Begum Sumru
Ruler of Sardhana
(c1740-1836)[P71]
Other names: Farzana Zeb un-Nissa,[P71]
Joanna Nobilis (baptismal name)[S74]
Main Events
Theories explaining her origins include:
· she was the daughter of Latif Ali Khan and his concubine Zeldah
Sahib[P71]
· she was a Hindu dancing girl[S74]
· she was the daughter of a nobleman of Kotana[S74]
· she was a Syudani[S74]
Or born in 1751.[729]
Converted to Catholicism.[E78]
Possibly Reinhardt's concubine instead of his wife.[E78]
Married secondly in 1793 to Pierre Antoine Levassoult,[P71]
a colonel who commanded the Begum's artillery. (He committed suicide in
1795 after his troops betrayed him and the Begum in favour of Zafaryab
Khan, and was buried at Sardhana Cathedral.)[S74]
Sided with the Marathas against the British.[S74]
Imprisoned in a cage by her stepson Zafar Yab Khan in 1795-96.[P71]
Built the Roman Catholic church at Sardhana.[J75]
Her territory was annexed by the British after her death.[J75]
Place of burial: Sardhana Cathedral[E78]
Families | Lands | Abbreviations and Symbols | Sources