Noor Inayat Khan - The Spy Princess

On 4th May 1799 the armies of British East India company, the Nizam of Hyderabad and marhatta soldiers defeated Sultan Tipu in the 4th battle of Mysore. The Sultan Tipu keeping true to his words, that he would prefer to live one day as a lion rather than a 100 as a hyena, died defending his capital Serengapattam. An illustrious Indian was no more and the floodgates of british colonization were opened in India. The Sultan's family was divested of its kingdom and its territory was in part divided among the Nizam and the British. The remaining territory was converted into a princely state with the British exacting tribute and assuming control over the foreign policy. A more pliant ruler and the former prime minister of the Sultan, who had betrayed him during the battle were retained. With the passage of time Sultan Tipu's family was forgotten.

On new year's eve in Moscow in the year 1914 a girl was born to Sufi Inayat Khan founder of Sufi order International which preached sufi practices of spirituality, love and universal brotherhood in the western world. The family moved to live in England shortly prior to the outbreak of the first world war. Young Noor got her early education in England and in 1920 the family relocated to France and settling near Paris. She studied child psychology at Sorbonne and also became a gifted musician like her father. After her father's death in 1927 Noor continued to live in France with her family and wrote children's stories and poetry which were regularly published in magazines.

Memorial in Dachau Concentration Camp

In the summer of 1940 the family arrived in England again after Nazi Germany had invaded and occupied France early into the 2nd world war. Both Noor and her brother decided to contribute to the war effort. In the winter of 1940 Noor joined the women's auxillary airforce and received training as a wireless operator. In 1943 Noor was recruited into the special operations executive informally known as the baker street irregulars which was formed as a clandestine establishment with the purpose of operating behind enemy lines and engage in espionage, sabotage and other acts of warfare excluding direct engagement.

Here Noor, due to her fluency in the french language, was chosen to be sent to Nazi occupied France as an undercover radio operation despite having incomplete training for such missions.
On the night of 16 June 1943 Noor slipped into France and was received by another agent of the SOE. They travelled to Paris together and joined the 'physicians' resistance network led by Major Francis Suttill. She would never leave France again.

Noor Inayat Khan in Uniform

It was a highly dangerous business being a radio operator in occupied France as Gestapo and SD were always on the lookout for subversive elements in occupied territory. Often they were successful in sniffing out radio operators. Within space of a few days all the agents who had entered France with her were arrested by the SD. Despite a clear danger due to the arrest of her comrades Noor continued to move from place to place all the while maintaining radio contact with her headquarters in Britain. Finally her luck ran out and on 13-October -1943 Noor was arrested by the SD after being betrayed by an associate's sister. She put up fierce resistance at being arrested and was taken away for interrogation designated as an extremely dangerous prisoner. Noor was uncooperative as a prisoner and attempted to escape from her confinement atleast two times. After the 2nd attempt she was kept shackled to deter her from escaping again. For 10 months Noor endured solitary confinement in prison when orders were issued in September 1944 for her to be moved to the Dachau concentration camp. On 11th of September 1944 Noor and three other female SOE operative were executed by firing squad and their bodies burnt. Noor Inayat Khan was dead at the age of 30. Her last words are reported to be: "Liberte"

Her courage however did not go unnoticed as she received a posthumous Mention in Despatches, a French Croix de Guerre and the George Cross from the british. Much like her ancestor Tipu Sultan - the lion of Mysore, Noor Inayat Khan too chose to die fighting for freedom over a life of imprisonment and humiliation.