Q. How did you first come across material on Gauhar Jaan?
A. While researching for my first book, Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars, on the history of the royal family of Mysore, I came across the name Gauhar Jaan in the palace archives. Though she lived in Kolkata for a large part of her life, she spent the last two years in Mysore and died there on January 17, 1930. Letters and correspondences between her and the Government of Mysore were fascinating; she pleaded for money and assistance in legal battles that were hounding her.

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