Many know about the life of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom (Great Britain and Ireland), her marriage to Prince Albert, her passion for the arts and her management of political life - although the kingdom's constitution granted the king limited powers - until she was called the Mother of Europe.

But part of Queen Victoria's life remained hidden, which is her relationship with her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim.

And in 2017, the release of a movie called "Victoria and Abdul" brought to light another aspect of the Queen's life, the close relationship she developed with an Indian young man named Abdul Karim in the last years of her life. 

The birth of Abdul Karim


In a report published by the British newspaper "The Independent", writer Sabrina Barr indicated that Karim, whose name is Muhammad Abdul Karim, was born in India to a Muslim family in 1863. He was the second of six children, as his father worked as an assistant in a hospital with a squad of weapons British cavalry.

When Karim got older, he got a job as a clerk in a prison in Agra. 

The prison where Karim worked had a rehabilitation program for prisoners, where they were trained in carpet weaving.

In 1886, several prisoners traveled to London to display their textiles at an exhibition, and Karim the prison superintendent, John Tyler, helped arrange the trip to the English capital.

The writer reported that Queen Victoria, who was then in her late sixties, visited the exhibition.

As she was named Empress of India in 1876, the Queen showed an interest in the Indian lands under her rule. 

At the same time, the Queen told Tyler that she wanted him to choose two Indian servants who would serve for a year during her golden jubilee, marking the fiftieth anniversary of her accession to the throne.

He chose Tyler Karim and another man named Muhammad Bogash.

It was then that Karim learned English and learned British etiquette before traveling to England.

Karim and Queen Victoria meet


The author reported that the Queen and Karim first met on June 23, 1887, when he and Bogsch served breakfast at Frogmore House in Windsor.

Shortly after her first meeting with Karim, Queen Victoria revealed in her diary that she began learning some words of Hindustani after getting to know her two new servants.

By August of that year, Karim, 24, began teaching the Queen Urdu, one of the main languages ​​spoken in South Asia and now the national language of Pakistan.

From here, their relationship took a turn, as Queen Victoria requested that Karim take more English lessons.

In 1888, a year after Karim arrived in England to participate in the golden jubilee, Queen Victoria promoted him to the position of "Monshi" to signify his role as a personal language teacher, but their conversations were not limited to learning the language only, as Karim's biographer, Sushila Anand said They also talked about other topics, including philosophy and politics.

During their 14-year friendship, which lasted until the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, the Queen became so fond of Karim that she put him in charge of other Indian servants and made him a room at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.

However, other members of the royal family did not approach the young man as the Queen did, making it clear that they did not wish to treat him beyond the rank of servant.

When they expressed their hatred for Karim, the Queen stood by him and defended him.

The position of the royal family towards Karim


The writer stated that one of the reasons why Queen Victoria's relationship with Karim was unknown, is due to the fact that many of their letters were burned.

After his rejection of the relationship between the queen and Karim, her eldest son Edward, after her death, ordered the burning of the letters exchanged between them.

For her part, historian Caroly Erickson wrote in her book "The Little Majesty of the Queen: The Life of Queen Victoria", that "racism was the scourge of the times, and coincided with the belief in the appropriateness of Britain's global hegemony. The dark-skinned Indian servant was in the same position as the Queen's white servants. Unacceptable, so it was an insult to him sharing their food at the same table as well as participating in their daily lives.”

Sharabani Basu, author of "Victoria and Abdul", told Time that she had seen private papers written by members of the Queen's family, including the Queen's private physician, Sir James Reed.

It was mentioned in one of the papers that Reid expressed his disapproval of Karim very clearly, writing that the Queen was obsessed with "the Munshi".

Furthermore, Basu stated that Karim was portrayed in the Western biography as a "rogue", who "manipulated the Queen for fame", so she wanted to investigate his past and his relationship with Queen Victoria in more detail.

Documenting their friendship The


author reports that Basu became interested in Karim's past after he discovered a painting of him in Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, the former palace of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

"I knew that Abdul Karim came from India to England to serve Queen Victoria in 1887, but he stood out in the pictures as a gentleman," Basu said, painting "beautifully, in red and gold, holding a book."

After researching Karim's life, Basu believed that all letters exchanged between him and Queen Victoria had been destroyed by orders of King Edward VII.

However, she was able to communicate with Karim's relatives, who revealed that they had preserved his diaries.

Karim did not have any children.

"It was the most wonderful moment for me when I received the diary," Basu said.

Having already written a book about Queen Victoria and Karim, the discovery of the diary prompted Basu to reconsider a second edition, on which the 2017 film "Victoria and Abdul" was based.

Although the film depicts a fictional version of their friendship, Basu stressed that the events of the film are realistic, despite their strangeness.