Bhagwati Bhola Nauth

Bhagwati Bhola Nauth (born c. 1882) was an Indian social reformer, activist and suffragist. ^[1]

Life

Nauth was born in Lahore, British India, around 1882. She married Major Bhola Nauth, ^[2] a doctor who worked in the Indian Medical Service, and they had two sons. ^[3] She lived in England from 1908. ^[2]

Nauth was the honorary secretary of the Indian Women’s Educational Fund was also a member of the Eastern League. ^[4]

Indian suffragists on the Women's Coronation Procession of 1911, including Nauth on the far left

On 17 June 1911, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) ^[6] organised a Women's Coronation Procession, using the coronation of King George V to demand the vote for white women. ^{[7] [8]} Jane Cobden and Lolita Roy gathered an Indian contingent in advance of the procession, forming 'part of the 'Imperial contingent'. Nauth was among the group of Indian women who marched. ^[9]

The women were invited to attend to appear "exotic" ^[10] and to demonstrate "the strength of support for women's suffrage throughout the Empire." ^[6] Their "beautiful dresses" (saris) drew admiring glances from the public. ^[11] Nauth has been identified as one of the women marching with an appliquéd banner in a photograph from the procession. ^{[12] [13]}

Nauth was later involved in petitioning the British government for the enfranchisement of Indian women. ^{[3] [14]}

Her date of death is unknown.

References

1. Khan, Mariam (27 February 2023). "Forgotten Indian women who dedicated their lives to fighting for women's rights". My London. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
2. Mukherjee, Sumita (16 April 2018). Indian Suffragettes: Female Identities and Transnational Networks. Oxford University Press. pp. 33–35. ISBN   978-0-19-909370-0.
3. Crawford, Elizabeth (11 February 2018). "The black and Asian women who fought for a vote". BBC News. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
4. Hoque, Nikhat (3 February 2019). "Meet 7 Indian Suffragettes Of The British Suffrage Movement". Feminism in India. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
5. "Imperial Pageant, Women's Coronation Procession". London Museum. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
6. "Lolita Roy and Indian Suffragettes, Coronation Procession - Museum of London". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
7. Mukherjee, Sumita (30 October 2017). "Black History Month: Diversity and the British female Suffrage movement". The Fawcett Society . Retrieved 28 January 2025.
8. "Have Women of Color Been Written Out of The Women's Movement ?". Google Arts & Culture. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
9. Perry, Sarah (1 October 2020). Essex Girls: For Profane and Opinionated Women Everywhere. Serpent's Tail. ISBN   978-1-78283-821-0.
10. Santos, Inês (17 March 2021). "On the trail of the Indian suffragettes – Dr Sumita Mukherjee, Associate Professor in Modern History at the University of Bristol". Womanthology. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
11. Raw, Louise (12 July 2020). "Standing on the shoulders of giantesses: working-class women suffragettes: Louise Raw". Woman's Place UK. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
12. "Plinth to mark centenary of women's suffrage includes South Asian and Jewish women". Religious Reader. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2025.
13. Cowman, Krista (31 July 2024). The Routledge Companion to British Women's Suffrage. Taylor & Francis. ISBN   978-1-351-36571-0.
14. Mukherjee, Sumita (4 July 2022). "Mobility, race and the politicisation of Indian students in Britain before the Second World War". History of Education. 51 (4): 560–577. doi:10.1080/0046760X.2021.2010815. hdl: 1983/b1e10f74-5e23-400f-8552-e5ecb8ef6eb7 . ISSN   0046-760X.