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| Sudakshina, from Chitra Deb's 'Thakurbarir Andarmahal' |
Earlier this month, I went to Abbotsford, a historic estate in Nainital, for the Himalayan Echoes literary festival, run by Janhavi Prasada. The festival took place on the extensive lawns of the estate, which is now run as an elegant hotel, but originally it was a family home and the place had been acquired from its British owners by Janhavi’s great grandfather Jwala Prasada and his wife, Purnima Devi, in the late 19th century. Janhavi’s new book, Nainital Through Stories, Memories, History mentions this in its first few pages:
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From Nainital Through Stories |
I was intrigued to learn that Purnima Devi was a niece of Rabindranath Tagore. She was born (according to Wikipedia) on 13 May 1884, at No. 6, Dwarkanath Tagore's Lane, Jorasanko, Calcutta, to Hemendranath Tagore (1844–1884) of Jorasanko. Hemendranath was the older brother of Rabindranath Tagore, and son of Debendranath Tagore, founder of the Brahmo Samaj. Purnima Devi, who was also called Sudakshina, died in 1972 at the age of 88.
How did a young woman from the Tagore family of Bengal end up marrying a zamindar from what was then the United Provinces? What kind of life did she lead thereafter?
I turned to Chitra Deb’s monumental work on the women in the Tagore clan for the details, and though I have no way right now of double-checking facts, place names, or dates, I found the relevant passages fascinating and began to translate them. The extract below is my own translation from Thakurbarir Andarmahal (Kolkata, Ananda Books, 1980). I am indebted to Tandra Roy for help with passages I was having trouble with, and to Manishita Dass for reminding me that she had gifted me this book years ago, and it was likely to contain the information I was looking for.
(The complete text of Thakurbarir Andarmahal has been translated into English by Smita Chowdhry and Sona Roy as Women of the Tagore Household, Penguin, 2010).
SUDAKSHINA (PURNIMA DEVI)
(my translation from Chitra Deb's Thakurbarir Andarmahal)
Of eight sisters, Sudakshina was the youngest. Her formal name was Purnima. Having lost her father soon after birth, she grew up in the loving care of her older brothers and sisters.
For as long as she lived in her paternal home, her true self remained hidden. It was as if she revealed herself gradually like the phases of the moon and everyone suddenly became aware of her beauty and nobility. But of course! She was made for royalty! How could a run-of-the-mill educated groom from a respectable family be good enough for her? It was necessary to seek out the ideal partner.
He was soon found: a native of Budaun who was a zamindar of zila Harid (?), Pandit Jwala Prasad Pandey. He was a Kashmiri Brahmin and, despite being a zamindar, was an ICS officer.
Following the customs of north India, Sudakshina was carried off in a palki to the United Provinces to become a householder with her husband. A spark from the Tagore house was thereby flung far afield. By the time Sudakshina's name and fame spread, however, Jwala Prasad was in the other world.
Sudakshina’s sphere of influence was in UP’s Budaun, Harid, and Shahjahanpur, so she is relatively unknown in Bengal. We find her in the pages of the journal Punya, where she contributed recipes. [This periodical, a women's magazine, began as an in-house publication of the Tagore family of Jorasanko. Besides publishing fiction and poetry, it contained numerous articles on domestic science and presented hundreds of cooking recipes most of them authored by Pragyasundari Debi, the first editor of this periodical; source: University of Heidelberg library catalogue].
Maybe like Pragyasundari, she had a good hand for cooking, or maybe she began writing from the natural desire to introduce her own family to the delicacies of her marital home.
But she was really not cut out for the role of a conventionally veiled daughter-in-law confined to the kitchen.
Jwala Prasad had with great care and affection taught her how to manage money and property. Sudakshina had learnt from him how to ride horses and shoot. She spoke fluent English. She galloped off on horseback to inspect remote rural corners of her zamindari after the death of her husband. She had her own elephant too and would roam around mounted on it.
Sudakshina was widowed at just 27 when Jwala Prasad died suddenly (from a carbuncle). A young, childless widow, so far from her own home – it was widely assumed that it was only a matter of time before the zamindari fell to ruin. It wasn’t as if the situation didn’t pique the interest of the British too. The inheritor of fathomless wealth, a beautiful widow in the full bloom of her youth . . . yet everyone was left disappointed. One high-ranking Englishman apparently made a proposal of marriage to her. It was not ill-intentioned, but Sudakshina did not accept it.
This is hearsay. There is no possibility of knowing for certain what happened as every witness from that time is gone from this world. Her nephew Bashob Tagore has written [in Jorasanko Theke Prithibir Pothay]: “She politely refused all of the wedding proposals that she, as a young widow, received from several important people. She was the truly commanding wife of a truly commanding zamindar. British officials were awestruck by her imperiousness.”
How did Sudhakshina assume such an imperious attitude towards the British? What made her so fearless?
It is said that during the revolt of 1857, Jwala Prasad’s father helped the British by sheltering a few of them, and as a reward he was granted one special right: his zamindari would never be seized from him and auctioned. The British rulers kept their promise. As a result, Jwala Prasad and Sudhakshina gained great power. After her husband’s death, when the zamindari came to her, though she secretly despised British officials, she was obliged to keep the connection to them alive. At the first sign of unseemly behaviour or overreach, however, she immediately expressed her annoyance to the higher-ups. This was why local English officials took care not to cross her.
It is said that Sudakshina was the uncrowned queen of her zamindari. The British honoured her with a CIE (Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire) . They wanted to title her a Maharani – not once, but thrice. Each time she refused. What purpose would be served accepting honours from them? What prestige would be gained? “Instead, they would interfere in my zamindari.” From reading Bashob Tagore, we realise that she was honoured with a Kaisar-e- Hind medal not as a zamindar, but because of her social work. She established a sugar mill in Shahjahanpur through her own efforts. She lived among her subjects, who were like her children. In other villages, and other zamindaris, there was exploitation and crime. Sudakshina’s zamindari was above all this, and her subjects would fervently declare that they lived in Ram Rajya. She created a fearsome protection force with a few hand-picked dacoits. She would personally ride horseback, armed with a gun, to inspect villages. It was said she was an unerring shot who used to defeat British male competitors in shooting matches. There weren’t many such warlike, charismatic women in Bengal, though of course Bengali women had always been extremely competent at running zamindaris: we know about Rani Bhabani and Rani Rashmoni. They too ran zamindaris brilliantly. Though they were not royalty, their subjects elevated them to monarchs with their respect and fervour.
Sudhakshina became a zamindar at a very young age, and in an alien land, and yet experienced no difficulty. She “took no help either from her paternal home or that of her in-laws”. She adopted a nephew of Jwala Prasad and continued living in Shahjahanpur.
Apart from running her zamindari, Sudakshina devoted herself to helping people and serving society. It goes without saying that, following the traditions of her own family, she established a school for UP’s illiterate and backward. In these areas, girls lived in a world of absolute darkness. Sudakshina tried to bring them education as well. When there were calls to boycott the English language during the non-cooperation movement, Sudakshina objected. Expel the English she said, no harm in that, but why expel the English language? It was a necessary language. The language gave us the opportunity to be acquainted with one of the great literatures of the world. She objected fiercely, stating that if she was prevented from teaching English, she would close her schools. Since she was a westernised woman, it was possible to misunderstand Sudakshina. And yet all the British officials who had to work with her knew there was nobody more hostile to them than she was.
I have said earlier that Sudakshina’s formal name was Purnima. She composed music for a poem under this name. The composition was called the “Indian Dream Girl”. The record became quite popular, but Sudakshina wanted to give the entire credit for it to her brother Hitendranath. She was extremely musical and her estate provided a monthly stipend to many renowned artists. As a child Bashob Tagore had seen that “when Sudakshina came to Calcutta from Shahjahanpur, the entire day would pass making music. Some days Safiullah would play the sitar, and other days, Gopeshwar Banerjee would sing. At my aunt’s request, a stream of music would flow through the house.” At her home in Shahjahanpur too, there were regular musical soirees.
And thus Sudakshina was lost forever.