Distinguished Speaker Series: Dr. Mrinalini Rajagopalan, “Dancing and Diplomacy: The Arts of Hospitality at the Court of Begum Samru (1805-1836)”

In the 1830s, Lt. Thomas Bacon recalled the grand celebrations on Christmas Eve given by the Begum Samru, dowager ruler of a small principality in northern India. High mass was followed by nautch (Indian dance), fireworks, and sumptuous feasts for a large number of guests. Bacon was an officer with the East India Company (EIC), and he found it hard to reconcile that the “enlightened British community” were “doing homage and seeking favor at her footstool, or even condescending to partake of her hospitality.” Begum Samru was the widow of a European mercenary soldier who had decades before massacred several EIC officers. Despite the fact that she bore the name of this “diabolical character” the begum had become a close ally of the EIC and frequently hosted them on occasions such as that described by Bacon. Dances, feasts, and fêtes were key instruments of hospitality in nineteenth-century India and the begum understood well the power of conviviality as diplomacy. This presentation focuses on the materiality and aesthetics of the begum’s hospitality—the tents where nautch was organized, the salons where banquets were hosted, and the Catholic church where Christmas Mass was held. While there are many textual descriptions of dancing, feasting, and celebration hosted by the begum, there are no visual records of the same. This presentation thus also addresses the methodological challenge of writing a history of the “unpictured”. Creating a composite history for Begum Samru requires a collation of archival fragments and the translation of contemporary visual records centered largely on men. By contending with the “unpictured” history of the begum’s hospitality I hope to spark a discussion on how powerful women are remembered, and forgotten, in the visual record.