In 1870 Begum Nawab Sikandar of Bhopal became the first Muslim woman to publish an account of her pilgrimage to Mecca. Her critical and oft en surprising description provides a unique insight into the factors that influenced her writing. The book reveals Begum Sikandar as a complex individual as she negotiated with the colonial power and her fellow Indians to craft an image of herself as an effective administrator, a loyal subject, and a pious Muslim. This is the original English translation of an unpublished Urdu manuscript.