Monday, December 11, 2017

Azizun a courtesan turned freedom fighter.

This article is about the courtesans of the India who have played an important role in India’s Freedom Struggle but have not been acknowledged at all…

(INTRO: Azizun was a courtesan, a dancing girl in one of the numerous kothas (place where these courtesans perform at fall of night) of Cawnpore (later Kanpur) in 1857, the epicenter of the whole uprising. Her everyday routine rotated around makeup, dresses, move presentations and her night exhibitions for the worn out fighters serving in the British armed force or for the British officers...Her khota became a place of contention between Nana Sahib and Tatya Tope on one side, and the British on the other. Her home turned into a meeting point for the freedom fighters, and she made a firearm battery her central station to gather and disseminate arms and ammo to the soldiers. She is likewise said to have ridden into freedom struggle in male attire in the battlefield and back home she used to nurse the injured soldiers. She was close to sepoys of the 2nd cavalry. She was close to Shamsuddin Khan a freedom fighter.)
Azizun the freedom fighter (Credit: Wikimedia Commons)
All the countries have a desire to be free of the foreign rule. Independence is a word for the same even animals have a thought and like it, then why not the humans who have all the brain.

Indian freedom struggle has seen a number of freedom struggles which have been the reason for India to get freedom from the foreign rule of the British. People from all walks of life have been a part of this struggle, without the consideration of caste, creed, colour, religions or linguistics.

The male and the females both played an important role in the freedom struggle. There been numerous males and many of the opposite sex who laid their lives for the independence of India. Female freedom fighters have been like the literate Sarojini Naidu, or the other being the queen–Laxmi Bai (Rani of Jhansi). These two names are the most prominent of all the female freedom strugglers, but there is one more name which has been not so popular due to reasons unknown. It is Azizun a courtesan.

Azizun was a courtesan who had been entertaining people through her singing in the evenings in India under British Empire. These types of girls were not having any proper respect in the society; rather they are looked down upon for their profession considered to be equivalent to that of a prostitute. It is the society which many abide without understanding the reality of life.

It is the story of a courtesan who was impressed by a freedom fighter and changed her life not only for her love which she could not achieve in her life as her lover was killed by the British, but she reincarnated herself into a freedom fighter. This is a story of this daring female freedom fighter which we plan to stage for the common Indian.

Nowadays as the females are been given the best of life we also want to be a part to pay homage to the female power through our medium of stage show.

This story of Azizun will inspire the females of our country who have been the mark of Shakti (power).


I hope that our introduction about this unusual female freedom fighter–Azizun–will be inspiriting for the females of our present India. And furthermore, we hope that your kind authority will accept our proposal in helping to popularize the female power of India from the yesteryears that will inspire the present westernizing generations. 


My article on Azizun on India Study Channel posted in August 2013

Azizun a freedom fighter who is not named anywhere.

(A dramatized version of Azizun love for motherland India, which changed her life from a courtesan to a freedom fighter)

To breathe in free air is a desire of every living being be it animals, birds or human being. They all struggle for freedom if they are kept as captives. Very fewer are lucky enough to attain freedom in their lifetime but they are the sole motivators for others to voice for freedom.


I would surely like to meet Azizun are freedom fighter who happens to be the most different one. She was a courtesan who fell in love with a freedom fighter who had been sheltering in her house after a bullet injury.

Nadeem: Azizun, you believed in a relationship that is only through money, then how come you fell in love with a freedom fighter?

Azizun: Our kind of females are considered to be downgraded but we still have heart and when my men got Mohan (the freedom fighter) to my house, I learned that love for money is superficial whereas the love for country is real.
I treated him for more than three months and in turn, fell in love with him not for his personality but due to his love for his motherland. He visited me twice after he was physically fit. Men visited my house to find solace through my singing and consuming alcohol, but Mohan was different who never used intoxicant but made me intoxicated.
He was a man of words who came to me, not for mental solace but to make me understand as to what is love for the motherland.

Nadeem: Do you remember any incident which made you love him dearly?

Azizun: Yes, it was Diwali when I had organized a puja at my home and some traitor had intimated Britishers that freedom fighters were visiting my place often. Mohan did come that particular night disguised and I really fell for him, because of keeping his promise and we both promised to marry on 20 Dec that year.

Nadeem: So, you got married on the appointed day?

Azizun: No…! Mohan was arrested while are traitor had informed the police about his whereabouts and he was sentenced to death within a trial of 15 days.

Nadeem: Then what happened to you?

Azizun: I took revenge by killing that person who had informed police about Mohan. I even killed the officer and finally, I was shot and killed by police.

This is the reality of the freedom fighters!

We the present people who are living in free India are just not caring for the efforts and pain that freedom fighters have faced to give us present independent India. We should respect our Independence and help it maintain the same.

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