“Cruelty of #British and their #Baptism Tactics
She is Gouramma, daughter of Chikka Virarajendra, the last ruler of Coorg. The British, by deceit, had annexed many kingdoms into their dominion. They deposed #Raja #Virarajendra, imprisoned him in #Benares in 1834 as a political prisoner, and confiscated his wealth. Later the king demanded his wealth from the #East #India #Company in a court in England in 1852, but in vain.
When in England, #Queen #Victoria took Gouramma, then aged 11, under her care and baptized her, converting her to #Christianity. The image attached of Gouramma, a painting by German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter, features her in Indian attire and holding a Bible.
#Hindus never went against #Dharma. There are many examples from History. #Aurangzeb had a son named #Akbar who rebelled for supremacy. For some time Akbar’s children, a son and a daughter, i.e. Aurangzeb’s grandchildren, were under the care of Durgadas Rathore (who preserved the rule of the Rathore dynasty of Marwar). Durgadas had rescued Marwar prince Ajit Singh from the clutches of Aurangzeb and saved him from getting converted…by the #Mughal ruler.
But despite knowing about the schemes and treacheries of the Mughals, he did not go against his Dharma when taking care of Aurangzeb’s grandchildren. Durgadas arranged for their education and raised them as Musalmans. He could have easily converted them to Hinduism but did not do so. Later when Aurangzeb asked for them, he sent them back to the Mughal court. Even Aurangzeb was amazed and astonished when he got to know about this act of Durgadas. But did this act change Aurangzeb?
No! He remained intolerant to Hindus! Similar were the actions of the British. Durgadas Rathore’s story of valor of saving the Marwar throne is described in history.
But what did Queen Victoria do for Gouramma? She did not let her continue to remain as a Hindu and converted her. Notice the gloom reflected in the image of Gouramma. Queen Victoria did something crueler. She got Gouramma married to Lt. Col. John Campbell, who was already married and was 30 years older than her. Gouramma was aged 17. She gave birth to a daughter at age 20 and died at the age of 23.
Even Maharaja Duleep Singh, the youngest son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was under the care of Queen Victoria. He was converted to Christianity before he was 15. Later when matured, Duleep Singh reconverted back to Sikhism.
There are thousands of baptism tactics and cruelty of the British in the pages of History, both reported and unreported. And conversion tactics still continue in independent India, right in front of our eyes. And as usual, we watch like silent spectators, with only a counted few raising a voice. “