The Indian servant who became Queen Victoria’s most trusted confidant
In short: In 1887, a young clerk from Agra arrived in Britain as a gift to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee. Instead of a mere servant, he became her Munshi, teaching her Urdu and the Quran, sparking a friendship that would scandalize the British royal court.
The relationship began during the festivities for Queen Victoria’s 50th year on the throne in 1887. Abdul Karim, a young prison clerk from a Muslim family in Agra, was sent to the United Kingdom to present the Queen with a mohur—a gold coin minted in British-ruled India. What began as a formal encounter evolved into a 14-year bond that saw the Queen learning Urdu and seeking his companionship to escape the fawning courtiers of her palace.
This intimacy caused deep resentment within the royal household. Figures including the Queen's son, Bertie, and Prime Minister Lord Salisbury sought to undermine Karim. The court even produced a dossier attempting to prove his family was more impoverished than he had claimed. The tension reached a breaking point when the Queen's physician discovered Karim had gonorrhea, yet Victoria remained loyal, even attempting to grant him a knighthood and eventually appointing him a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
The friendship's legacy was nearly erased upon Victoria's death in 1901. Her successor, King Edward VII, rejected Karim, burning the Queen's letters and deporting him back to India. However, Karim's story survived through a diary preserved by his descendants, which was later unearthed by historian Shrabani Basu. Karim lived in India until his death in 1909, eight years after the Queen.
While the 2017 film *Victoria & Abdul* brought this story to a global audience, critics have debated its historical accuracy and its depiction of Karim, with some arguing the film's narrative is imbalanced or that it emphasizes the greatness of the British Empire.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Victoria & Abdul
- Also: Victoria and Abdul: The Friendship that Scandalized England
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