Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is the home for eternal rest to an eclectic group of people. All religions and nationalities and ethnicities are buried here.
I visited many graves of celebrities here and will post about them in a few days. For today I am only posting about the redoubtable Malika e Aaliyah or Malika Kishwar mother of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh on whose grave i went to recite a fatiha.
Most people say it’s difficult to find bit i went with heritage PhD scholar Laurent Glattli who researched and found that her grave is in the 85 division.
Directions:
For those who want to visit look at the map given at the entrance, walk accordingly use google maps & you will see a board saying 85 division.
A very oriental looking tomb with a Russian prince buried is on the corner. Turn right and a little ahead you will find the grave of Marcel Proust. Just beyond it sleeps Malika Kishwar.
The canopy on her tomb has fallen and there is just a square platform which stands out.
Pleaze recite a fatiha or whatever prays you want for the soul of this remarkable queen who went all the way to London to fight for her son’s right to the throne.
The Malika went to London saying that Victoria was “also a mother”; she would recognize the injustice to her son and restore his kingdom . However, initially Queen Victoria refused to grant her an audience and when she did, the Queen kother of Awadh realised that it was the Parliament that would make decisions.
The Uprising of 1857 made things worse and in 1858 she started her journey home via France hoping for French intervention.
Nothing prevailed and the brave queen died in Paris on 24th January 1858 to be buried here.
Her funeral was attended by the Ottoman Sultan’s representatives who also got a marble cenotaph built. Now only a platform remains.
Note: This post is about the grave not the queen. There is so much more to write about her which i will do later.
