| Event Name: | Victoria Gowramma: The Lost Princess of Coorg C P Belliappa |
| Description: | Exiled to Benares, the last raja of Coorg, Veerarajendra, and his eleven-year-old daughter Gowramma, were the first Indian royals to visit Victorian England in 1852. Both spent the rest of their lives in Britain. The evangelists, and Queen Victoria herself, eagerly awaited their arrival since Veerarajendra had expressed his desire to see his daughter converted to Christianity and given a Western education. However, Veerarajendra had his own reasons to be in London.
Around the same period, another exiled royalty, the high profile Maharaja Duleep Singh of Punjab was tutored by his British guardians to embrace Christianity. The fifteen-year-old maharaja arrived in London in 1854 to pursue his education. C.P. Belliappa unfolds the extraordinary saga of the maharaja and the princess who became favourites of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Both enjoyed unprecedented royal patronage, and were frequent guests of the Queen at various palace functions and were encouraged to socialize with the royal children.
The book highlights Queen Victoria and Prince Albert embarking on a proposal to bring about a matrimonial alliance between the two Christian royals which they hoped would encourage other Indian blue bloods to embrace Christianity. The story, though ends in all round disappointment, reveals the gentle side of Queen Victoria who was genuinely fond her Indian goddaughter whom she named Victoria Gowramma. Other dramatis personae in this book are Lord Dalhousie, Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal, Sir John Login, and Lady Lena Login.
Belliappa accessed material hitherto not in public domain to reconstruct the fascinating story of the two Christian royals from India. The book contains some rare images obtained from the Royal Collections and private collections. |
| Type of Event: | Literary Events - Book Launch - Readings |
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| Event Location: | The Nehru Centre |
| Event City: | London |
| Type of Venue: | Embassy - High Commission |
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| Event Start Date | 09-Sep-10 |