The Maharaja 39;s Daughter Full Movie Online

[Baudilio Eliason]

Thephoto belongs to the Indian Office Records, a vast collection of documents that relate to the British administration of India, 1600 to 1947. These types of collections, and the documents they contain, are evidence of the way historical individuals and organisations thought and behaved. This archival material, therefore, preserves history, yet also reveals hidden details, perspectives and paradoxes of the past. Archives can be surprising and enlightening, taking a number of forms, including letters, maps, and, as shown here, images.

A range of different classes and groups migrated to Britain through these years. They included ayahs, lascars, students, writer-travellers, politicians and intellectuals, as well as those who had royal or aristocratic links (See also: 'The lascars', 'The first Indian MP', 'Student migrants', 'A home for the ayahs' and 'The Arts across continents'). These migrants travelled from all over British India. British India was a large, expansive place then, different from what we know India to be today. It once encompassed the modern nations of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, as well as India, and was united until its partition in 1947, which created a number of modern South Asian nations.

Sophia Duleep Singh (1876-1948) was the daughter of Duleep Singh, Maharaja of Punjab until 1849. In 1849, aged 10, he was removed from the Punjab, with his title and power devolved. Despite this, Duleep Singh was famously a friend of Queen Victoria. In her diary she wrote of him:

Sophia was god-daughter to Queen Victoria and one of her favourites. She was raised according to her birth as an aristocrat, albeit an English aristocrat with a mixed-heritage background. Indeed, Queen Victoria presented her at court and provided Sophia with grace and favour lodgings at Hampton Court Palace. The Princess was often also featured in society pages wearing the latest fashions.

As a mixed-heritage, migrant woman of aristocratic upbringing, Sophia was politically and socially active in Britain. She worked tirelessly for justice and reform, in particular for women, but also for fellow migrants. Her high-profile activism had great impact during her time; and it continues to resonate in the rights and equalities we enjoy today in Britain.

The story of Sophia exposes the forgotten history of how Indians have influenced and contributed to Britain. It reminds us of the interwoven histories of India and Britain, and the long presence of Indians, from all backgrounds, in the British Isles.

The source represented here is from research undertaken at The Open University by the 'Making Britain' project. The project produced an online database of information about South Asians in Britain from 1870 to 1950, the organisations they were involved in, their British connections, and the major events in which they participated. It contains its own entry on Sophia Duleep Singh.

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