Worst temper in the nursery — noted age 3
Reports sent to Queen Victoria described Princess Bamba as having the worst temper among the Duleep Singh children, observed from the age of three.
Snapshot · Empire: World History
371. The First British Indians: Last Sikh In Lahore (Ep 3)
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Jun 24, 2026
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Oxford Without a Degree: The Woman Who Refused to Be Told What to Do
At 10:38 · chapter starts 10:20
William introduces the Oxford chapter: both Catherine and Bamba attended, but where Catherine passed her exams, Bamba simply did not engage. The photographs from Somerville tell the story without words — she never smiles, she scowls, and the message is consistent: she did not want to do what she was told. Anita is careful to distinguish wilfulness from lack of intelligence. Bamba's refusal to work within established structures was not stupidity; when it was her own idea, when the goal was self-directed, she could demonstrate formidable determination. The tell comes immediately: at the turn of the century, she announced she wanted to become a doctor — an ambition remarkable for any woman in 1899-1900, let alone a mixed-heritage Indian princess in Edwardian Britain.
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson medical license 1865
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson obtained her medical license in 1865 via the Society of Apothecaries' back door, after which the society changed its rules, illustrating how hard medicine was for women.
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