History buffs may have read of Henry IV, the first of the Bourbon Kings to rule France and Louis XIV, the Sun King, the most powerful King in French History and ultimately Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette who were guillotined by revolutionaries during the French Revolution in 1793.
France has no king today, but if it did, an Indian could be among its top contenders. The same could apply for the position in Spain, as well. But to reach this point, Jean Philippe’s journey must be told. It all started with a duel, around 1560 AD. On one side was Jean Philippe de Bourbon de Navarre, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis and believed to be the nephew of the then King of France Henry IV. On the other side, was a Gascon aristocrat. Jean Philippe won the duel but lost his place in France, for killing the aristocrat. He was forced to flee, so he dashed into a boat from the Mediterranean. What followed was a long and fascinating journey. Hoping to make his way to Portugal, he was captured by Turkish pirates. They took him prisoner and sold him in the Egypt slave market whence he landed in the court of the Ottoman ruler, Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent. Dulai man patronized Jean Philippe, seeing nobility in him, and gave him a high position. But empires fall, and so did the Ottoman rule in Egypt. Jean Philippe later served in the Ethiopian Army and was imprisoned by Sulaiman’s successor, sharing his cell with Ethiopian Christians. Subsequently, Jean Philippe turned up at the court of the Moghul Emperor Akbar. It was the beginning of a long line of Bourbons in India, who centuries later would serve as the administrators of Bhopal and become the second most important family in the region. Thus destiny intertwined France’s royal Bourbon family with that of the Begums of Bhopal. Many centuries passed, and Houses rose and fell. But the story and its details are relevant if the claim of a Bhopal based lawyer is taken up. His name is Balthazar Napoleon IV de Bourbon, a jovial Indian lawyer and part-time farmer and he has always been fascinated by France. Framed pictures of the Eiffel Tower and the palace of Versailles implausibly decorate his house in a dusty, bustling suburb of Bhopal. In his humble abode, reside his better half Elisha Pacheco & his children Frederick, Michelle & Adrian Bourbon. This Indian father-of-three is being feted as the long-lost descendent of the Bourbon kings who ruled France from the 16th century to the French revolution. A distant cousin of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, he is said to be not only related to the current Bourbon king of Spain and the Bourbon descendants still in France, but to have more claim than any of them to the French crown. The story of a potential Asian dauphin to one of the most important royal houses of Europe appears to be a poke in the eye for colonial history, and has sparked a rush of interest among royals in Europe. Prince Michael of Greece, the cousin of Prince Philip (husband of Queen Elizabeth), in his novel Le Rajah Bourbon, traces the swashbuckling story of Mr Bourbon's first royal ancestor Jean Philippe in India. Based on his research, Michael of Greece, who lives in Paris and is of Bourbon descent, believes that Balthazar Bourbon would be the first in line to the Bourbon throne of France and Spain. At his very old ancestral house, Balthazar has long had a brass plaque above his front door reading "House of Bourbon" with the fleur-de-lis crest of the French monarchy. His wife runs the neighbouring school for local children, called the Bourbon school. The family is Catholic and keeps Bourbon relics, including a sword, passed down as heirlooms, in their home. They feel "a sense of pride" when contemplating the picture of Versailles on their wall. But he is aware that his family's fortunes waned in Bhopal long ago. He describes the Indian branch of the family as Bourbon on the rocks. "From the day I was born, I was made to understand that I belonged to the family of the Bourbons," he reminisces. "I may be from a royal family but I live my life as a commoner. I didn't have time to learn French as a teenager because my father's death meant I had to work to look after my mother and sisters. Life has been very tough for me." When his sister went to France on holiday, she visited a castle once owned by Bourbon kings. It was closed to the public but she showed her Indian passport with the Bourbon name and was allowed in. While many in his neighbourhood are oblivious to his roots, these days, Balthazar Napoleon de Bourbon, receives a consistent stream of visitors from England, France and across Europe, curious about his family name and the welcoming plaque on his front door House of Bourbon with the Fleur de lis of French Royalty. Credit to Wilfred Gerald Rodrigues. Roland. Toronto.
