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“Mar gayā hai śaihanśāh-e-hind”
An Indian Woman Commemorates King Edward VII in the Hindi Women’s Periodical Strī Darpaṇ
This chapter takes into consideration an untitled poem commemorating the British sovereign shortly after his demise. It was published in the June 1910 issue of the women’s periodical Strī Darpaṇ, edited by Rameshwari Nehru. The aim of this paper is to show how this poem makes for an “exceptional normal” object of microhistorical enquiry. It will be demonstrated that, while the poem follows the general structure of other written expressions of condolences, its form and content may be seen especially as a reaction to the grief of Queen Alexandra. The mourning of the deceased’s wife was, in fact, conveyed through her “Letter to the Nation” and indirectly by the media. The poem allows us to uncover the connections between people and rulers and occupies a space between historical and literary, official and unofficial, and public and private dimensions.
Keywords periodicals, women, Edward VII, colonial, poetry
