The story of actress Zubeida Begum : Died with Maharaja in plane crash, son's headless body found

We all have heard fairy tales, but there was one actress of the 50s who lived these tales. A king came for her on a horse and held her hand, despite the fact that she was a divorcee and mother of a child. This is the story of actress Zubaida Begum. Since childhood, the imposed decisions of the father did not allow him to live freely. When she became a heroine, she was forced to get married. A child was still in the lap that the father forcefully got the divorce done. When there was compulsion to sing in gatherings, Zubeida was noticed by Maharaja Hanwant Singh of Jodhpur and his life changed.

The Maharaja gave up his royal Umaid Palace for Zubeida and gave her the status of Chhoti Rani in Jodhpur, but shortly afterwards both of them died mysteriously in a plane crash. The royal family disintegrated and Zubaydah was blamed for it. After a few years, Zubaida's son was beheaded and his body was thrown on the road.

Even after 71 years of Zubeida's death, his mention is common in Jodhpur. According to the local people, Zubaida's spirit still wanders around the Umaid Bhawan Palace. A few years ago his spirit was allegedly imprisoned in the rooms of a royal school built near Peles. Many rooms of that school are locked with big locks and tantra mantra.

Today in Unsuni Dastan, read the story of Zubeida's painful life which looks like a fairy tale

Father was the owner of the studio

Zubaida Begum was born in 1926 to Mr. Kasembhai Mehta, a wealthy studio owner from a Bohra (Shia) Muslim family in Bombay. His mother was Fayaji Bai Singer. She was the only child of her parents. His father had such a name and status in Hindi cinema that many celebrities of the film industry used to visit his house. The father also had relations with a famous actress of that time.

Desire to become a heroine after seeing father's girlfriend

All the big personalities used to come and go in the house, seeing which Zubeida's dream of becoming an actress started to flourish. Many big films used to be shot in Kasembhai's studio. The bubbly Zubeida also used to skip school and often spend time in the studio. There she used to learn dance from dance master and tried to act herself. When the day was over, the father used to blow the horn from outside the studio and Zubeida used to go home.

The actress with whom Zubaida's father had a relationship used to be very glamorous, outspoken and of high opinion. Zubaida used to call her Aunty. Seeing Aunty, Zubaida made up her mind to become a heroine. One day a director asked Zubeida to watch the shooting and she readily agreed. The father was very strict, so instead of taking permission from him, Zubaida started shooting for the film directly. Aunty had also reached that shooting with Zubaida.

When the film was shot, the father reached the studio with a pistol

As soon as Zubeida started shooting, her father got a clue. Seeing the daughter singing and dancing in the studio, the father reached with a pistol and stopped the shooting. The film could not be completed. That film was made, but it was never released due to Kasembhai's pressure and panic.

Father forced marriage

To overcome Zubaida and her insistence on becoming a heroine, the father arranged her marriage to the son of an old friend. When Zubaida refused to marry, she was forced to marry. Zubaida's husband, who had come from Karachi, had no work in Bombay, so her father kept her as a son-in-law. A few months later, Zubaida gave birth to a son, who was named Khalid Mohammed.

A few days after the birth of the son, the husband insisted on returning to Karachi, but Zubaida's father was against it. They wanted Zubaida to stay with them at their home, but father-in-law and husband were not ready to stay for the sake of respect. After some time the rift between the two families increased so much that Zubaida's father forcefully got them divorced. The husband and father-in-law returned to Karachi after the divorce and Zubeida was devastated.

After separating from her husband, Zubeida used to devote most of her time to raising her son Khalid at home. I had missed going out of the house. One day when father's girlfriend came home, she could not see Zubeida's condition. To change Zubeida's colorless life, she started taking him to parties with her. She used to take permission by lying to Zubeida's father.

It is a matter of 22 April 1950. It was the marriage of Rajendra Kumari, the daughter of the Jodhpur royal family. Prince Fateh Singh Rao Gaekwad of the royal family from Baroda (now Vadodara) reached Jodhpur with a procession. Many big artists were called from Jodhpur and Baroda to dance and sing in this royal wedding.

Zubeida, 24, also attended the gathering along with her aunt. The gathering started and one by one the artists were performing dance and songs for the kings and emperors on the stage. Suddenly Zubaida also came on the stage and started singing. Everyone's eyes were on Zubaida. Firstly, that sweetness in the voice from above which attracts everyone's attention. Maharaja Hanwant Singh of the princely state of Marwar also participated in that gathering. When he heard Zubaida's song, he kept on listening.

By the time the party was over, the Maharaja managed to talk to Zubeida, but the next day Zubeida was about to return to Baroda with the procession. Zubaida definitely left for Baroda, but got down from the train at the next station when she was unwell. He was called back to Jodhpur as a royal guest. Returning, Zubaida stayed as a guest in the bungalow of Bharatendra Singh, a confidant of the Maharaja.

In the presence of Zubaida, Bharatendra Singh held a party in the evening in the bungalow itself, in which Maharaja Hanwant Singh arrived as a guest. Ayodhya Prasad, a popular writer from Rajasthan, in his book The Royal Blue, has mentioned the first conversation between Zubeida and Maharaja Hanwant Singh.

According to the book The Royal Blue

As soon as the party was over, the Maharaja was about to return to his palace. Even before leaving their gathering, Zubaida took courage and said - Tomorrow you will definitely come, you have to tell something special.

Hanwant Singh - Special? Whatever you narrated today and before today, I found it special.

Zubaida said shyly - This is your kindness. Perhaps this is the reason why we could not return with the procession and under compulsion we fell ill for the first time.

Hanwant Singh cleverly said - Bharatendra told me about your health. Drama of illness after the departure of the procession. You are crazy.

Zubaida - What you just said, that one word was the most beautiful song of my life.

Hanwant Singh said - What did I say like this?

Got the answer - You called me crazy.

Hanwant Singh - If you like this, then now I will call you crazy.

In the conversation, both realized that their relationship is going to last for a long time. After a few days Zubeida made up her mind to return to Bombay from Jodhpur. The Maharaja tried hard to stop him, but due to his strict father and his lack of permission, he thought it best to return.

As soon as Zubaida returned to Bombay, Maharaja Hanwant Singh became restless. He was so eager to meet Zubeida that he sent his close friend Khushwant Singh to Bombay to find Zubeida. Khushwant Singh was successful and the Maharaja himself reached Bombay as soon as he knew the correct address.

Maharaja Hanwant Singh came to Mumbai and stayed at the Astoria Hotel near Church Gate. Eventually, with the help of his close friend, he managed to invite Zubeida to meet him. Meetings happened and both decided to spend life with each other, but it was not easy to happen. Hanwant Singh was the king of Jodhpur and Zubaida was a Muslim actress.

Maharaja had already done two marriages

Maharaja Hanwant Singh was the son of Raja Umaid Singh of Jodhpur. He was born on 12 June 1923 in Jodhpur. According to the royal customs, Maharaja Hanwant Singh was married to Princess Krishna Kumari of Dhrangadhra in 1943 at the age of just 20 years. After 4 years in 1947, Maharaja Hanwant Singh became the king of Jodhpur princely state. In 1948 he married Sandra, a Scottish nurse aged 25. Before marriage, he got Sandra converted and named her Shanta Devi.

When Sandra returned to England after a year and a half, the Maharaja made several attempts to persuade her, but she did not return. The Maharaja lived in the Umaid Bhawan Palace with his first wife, Maharani Krishna Kumari.

On the other hand, Zubaida's father was also a strict man, who used to take every decision of his life himself. Their relationship came to light when Zubeida's mother Fayaji Begum came to know about the expensive gifts being sent by the Maharaja. One day Zubaida called the Maharaja home to persuade his mother. In the meeting, mother Fayaji flatly refused the Maharaja. He said that we are Muslims and the daughter will neither change her religion nor live with other women as a daughter-in-law. The Maharaja assured her that his love was not a sham and that he would support Zubeida throughout her life. The mother changed her mind for sure, but she put a difficult condition in front of Zubeida.

Had to make distance from son for Maharaja

The condition was that if Zubaida wanted to marry the Maharaja, she would have to leave behind her 2-year-old son Khalid. Zubeida was adamant that she would not leave her son under any circumstances, but the mother said that after Zubeida married and became a Hindu, she would not have any children of her own, so she would raise Khalid herself, who would become her support.

Eventually Zubaida had to accept her mother's condition. Although the father was unaware of all these things. One day Maharaja Hanwant Singh took Zubeida with him to Jodhpur as soon as he got an opportunity.

Zubeida, 23, married Maharaja Hanwant Singh on 17 December 1950 with Arya Samaj rituals of Beawar and converted to Hinduism. On changing religion, Zubaida was named Vidya Rani. Havan was also performed in the temple for religious conversion, the proof of which is still recorded in the temple of Beawar.

The Maharaja left the royal Umaid Bhawan palace for Zubaida

When the Maharaja took Zubeida to Umaid Bhawan, Jodhpur's palace, the royal household flatly refused to accept a Muslim actress as a daughter-in-law. In such a situation, the Maharaja kept him in the fort of Mehrangarh.

The Maharaja gave Zubaida the status of a little queen after marriage, but the royal family and the Rajput society never adopted her. Zubaida was not allowed to participate in any discussions that took place in the Umaid Palace building. He was never included in the royal advisors. While Krishna Kumari, the Maharaja's first wife, was later given the title of Rajmata and all royal decisions were taken only after consulting her. This thing used to bother Zubeida as well, although she and the elder queen Krishna Kumari had become good friends.

Time passed and Zubaydah unwillingly started adopting royal customs. A year after the marriage, on 2 August 1951, Zubaida gave birth to Rao Raja Hukum Singh, the son of Maharaja Hanwant Singh. Raja Hukum Singh was called Tutu Banna.

The Maharaja took Zubeida to Bombay to visit her family from time to time, although she was only able to see her firstborn son, Khalid Mohammed, for a few minutes.

Was Zubaida Begum under house arrest in the palace?

According to historian Dr. Mohanlal Gupta, Zubaida and Hanwant Singh never married. A few months ago, Om Muni, associated with Arya Samaj, had told Dainik Bhaskar that there is only evidence of religious conversion in the temple, not marriage. The question of marriage was also raised because according to the rules of Arya Samaj it was not possible to marry another while having one wife. In an interview, Gaj Singh, the former head of the Jodhpur Gharana, had said that Zubeida was not his queen, but only a parayat. Paryadat means women who were kept under house arrest by the kings and emperors for themselves.

The distance between Zubaida and Maharaja came from an election

After India got independence, the monarchy was being abolished and the government was being formed. Rajasthan became a state in 1949 and Jainarayan Vyas of the Congress was elected as its Chief Minister. To maintain his hold in Jodhpur, Maharaja Hanwant Singh formed the Akhil Bhartiya Ramrajya Parishad party in 1952 and himself contested the elections. He fielded candidates from all over Marwar in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and won almost all the seats against the Congress. Hanwant Singh himself stood for the assembly seat of Sardarpura against the then Chief Minister Jayanarayan and won.

To win the election, Maharaja Hanwant Singh spent most of his time campaigning with his first wife Maharani Krishna Kumari. In such a situation, the distance between Zubaida and him started increasing. Zubaida was kept away from electoral matters, because his Rajputana voters could be reduced due to Muslim Zubaida. All these circles pushed Zubeida into loneliness.

Death in plane crash under mysterious circumstances, mystery still unsolved

It was January 26, 1952, only a few days were left for the election results to come. Maharaja Hanwant Singh was about to hastily leave for a city with the elder queen Krishna when Zubeida herself insisted on going along. Maharaja Hanwant Singh kept explaining that it would not be right to accompany him, but Zubeida did not agree and sat on the seat of the aircraft. There were only two seats in that aircraft, so Krishna Kumari had to stay in Jodhpur. Shortly after takeoff, the plane crashed near Sumerpur, killing 26-year-old Zubeida and 28-year-old Maharaja Hanwant Singh.

Many people blamed Zubaida's stubbornness for the Maharaja's death, while some people said that the Maharaja was flying the plane with only 4 hours of sleep, due to which the accident happened. Some people also believed that the opposition conspired to kill the Maharaja after seeing him win the election.

According to Zubeida, a 2001 film on Zubeida, Zubeida did not want the Maharaja to stay away from her, so she committed suicide along with the Maharaja. The screenplay of that film was written by Khalid Mohammed, Zubeida's son from his first marriage. Khalid was raised by his maternal grandparents.

At the time of Zubaida's death, his son Tutu Banna was only 4 months old, who was brought up by Rajmata Krishna Kumari. Tutu Banna was married to Rao Rani Rajeshwari Kumari Rathod, daughter of Rao Raja Daljit Singh of Alwar. They had a son Parikshit and a daughter Jayanandini.

On 17 April 1981, Tutu Banna's headless body was found on the road of Jodhpur. He was killed by his own sword and there were 20 deep wounds on his body. His murder remains unsolved to this day.

Even today the spirit of Zubaida wanders in the fort

Even today, the local people of Jodhpur believe that the spirit of Zubaida haunts the Umaid Bhawan Palace and the school of the Royal Family. Many rooms of the school have been locked with big locks and tantra-mantras. Local people tell that this has been done to imprison his spirit.