A time of war, a spy princess, a jealous woman, a betrayal, a gory execution and a lineage that led to India. An evening Shrabani Basu brought to light the story of this forgotten princess from the annals of history.

The Bangalore International Centre (BIC), a TERI initiative, recently organised a ‘meet the author’ session with Shrabani Basu, London-based historian and journalist and author of the book, ‘The Spy Princess’. Shrabani recreated Noor’s fascinating story with the right dramatic elements, allowing the audience to actually feel like they were part of the secret agent’s world.

Noor Inayat Khan, who was Tipu Sultan’s great-granddaughter’s granddaughter, was the first woman radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France as a British secret agent during World War II. Noor was betrayed by Renee Garry, the jealous sister of a colleague and then caught and murdered by the Gestapo.

While Shribani touched upon Noor’s exciting life of espionage as Madeline of the resistance (her code name), she also brought out the other side of Noor — a young girl who grew up in a Sufi pacifist environment, who loved to play the harp and wrote children’s stories.

Noor fell in love and was engaged to a Jewish gentleman. Shrabani brought along a large collection of photographs, most of which aren’t in the book.

But the evening wasn’t just about Noor, it was also about the woman who brought her to the forefront—Shrabani willingly discussed her own journey of rediscovering Noor’s life. “I was doing an article on Indians who contributed to the war, when Noor’s name caught my eye.

I wanted to know more about her. It was a lengthy process which included long hours in queues and going through crumbly files but thankfully the national archives had information. I spoke to many people who knew her, including her brother Hidayat Khan,” said Shrabani.

Shrabani’s research unearthed many finer details including the soldier who executed Noor — Wilhelm Rupert, who ironically was executed for war crimes.

“I got that information through an eye witness account. She was tortured and kicked into a ‘bloody mess’ on the floor before she was shot point blank with the word ‘liberty’ on her lips,” said Shrabani.

The audience however came up with a question that seemed to point to an obvious fact—‘What was Noor’s outlook on the Indian freedom struggle (which was around the same time) considering she worked as a British agent and of course, with an impressive lineage which was anti-British?’ Said Shrabani, “Noor supported the freedom struggle and told the British government that she would join it after the war. She had felt that the Nazis were the bigger enemy at that time, so she felt that she had to contribute to the war. I think ultimately in that sense, her ancestor and she died defending their principles.”

Noor’s efforts were recognised in England and in France as she was awarded the George Cross and the Croix de Guerre. “In fact, to this day, a band plays outside her home in France on Bastille day and a square has been named after her,” says Shrabani with a touch of disappointment in her voice as Noor had never really been recognised in India until the book.

Right now, the author is trying her best to get the government to publish stamps of Noor. “What can I say? She’s my heroine,” she said sitting in the forefront of a projected old black and white photograph of the spy princess.