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Victoria & Abdul
Tall, handsome Abdul Karim was just twenty-four years old when he arrived in England from Agra to wait at tables during Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. An assistant clerk at Agra Central Jail, he suddenly found himself a personal attendant to the Empress of India herself.
Within a year, he was established as a powerful figure at court, becoming the queen’s teacher, or Munshi. Devastated by the death of John Brown, her Scottish gillie, the queen had at last found his replacement, but her intense and controversial relationship with the Munshi led to a near revolt in the royal household.
Just how did a young Indian Muslim come to play a central role at the heart of the Empire at a time when independence movements in the sub continent were growing in force?
‘I am so very fond of him. He is so good & gentle & understanding... & is a real comfort to me.’ - Queen Victoria
This tender love story between an ordinary Indian and his elderly queen is now a major feature film starring Dame Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Michael Gambon and Eddie Izzard and directed by Stephen Frears.
Watch the official trailer for Victoria & Abdul
Learn more
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End of an era: The death of Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria’s death in 1901 was the end of an era in many ways, but perhaps in particular for her dear friend Abdul Karim.
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India from Queen Victoria’s time to independence
The Queen’s connections to India, from becoming Empress to partition in 1947
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Five things that may change your mind about Queen Victoria
Surprising facts about Britain’s second longest reigning monarch
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Dadabhai Naoroji: The UK’s first Indian MP
The ‘Grand Old Man of India’ was the first Asian Member of Parliament elected to the House of Commons
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Buffalo Bill’s British Wild West
American showman Colonel William F. Cody’s Wild West Company made its first appearance in Britain for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee
