Bridgerton Inspo: Baiza Bai, the Sword-Wielding Indian Queen

8:16PM May 13, 2022

Speakers:

Keywords:

husband

masterclass

story

british

east india trading

yards

drape

apologise

shannon

throne

queen

pants

murata

speed

amalgamation

wear

calls

love

instagram

draping

Did you know that the character of Kate Sharma the fiery protagonist of bridgerton Season two is actually inspired by a real life person? An expert horse rider swordswoman and spear wielder? You are in luck because today we are exploring the full story. I'm Sarah Wendell. I'm Alisha Rai. I welcome to lovestruck daily where we bring a love story to your ears every single day.

I'm in love with that I'm in love with you.

Alisha, we have we have a cool compliment. Ooh, I love compliments who doesn't love Come on? I'm so excited. Abby just found the shout out for us. Shannon squire designs on Instagram mentioned that she has been bingeing our show Hi Shannon. Hi Shannon. Shannon squire designs is also running a very cool programme they are running the yearly socks and hats on vacay event Oh, you're basically you make socks and or hats using Shannon's patterns and sending the pictures Oh, so you want to check this out. If you are a knitter and I know many of you are, you can check out Shannon S Q and at knitted wit on Instagram. Thank you for listening to the show. Hello. Yeah. Hi. I would love to see more pictures of the knitting. But I have a question for you. When you're listening to podcasts or audiobooks What do you like to do? When I'm listening to anything I'm usually driving because I'm not good at like auditory processing. So I if I can't read it, like I can't do audiobooks. So the only time I really listen to podcasts are all like listen to pop masterclasses too, because I love masterclass. So I'll listen.

Yeah, it's great. I love it. So I'll listen to that while we're driving. And so you listen to master class while you're driving. Yeah. So you can listen to you can do an audio only version of my masterclass like any masterclass you can basically do audio only and sometimes it'll say, like when you click on Audio Only, it's like this would really be better if you did it as a video and I'm like, Man, I don't care. Audio. So I've listened to a lot of master classes just in like plugged my phone in and listen to it as I drive.

Wow, what are your favourite masterclasses? Cuz I have been thinking about joining Oh,

yeah, I really I'm not a huge fan of Judd Apatow movies, but I've really enjoyed his masterclass about comedic writing, which was very weird. relevant to your interests? Yeah, relevant to my interests. I really like Issa Rae's masterclass also on writing, our producer Abby says tan Frances masterclass changed her life but I haven't I haven't seen that one yet.

That's the one about style right about choosing your personal style.

I think that's the one about style. I'll watch that. Yeah, I'll watch that one. And and Kai loves Gordon Ramsay's masterclass, like loves it and has made I think three or four dishes from from his master class. What about you? What do you do when you're listening?

When I am listening to a podcast or an audiobook? First of all, I feel like I should apologise to all the audio narrators out there and I'm learning how to narrate audiobooks now. So I extra have to apologise. I speed everything up. I speed everything up to 1.4 1.5

Yeah, you do you do watch things really quick. Do amazed.

I cannot process things at normal speed. Yeah, it's like okay, I'm bored, whatever the my brain just flow and wanders away. So I crank up the speed to about 1.4 1.5. There are some podcasts that I listened to, because the speaker is so very specific in their enunciation. I crank that up to like two point speed. And I consume a lot faster that way I will say, but what usually what I am doing when I've sped them up, I am either playing a game on my phone, I am quilting, I am cross stitching, or I'm gardening I'm doing all of the leisure activities. And I think of it as I have something to do with my hands. And I have something to do with the Jack Russell part of my brain. The part of my brain that gets really distracted like I'm bored. Let's do something else. I'm bored. Let's do something else. This is annoying. You need a drink that was a bug. It calms that distracted part of my brain it gives that part of my brain something to focus on while I do something with my hands is a little bit more monotonous or specific, especially quilting, because quilting is just like so straight line. So another straight line cut some things. Well,

we have a story for you to listen to while you do all the things let's talk about Vysa by the badass Indian Queen, who according to the showrunner Chris Van Dusen of bridgerton was the inspiration for Kate Sharma. Now I have not watched bridgerton Season Two and I do vaguely know of this story before this and I honestly do not know But the inspiration part was, I cannot tell. Not sure other than I believe she is, like an amalgamation of different cultures in India like I think she's supposed to be Marathi, but I think she's also like, I don't know. She's a lot of different words. It's been a confusion for a lot of people.

You mean Kate,

the character of Kate. Yeah, Kate Kate character? Yes, Kate. The character by the by is a Murata queen. So she is, you know, and I think Kate is supposed to be but also uses language that's like South Indian. Sometimes she uses words that are not merace Like she calls her little sister calls with DD which is a Marathi word. Yes, that's the word for sister. But then she calls her father something else, which is not what we would call our father. So it's a little bit I do feel like bridgerton does take a lot of characters as an amalgamation of cultures. So I wonder if that was purposeful. I don't I don't think it was malicious or like because they didn't know I wonder if that was on purpose. But I genuinely have no idea what the inspiration is. Maybe if you listen to the story, you can tell us what the inspiration Tell me all about

Vice Bye.

So visor bite was the Murata queen of Gwalior, which I have not been to. And I might be mispronouncing that, so I apologise. And she was an incredible horse riders words woman and spear wielder in the early 19th century,

maybe that's where they got her prowess with Pall Mall. Oh, maybe

is that what it is? Okay. So you're wielding Okay, okay. Smell it spear. There is some evidence that she obtained her throne through combat. It's been documented that she and her husband fought as a pair, and she outwitted multiple foes using optimal mercenary and martial manoeuvring. Heck, yeah, she was as customary at the time, one of the many wives of her husband, when she was 14 years old, they got married, so but that was, you know, it was the 1800s. So that's not great, but it was common at the time. He often sought her wise counsel despite her age, and she was responsible for overturning multiple laws that were unjust. Now I actually I always question when words like unjust and things were used because we don't really know everything. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of non colonial sources about FISA by that are readily available. So I don't we don't actually know what her story is. We just know what was written. And as you know, what is written is often what Victor's want you to believe so, upon his death in 1827, her husband's death, she ascended to the throne in his place. Oh, she was anti British, extremely anti British. Her husband was not her husband welcomed them with open arms. She tried to resist them when they colonised her kingdom. And she tried to persuade her husband to resist him when he was alive, but he was not a part of that and he eventually ceded to the British demands. When he did a seed, she left him saying he was a coward. It did not love their kingdom as she did.

We'll be back after this short break.

After her husband and their kingdom was defeated in the second Anglo Murata war, her husband signed a treaty with the East India Trading Company that effectively removed his governing role. And, via via by received an annual payment of 200,000 rupees, which, you know, is a pretty big deal in that time. Pretty big deal now, pretty big, really big deal in that time. But it was up to her husband to determine how that was spent. Oh, despite him having the power to put the money out. She was the one who invested in their country's own trade systems in order to keep commerce within their nation and keep their economy flowing. Her efforts turned her into a banker in her own right as she was heavily involved in a number of trade agreements, moneylending and bills of exchange, she becomes the head of two banking firms. And then the English sees her firms because she's getting a little too successful.

The devil you say I am shocked.

Yeah. And so that she just she was just a good banker. So they took it over. And she was also hugely influential in ending female infanticide in her nation, which was a method of population control at the time, she was a philanthropic supporter of the arts and sites of worship in our country. And I will know as far as there is a story of her writing into war with an infant in her arms. And I don't know how true that story isn't how much is legend, but quite possible. I mean, you had to do a lot of things at the time, so maybe she just wrote in, and she eventually gets deposed off the throne through a variety of entangled strategic attacks both by the British and the East India Trading Company, but she's so effective ever running the country and helping the trade that the press covering this trading deal in England is like to fire her. She's the best queen and she's not even our queen. But the East India Trading Company is now in charge and they put her son on the throne as a puppet ruler. And she's kind of exiled out of the picture. And she did leave her queendom with a comfy pension and she enjoyed a late in life friendship with a British woman writer who was in in the country at the time. And her name was Fanny parks and she was a Welsh travel writer. Well, she's

well she's probably not crazy about the British.

Yeah. Oh, that's true. Yeah. So maybe they bonded over that. I'm sure they talked.

You know that they sat out under a tree and we're like, no, no, let me tell you my The British are terrible story. No, no, no, no, I'll tell you my

is that is exactly exactly what happens to the women bonded over horsemanship. When bicep I was talking to her, she mocked the English style of sidesaddle riding. And she challenged parks to ride in her way, which was a stride. So of course, we're the style of our sorry, draping and it was purposefully done. For this reason we have a longer sorry, it's a nine yard sorry. And it is called a no watery and you drape it in a way where it's like pants instead of a skirt. And the reason that was Yeah, and the reason like it's like it's called adulti, basically, which is like a loose pant. And so you draw the fabric like that. And so the reason that was done was so in the days where women had to fight alongside their husbands, they could ride a horse comfortably in to war. Or they could go squat in the fields, or they could work, they could work alongside their husbands basically. So they were they weren't as a pant instead of a skirt. And so is this the style of sorry that you often wear? No, I've never worn one because I was always I always thought that it looks so complicated. My mother always had to wear one because her grandfather was very old fashioned and very conservative. And his whole thing was that the no worry is like a height of modesty for a wall. Because sometimes usually when you wear it, it's longer and it covers up more but also very, very contrary to sort of Western belief that a skirt is more modest than pants. He felt like they felt that the pants were the height of like class and modesty for a woman. And so my mom and her sisters used to sneak out of the house with the shorter sorry. Like the five yard sorry, which is like the normal sorry, that you know, like are the mother traditional, sorry. And they would go they would go to their friend's houses and change into the more scandalous and let's be real, be real. Uh, sorry,

with pants made of nine yards of fabric.

Yeah, it's a lot of fabric. It's a lot. A lot of that was a lie. Yeah. And it's not even that they're made a pants. It's like the drape it is pants. So it's like, it's a very complicated style of draping. And it would cover like the rap would basically like it would come around and cover both your shoulders. And that's what you liked about it. So yeah, it is I'll wear one in my wedding. Because I think that that would be nice, but I I've never worked one normal, it just looks look complicated. But it is comfortable. I've heard

after your wedding is your mom gonna be like, Alright, let's go next door and change.

That was a sector. I was like, Oh, I really want to know, every Saturday for my wedding. And she said, Why? Because

she was sophomores to wear one. And she she was just like, why would you want this thing that my grandfather used to make us wear when you could have whatever you want? And I was like, no, because it's tradition. And it's our people. And you know, it's our culture. And she was like, Okay, fine. And she'll probably like she could probably drape it in her sleep. So I'm not worried about that. She'll do the draping and everything. Wow. Yeah. But that's that's one of the reasons why because it's it's easier to ride and that's probably what she was able to ride into battle with an infant in her arms. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a cool story. I really like I would love it. If, if any historians who are very familiar with this story that in a way that you know, is not maybe told through a colonial lens, which is all kinds of I had to go off and all our researchers really had if they want to come and talk about the story, I would love to hear it. Sure. This is my open. This is my open invitation to all historians to come tell us all stories.

Tell us all the things please. We love all the stories. Sarah, what

is your love to go for this very cool episode,

in addition to the fact that nine yards of fabric is a lot of fabric, it is a lot of fabric. Fabric. I mean, imagine going outside and walking around nine yards.

But But draped comfortably.

Comfortably. Absolutely. But but so. Yeah, that's a lot of fabric. Yeah, I think that every culture has its queens and its heroines and there are so many more stories like this to discover. So I love that we want more historians to come and tell us things. Yeah. And sometimes the

romance, you know, isn't the romance between two people. It's the romance between a person in their country or the person in their kingdom and the people that they are in charge of. So that's nice. And we would love I mean, as I said, if you're historian or if you know a lot about a particular topic or a particular couple, please please, please send us an email. We'd love to hear it at lovestruck daily at frolicked up media and follow us on Instagram and Twitter at lovestruck daily, especially Instagram we have a tonne of extra content.

Our researcher is Jesse Epstein. Our editor is Jen Jacobs we are produced by Abigail steckler and little Scorpion studios with executive producer frolic media this is an I Heart Radio Podcast and we wish

you a very comfortable happily ever after. I'm in love with the eight ball love with you. I'm in love with you. Yeah, okay, let me toss that to you.

Bless you. Bless you. God bless you. The third time I put in put in putting get out of the closet.

I choose to hide in this closet and we did clean it really well. But so yeah, all right. Yeah.