EXQUISITE

Baiza Bai (1784-1863) was born in Kagal, Kolhapur, Maharashtra in 1784. In February 1798 in Poona, at the age of 14, she was married to Daulat Rao Scindia, the ruler of Gwalior. She was known as a superb horsewoman and had been trained to fight with a sword and spear. She accompanied her husband during the Maratha wars with the British, and she fought against Arthur Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, at the Battle of Assaye. During the British campaign against the Pindaris, she had urged her husband to support the Peshwa Baji Rao II against them. When Daulat Rao submitted to British demands, she even left him briefly, accusing him of cowardice. She was also fiercely opposed to the Scindia surrender of Ajmer to the British. Baiza Bai died in Gwalior in 1863.