The EIC's Forgotten Mistress: Private Fortunes and Indian Women

In this episode of The East India Company: The Corporation That Conquered Nations, Lucas and Luna explore the hidden history of bibis—the Indian women who became companions, housekeepers, and sometimes wives of Company officials. Drawing on the story of William Hickey, a Company lawyer who lived with his bibi Jemdanee for over a decade, the episode reveals how these relationships shaped colonial households and created mixed-race communities. It examines the Company's shifting policies toward intermarriage, from early encouragement to later bans, and highlights the lives of begums like the Begum of Oudh, who wielded political power. The conversation touches on Anglo-Indian identity, the legal status of Indian women under Company rule, and the erasure of these women from official records. A quiet, human story that challenges the all-male narrative of empire. #EastIndiaCompany #WilliamHickey #Bibi #Jemdanee #AngloIndian #ColonialIndia #InterracialRelationships #CompanyRule #BegumOfOudh #Mughal #Calcutta #Kolkata #18thCentury #19thCentury #SocialHistory #Gender #Empire #FexingoHistory #History #BritishEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo