Exceptional. That is the word that describes Rajkumari Amrit Kaur perfectly. In the 1930’s, the Indian Freedom Struggle was at its peak, with a number of demonstrations and protests taking place across the country. It was during this decade that women had increasingly started becoming a part of the Freedom Movement. MK Gandhi himself was a strong advocate for women’s participation in these demonstrations and protests. In the year 1936, he wrote a letter addressed Amrit Kaur, a woman who would go on to become an inspiration to millions of girls in the country. In the letter he wrote,
“I am now in search of a woman who would realise her mission. Are you that woman, will you be one?”
Gandhi in his letter to Amrit Kaur, dated 1936.
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
But, before we get too ahead of ourselves, let’s back up a bit. On 2nd February, 1889 at the Kapurthala Palace in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, (erstwhile United Provinces) a royal princess, Amrit Kaur was born to Raja Harnam Singh, who was the younger brother of the King of Kapurthala. The family owned vast estates in Awadh (Uttar Pradesh), where they lived. Amrit Kaur came from a very diverse cultural background. Her father converted to Christianity before she was born and her mother was a Bengali Christian. And so, Amrit Kaur grew up in a Protestant Christian household. An extremely well educated woman, Kaur was educated at Sherborne School for Girls, in Dorset, UK. Post that, she went on to complete her undergraduate years at Oxford. When she was in school, Amrit Kaur was an exceptional student even in the field of sports. She was the ‘Head Girl’ and the captain of the school’s cricket, hockey and lacrosse team.
Amrit Kaur (centre) along with her parents and 9 brothers (Source – Family collection of Amrit Kaur)
Life would have gone along the same lines for Amrit Kaur too, as it would’ve for any other princess. However, these were exceptional times. The Indian Freedom Struggle had changed the life of every single individual. Nothing was as it was before, and so Rajkumari Amrit Kaur decided to choose a new path in her life. When she returned from England, at the age of 20, she was formally exposed to the reality of the British rule in India. Daily and consistently, she wrote letters to Mahatma Gandhi, although it would not be until 1919 that she would finally meet him. The exchange of these numerous letters between the two, were documented and later published under the name – ‘Letters to Rajkumari Amrit Kaur’. Gandhiji in his letters to Amrit Kaur, fondly referred to her as ‘Idiot and Rebel’. In fact, in one of his letters, he addressed her as – ‘My dear Idiot & Rebel combined’. He even signed off these letters as – ‘Love, Tyrant’. Such was the relationship between the two. The only thing that kept Kaur away from joining the Freedom Movement was her parents’ objection.
Amrit Kaur with Mahatma Gandhi
But it was during this time, specifically the year 1915, that she met another veteran freedom fighter Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Gokhale, a close friend of Amrit Kaur’s father, would often visit them and Kaur considered him her inspiration and looked up to him as her mentor. Ironically, Gokhale was also a mentor to Gandhi in his formative years. As she would later on admit,
‘‘The flames of my passionate desire to free India from foreign domination were fanned by him.”
Amrit Kaur on Gopal Krishna Gokhale.
A letter written by Gandhiji to Amrit Kaur
Even before she formally entered the Struggle Movement, Amrit Kaur worked constantly, in one way or another, for the upliftment of women and children. In 1927, she helped found the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC), along with the Margaret Cousins. This organization has since then worked to improve the condition of women and children in India. She was also a strong protester against the prevailing systems that degraded the status of women like – the purdah system, child marriage and the Devadasi system. It was through this organization that she led a campaign against child marriage, which forced the government to increase the marriageable age of girls from 14 years to 18 years. In 1930, Kaur’s father passed away and she officially joined Gandhi and the Indian Freedom Movement. It was around this time only, that Gandhi asked her to become his secretary, a post that she would then go on to retain for 17 years. She joined the Civil Disobedience Movement and accompanied Gandhi, along with hundreds of his followers, on the Dandi March, which opposed the Salt tax imposed by the British.
Amrit Kaur as Health Minister at a baby show in Srinagar, 1949
As we enter into a new decade, the 1940’s, India’s Freedom Struggle became more dynamic and active, than ever before. This decade was marked by the ‘Quit India Movement’, one which did not ask for cooperation from the British side, but rather complete independence and establishment of India as a country of its own. It was during this time, that Amrit Kaur became even more involved in the Freedom Struggle. She organized a number of dharnas (peaceful demonstrations) across India and as a result, was brutally injured in lathi charges. She was then imprisoned in Ambala (Haryana), for a month, where she was put into solitary confinement. As the years passed by and India inched closer to achieving Independence, a number of conferences and meetings were organized in Europe, and India too was invited. With the end of the Second World War, the United Nations was formed in 1945 and Kaur was sent as India’s official representative in the founding session of the UNESCO, despite the fact that India had not yet been formally declared Independent. A fellow freedom fighter, Aruna Asaf Ali, while praising Amrit Kaur said –
“Rajkumari Amrit Kaur belonged to a generation of pioneers. They belonged to well-to-do homes but gave up on their affluent and sheltered lives and flocked to Gandhiji’s banner when he called women to join the national liberation struggle”
Aruna Asaf Ali, on Rajkumari Amrit Kaur
An official photograph of the First Cabinet of Independent India.
Amrit Kaur can be seen sitting – 2nd chair from the bottom right, the only woman in a cabinet of approximately 15 men.
The Constituent Assembly of India was founded the following year on 6th December, 1946. Amrit Kaur along with a handful of other female members, demanded for the formation of an ‘Indian Women’s Charter for Rights’. Despite opposition from several male members, they were able to break-through their resistance by scripting several reforms. And now, as Independence was finally at the doorstep for India, a new, fully Indian Government was set up. Amrit Kaur became India’s first female Cabinet Minister, as she held the portfolio of the Ministry of Health for 10 years. In 1950, she was elected as the President of the World Health Assembly, the forum through which WHO is governed. She became the First Woman and Asian to hold that post. She was also the main driving force behind the establishment of AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), as she helped secure funds for it, from across the world. Kaur also became its First President, a post that she held until her death.
As India’s Health Minister, Amrit Kaur’s largest campaign was against malaria. The New York Times while talking about her excpetional life said –
“At the height of the campaign, in 1955, it was estimated that 400,000 Indians who otherwise would have died had been saved by the mitigation of malaria in their districts.”
The New York Times
Guard of Honour for Kaur at the All-India Women’s Conference
‘A Princess like no other’, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur was an extraordinary woman – one who broke through the shackles of a comfortable, royal life. Yet, like countless others, she too has disappeared from the pages of history. Her entire life, she fought not only for India’s Independence, but also for the upliftment of women. Rajkumari Amrit Kaur passed away on 6th February, 1964, aged 75. Although she was a practicing Protestant Christain at the time of her death, she was cremated according to Sikh customs
Amrit Kaur also featured in the TIME’s list of ‘100 most influential women of the past century’, along with Indira Gandhi, in the year 2020. While noting her contributions to the society, the magazine writes –
“In leaving her life of luxury, Kaur not only helped build lasting democratic institutions, she also inspired generations to fight for the marginalized.”
Time Magazine
Amrit Kaur on the cover of TIME’s Magazine
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur changed the perspective from which people saw women. She changed the very definition of what it meant to be a woman, and has since served as an inspiration for countless other girls.
Sources:
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, the princess who was Gandhi’s secretary & India’s first health minister – The Print
Amrit Kaur: India’s First Woman Cabinet Minister – Live History India
1947: Amrit Kaur – Time.com
Rajkumari Amrit Kaur: The princess who built AIIMS – The Indian Express
Letters to Rajkumari Amrit Kaur – Gandhi Heritage Portal (This link has a copy of all the letters written by Gandhiji to Amrit Kaur)
To read about more such strong and inspiring women from history, click on the link below to access all articles from the series – ‘Women of the Past: Rediscovered’