Zubeida Begum

Zubeida Begum was the daughter of Shri Kasembhai Mehta, a Bohra Muslim businessman, and Faiza Bai, a singer in Bombay.

A Shia by birth, Zubeida converted according to Arya Samaj rites to marry Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur, on 17 December 1950, in Bombay, and took on the name Vidya Rani and moved to Jodhpur.[1] She gave birth to the couple's son, Rao Raja Hukum Singh (Tutu Bana), in Bombay on 2 August 1951.

She also had a son, Khalid Mohamed, from her first marriage. A film critic, Khalid wrote the screenplay for the film Zubeidaa (2001), directed by Shyam Benegal, loosely based on her life.[2]

Zubeidaa was killed with her husband in an airplane accident on 26 January 1952 at Godwar, Rajasthan.

After her death, Tutu was brought up by Rajmata of Jodhpur. He later went to study at Mayo College in Ajmer. He married Rao Rani Rajeshwari Kumari, daughter of Rao Raja Daljit Singh, of Alwar. The couple had one son, Parikshit Singh (b. 1974) and one daughter, Jainandini Kanwar (b. 1975).

On April 17, 1981, Tutu was beheaded and found on the streets of Jodhpur.[3]

Till date, legends say that her unsatisfied soul haunts the palace and the royal family's school near the palace. Several rooms in the school are locked with huge locks, allegedly holding her dancing spirit.

• Khalid Mohamed (2012). Two Mother and Other Stories. Om Books. ISBN 978-9381607091.