Shahjehan Begum
Topic: Early Indian Art and Architecture: Stupas, Rock-cut Caves, Temples · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 4 "Thinkers, Beliefs and Buildings"
Meaning
Shahjehan Begum was the woman ruler, or Nawab, of Bhopal from 1868 to 1901. Sanchi lay in her state. She described the site in her history of Bhopal and paid for its preservation. She is an example of Indian agency in colonial-era archaeology, meaning Indians who actively shaped it.
Example
The French asked Shahjehan Begum for permission to take Sanchi's best-preserved eastern gateway to a museum in France. In the end both the French and the English settled for plaster-cast copies, and the gateway stayed at Sanchi.
Don't confuse with
- Shah Jahan: the 17th-century Mughal emperor who built the Taj Mahal. He is a different person from a different time.
- Sultan Jehan Begum: her successor, who funded the Sanchi museum and John Marshall's volumes.
Related concepts
- Elliot marbles
- Indian Museum, Calcutta
- Preservation of Sanchi
- Sultan Jehan Begum
- H.H. Cole
- In situ preservation
- Treasure Trove Act
- Rajendra Lala Mitra
- European views of Indian art
- Arjuna's Penance