites. Swoboda painted him twice -in 1888 and 1889. Moreover, she used to write to him almost daily signing off her letters with "Your loving Mother or, Your Affectionate Mother".
But top honors for Abdul Karim were still to come.
In 1878 the Order of Indian Empire was started to honor people of remarkable merit from India. This was a rare honor in the heyday of the British Empire and only highly accomplished people could hope to be considered for it. But who could be more special for the queen than Abdul Karim? He got the honor along with many other Indians of outstanding merit.
Victoria knew very well that after her time, her protege would certainly be driven out from the country. So she made arrangements to provide for him by giving him land in Agra (India) from where he had originally come. Here also the queen had to face some resistance from officials but she had her way.
Abdul Karim returned to his estate in India after the death of Victoria in 1901. But he too was not destined to live long after his royal benefactor. He died 8 years later at the age of 46, ending a quaint chapter in the history of the grand queen.
Frank writes articles on various subjects such as history, travel, online security and health. You may also look at his website on kidney stones cause which also features various kidney stones symptoms to look out for.
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