Department of English & Modern European, Lucknow University.
“Oh passer - by, stop, look and think towards the architecture Admire these beauties and their accomplished marvels And then attempt to seek the answer of this mystique ………. For the mystery is in its inhabitants and not in the buildings”
-El Sayed Dabar (An Arab Poet)
‘Cherchez La Femme' is a French saying which means that in all affairs and activities of a man – intrigues, business, wars, love affairs, civil and military administration, politics and any predicament or catastrophes – there is always a woman at the bottom. And so it has been at all times and in all societies from times immemorial. The greatest civilizations of the world have been shaped by the regional cultures and Indian civilization was no exception to the rule. The present shape is a result of muslim conquests and the British influence of those epoch making events which have left an indellible impression on the socio cultural state of the country. Since this paper focuses on begums, maharanis and memsaabs, the socio cultural focus is deliberated on the Indian and British women of the colonial period. The present study attempts to map the mystiques of the fairer sex of that period.
