Sikander Begum, ruling Nawab of Bhopal, began the notes from which this translation is taken, in 1867. A strong-minded and shrewd ruler, like her mother, who declined to go into purdah, the Nawab Begum was a staunch supporter of the British Crown and offered much assistance to the British during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Her account of the pilgrimage was originally only issued in two copies given to Lady Durand and Mrs Willoughby-Osborne, both wives of the British Political Agents of Bhopal. Mrs Willoughy-Osborne persuaded the Nawab that the work would be fascinating to a wider audience, providing as it did the insight of a female Muslim ruler commenting on an event virtually unknown in the Western world. Sikander Begum died before the translation could be published, and the dedication was taken over by her daughter, Shah Jehan Begum. The volume contains very early examples of photographs of Bhopal.