Example 4 - THE QUEEN OF OUDE.

What were your sensations on leaving the earthly world? — A. Still disturbed, I find it impossible to explain them. 2 — Are you happy? — A. I long for life… I do not know… I feel a bitter pain from which life would have freed me… I wish my body would rise from the tomb…

Do you regret having been buried among Christians, and not in your own country? — A. Yes, the soil of India would weigh less heavily upon my body. 2 — What do you think of the funeral honors rendered to your remains? — A. They were not much, for I was a queen, and not all bowed down before me… Leave me… you compel me to speak, when I do not wish you to know what I now am… I assure you, I was a queen…

We respect your rank, and we insist only that you answer us with the aim of instructing ourselves. Do you believe that your son will in the future recover the dominions of his father? — A. My blood shall reign, to be sure, since it is worthy of it. 2 — Do you attach to that reinstatement of your son the same importance you gave it when incarnate? — A. My blood cannot mingle with that of the people.

The place of your birth could not be recorded in the corresponding death certificate; could you tell it to us now? — A. I am descended from the noblest blood in India. I believe I was born in Delhi.

You who lived amid the splendors of luxury, surrounded by honors, what do you think of all that today? — A. That I have a right to it. 2 — Did your earthly rank contribute to your having another, higher one in the world where you now are? — A. I continue to be a queen… let slaves be sent to serve me!… But… I do not know… it seems to me that little concern is shown for my person here… and yet I… am still the same.

Did you profess the Muslim religion or the Hindu? — A. The Muslim; I, however, was powerful enough not to trouble myself about God. 2 — From the standpoint of human happiness, what differences do you note between your religion and Christianity? — A. The Christian religion is absurd; it says that all are brothers. 3 — What is your opinion regarding Mohammed? — A. He was not the son of a king. 4 — Do you believe that he had a divine mission? — A. What does that matter to me?! 5 — What is your opinion regarding the Christ? — A. The carpenter's son is not worthy to occupy my thoughts.

What do you think of that custom by which Muslim women hide themselves from the eyes of men? — A. I think that women were born to dominate: I was a woman. 2 — Do you envy the freedom enjoyed by European women? — A. What could such freedom matter to me? Are they served, by chance, on bended knee?

Do you have reminiscences of incarnations prior to the one you have just left? — A. I ought always to have been a queen.

Why did you respond so promptly to our call? — A. I did not wish to do so, but I was compelled. Do you perhaps think that I would deign to answer you? What are you beside me? 2 — And who compelled you to come? — A. I myself do not know… though there ought to be no one more powerful than I.

Under what form do you present yourself here? — A. Always a queen… and you think I have ceased to be one? You are little respectful… know that it is not in this manner that one speaks to queens.

If it were granted us to see you, would we behold you with your adornments and jewels? — A. Certainly… 2 — And how is it to be explained that, stripped of all that, your Spirit retains such trappings, above all the ornaments? — A. It is that they did not leave me. I am as beautiful as I was, and I do not understand the judgment you make of me! It is true that you never saw me.

What impression does it cause you to find yourself among us? — A. If I could avoid it… You treat me with so little courtesy…

— Saint Louis. Leave her, the poor disturbed one. Have compassion on her blindness, and may it serve you as an example. You do not know how much her pride suffers.

In evoking this fallen greatness from the tomb, we did not expect answers of great import, given the nature of female education in that country; we thought, however, to find in this Spirit, we will not say philosophy, but at least a notion closer to reality, and more sensible ideas regarding earthly vanities and grandeurs.

Far from it, we saw that the Spirit retained all earthly prejudices in the fullness of their force; 4 that pride had lost none of its illusions; 5 that it struggled against its own weakness, and that it must have suffered greatly from its impotence. ANNEX n THE TRAJECTORY OF THE QUEEN OF OUDE.

Sônia Zaghetto.

There are stories which, by their engaging content and their precious lessons, become emblematic. One of these stories is in the book Heaven and Hell, in the chapter that gathers the experiences of hardened Spirits. Among those obstinate beings, with hearts of stone, few compare to the Queen of Oude. Proud, wearied by everything that was not her dynastic tradition, possessed of an enormous contempt for spiritual values, she is a character that makes an impression. The history of this Spirit, her glory and her tragedy, make the reading of her dialogue with Allan Kardec all the more enriching. In the eighteenth century, the European countries sought new markets that would consume their manufactured products and where they could obtain raw materials at low cost. India was one of the focuses of attention. With the creation of the East India Company, England obtained the monopoly of Indian commerce, overcame the Franco-Portuguese competition, and, a century later, occupied practically the entire country. Practices such as the confiscation of rural properties and the levying of extortionate taxes inspired yearnings for freedom. Without a central authority and divided among rival kingdoms, India reacted with the "Revolt of the Sepoys" (native soldiers employed by the East India Company). England crushed the rebellions and intensified its imperialist expansion. Kingdoms of maharajas and nawabs were taken. Among them the kingdom of Oude (Awadh or Oudh), governed by the nawab Wajid Ali Sha. The Queen-mother of Oude, Malika Kishwar, was a true purdah nasheen lady, a lady who lived in accordance with the strictest Muslim customs. In public she was always covered by the traditional veil, and no one was permitted to behold her figure. In the audiences she granted, she remained isolated by heavy curtains, and a secretary transmitted her answers to the interlocutor. Like the other ladies of her lineage and religion, she received a careful education and grew up surrounded by luxury and riches, in complete seclusion in the zenana, a construction within the palace to which only women had access. As for men, only direct relatives: husband, parents, and sons. A descendant of the Mongol emperors who occupied India, she was the daughter of the nawab Hisam ud-din Khan, of Kalpi. Her mother was Queen Vilayati, daughter of the famous nawab As'adat Ali Khan. Through marriage she became Begum (first and principal wife) of King Amjad Ali Sha, of Oude, situated where today is the State of Lucknow, in the north of India. One of the most prosperous Indian kingdoms, Oude was annexed to the East India Company in 1856, and the entire royal family, which included the King's 148 wives and 40 children, was transferred to Calcutta. The nawab Wajid Ali Sha, an enthusiast of the arts — chiefly music, dance, and poetry — was accused of being an inattentive administrator, without control over the finances of the kingdom and more interested in pleasures.

The Queen-mother traveled to England to intercede with Queen Victoria in favor of the restitution of her son's kingdom. She disembarked living up to the fame of the extraordinary wealth of the Indian kings: with the pomp of spectacular jewels, a retinue that included two princes and hundreds of servants, precious fabrics, and an impressive collection of titles: Janab-i-Aliya Malika-i-Kishwar Khanum, Mukhtar Aliya, Fakhr uz-Zamani Nawab Taj Ara Begum Sahiba. "Janab-i-Aliya" means something like "Her Royal Highness." "Malika" is the Arabic term for Queen. "Khanum" is the feminine of Khan, a Mongol title. "Fakhr uz-Zamani" means "glory of her age." Nawab and Begum together in a single title correspond to the identification of a wife of royalty. "Taj Ara" means "ornament of the crown." She was received with great honors by Queen Victoria, but England was a constitutional monarchy and Victoria had no power to intervene in the case. To aggravate the situation, while the Queen of Oude was in Europe, the great rebellion of 1857 against the British presence in India broke out. Wajid Ali Sha and his wives were directly involved. This first uprising for independence drenched the country in blood. Even the most resistant, such as the legendary Lakshimi, Rani of Jansi, were decimated by the English, and their defeat reduced still further the possibilities of the kingdoms regaining their autonomy. The Queen of Oude remained in England for a year. On the return voyage, during a stopover in Paris, on January 23, 1858, she died as a result of a sudden illness. She was 58 years of age. There are several versions of her death. Some point to cholera, others to depression. A month later, her son, General Mirza Sikandar Hashmat, also died and was buried beside his mother.

In a gesture of provocation toward England, France granted the Queen of Oude the funeral of a Head of State. The burial procession passed through the streets of Paris and became one of the most discussed and reported events in the country. Malika Kishwar was buried in the Muslim area of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery, in the 85th division, a few meters from where the tomb of Allan Kardec is located today. Of her imposing tomb only the foundation remains today. A drawing at the site shows the opulence of the original monument. Attentive to the events of his time, Allan Kardec evoked the Queen at the Parisian Society for Spiritist Studies and published the conversation in the Revue Spirite of March 1858, and, later, in Heaven and Hell. He evoked her on two other occasions without noticing significant changes. The dialogue between the Queen and the Codifier is revealing. She states that she is disturbed, that she longs for life ("I feel a bitter pain from which life would have freed me"), but demands to be treated as Her Majesty. Nothing seems to satisfy her in her aspirations to power; death still does not make her reflect on her attitude toward life. This is what may be deduced from her answer when Kardec inquires about the honors rendered to her on the occasion of her funeral: "They were not much, for I was a queen, and not all bowed down before me…" The exclusivism of royalty is well rendered in the Queen's answers: "My blood cannot mingle with that of the people." Her attachment to material passions is explicit in her contempt for the figure of Jesus ("The carpenter's son is not worthy to occupy my thoughts") and, even being a Muslim and observant of its customs, she did not allow religion to override social position ("I was powerful enough not to trouble myself about God"). Not even the prophet Mohammed merits from her a warm comment ("He is not the son of a king"). One can understand her contempt even for the freedom won by the women of the West ("What do women matter to me! If you spoke to me of queens…") if we consider that she was the principal lady of her court and her political power was tremendous.

"My blood shall reign, to be sure, since it is worthy of it"; she said to Kardec, but that aspiration was never realized. The Queen's daughter-in-law, Hazrat Mahal, became a symbol of the resistance to English imperialism, but Wajid Ali Sha and his children died in exile. In 1858, the British Parliament transferred the administration of the country to the Crown, and in 1876 the English government, led by Benjamin Disraeli, proclaimed Queen Victoria Empress of India.

English dominion extended until August 15, 1947, when, not pride and war, but the peaceful resistance and nonviolence of Mahatma Gandhi bent the resistance of the British and proclaimed the independence of the great Indian homeland.

[1] [Oude is an ancient kingdom of India, whose capital is Ayodhya (in English Lucknow), between the Ganges and the Himalayas. — This communication is also found in the Review of March 1858.]

[2] REFORMADOR publishes the unpublished history of one of the most striking characters of the book Heaven and Hell, which this month completes 140 years since its launch.

(Reformador/August 2005.)