[BITList] Sir David Ochterlony's thirteenth wife

[John Feltham]

Begin forwarded message:

General (Sir David) Ochterlony had thirteen wives. The youngest of
them was Mubarak Begum. She was originally a dancing girl slave in
Pune who later converted to Islam and was taken on by the general.
Being far younger than this old general and also because of her skill
in singing & dancing she had great influence on the aging general. In
no time she began to direct things within the walls of the residency.
After general's death he was buried in a garden tomb located at the
poshest area of Delhi at that time. Mubarak Begum inherited a large
fortune and built herself a haveli and a mosque in the garden. She
was getting quite unpopular due to her haughtiness and angered
both the British & the Moghuls. The British were angry as she was
signing her letters as Lady Ochterlony and the Mughals were unhappy
as she had assumed the name of Quidisi Begum which was Emperor's
mother's name. This implied that no Mughal gentry would ever set foot
in her premises. An once powerful lady lived the life of a loner hated
by all. People treated her as a nautch girl due to her background.

The mosque she built is located at Hauz Qazi in old Delhi and the locals
rather crudely refer to it as "Rundee ki Masjid" [or Whore's Mosque].
http://www.theindiatree.com/forum2/index.php?showtopic=3757

Rundee/randi means prostitute. This must be a reference to her being
a nautch-girl in the past, that's before her marriage.

William Dalrymple in his book White Mughals makes an interesting
etymological speculation. He wonders whether the Hindustani word
Rundee/randi gave birth to the adjective ''randi'' in modern English.
Quite plausible, but not true, as the English word is of Scottish origin.

See: http://podictionary.com/?p=642
and
http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2006_12_01_grammarphobiacom_archive.html

See an image of the mosque here -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjayausta/2347081346/

Image of a ''gone-native'' Sir David Ochterlony here:
http://www.gpmsdbaweb.com/memoir2/_supportimages/sir-david-ochterlony.WEB.jpg

And an article by Dalrymple on ''Albion's sons going native'' here -
http://www.gpmsdbaweb.com/memoir2/_supportdocs/Folder_Dalrymple_Stuff/Ochterlony_When%20Albion%27s%20sons%20went%20native.htm

ooroo

Bad typists of the word, untie.