Jamh ood-Deen

Mahomed Jamh ood-Deen

Jamh od-deen

Jameh-ood-Deen

Jamh o Deen

Paris, France

1835–42

Jamh ood-deen (also historically spelt and anglicized variously as Jamh od-deen, Jameh-ood-Deen and Jamh o Deen) was one of the sons of the Indian ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore, and famous adversary of the East India Company, Tipu Sultan. The Company defeated Tipu during the Siege of Seringapatam in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799. Jamh ood-deen would draw on his royal status, as the son of the ‘infamous’ Tiger of Mysore, to mix with London society when he eventually persuaded the Company to allow him to leave India in the 1830s. Whilst he was settling into London life, he was cordially known as the ‘Prince of Mysore’, in reference to his paternal lineage. He had to be granted permission by the Governor General of India to be allowed to travel to Britain, and also obtained a letter of introduction to the King, William IV, which facilitated his entry into the upper echelons of English society in 1835. He lived in 149 Albany Street and at Regent’s Park, socializing with members of the nobility, statesmen, diplomats and European royalty, and even a second monarch in his lifetime, Queen Victoria.

It is worth noting that Jamh ood-deen did not only gain the attention of British acquaintances in London but had previously visited British residents in India in the 1820s. In her popular travelogue Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque (1850), Fanny Parks described how Jamh ood-deen called on her for two hours and sent her gifts of sweetmeats the next day.

Yet his various social trips were also opportunities to develop his networks and ultimately push a personal, arguably politicized agenda. Much of his time in London was used to put pressure on the crown, the government and the directors of the East India Company to raise his and his family’s pension. Jamh ood-deen was tenacious in lobbying for the financial support he was owed by the Company and did not relent on his demands for the seven years he lived in England. Not only did he actively lobby for his rights to be upheld as an Indian prince but he also refused to leave London when his term of entry had ended, even supporting other members of the Indian elite to join him in England and make similar claims of entitlement. For instance, he primed his brother, Gholam Mahomed, another of Tipu Sultan’s heirs, to induce the Company to permit him to visit Britain, which he finally did in 1854, gaining the particular favour of Queen Victoria. Like his elder brother, Gholam Mahomed also made a name for himself in London and campaigned for higher pensions for the family.