Eliza Fanthome (born 1845) was a British woman best known for surviving the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

as a girl.

Life

Eliza Fanthome was born to the Christian Anglo-French district clerk James Fanthome.Anderson, C. (2012). Subaltern Lives: Biographies of Colonialism in the Indian Ocean World, 1790-1920. Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 148-149 In 1857, she experienced the

Siege of Cawnpore The siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The besieged East India Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) were duped into a false assurance of a safe passage to Allahabad by the rebel forces under ...

. During the

Satichaura Ghat massacre The siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The besieged East India Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) were duped into a false assurance of a safe passage to Allahabad by the rebel forces under ...

, she was abducted by a private individual. Being the captive of a private individual, she avoided the

Bibighar massacre The siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian Rebellion of 1857. The besieged East India Company forces and civilians in Cawnpore (now Kanpur) were duped into a false assurance of a safe passage to Allahabad by the rebel forces under ...

. She later testified that she was held as a slave by the Muslim Meerun Jan, who subjected her to rape and forced her to live as his slave, ''ioundee'', and that she was forced to cook for him and wash the feet of his several wives. She also testified that he forced her to live with the brother of one Meanjon Syed for about one year. The British freed Eliza Fanthome from slavery by hiring two informers to rescue her from the rebel camp where she was being held, a task they succeeded in. Meerun Jan was never captured by the British, but Meanjon Syed was sentenced for complicity to fourteen years of deportation to the

Andaman Andaman may refer to: * Andaman Islands, an island group in the Bay of Bengal * Andaman Island, Penang, an artificial island in George Town, Penang * Andaman Sea, a sea of the eastern Indian Ocean * ''Andaman'' (1998 film), an Indian Kannada-lang ...

s. She was one of a few survivors of the

. A handful of women were taken prisoner by individual captors, avoided being placed in the Bibighar, and therefore also avoided the

. Of these known survivors were Ulrica Wheeler, Amelia Horne, the drummers wives Eliza Bradshaw and Elizabeth Letts, and Eliza Fanthome, who was twelve years old at the time.Anderson, C. (2012). Subaltern Lives: Biographies of Colonialism in the Indian Ocean World, 1790-1920. Storbritannien: Cambridge University Press. p. 149

Legacy

In 1896, J.F. Fanthome published the novel ''Mariam: A Story of the Indian Mutiny of 1857'' about a Christian woman, Mariam, and her daughter Ruth, during the rebellion. He claimed the story was based on the notes of Ruth and that he had not published the novel until after the death of Mariam in 1892. The novel was likely based on the story of Eliza Fanthome: J.F. Fanthome was married to Winifred, daughter of Marie Le Maistre, who died in 1892, and was the paternal aunt of Eliza Fanthome. The novel ''Mariam: A Story of the Indian Mutiny of 1857'' was the basis of

Ruskin Bond Ruskin Bond (born 19 May 1934) is an Indian author. His first novel, ''The Room on the Roof'', published in 1956, received the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Bond has authored more than 500 short stories, essays, and novels which includes 69 books ...

's ''

A Flight of Pigeons ''A Flight of Pigeons'' is a novella by Indian author Ruskin Bond. The story is set in 1857, and is about Ruth Labadoor and her family (who are British) who take help of Hindus and Muslims to reach their relatives when the family's patriarch is ki ...

'', who in turn was the inspiration for the Hindi film '' Junoon'' (1978).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fanthome, Eliza 1845 births People from British India 19th-century Indian women British people of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 Indian slaves 19th-century slaves Year of death missing 19th-century British women Kidnapped British children