"The Begums of Oudh have left an abiding mark on Indian history. Two of the earliest of them, namely, Nawab Begum Sadr-un-nisa - the imperious daughter of one Nawab, wife of another and mother of a third - and Bahu Begum, the petted foster-child of an Emperor of Delhi, ended their days as the heroines of a tragic story. Towards the close of the dynasty came Padishah Begum, the spirited wife of Ghazi-ud-din Haider, and Hazrat Mahal, the Judith of the Sepoy Mutiny, the even more heroic consort of the still softer Wajid Ali Shah."

Sir Jadunath Sarkar