Nineteenth-Century Travels, Explorations and Empires, Part I Vol 3

Writings from the Era of Imperial Consolidation, 1835-1910

Peter J Kitson, William Baker, Indira Ghose, Susan Schoenbauer Thurin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9781000558951
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World History
• Index: History

A collection of writings on travels undertaken in the Victorian era. The texts collected in these volumes show how 19th century travel literature served the interests of empire by promoting British political and economic values that translated into manufacturing goods.

Parks: Wanderings of a Pilgrim

DOI: 10.4324/9781003113454-2

Fanny Parks, Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque, During Four-and-Twenty Years in the East; with Revelations of Life in the Zenana, 2 vols (London: Pelham Richardson, 1850), Vol. I, pp. 378-89; pp. 422-48; Vol. II, pp. 1-9; pp. 32-9.

Fanny Parks (or Parkes) went to India in 1822 with her husband, who became Collector of Customs stationed at Allahabad. Her diary recounts the events of the twenty-four years she spent in the country (from 1822 to 1845), travelling to Calcutta, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Agra, Meerut, Delhi, and Mus-soorie. Her narrative displays her avid interest and enthusiasm for everything she encounters, compiling a vast amount of information in the course of her travels. Her book contains details of the flora and fauna of India, historical background information, lengthy presentations of Hindu mythology, descriptions of historical monuments, copious quotations from other travel accounts, as well as eyewitness accounts of life in the zenana, that legendary space allegedly harbouring the secrets of the Oriental woman. In addition, she threads her text with 147 Oriental proverbs and attaches an exhaustive appendix to her book, containing information ranging from recipes to beauty tips. Samples are: notes on ice-cream making; tips on how to arrange a turban; instructions on how to dye the beard and moustache; and a recipe for perfumed tobacco cake. With this embarrassment of riches on offer, it is small wonder that the colonial historian Philip Woodruff calls hers 'the cream of all such books.'¹

There is, however, something obsessive about Parks' voracious appetite for collecting. She boasts a collection of Hindu idols 'far superior to any in the [British] Museum' (Volume II, p. 334), and much of her energy is devoted to hunting for idols. Apart from idols, she collects butterflies, fossil bones and even possesses a zoological collection she preserves in spirits. Her relentless accumulation of curios testifies to an attempt to appropriate the Orient by collecting encounters with the East.

The most remarkable insights into Indian life in her book are afforded by her access to the zenana through her friend, the mercenary-adventurer Colonel Gardner who had settled in India and married a Muslim princess. In the first excerpt given here she expresses her delight at collecting yet another rare experience, since only few Englishwomen (and no Englishmen) had had the opportunity of seeing the inmates of a zenana at close range. Her text is heavily influenced by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's famous descriptions of visiting a Turkish harem, and articulates the same delight at the beauty of the Oriental woman. The influence of Montagu's text is clearly visible in the passage describing the slave girls' amazement at the clothes a European woman wears. In the second excerpt a precise description of a Muslim wedding ceremony is presented, surely another experience that few women travellers at the time would have had the good fortune to share.

Perhaps the most striking aspect about Parks' text is her description of her relationship to the deposed Maratha queen, the Baiza Bai. She was the widow of the Maratha ruler, Daulat Rao Sindhia, who died in 1827 leaving no heirs. According to custom, the Baiza Bai became regent, while a relative, Jakujee Sindhia, was adopted and designated as successor to the throne. He instigated an army rebellion against her, forcing her into exile. Pressure exerted by the East India Company administration made her move to South India. Later she was allowed to return to Gwalior, where she lived until her death in 1861. Parks clearly feels attracted to the resolute ruler and is happy to share insights about the mutual oppression of Indian and English women. Remarkably, the Maratha women appear as the more liberated, at least in the comparison between their different styles of riding on horseback. At one point Parks declares, Were I an Asiatic, I would be a Mahratta.' (Volume II, p. 38).

The impression that Parks leaves is that of a woman who is decidedly opposed to any ideal of domesticity and who finds freedom in travelling in India: 'How much there is to delight the eye in this bright, this beautiful world! Roaming about with a good tent and a good Arab, one might be happy for ever in India (Volume II, p. 191).

CHAPTER XXXIII.

REVELATIONS OF LIFE IN THE ZENĀNA.

" WHOEVER HATH GIVEN HIS HEART TO A BELOVED OBJECT, HATH PUT HIS BEARD INTO THE HANDS OF ANOTHER¹."

¹ Oriental Proverbs, No. 70.

Invitation to Khasgunge—Kutchowra—The Zenāna—A Timoorion Princess— Opium-eating—Native Dishes—The Evening Party—The beautiful Begam —Musalmanī Attire and Ornaments.—Timūr-lung—Gold and Silver Beds— Atrof various sorts—Perfume of the Body of the Prophet—Dye for the Hands and Feet—Chunees.

1835, Feb.—Khasgunge, the residence of my friend Colonel Gardner, is sixty miles from Agra: he wrote to me expressing a wish that I should visit him, and regretting he was too unwell to meet me at Agra, and conduct me to his house. I was delighted to accept the invitation, particularly at this time, as he informed me a marriage was to take place in his family which might interest me

His grand-daughter, Susan Gardner, was on the eve of marriage with one of the princes of Delhi, and lie wished me to witness the ceremony. I was also invited to pay a visit en route to his son, Mr. James Gardner, who was married to a niece of the reigning emperor, Akbar Shāh.

Was not this delightful? All my dreams in the Turret of Noor-māhāl were to be turned into reality. I was to have an opportunity of viewing life in the zenāna, of seeing the native ladies of the East, women of high rank, in the seclusion of their own apartments, in private life: and although the emperors of Delhi have fallen from their high estate, they and their descendants are nevertheless Timoorians and descendants of Akbar Shāh.

I know of no European lady but myself, with the exception of one, who has ever had an opportunity of becoming intimate with native ladies of rank; and as she had also an invitation to the wedding we agreed to go together.

21st—We started dāk for Kutchowra, the residence of Mr. James Gardner. This is not that Kutchowra which yearly used to bring such treasure into the Company's coffers in boat-loads of cotton; but that Kutchowra which stopped and fought Lord Lake, and killed the famous Major Nairn of tiger-killing memory.

We arrived at noon the next day; Mr. James Gardner, whom I had never seen before, received us with much pleasure; his countenance reminded me of his father, whom, in manner, he greatly resembled; he was dressed in handsome native attire, a costume he usually wore.

His grounds contain two houses; the outer one, in which he receives visitors and transacts business, and the second, within four walls, which is sacred to the Begam, and has its entrance guarded night and day.

Mr. James Gardner married Nawāb Mulka Humanee Begam, the nicce of the emperor Akbar Shah, and daughter of Mirza Sulimān Shekō (the brother of the present emperor), who lives at Agra.

I was taken to the zenāna gates, when three very fine children, the two sons and a daughter of Mr. James Gardner, and the princess, m their gay native dresses of silk and satin, embroidered in gold and silver, ran out to see the new arrival. They were elegant little creatures, and gave promise of being remarkably handsome. I was surprised to see the little girl at liberty, but was informed that girls are not shut up until they are about six years old, until which time they are allowed to run about, play with the boys, and enjoy their freedom. Quitting the palanquins, we walked across the court to the entrance of the zenāna; there we took off our shoes and left them, it being a point of etiquette not to appear m shoes in the presence of a superior; so much so, that Mr. Gardner himself was never guilty of the indecorum of wearing shoes or slippers in the presence of his wife.

The Begam was sitting on a charpāī when we entered the apartment, when Mrs. B presented me as the friend of Col. Gardner, she shook hands with me, and said, " How do you do, kŭrow?''—this was all the English she could speak. The Begam appeared ill and languid: perhaps the languor was the effect of opium. I had heard so much of Mulka's wonderful beauty, that I felt disappointed her long black and shining hair, divided in front, hung down on both sides of her face as low as her bosom, while the rest of her hair, plaited behind, hung down her back in a long tail.

Her dress consisted of silk pājāmas (full trowsers), over which she wore a pair of Indian shawls, and ornaments of jewellery were on her hands and arms. En passant, be it said that ladies in the East never wear petticoats, but full pājāmas: the ay has, who attend on English ladies in the capacity of ladies' maids, wear the petticoat; but it is a sign of servitude, and only worn to satisfy the ideal delicacy of English ladies, who dislike to see a female servant without a petticoat. The moment an ayha quits her mistress, and goes into her own house, she pulls off the petticoat as a useless incumbrance, and appears in the native trowsers which she always wears beneath it.

The room in which the Begam received us was the one in which she usually slept; the floor was covered with a white cloth. She was sitting on a charpāī (a native bed); and as the natives never use furniture, of course there was none in the room.

Two or three female attendants stood by her side, fanning her with large feather fans; the others drove away the mosquitoes and flies with chaunriīs made of peacocks' feathers, which are appendages of royalty.

Some opium was brought to her; she took a great bit of it herself, and put a small bit, the size of half a pea, into the mouth of each of her young children; she eats much opium daily, and gives it to her children until they are about six years old.

Native ladies, when questioned on the subject, say, " It keeps them from taking cold; it is the custom ; that is enough, it is the custom."

If a native lady wish to keep up her reputation for beauty, she should not allow herself to be seen under the effect of opium by daylight.

When the Princess dismissed us from her presence, she invited us to pay her a visit in the evening, Mrs. B—, with whom she was very intimate, and to whom she was very partial, said,— " I trust, Mulka Begam, since we are to obey your commands, and pay you a visit this evening, you will put on all your ornaments, and make yourself look beautiful." The Begam laughed, and said she would do so. On our quitting the apartments, she exclaimed, " Ah! you English ladies, with your white faces, you run about where you will, like dolls, and are so happy ¹" From which speech I conjecture the princess dislikes the confinement of the four walls. She always spoke urdū (zaban-i-urdū), the court language, which is Hindostanee, intermixed largely with Persian; her manners were very pleasing and very ladylike. So much for the first sight of the Princess Mulka Begam.

The history I heard in the zenana is as follows: Mulka Begam, the wife of Mirza Selīm, the brother of Akbar Shāh, was on a visit to her sister, the beautiful Queen of Oude; his Majesty fell in love with Mulka, and detained her against her will in the palace; Col. Gardner, indignant at the conduct of the King, brought Mulka from Lucnow, and placed her in his own zenana, under the care of his own Begam. Marriages are generally dependant on geographical position; the opportunity Mr. James Gardner had of seeing the Princess, added to her extreme beauty, and the romance of the affair, was more than he could withstand; he carried her off from the zenāna. Col. Gardner was extremely angry, and refused to see or communicate with his son; they lived in the jungle for nearly two years. One day, Mr. James Gardner, who had tried every method to induce his father to be reconciled to him in vain, seeing him in a boat, swam after him, and vowed, unless Col. Gardner would take him into the boat, he would perish: Colonel Gardner remained unmoved, until, seeing his son exhausted, and on the point of sinking, paternal feelings triumphed; he put forth his hand, and saved him. "Whatever a man does who is afflicted with love, he is to be excused for it¹."

¹ Oriental Proverbs, No. 71.

" Durd ishk-e kushîdu'um ki m ' puisZahir hijree chushīdu'um ki m ' puis "

" Hum ne dil sunum ko dyaPhir kissee ko kya?"

" I have felt the pain of love, ask not of whom:I have felt the pangs of absence, ask not of whom: "

" I have given my heart to my beloved,What is that to another?"

Mulka was divorced from Mirza Selīm, and legally married to her present husband. We dined with Mr. Gardner in the outer house; the dinner was of native dishes, which were most excellent. During the repast, two dishes were sent over from the Begam, in compliment to her guests, which I was particularly desired to taste, as the Timoorian ladies pride themselves on their cookery, and on particular occasions will superintend the making of the dishes themselves; these dishes were so very unlike, and so superior to any food I had ever tasted, that I never failed afterwards to partake of any dish when it was brought to me, with the mysterious whisper, " It came from within." It would be incorrect to say, " The Begam has sent it"It came from within," being perfectly understood by the initiated.

In the evening we returned to the zenana, and were ushered into a long and large apartment, supported down the centre by eight double pillars of handsome native architecture. The floor of the room was covered with white cloth; several lamps of brass (chirāgh-dāns) were placed upon the ground, each stand holding, perhaps, one hundred small lamps. In the centre of the room a carpet was spread, and upon that the gaddī and pillows for the Begam; the gaddi or throne of the sovereign is a long round pillow, which is placed behind the back for support, and two smaller at the sides for the knees; they are placed upon a small carpet of velvet, or of kimkhwāb (cloth of gold); the whole richly embroidered and superbly fringed with gold. Seats of the same description, but plain and unornamented, were provided for the visitors. A short time after our arrival, Mulka Begam entered the room, looking like a dazzling apparition, you could not see her face, she having drawn her dopatta (veil) over it; her movements were graceful, and the magnificence and elegance of her drapery were surprising to the eye of a European.

She seated herself on the gaddī, and throwing her dopatta partly off her face, conversed with us. How beautiful she looked! how very beautiful! Her animated countenance was constantly varying, and her dark eyes struck fire when a joyous thought crossed her mind. The languor of the morning had disappeared; by lamplight she was a different creature, and I felt no surprise when I remembered the wondrous tales told by the men of the beauty of Eastern women. Mulka walks very gracefully, and is as straight as an arrow. In Europe, how rarely—how very rarely does a woman walk gracefully! bound up in stays, the body is as stiff as a lobster in its shell, that snake-like, undulating movement,—the poetry of motion— is lost, destroyed by the stiffness of the waist and hip, which impedes the free movement of the limbs. A lady in European attire gives me the idea of a German mannikin; an Asiatic, in her flowing drapery, recalls the statues of antiquity.

I had heard of Mulka's beauty long ere I beheld her, and she was described to me as the loveliest creature in existence. Her eyes, which are very long, large, and dark, are remarkably fine, and appeared still larger from being darkened on the edges of the eyelids with soorma: natives compare the shape of a fine eye to a mango when cut open. Her forehead is very fine; her nose delicate, and remarkably beautiful,—so finely chiselled; her mouth appeared less beautiful, the lips being rather thin. According to the custom of married women in the East, her teeth were blackened, and the inside of her lips also, with missee (antimony); which has a peculiarly disagreeable appearance to my eye, and may therefore have made me think the lower part of her countenance less perfectly lovely than the upper: in the eye of a native, th...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents Page
• Introduction Page
• Travels into Bokhara; Being the Account of a Journey from India to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia; Also, Narrative of a Voyage on the Indus, from the Sea to Lahore, with Presents from the King of Great Britain; Performed under the orders of the Supreme Goverment of India, in the Years 1831, 1832, and 1833 (1834)
• Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque, During Four-and-Twenty Years in the East; with Revelations of Life in the Zenana (1850)
• Scinde; or, the Unhappy Valley (1851)
• A Journey through the Kingdom of Oude, in 1849-50; by Direction of the Right Hon. the Earl of Dalhousie, Governor-General. With Private Correspondence relative to the Annexation of Oude to British India (1858)
• A Lady's Diary of the Siege of Lucknow, Written for the Perusal of Friends at Home (1858)
• My Diary in India, in the year 1858-9 (1860)
• 'Up the Country': Letters written to her Sister from the Upper Provinces of India (1866)
• Letters from India, ed. by her Niece, the Hon. Eleanor Eden (1872)
• India Under Ripon: A Private Diary (1909)
• Further Reading
• Notes