Victoria & Abdul (18 page)

The Queen was taking no chances. By handing the Munshi a letter to carry, she had ensured that the Viceroy would definitely have to meet Karim. She had even suggested that he may meet Lady Lansdowne on the ship. Victoria wanted to make sure that Karim’s journey to India did not go in vain. She herself would miss him terribly when he was away. The young Indian had become a part of her life now. She was at once mother and friend to him and felt he understood her more than many others in her Court.

The night before Abdul Karim left Balmoral for his trip to India, the Queen wrote to the Viceroy again:

The Queen gives these few lines to be delivered to the Viceroy by her excellent and much esteemed Munshi and Indian clerk, Hafiz Abdul Karim, whom she recommends to the Viceroy’s
special notice
. His absence for four months will be severely felt by her, as he is very useful and helpful in so many ways. The Queen Empress trusts that the gift of land may soon be effected, for it is four months since it was first spoken of.

The Munshi’s father, Dr Wuzeeruddin, is the Queen believes about to retire after 32 or 33 years good service, as she hopes he
will have a good pension. The Queen will be glad if his son-in-law also a doctor, Ilam Ullah, who has 25 years’ service and is a doctor in Agra jail could succeed to Dr Wuzeeruddin’s place, if feasible.
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The letter was sealed and given to Karim to carry back to India. Before he left Balmoral, the Queen also bestowed upon him the decoration of the Eastern Star, the first of many medals and honours that she would give him. He was also photographed with the Queen in her study.

A few days later, the Viceroy seemed to have made a breakthrough and sent an urgent telegram to Balmoral on 30 October. ‘Arrangements for land grant are making satisfactory progress. Land will be in suburbs of Agra.’
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Delighted at having received some sort of assurance before Abdul Karim’s departure, the Queen replied the same day: ‘Much pleased by telegram. Munshi just leaving. Hopes to see you at Agra.’
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There is no record of how Lady Lansdowne reacted to the Munshi, who was travelling back to India on holiday on the same ship. Karim, still a youth of twenty-six, would have been polite and gentle and informed her that he was carrying a letter for the Viceroy from the Queen. The ship arrived at the port of Bombay on 18 November and the Munshi alighted carrying a sword and a gun, both with permission from the Queen.
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The Viceroy had ensured his smooth passage so he was not troubled by any authorities.

The Queen missed her Indian companion and wrote to her daughter Vicky in Germany:

My good Abdul Karim’s departure is vy. inconvenient as he looked after all my boxes – letters etc. besides my lessons and I miss him terribly! 4 months is a long time; I have such interesting and instructive conversations with him about India – the people, customs and his religion,
das geht mir alles sehr ab
 …
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The Viceroy had, meanwhile, confirmed from the provisional government that the grant of land for Karim would be above Rs 600 as the Queen had desired. The land had been identified
in the suburbs of Agra and the Viceroy sent a telegram to the Queen to say he looked forward to meeting both Abdul Karim and John Tyler in Agra. In a separate letter to Lord Cross, the Viceroy confided:

Did she [the Queen] tell you that I had obtained a grant of land for her Munshi, Abdul Karim, in the suburbs of Agra to the value of Rs 600.00 a year. The arrangement would be a most unusual one if the case was that of an ordinary employee of the state, but there is perhaps nothing very unnatural in the Empress of India desiring to reward a favourite servant in this manner. At any rate Her Majesty had set her heart upon obtaining this concession for him.
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The Munshi had informed the Queen about his safe arrival in India and she waited eagerly for news about the meeting between him and the Viceroy. Like a nervous mother sending her son out on his first day to school and hoping he would make a favourable impression, the Queen waited to hear from Lansdowne. On 21 November she wrote to him:

By this time the Viceroy will doubtless have seen her good Munshi, who went in the same ship with Maud [Lady Lansdowne], and they had such a quick and good passage. The Queen Empress hopes and trusts that this time the fatigue and heat have not tried her, as they did the first time.
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The Queen was in a flurry of excitement at the prospect of the meeting. ‘Thanks for kind reception for Munshi Abdul. Trust allow him and father to attend levee tomorrow,’ she telegrammed. But she was informed by return telegram that it would be inappropriate for the Viceroy to include Karim and Dr Wuzeeruddin in the levee, as it would upset protocol and other senior officers would be left out. She replied immediately the same day: ‘My mistake about levee. Quite understand. Most grateful for kind distinction for Munshi.’
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The next day she sent another excited telegram: ‘Was not aware when I telegraphed about Munshi and father that it was Durbar. Understand that father cd not attend that though he might attend platform. Much gratified at your giving Munshi place with your staff.’

The Munshi had updated her by telegram about his reception by the Viceroy. He had been to the Viceroy’s Durbar and stood in a special enclosure with the Viceroy’s staff. Important Indian zamindars and landed gentry from Agra and the vicinity had watched him take his place. Though his father, Dr Wuzeeruddin, had not been invited, the Munshi had been welcomed as a member of the Queen’s personal Household. His standing in Agra society had been firmly established.

The Queen was delighted. Another telegram to the Viceroy followed the same day: ‘Accept warm thanks from me and Munshi for great kindness to him today.’
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A few days later she thanked him again, both for the land and the courtesy shown to Karim. It was clear that the Queen longed to be in India. She craved to see the Taj Mahal in Agra and her beloved Abdul standing proudly at the Viceroy’s Durbar. She had read the Viceroy’s description of Bombay with eagerness and her heart ached that it was not possible for her to ever go there. ‘The Queen is jealous of all that he [the Viceroy] has seen, for she would give anything to visit India! But she fears her age puts a bar to it, though really the journey is wonderfully quick now, and it is said will still be shortened in time.’

Being able to present her Munshi to the Viceroy had given the Queen immense satisfaction. The Viceroy, however, had had a few headaches trying to balance his Queen’s demands with the strict formality and protocol of the British Raj.

The Viceroy had arrived at Agra station on 21 November to a red carpet welcome. The military band played on the platform as he alighted with his wife and regular entourage. Standing in the ring to greet him was the Governor of the North-West Provinces, Auckland Colvin, and other officials, including John Tyler. But the Munshi was not allowed to welcome the Viceroy. Though John Tyler had applied in advance on his behalf for permission for him to meet the Viceroy at the station, Colvin had rejected it on the ground that only persons of ‘high official positions or native personages of rank’ were allowed on the platform.

Lansdowne, learning of this, was quick to make amends and asked Tyler to invite Karim to meet him personally that afternoon. Karim, dressed in his turban and impressive clothes and proudly wearing the medal of the Eastern Star, was produced for an audience with the Viceroy. He handed him the letter sent by the
Queen and later that day had an interview with Lady Lansdowne. The Viceroy was impressed with the young man and thought he looked ‘very smart’. That evening the Viceroy was holding a levee, and with the Queen’s request in mind, he issued an order that the Munshi could attend it with members of the Viceroy’s staff. However, protocol required that Karim make an application to the Deputy Commissioner for permission to attend the levee and he had not done so. By the time the Viceroy realised this, it was too late for his staff to contact Karim and he missed the levee.

The Viceroy wanted to make sure that the Munshi did not miss the Durbar, as he had already missed two previous functions. He sent a message to the Munshi through Tyler to invite him to attend the Durbar with the Viceroy’s staff. Since Karim’s position as Munshi did not give him the right to be included amongst the regular ‘Durbaris’, the Viceroy thought that this was the proper course to adopt. All officials below a certain rank were excluded from these and the admission of any person of lower standing would be resented by the rest. However, as Karim held an appointment in the Queen’s Household, ‘it seemed only natural and proper that he should, upon such an occasion, attend upon your Majesty’s representative with the members of his staff ’, the Viceroy later explained to the Queen.

Karim’s father, Dr Wuzeeruddin, however, had to be excluded from the Durbar. Local officials at Agra informed the Viceroy that Dr Wuzeeruddin’s position did not entitle him to be included among the Durbaris since no official drawing less than Rs 3,000 a year was admitted and nearly all the
tehsildars
, or local magistrates, were excluded under this ruling.

Though the Viceroy had been happy to meet the Munshi and had been impressed by him, he was less pleased with John Tyler. After a lengthy conversation with the superintendent of the jail, he felt that Tyler seemed to be dissatisfied with the manner in which he had been treated and also underrated the value of the Queen’s gift to Karim. The Viceroy felt that Tyler was inclined to think there was a conspiracy against him, though he himself had never detected any animus against him from Auckland Colvin. He felt it was ‘very unfortunate’ that Tyler little appreciated all that had been done for him and that he spoke about the grant of land to the Munshi, in his presence, with indifference.

Feeling strongly about this, the Viceroy felt it was his:
duty to tell your Majesty that a grant such as that which has been made to Abdul Karim, is most rarely bestowed in this country, and then only to officers of very long and meritorious service. As an illustration he may mention that quite recently one of the men who at the peril of his life, and under a withering fire helped to blow up the Kashmiri Gate of Delhi in the Mutiny, received, on his retirement from the service, a grant of land yielding only Rs 250 for life. Abdul Karim, at the age of 26, has received a
perpetual
grant of land representing an income of more than double that amount in recognition of his services as a member of your Majesty’s Household.

The Viceroy does not for a moment, question that services rendered to the Queen Empress should receive special and signal recognition, but he must protest against such rewards when they have been given at your Majesty’s express desire, being underrated, or spoken of as if they were not of serious importance.

He felt that judging from the language used by Tyler, it was clear that the gentleman did not sufficiently recognise the consideration with which he and Abdul Karim had both been treated.

The Viceroy enclosed a seating plan for the Durbar and said he had given the Munshi a special place between the Viceroy’s staff and the ‘distinguished visitors’.

Before the Viceroy left Agra, he made it a point to receive both Karim and his father privately. Lady Lansdowne, too, gave an interview to the Munshi’s wife and mother-in-law, who were brought to the camp with much secrecy and ‘many precautions for the strict observance of the purdah rules’. Lansdowne informed the Queen that ‘Abdul Karim looked extremely well and was very smart’.
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The Queen read the letter several times, absorbing each detail of the events in Agra. She filled with pride at the Viceroy’s praise for Karim, but was equally upset about what she had learnt about John Tyler, the man she had worked so hard to promote. She was also nervous that Tyler’s behaviour and his remarks could reflect badly on the Munshi and wanted the Viceroy to have no misconceptions about him.

On 27 November the Viceroy informed Lord Cross how he had delicately secured the position of the Munshi at the Durbar:

I have had a great deal of correspondence with HM [Her Majesty] by letter and telegram about the position to be accorded to her Munshi, who is now here on leave. His status in HM’s household did not entitle him to be included amongst the regular Durbaris, but I got over the difficulty by giving him a place next to my own staff and close behind my seat. This arrangement, I am glad to learn, has given HM satisfaction. I bestow an excessive amount of recognition upon the Munshi, who as you know, has got a grant of land to the value of Rs 600 per annum permanently, a very liberal mark of Her Majesty’s favour.
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His final despatch to Cross from Agra was equally tongue-in-cheek:

I have arranged to see the Queen’s Munshi and his father privately before I leave, and Lady Lansdowne is, I fancy at this moment, engaged in interviewing the Munshi’s wife and her mamma, who are to be smuggled into the camp with the utmost secrecy. I think you will agree with me in considering that the family should be well satisfied with the recognition which they have received.
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