Agra beyond Taj :
Roman Catholic Church
Srinivasan
Walter Reinhardt Sombre the European adventurer served as a mercenary commander to different native rulers , but he is known more for his association with Scindias and Jats of Bharatpur . He died in Agra is buried in Roman Catholic Cemetery in Agra .
As Indians always have a knack for Indianising everything , Sombre came to be known as Sumuru Sahib in Native speakers much like Ochterlony who was known as Loony Akhtar Sahib and Sleeman who was known as Saleeman Sahib .
Whatever fame he achieved in life it was still not as much as the fame his celebrated wife commanded . He married a famous nautch girl Named Farzana Zaib in Nisa , who after the marriage with Sombre was known as Begum Sumuru .
After her husband ' s death , she took control of his mercenary forces and commanders it well until her death .
She was awarded two Jagirs or Badashapur and Gurgaon and Sardhana near Meerut . Besides this , the old Delhi ' s Famous Bhagirath Place was her dwelling in the city which she commissioned in pure European fashion .
Begum Sumuru accepted her husband ' s faith and went on to become the first roman catholic ruler in North India . She lies buried in the tomb in the compound of the Church that she commissioned in her principality of Sardhana . Sumuru Sahib is resting for eternal sleep in this beautiful but unmarked and lost in time tomb in Agra ' s cemetary .
A TO Z INDIA JUNE 2022 PAGE 19