Abdul Karim

Submitted by obl7 on
Other names

Munshi

1
Date of birth
Precise DOB unknown
Y
City of birth
Agra
Country of birth
India
Date of death
Precise date of death unknown
Y
Location of death
Agra, India
Date of 1st arrival in Britain
Precise 1st arrival date unknown
Y
Dates of time spent in Britain

June 1887-1901

2
About

Abdul Karim was born in Agra, India, in 1862 to father Sheikh Mohammed Waziruddin, a hospital assistant. In 1887, as part of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, Karim was one of two Indians who arrived to serve in the Queen's household; the other was Mohammed Bukhsh.

Soon after they accompanied the Queen to Balmoral. Karim was singled out to help teaching Hindustani to the Queen; he became her 'munshi' in 1889. Queen Victoria took a liking to Karim and granted him some land in the suburbs of Agra. Later he was decorated with the Order of the Indian Empire. Karim's rise within the household caused some controversy - both from the other servants and from government officials - but Queen Victoria supported him in all cases.

In 1893, after six months' leave in India, Karim returned to England with his wife and her mother. They stayed at Frogmore Cottage, Windsor, which the Queen had provided for them. In February 1894, Karim accompanied Queen Victoria on her trip to Florence, Italy, as he would on her many trips to Cimiez in the south of France. The closer he got to the Queen the more the court tried to drive them apart, fearing that he had access to political papers and would pose a threat to the state. However, the Queen adamantly defended Karim and swore he did not read any political papers. Around this time, in the late 1890s, Karim befriended Rafiuddin Ahmed, who attended rallies of the Muslim League. Ahmed was under surveillance but there is little evidence that he constituted any threat to the state.

In 1898, the Queen's health was in decline. As a testament to their friendship, the Queen sought to provide for Karim after her death (Anand, p. 96). On 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died at Osborne. Karim immediately retired, was given a pension, and returned to India where he lived until his death in 1909.

Connections

Rafiuddin Ahmed (fellow Indian in Britain at the time), Mohammed Bukhsh (fellow servant).

Involved in events

Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, 1897

3
Secondary works

Anand, Sushila, Indian Sahib: Queen Victoria's Dear Abdul (London: Duckworth, 1996)

Longford, Elizabeth, Victoria R. I. (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1964)

Plumb, J. H., Royal Heritage: The Story of Britain's Royal Builders and Collectors (London: British Broadcasting Corporation, 1977)

Ponsonby, Frederick Edward Grey, Recollections of Three Reigns (London: Eyre &Spottiswoode, 1951)

Truth, 19 December 1895

Visram, Rozina, Asians in Britain: 400 Hundred Years of History (London: Pluto Press, 2002)

Visram, Rozina, Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: Indians in Britain, 1700-1947 (London: Pluto Press, 1986)

Visram, Rozina, 'Karim, Abdul (1862/3–1909)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/42022]

4
Example

Anand, Sushila, Indian Sahib: Queen Victoria's Dear Abdul (London: Duckworth, 1996), p. 15

Content

Queen Victoria records her first meeting with her two Indian servants.

Extract

23 June 1887, Windsor Castle

A very fine morning with a fresh air. Felt very tired. Drove down to Frogmore with Beatrice to breakfast, and met Vicky and young Vicky there. My 2 Indian servants were there and began to wait.

The one, Mohammed Bukhsh, very dark with a very smiling expression, has been a servant before with Gen. Dennehy, and also with the Rana of Dholpore, and the other, much younger, called Abdul Karim, is much lighter, tall, and with a fine serious countenance. His father is a native doctor at Agra. They both kissed my feet.

Archive source

Mss Eur D/558/1, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Mss Eur F84/126a, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

L/P/S/8/61, India Office Records, Asian and African Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras

Royal Archives, Windsor