Annette Susannah Beveridge (née Akroyd) (13 December 1842 – 29 March 1929) was a BritishOrientalist known for her translation of theHumayun-nama[1] and theBabur-nama.[2]
Annette Akroyd's father William Akroyd was aUnitarian industrialist associated with the establishment of theBedford College, London in 1849, where she completed her study in 1863.[3]
Annette Akroyd with the students of Hindu Mahila Vidyalaya, 1875
In October 1872, she sailed forBritish India. Around 1875, she was involved in a public controversy withKeshub Chandra Sen, an Indian philosopher and social reformer who attempted to incorporate Christian theology within the framework of Hindu thought. Akroyd was shocked by her discussions with him and felt that Sen, who spoke up for women's education in England, was a typical Hindu obscurantist back home in India, trying to keep knowledge from the minds of women.[4] This dispute spilled into the native press and had its impact on theBethune School. Akroyd was also dismayed with Sen's associates such asBijoy Krishna Goswami,Aghore Nath Gupta andGour Govinda Ray, who were traditionally Hindu in educational background and resisted the education of women. Keshub Sen marrying off his own daughter at very young age also exposed his empty polemic against child marriage.[5]
"Mr. Sen had a strong prejudice against university education, in fact, against what is generally regarded as high education, of women. He objected to teaching them, for instance, such subjects as Mathematics, Philosophy and Science, whereas the advanced party positively wanted to give their daughters and sisters what is generally regarded as high education. They did not object to their university education and were not disposed to make much difference in point of education between men and women. There was no hope of compromise between two such extreme schools of thought, Accordingly, the radical party proceeded to start a separate female school of their own, called theHindu Mahila Vidyalaya for the education of the adult young ladies belonging to their party. The successful manner in which they carried on the work of this school under Miss Akroyd, subsequently Mrs. Beveridge, attracted much public notice and was highly praised by the officers of Government. This school did excellent work for many years and was subsequently conducted under the name of theBanga Mahila Vidyalaya and was at last amalgamated with theBethune College for ladies, to which it furnished some of its most distinguished students."[6]
Annette Beveridge translated the diaries of the firstMughal EmperorBabur, theBaburnama, publishing it in four books from 1912 to 1922. She used both Persian and Turki sources.[7][8]
She also translated the biography of the secondMughal Emperor,Humayun, from Persian into English. The memoir had been written by his sisterGulbadan Begum, whom Beveridge affectionately called "Princess Rosebud".[9][10] Her other translated works includeThe key of the hearts of beginners, 1908.
^Begam, Gulbaden (1902). Beveridge, Annette Susannah (ed.).The history of Humāyūn (Humāyūn-nāma). London: Royal Asiatic Society. Retrieved14 December 2017.
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