Quote · Empire: World History
371. The First British Indians: Last Sikh In Lahore (Ep 3)
Where this was said
Return to England and the Delhi Durbar Gambit
At 17:43 · chapter starts 17:40
Defeated but not broken, Bamba sailed back to England in June 1902 with rage 'burning with the fire of a white-hot sun.' At Faraday House she was demanding and difficult, and she spent her energy warning Sophia — who was enjoying British society and the suffrage movement — that the white establishment could never be trusted. Sophia found her tricky, but the sisters' bond held. Then Bamba hatched a plan that none of her handlers expected: she declared that regardless of whether the Secretary of State gave permission, the sisters were going to attend the 1902 Delhi Durbar. Nobody was surprised that such a 'fool plan' came from 'the really awkward sister.' But it worked. Bamba and Sophia went to India, Bamba stood in the Shalimar Gardens where her father had played as a boy, visited the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and made a decision: she was staying. She would live and die in Lahore, and anyone who objected could go to hell.
It was Bamba's idea to attend the 1902 Delhi Durbar without official permission — declaring she didn't care what the Secretary of State said. Standing in the Shalimar Gardens and visiting the Golden Temple, she decided she was never leaving India. The trip also radicalised her sister Sophia, who came back a political fighter.
