Synopses & Reviews
On the afternoon of 16th November 1910 three hundred suffragettes left Caxton Hall in London in a fiery mood. Their plan was to march through the winter streets to the House of Commons. Marching shoulder to shoulder with Emmeline Pankhurst at the head of the procession was Sophia Duleep Singh - princess-in-exile, suffragette and revolutionary.
Born in 1876 Sophia Duleep Singh was a dispossessed princess of one of the greatest and most defiant empires of the Indian subcontinent. Her father Maharajah Duleep Singh, was heir to the Kingdom of the Sikhs, a realm that included the mighty cities of Lahore and Peshawar, stretching from the lush Kashmir Valley to the craggy foothills of the Khyber Pass. It was an empire irresistible to the British, who took everything, including the fabled Kohinoor diamond. Sophias mother was the illegitimate daughter of a German businessman and an Abyssinian slave and her godmother was Queen Victoria.
Brought up in Elvedon in Norfolk, in a house transformed to resemble a Maharajahs palace replete with exotic animals, Sophia was raised to be as genteel as any upper-class Englishwoman, presented at court, living later at Hampton Court Palace, filling the society pages with her new fashions. But at the age of thirty-one, in 1907, she went secretly to India and returned a revolutionary. Her causes were to be the struggle for Indian Independence; the fate of the Lascars; the welfare of Indian soldiers in the First World War - and the fight for female suffrage.
Carefully researched and passionately written, this is an enthralling story of an extraordinary woman who lived through some of the most eventful times in British and Indian history, and helped pave the way for women's rights in the 20th century.
Review
— "A groundbreaking work that at last tells the important story of Sophia Duleep Singh: unflinching princess-in-exile, doughty moderniser and tenacious suffragette. From the streets of India to the corridors of power, Sophia artfully examines the tensions between East and West; and one woman's choice between fighting for freedom and staying silent." - Amanda Foreman, author of A World on Fire "Anita Anand has definitively restored to history one of the most important and charismatic figures in the suffragette movement. This thoroughly absorbing and deftly informative account instantly pulled me into the irresistible adventure and vitality of Sophia Duleep Singhs defiant and innovative existence. Anands timely biography is a wonderful testament to Sophias lifetime of commitment to Indian independence and the advancement of women, and to the range and courage of her achievements." - Rachel Holmes, author of Eleanor Marx: A Life
Synopsis
The enthralling story of an extraordinary princess who became a suffragette and revolutionary, and lived through some of the most eventful times in British and Indian history.
Synopsis
The enthralling story of an extraordinary woman and her part in the defining moments of
recent British Indian history.
Synopsis
In 1876 Sophia Duleep Singh was born into Indian royalty. Her father, Maharajah Duleep Singh, was heir to the Kingdom of the Sikhs, one of the greatest empires of the Indian subcontinent, a realm that stretched from the lush Kashmir Valley to the craggy foothills of the Khyber Pass and included the mighty cities of Lahore and Peshawar. It was a territory irresistible to the British, who plundered everything, including the fabled Koh-I-Noor diamond.
Exiled to England, the dispossessed Maharajah transformed his estate at Elveden in Suffolk into a Moghul palace, its grounds stocked with leopards, monkeys and exotic birds. Sophia, god-daughter of Queen Victoria, was raised a genteel aristocratic Englishwoman: presented at court, afforded grace and favor lodgings at Hampton Court Palace and photographed wearing the latest fashions for the society pages. But when, in secret defiance of the British government, she travelled to India, she returned a revolutionary.
Sophia transcended her heritage to devote herself to battling injustice and inequality, a far cry from the life to which she was born. Her causes were the struggle for Indian Independence, the fate of the lascars, the welfare of Indian soldiers in the First World War—and, above all, the fight for female suffrage. She was bold and fearless, attacking politicians, putting herself in the front line and swapping her silks for a nurses uniform to tend wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefields. Meticulously researched and passionately written, this enthralling story of the rise of women and the fall of empire introduces an extraordinary individual and her part in the defining moments of recent British and Indian history.
About the Author
Anita Anand has been a radio and television journalist for almost twenty years. She is the presenter of Any Answers on BBC Radio 4. During her career, she has also presented Drive, Doubletake and the Anita Anand Show on Radio 5 Live, and Saturday Live, The Westminster Hour, Beyond Westminster, Midweek and Womans Hour on Radio 4. On BBC television she has presented The Daily Politics, The Sunday Politics and Newsnight. She lives in west London. This is her first book.