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Spy Princess: Noor Inayat Khan is a biography written by London-based Shrabani Basu. I caught up with Shrabani while she was on her US book tour to find out more about this intriguing, historical figure, who was a gentle musician and a fighter. It took four people to pin her down when she was held in prison by the Germans points out Shrabani.

Noor was born in Moscow, Russia in 1914, grew up in England and France. When World War II broke out in 1939 Noor became the first woman radio operator and deployed as a spy to France in 1942, where she fought on the side of the French Resistance.Noor operated successfully in her undercover role until she was betrayed by somebody within her circuit and arrested by the Germans. For 10 months the Germans held her in solitary confinement and she was finally killed at the infamous Dachau concentration camp in 1944. At the time of her death the Germans did not know of her real identity nor that she was of Indian heritage.

Noor is an intriguing historical figure for a number of reasons. She was the only woman spy of Indian heritage that fought in World War II, and was also the first woman radio operator trained by the British. She is also the great, great, great grand daughter of Tipu Sultan, aka, the Mysore Tiger on her father’s side and her American mother was a distant cousin of Mary Eddy Baker, the founder of Christian Science movement.

Noor was posthumously awarded the George Cross MBE, and Croix de Guerre. She was only 30 years old when she was killed by the Germans.

Well-known Indian filmmaker Shyam Benegal is currently working on a script on Noor Inayat Khan, based on Shrabani’s book.

You can also watch this short video clip with the author of Shrabani Basu.

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