Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, used to trust the Indian servant the most, took England with her
who was abdul kareem
Abdul Karim was a cook and upon learning of his relationship with Victoria, he was also thrown out of the house the Queen had given him. With this he was sent back to India. Victoria’s daughter Beatrice erased Karim’s name from every journal of the Queen. The relationship between Victoria and Abdul lasted for more than a decade.
Queen Victoria considered Abdul her closest. Every mention of Abdul Karim was erased, but a journalist in Victoria’s summer home found a link about Abdul. After this, when the investigation was done, the relationship of Victoria and Abdul came to the fore. Historians say that Karim was the only servant who could live close to Victoria.
Abdul Karim after John Brown
After the death of John Brown, a close servant of Queen Victoria, Abdul Karim became her most trusted companion. Abdul’s father could get a pension because of the queen. The Queen had put up many pictures of Abdul Karim and due to these photographs, their hidden relationship was exposed. Historian Sharbani Basu visited Balmoral Castle, the Scottish home of Queen Victoria in 2003.
Sharbani wrote a book titled, ‘Victoria and Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’, writing about this relationship in detail. It is written in this book that the Queen was to celebrate 50 years of the occupation of Indian borders in 1887. She was also very excited and made a request to the Indian staff members. He said that he should cook food for the heads of the countries.
Dealing with Karim in England
Abdul Karim was a resident of the northern city of Agra in India. Abdul Karim was selected out of the two servants. These servants were given to the Queen as a gift from India on the completion of 50 years of her rule. Four years after John Brown’s death, Karim went to England and joined his service. Victoria described Karim as a ‘handsome’ man.
Historian Carole Erickson wrote in her book ‘Her Little Majesty’, ‘It was unbearable for white servants to see a black Indian servant coming from India close to the Queen. Sitting at the same table with him to eat and get up with him every day was going to annoy the rest of the people.
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Victoria loved lentil chicken
Queen Victoria loved chicken, vegetables and lentils made by Karim. Abdul Karim often cooked this meal for the Queen at Balmoral Castle. Karim also taught Urdu to Queen Victoria and from here his attachment to Indian culture grew. Soon Karim had moved from cook to scribe and Indian clerk and his salary was 12 pounds per month. After that he became the secretary of Victoria. Victoria wrote in her diary, ‘I like him very much. He is a very kind and understanding man and that gives me a lot of comfort.
