"If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory"- William Hazlitt.

This is absolutely true in case of Begam Samru. Born to a concubine, without proper identity of parenthood, she achieved a place for herself in history.

Her father's identity is conflicting; some say it was Asad Khan while others opine that Luff Ali Khan begot her.

But after her father's departure she and her mother faced the harsh reality and was forced to leave the house by her step brother and thus they had to go and settle in Delhi.

In spite of her disputed parentage she possessed daring courage and spirit and also had a tremendous ability to handle the cases with her ability and dominance and care. She moved to a number of places like Agra, Lukhnow, and Bharatpur etc.

Walter Reinhardt Sumroo, who was a European mercenary came to the red-light district and was lured by the charisma of Farzana, another name of Begam Samru. She was also courted by other officials who were supposed to be her husband's friends.

She was so diplomatic that she managed her soldiers who witnessed her being kissed by an enemy in the battlefield.

After her husband's death she gained the annuity of � 90,000 per annum, and with the enforcement of the British rule in India, she retained her identity as an independent ruler in North India.

She was baptized at the age of forty under a Catholic priest and was named Joanna, and after her death a major part of her property had been specified by her to Dyce, a descendant from Walter's legal wife.

There are numerous stories about the perspicacity in battle fields, and her diplomatic sense and discernment.

www.indiaprofile.com offers you the opportunity of an online booking for a tour to the Begam Samru's Palace at New Delhi.