# The tourist's guide to Lucknow (1899)/Chapter 3

CHAPTER III.
A SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF THE KINGS OF OUDH,
WITH
A GEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE PROVINCE.
Oudh is a strip of territory extending from the base of the sub-Himalaya-mountains, in a direction from north-west to south-east, until it reaches the Ganges. Its greatest length is about 270, and its breadth 160 miles. Its general character is that of a, more or less, undulating plain, with a gradual declination as it extends from the mountain to the river. It is intersected by numerous streams, the principal of which, inclusive of the frontier stream of the Ganges, are the Sarju, Ghagra, Chawka, Gumti, and Sai. These, with numerous lesser streams and tributaries, entering the country from the Himalayan chain and Tarai forest, which separates Oudh from Nepal, and ﬂowing gently through the country towards the Ganges, without cutting very deeply into the soil, always keep the water near the surface, and available in all quarters, and in any quantity, for purposes of irrigation. Never was there a country more favoured by nature, or more susceptible of improvement, under judicious management. There is hardly an acre of ground that is not capable of good culture. It is generally well timbered, studded with groves and ﬁne solitary trees in great perfection. The soil is good, and the surface everywhere capable of tillage, with little labour or outlay. Considered generally, however, Oudh surpasses in natural advantages almost every other part of India—having the Ganges running along the whole of its southwest frontier, a varied and fertile soil, a genial though hot climate, and numerous facilities for irrigation and water carriage. Yet with all these natural advantages, never was there a country where anarchy and confusion so generally prevailed. An unusual blight seemed to rest upon it, and neither life nor property were secure, the cause of which is brieﬂy explained in Chapter I of this book.
The climate of Oudh is less humid than that of Lower Bengal, and has greater varieties of temperature. The ​year falls naturally into three seasons—the rainy, from the middle of June to beginning of October; the cold weather, from October to March, and the hot season from April to June. During this season hot winds blow and dust storms are prevalent. The winter rains fall generally towards the end of December and in January, and heavy night dews are very common. The mean temperature is 77.5°F. in the shade. It ranges from 44° in January, the coldest month, to 111° in June, the hottest month. The heat proves most oppressive in the rainy season.
The average annual rain-fall is 89.37 inches.
Oudh, once a Hindu kingdom, became, under the Mogal dynasty, a Muhammadan Nawabship, then a Nawab-viziership, then, under British protection, a Muhammadan kingdom, and lastly an Anglo-Indian Province.
Lucknow, the capital of Oudh, is situated mainly on the right bank of the Gumti, which is navigable for many miles above the town, and, downwards, through its Whole course to its conﬂuence with the Ganges between Benares and Ghazipore. It is spread over an area of 36 square miles, and, in population, Lucknow ranks next ​to the Presidency towns. It is healthily situated, being 403 feet above the level of the sea, in latitude 26°58'N. and longitude 80°58'E. Its claim to the title of capital dates from the accession of Nawab Asuf-ud-daula, A.D. 1775; and although destitute of any extensive trade or manufacture, it is still a place of considerable wealth, and the centre of modern Indian life and fashion, and the best school of Indian Music, Grammar and Moslem theology. Lucknow is divided into four parts:—
The ﬁrst part comprises the native city, which is extensive, but meanly built, and squalid in parts remote from the Chauk, or public promenade, where everything is bright and cheerful to render it attractive to European visitors and to the native gentry who frequent the place. The second, contains the King’s palaces, including the residences of his court and religious ediﬁces; the third, the civil station, which chieﬂy consists of houses of the European community; and the fourth, the Dilkusha Cantonments, which occupy the south-eastern quarter and is separated from the city by Gazi-ud-din Haidar’s canal; The old Cantonments, built by Sadat Ali Khan, was on the opposite side of the river and known as Mariaon, a name which the locality still retains. The chief points whence good views of Lucknow can be had, are La Martiniere College and Sadat Ali’s Tomb; the Chutter Munzil Palace and Residency-tower; the Imambara of Asuf-ud-daula and the Clock Tower at Husainabad, from the tops of which you can obtain a beautiful panorama of the city and the surrounding country.
The present city stands on what was the sight of 64 villages, the memory of several of which is still preserved in the names of the mohallas built over them, but all traces of others have passed away, and their names can only be collected from ancient records. The original centre of the city, is the high ground which, crowned by the Musjid, or mosque, of Aurungzeb, overhangs the Stone Bridge, and which is called Lukshman Tila. On this site formerly stood the village of Lukshmanpur. There is an old story that Ayodhya (Ajodhya) was once such an enormous city, in the days when the great dynasty of the Rajput ​descendants of the sun held the seat of empire there, that it extended from its present site to Lucknow. This may, probably, be explained by the consideration that Lukshman, the deity of Lukshmanpur, was the brother and constant companion of Rama, the worshipped of Ayodhya, and that tradition, as it never separates the two persons, would be likely also to connect their cities.
There is reason to believe that Lukshmanpur was originally inhabited by Brahmins and that they were dispossessed by a family of Shekhs who came down with the invading army of Syud Salar, since canonized as Ghazi Meeah, the nephew of Mahmud of Ghazni, 1160 A. D. This is the earliest date of which there is any record of this event, but, though every Mussalman family in Oudh declare that they came down with Syud Salar, it is obvious that the Mahomedan colonization must have taken place slowly and gradually, and it, probably, was not completed for fully a hundred years.
This family of Shekhs obtained a good deal of inﬂuence in the country, and subsequently supplied more than one member to the list of Subahdars. One of their ﬁrst proceedings was to build a fort, which soon became renowned for its strength. One they built occupied the site of the old Machhi Bawan fort, and is said to have been planned by an Ahir (cow-herd) named Likna, and to have been called after him the Killa Likna. As the Shekhs prospered and increased, a small town grew up around them, which, from the two names of Lukshmanpur and Likna, got the name of Lucknow. It is impossible to give the exact date of the introduction of this new name, but it certainly was current previous to the reign of Akbar Shah.
To give an example of the prosperity of this town, the Shekhs have a story that when, in 1540 A. D., the Emperor Humayun went down to Jaunpur to fight Sher Shah, then King of Jaunpur, and subsequently Emperor of Delhi, he retreated, after his defeat, via Sultanpur, Lucknow and Pilibhit, to Cashmere, and, on his way, stopped four hours in Lucknow, where, beaten and dispirited as his force was, and, therefore, probably, little able to compel obedience, they, nevertheless, collected for him, in that short space of time, Rs. 10,000 in cash and 50 horses. That such a story should obtain credence is, in itself, a proof that Lucknow was then a wealthy and ﬂourishing town.
​We hear mention made of the title of Subahdar (Governor of a Subah, or province) of Oudh as early as 1280 A. D., but the title could not properly be given till, in 1590 A. D., Akbar Shah divided the Empire of Hindustan into 12 Subahs, of which Oudh was one. The boundaries of the Subahs differed from those of the present province of Oudh, chieﬂy in the fact that they included part of the Gorakhpur District, but excluded Tulsipur, and a large part of what is now the Fyzabad District. Of this Subah it is impossible to say that any one place was the capital. The Subahdars seem to have been constantly changed, seldom keeping their place more than three or four years. Most of them were Delhi favorites, who remained at Court the greater part of the year and then came down to Oudh to collect the revenue, marched about the country and, when they had got all they could, went back again.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE KINGS OF OUDH.
1.—SADAT KHAN, BURHAN-UL-MULK, 1732-1739.
Sadat Khan, the progenitor of the Kings of Oudh, descended from a noble Sayyid family, was a merchant who came from Persia to seek his fortune in Hindustan. He combined with the usual qualities of a good soldier, the rare talents required for an able administrator. His original name was Mahomed Ameen. In the year 1705, while still but a lad, he arrived at Patna, to join his father and elder brother, who had preceded him thither. On his arrival, finding the former dead, he and his brother proceeded to push their fortunes at Delhi. His first service was with Nawab Sirbulund Khan, whom, however, he soon quitted, resenting a taunt uttered by his master on occasion of some trifling neglect. The youth took his way to Court, where he soon acquired favour; and having materially assisted his imbecile Sovereign in getting rid of Hussain Ali, Governor of Bihar, (the younger of the Sayyids of Bara, who were at that time dragooning the King) Mahomed Ameen was rapidly promoted to the Viceroyalty of Oudh, with the title of sadat Khan. He found the Province in great disorder, but soon reduced the refractory spirits and greatly increased the revenue. He protected the husbandman, but crushed the petty chiefs who aimed at independence.
​With him the debate arose between Lucknow and Fyzabad for the rank of capital. Sadat Khan certainly lived at Ayodhya and built a fort there: as certainly he also lived at Lucknow, and changed the name of the fort from Killa Likna to Machhi Bawan, or fish-house, in allusion to the crest of a ﬁsh, which he had assumed, and which has since become a decoration on the buildings of Lucknow. Unlike his descendants, who built themselves palaces which now fill the city, he was content with a comparatively humble dwelling situated behind the Machhi Bawan, known as the Panch Mahalla, for which he paid a monthly rental of Rs. 565.
History questions the fact of Sadat Khan having, in concert with Nizam-ul-Mulk, Subahdar of the Deccan, invited Nadir Shah's invasion, but a careful comparison of authorities leads to the belief that he was guilty of this treacherous deed. The atrocities committed by Nadir are familiar matters of history. The traitor chiefs did not escape persecutions. Nizam-ul-Mulk and Sadat Khan were not only grossly insulted by Nadir for their treacherous conduct towards the Emperor, but were plundered and made the instruments of extorting treasure from distant provinces. Nizam-ul-Mulk, jealous of the power and ability of Sadat, took advantage of the persecutions of Nadir Shah to execute a plan of getting rid of his rival. He affected to confide in him his own determination of suicide, and agreed with Sadat Khan that each should take poison. The latter drank his cup full, and left the hoary schemer without a rival in the Empire.
Sadat Khan, who had but a few years before been a needy adventurer, and had now been plundered by Nadir Shah, was still enabled to leave his successor a large treasure estimated at nine millions sterling. Though he accumulated so much wealth, he did not leave behind him the character of an oppressor. On the contrary, he seems rather to have respected the poor, and to have restricted his exactions to the rich. He reaped much as he had sown; his ability and management established a Sovereignty; his faithlessness brought him to a premature and ignominious end. He proved no exception to the rule, that they who are busiest in entrapping others are themselves the easiest deluded.
Sadat Khan was buried at Delhi.
2.—MUNSUR ALI KHAN, 1739-1753.
Sadat Khan was succeeded by his son—in-law and nephew, Munsur Ali Khan, Sufdar Jang, who followed his predecessor’s policy in keeping up a strong interest at Court ​and connecting himself closely with the Imperial Government. In 1747 he received the post which Sadat Khan had so much coveted, and was made Vazier, or Minister of State, to the Emperor. From this date the title of Subahdar ceases, and the Governor of Oudh is called the Nawab Vazier, a combination of two titles of Nawah of Oudh and Vazier of the Empire; the latter title was bestowed by the Emperor of Delhi.
Munsur Ali Khan was the founder of Fyzabad, where he resided, besides making it his military head-quarters. He built the rampart and moat that surrounded the city and had several standing camps near it; so that it can hardly be denied that, in his reign, Fyzabad, and not Lucknow, was the Capital of Oudh. He was an able ruler, and his financial administration was successful.
The Nawab died in 1753, of fever, and his remains were removed to Delhi for interment. The mausoleum of Sufdar Jang is well-known as one of the finest structures of the kind at Delhi.
3.—SHUJA-UD-DAULA, 1753-1775.
Munsur Ali Khan was succeeded by his son Shuja-ud-daula, who was appointed Vazier by Shah Alam. Of all the Oudh Nawabs he seems to have formed the largest plans for aggrandizing himself and his province at the expense of the decaying Moghul Empire. Like his predecessors he was pre-eminently a soldier, and was for a great part of his rule engaged in wars. In 1763, the English having quarrelled with their own eleve, Mir Kasim, Governor of Bengal, Shuja-ud-daula took the field in his favour and advanced upon Patna, taking with him the fugitive Moghul Emperor, Shah Alam II, and the exiled Nawab of Bengal. Defeated by the British, in successive battles at Patna and Buxar, the Nawab fled to Bareilly, while the unfortunate Emperor joined the British Camp.
By the treaty of 1765, which followed this event, Korah and Allahabad, which hitherto formed part of the Oudh Viceroyalty, were made over to the Emperor for the support of his dignity and expenses, all the remaining territories being restored to Shuja-ud-daula, who, reduced to extremities, had thrown himself upon the generosity of the British Government. It had been intended to deprive him of his territories, but Lord Clive, on a personal interview, reversed the decision, and reinstated him on the condition of his paying the expenses of the war.
He fixed his head-quarters at Fyzabad and attracted commerce to the place, so that, with its great natural ​advantages, it very soon became a flourishing mart. It appears, however, that in the last years of his reign, when Rohilkhand had been subjugated and most of it annexed to Oudh, he ﬁxed his residence at Lucknow as being more central. He was a ruler of great ability and energy, and was, for a great part of his reign, engaged in wars. Shuja-ud-daula died suddenly on 26th January 1775, at Fyzabad, of which city his tomb, the Gulab Bari (rose garden), is one of the chief ornaments. He is described as being extremely handsome and endowed with great strength.
“Bahu Begam was the wife of Shuja-ud-danla. She was a native of Persia and the grand-daughter of Mirza Husain, the chief of Emperor Alamgir’s kitchen. The Begam died in 1816, and the building of her tomb at Fyzabad was not completed until 1858. It cost between three and four lacs; and it has an annual income of Rs. 6,000 derived from an endowment which is spent in repairs, religious ceremonies and periodical illuminations.”
—Indian Daily Telegraph.
4.—ASUF-UD-DAULA, 1775-1797.
Shuja-ud-daula was succeeded by his son Asuf-ud-daula, who transferred the seat of Government to Lucknow, which dates, from this period, its existence as a City and its rank as the Capital of Oudh. Up to this time it was merely a large town of some few hundred houses, extending no further than the area round the Machhi Bawan. It is pretty clear that the site of the Chauk was occupied by a distinct village, while jungle covered the ground Where the Husainabad and Kaiser Bagh now stand.
Under Asuf-ud-daula, the Lucknow Court reached its highest splendour. All the wealth of the state was devoted to the personal aggrandisement of its ruler and the accumulation of those materials which minister to oriental pomp. No Court in India could rival the magniﬁcence of the Nawab-Vazier.
At his accession a new treaty was concluded confirming him in possession of Korah and Allahabad. This Nawab-Vazier, ceded the districts of Benares and Jaunpur, worth 75 lacs,with a net proﬁt of 25 lacs annually,to the British, for the better defence of his dominion, stipulating also a yearly payment of £312,000 in maintenance of the auxiliary force. He brought-about reforms in his army, ​which was put on a more efficient footing by the introduction of European Officers into the Military Department.
As a token of gratitude for the recovery of the King of England (George III.) from a dangerous illness, Asaf-ud-daula presented the Doctor with Rs. 25,000 and distributed a similar sum in charity in His Majesty’s name.
This King is held in affectionate remembrance, up to the present day, by the natives, who are in the habit of repeating, every morning, this couplet as an auspicious incantation before commencing business:—
Jis ko na de Maula Us ko de Asuf-ud-daula.—Whom giveth no God (Maula) him giveth Asuf-us-daula.
Asuf-ud-daula seems hardly to have had any distinct plan for building, but to have allowed the city to grow up round the Chauk chieﬂy to the western side of what is now the Canning Street. He encouraged merchants and traders to settle by the widest and most extravagant liberality. He spent money lavishly on public buildings, and gardens, some of which are the chief ornaments of Lucknow, such as the Daulat Khana, Rumi Darwaza, Bibiapur Kothi, Chinhut House, the Great Imambara, Charbagh and Aishbagh. This last garden is now the site of the filtering and distributing Station of the Municipal Water Works. His own palace was in the building known as the Daulat Khana, the chief house, or Asufee Kothi, being named after himself. He died childless, on let September 1797, and was buried in his own magniﬁcent Imambara at Machhi Bawan.
“Where now the Pomp, which marks an Eastern Throne? Where is the Monarch, and his Courtiers gone? You lofty dome, in vain uplifts its head! It marks but the spot, where rest the mighty dead! But the lone lamp, which trembles in the tomb, Is a fit emblem, of the unchanging doom Which awaits alike, the Tyrant, and the Slave, The free, the generous, virtuous, and the Brave. Like that lone lamp, awhile life brightly burns, Then smokes and flickers, and to ashes turns!“ K. M. Nicholson.
5.—VAZIER ALI.
Vazier Ali, reputed son of Asuf-ud-daula, succeeded him and reigned for four months, but his proved illegitimacy and worthless character led the Governor General, Sir John Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth, to displace him and elevate Sadat Ali Khan, the half-brother of Asuf-ud-daula. and younger son of Shuja-ud-daula. Mr. Cherry, Resident at Benares, negotiated the treaty with Sadat Ali, who was then living at Benares on a pension of 1 1/2 lacs of rupees. The new Nawab marched to Lucknow ​where Sir John Shore was encamped. The Governor General was in extreme peril from Vazier Ali’s lawless soldiers, but he, with the utmost calmness, maintained his position, and the new Nawab was eventually placed on the throne, Vazier Ali being deported to Benares on the same pension of 1 1/2 lacs a year. In 1799 Vazier Ali assinated Mr. Cherry, at Benares, and raised a temporary rebellion, but was defeated, taken prisoner, and sent to Fort William. After many years of captivity there, he was transferred to the palace built for Tippu Sultan’s family in the Fort of Vellore, where he died in 1817.
The marriage expenses of this Prince in 1795, amounted to 30 lacs of rupees, while his funeral expenses, in 1817, cost but 70 rupees, a strange reverse of fortune.
6 —SADAT ALI KHAN, 1798-1814,
In 1798 Asuf-ud-daula's brother, Sadat Ali Khan, succeeded Vazier Ali and earned for himself, during his reign of sixteen years, the character of the best administrator and wisest and most sagacious ruler that Oudh had ever seen. Nawab Sadat Ali added the sum of 19,22,862 rupees to the subsidy given to the British Government, every year, on account of the auxiliary force during his predecessors reign; and afterwards, for the greater satisfaction of the British Government, made over to the Hon’ble East India Company, certain Districts of his dominions (some of which now form part of the North-West Provinces), estimated to yield an annual revenue of nearly a, million and a half sterling.
He was parsimonious in his habits, and the contrast between him and his lavish predecessor got him the name of a miser, but the ﬁne works he executed and the steadiness with which he carried out his plan of embellishing the eastern part of the city, as his brother had done the western, prove that he was ready to spend largely Where occasion required. Almost all the principal buildings between the Kaiser Bagh and the Dilkusha were built by him. He was, on the whole, a good and just ruler; had mixed in the society of British Officers and had been well trained to habits of business. No Sovereign of Oudh conducted the Government with so much ability as he did. He never remitted his vigilance over the administration; and, in this way, and by a judicious selection of his ministers, he secured the prosperity of his dominions, which enjoyed almost uninterrupted tranquillity during his reign. He was the ﬁrst to establish a reserve treasury in A. D. 1801, and, on his death, he left 14 crores of rupees (14 millions sterling) in it.
​In the early part of his reign the King used to drink hard and to indulge in pleasures which tended to unfit him for the duties of sovereignty, but, in 1801, he made a solemn vow at the shrine of Huzrat Abbas, at Lucknow, to cease from all such indulgences and to devote his time and attention to his duties. This vow he kept during the remaining years of his life. Sadat Ali Khan died on the night of 11th July, 1814, and was buried in the larger of the two tombs on the north-east side of the Canning College, and his wife, Murshed Zadi, in the smaller.
Monowur-ud-daula was Prime Minister of Sadat Ali Khan.
Note.—The Resident at the Court of Oudh, during the reign of Sadat Ali Khan, was Colonel J. Baillie, whose portrait is in the Provincial Museum, at Lucknow.
7.—GAZI-UD-DIN HAIDAR, 1814-1827.
In 1814 Gazi-ud-din Haidar succeeded his father, Sadat Ali Khan, but, beyond building his own tomb (for the decoration of which he despoiled the Imambara of Asuf-ud-daula of its furniture) and the tombs of his father and mother, he did little towards the embellishment of the city. On 8th October, 1814, Lord Hastings arrived at Cawnpore, where he was interviewed by Gazi-ud-din Haidar, who returned to Lucknow, a few days afterwards, in company with the Governor-General. He received the title of King, in 1819, from the Governor-General, who made him quite independent of the house of Delhi; so that the imperial name of Nawab-Vizier now vanishes from history.
On the day of his coronation, jewels and pearls to the value of Rs. 30,000 were scattered over the heads of the spectators. But the increase of dignity thus conferred upon him was more than counterbalanced by the degradation which he was subjected to at the hands of his chief wife, the Padshah Begum, an imperious and furious character, whose frequent ebullitions often disfigured the King’s robes and vests, and left even the hair of his head and chin unsafe.
In these domestic broils the King’s son, Nasir-ud-din Haidar, always took the part of his adopted mother, the Padshah Begum. His natural mother had died soon after his birth; and people suspected that the Padshah Begum had her put to death in order that she might have no rival in his affections, and she had an entire ascendancy over him by every species of enervating indulgences.
The former Kings of Oudh, fearful of revolutions which ​might exclude their families from the succession, and anxious to make for them a more secure provision than the circumstances of their own kingdom rendered possible, were in the habit of lending large sums to the East India Company, which, in fact, were thus vested in European securities, the interest on these sums being duly remitted to the appointed heirs. Thus, for instance, Gazi-ud-din Haidar lent to the Marquis of Hastings, in October, 1814, for the purposes of the Nepaul war, two millions sterling, and received in return the Terai, or jungle country, between Oudh and Nepaul. All the interest of this money was distributed in the manner described, amongst the members of his family.
The revenue of Oudh was nominally upwards of a million and a half a year, and Gazi-ud-din left his treasury Well filled, but his son emptied it.
No event of any importance took place during the reign of Gazi-ud-din Haidar, who was most polite in his manner. Bishop Heber, who visited Lucknow in the reign of this King, describes his Court as the most polished and splendid of its day in India.
Arts and literature were greatly encouraged during the reign of this monarch, who died a natural death, on 20th October, 1827, and, according to previous instructions, was buried at Lucknow in the Shah Nujuf, on the banks of the Gumti.
8.—NASIR-UD-DIN HAIDAR, 1827—1837.
On the death of Gazi-ud-din Haidar, in 1827, his son, Suliman Jah, under the title of Nasir-ud-din Haidar, succeeded him. He had, for his consort, a daughter of the Emperor of Delhi, a very beautiful young woman of exemplary character; but other wives were soon associated with her, amongst others, Doolaree, a woman of low origin and disreputable antecedents. She was introduced into the palace as wet-nurse to the new-born Prince, Moonna Jan, whose mother's name was Afzal Mahal. The King elevated her (Doolaree) to be his chief consort, under the title of Mulika Zamanee, or queen of the age; and such was her inﬂuence over him, that she persuaded him to declare her son, Kywan Jan, who was three years old when she entered the palace, to be his eldest son and heir apparent to the throne.
When Lord Combermere visited Lucknow, in 1827, he was received in true regal style by Nasir-ud-din Haidar; and some idea may be formed of the splendour of this Monarch's Court from the following sketch by an officer in attendance on the Commander-in-Chief:—
​"On arrival at the palace, we sat down to breakfast with the King and his Courtiers. The King was splendidly attired in a tunic of green velvet, and girded with a costly shawl. He wore a turban enriched with diamonds and his person was profusely ornamented with necklaces, earrings and armlets of diamonds, emeralds and pearls. After breakfast we adjourned to the State-Chamber, an ill-proportioned, indifferent room. The throne is, however, beautifully decorated with embroidery in seed-pearl. Here His Majesty presented the Commander-in-Chief with his portrait set in diamonds, suspended by a string of pearls and emeralds."
A sketch of one of his wives, Taj Mahal, is given below:—
"Her dress was of gold and scarlet brocade, and her hair was literally strewed with pearls, which hung down upon her neck in long single strings, terminating in large pearls, which mixed with and hung as low as her hair, which was curled on each side of her head in long ringlets, like Charles the Second's beauties. On her forehead she wore a small gold circlet, from which depended large pearls interspersed with emeralds. Above this was a paradise plume, from which strings of pearls were carried over the head. She wore enormous gold ear-rings, to which strings of pearls and emeralds were attached, each pearl larger than the one above it. She had a nose-ring also, with large round pearls and emeralds; and her necklaces, &c., were too numerous to be described. She wore long sleeves open at the elbow, and her dress was a full petticoat with a tight body attached, and open only at the throat. She had several persons to bear her train when she walked; and her women stood behind her couch to arrange her headdress, when, in moving, her pearls got entangled in the immense robe of scarlet and gold she had thrown around her."
Nasir-ud-din Haidar ultimately became estranged from the Padshah Begum, his adopted mother, Whom, with her grandson, Moona Jan, he banished from the palace and assigned apartments in the Residency.
As to this King it may be said that while unpopular with the natives he was well disposed towards the Europeans. He lived simply for pleasure, and the description of him in the "Private Life of an Eastern King" cannot be considered at all exaggerated. Vicious, debauched, dissolute, be surrounded himself with friends of the worst description, English, Eurasian and Native, and ignored the terms of the settlement by which he was allowed to govern only as long as he conducted himself and his kingdom in a proper manner. His character was just such as might be ​expected from the education he received from ignorant women and Court eunuchs and it is not surprising that in his time all decency and propriety were banished from the Oudh Court. His conduct at times was so revolting that the British Resident, Colonel, afterwards Sir John, Low, was compelled more than once to decline to see him or to transact business with his minions.
The state of his kingdom had reached so incurable a stage of decline, that nothing but the assumption by the British Government could preserve it from utter ruin.
Of the ten crores left by his father in the reserve treasury, he spent all but 70 lacs, while the nobles, dreading his vindictive spirit, had him poisoned on the night of the 7th July, 1837. His remains were interred in the Karbala to the south-east of the Imambara, or tomb of Mulka Afak; wife of Mahomed Ali Shah, situated north of the Gumti and approached by the road leading over the Iron Bridge.
The reader will be able, from the foregoing, to form an idea of the wealth of Lucknow at this time, and I may also mention that the ex-Minister, Aga Meer, left the capital, in October, 1830, with 800 carts and numerous camels and elephants, conveying property to the value of 25 crores, for Cawnpur, where he settled and died two years afterwards. Aga Meer was succeeded by Hakeem Mehndee Ali Khan, who was recalled from Furrukhabad and appointed premier of the kingdom in 1831.
9.—MAHOMED ALI SHAH, 1837—1842.
As Nasir-ud-din Haidar had no legitimate son, his uncle, Naseeh-ud-daula, son of Sadat Ali Khan, succeeded him after a violent attempt on the part of the Padshah Begum, adopted mother of Nasir-ud-din Haidar, to get the above named illegitimate son, Moonna Jan, put on the throne. On hearing of the demise of the King, the Padshah Begum, a bold imperious woman, who had been living in seclusion at Ilmas Bagh with Moonna Jan, forcibly entered the palace with an armed body of retainers and placed him on the throne: for this act both of them were deported to Chunar; here they remained as State prisoners, in the Fort, on a joint monthly pension of Rs. 2,400, which was continued to them up to the time of ​their death. Naseeh-ud-daula took the title of Mahomed Ali Shah, and reigned only ﬁve years. With his accession commenced a period of something like administrative reform.
Mahomed Ali Shah was evidently so much in earnest in his efforts for the improvement of his kingdom, that the British Government overlooked the glaring mismanagement still existing in parts of Oudh, and did not act on the permission to depose the reigning King, given by the new treaty. The King's intentions were good, and the character of the Court rose very much during his short and comparatively uneventful reign.
He was a sovereign of some ability and experience; and his steady habits and application to business rendered him a favourite with his subjects. He died, on the 16th May, 1842, and was buried in the Husainahad Imambara, which building was erected by him as a burial place for himself.
At his death he left, in the reserve treasury, thirty-ﬁve lacs of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four thousand gold mohurs, besides twenty-four lacs in Government securities—total seventy-eight lacs and eighty-four thousand rupees.
10—AMJUD ALI SHAH, 1842—1847.
Amjud Ali Shah,son of Mahomed Ali Shah, was the next King. His was an unimportant reign of ﬁve years. He constructed the metalled road to Cawnpur and built the Huzrutgunge, which, at the present time, is the principal business street in Lucknow, unequalled by any similar trading centre in the Indian mofussil It is quite possible in this centralized mart to procure every imaginable commodity as satisfactorily as in Calcutta. Conspicuous amongst other commercial houses, are the premises of the long established firm of Messrs. Murray and Company. In the reign of this monarch, likewise, was founded the Aminabad Bazaar, so called after his Minister, Amin-ud-daula. It is, at the present time, one of the largest markets of the city. On the accession of Amjud Ali Shah, the British Government took opportunity of pressing the reforms requisite to place the kingdom in a state of tranquillity. A limited period was assigned for effecting the requisite changes, and, in default of performance, it was intimated that the territory of Oudh would be placed under British management. The threat proved futile, for it was hopeless to expect reforms from one whose time was passed within the walls of his palace, caring for nothing beyond the gratiﬁcation of his individual passions.
​He was succeeded by his second son, the ex-King Wajid Ali, as Moostapha Ali Khan, the eldest son of the late King, was physically unﬁt to reign (see para 80), and his claim to the throne was, therefore, passed over in favour of Wajid Ali, who surpassed his father in proﬂigacy and accordingly effected the downfall of his house. Amjud Ali Shah died on the 13th February, 1847, and was buried in the Mukbarah (Mausoleum) in Huzrutgunge, opposite the Delhi and London Bank. It was originally furnished with costly ﬁttings, all of which were plundered by the Mutineers. Two of the principal chandeliers cost 5,000 dollars each. After the Mutiny and until the completion. in 1860, of Christ Church, the services of the Church of England were held in this building.
Amjud Ali left, in the reserve treasury, ninety-two lacs of rupees, one hundred and twenty-four thousand gold mohurs, and twenty-four lacs in Government paper—total one crore and thirty-six lacs. The ex-King, when in possession of royalty, was accustomed to spend, out of the reserve treasury, large sums over and above the Whole revenue of the country.
II.—WAJID ALI SHAH, 1847—1856.
Wajid Ali, the last of the line of the Kings of Oudh, succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, Amjud Ali Shah. His chief architectural work was the Kaiser Bagh, and, having completed it, he gave himself up to voluptuousness and neglected all State matters. Every thing that ministered to the craze for adornment, appetite, and luxuriousness was supplied and indulged to the highest degree possible. The palace halls were nothing less than harems of polygamy. Few sovereigns have ever been so utterly forgetful of the duties of a governor of men, or more thoroughly steeped in selfishness and pleasure, than was Wajid Ali Shah. His territories at length, from his misrule and neglect, became an unequalled scene of outrage and bloodshed, and a refuge for the dacoits (robbers) of Northern India, who would cross the Ganges at night and plunder in the British Territories all around, making good their retreat into Oudh before daylight. He acquiesced in the suggestion of his Ministers that he should relinquish to them the management of the affairs of the State and the perusal of all business documents,
Wajid Ali Shah.
واجد علیشاہ
of Oudh by the British, particulars of which are given in Chapter I. of this book. He died, at Calcutta, on the 21st September, 1887, in his 68th year.
It was during Wajid Ali’s reign that the fracas, at Hanuman Gurhi, in Ajodhya, took place. It originated with the Muhammadans, who, under the leadership of a fanatical Maulvi, Ameer Ali by name, attacked the local Hindus for the possession of a sacred piece of ground, but they were repulsed with great loss by the tact of Raja Maun Singh. The King’s troops, sent to quell the disturbance, were also routed by him, which serves to show the condition the Native Government was reduced to.
* ↑ Tarai is the malarious belt of thick jungle .lying between the lower slopes of the Himalayas and the plains of the North-West Provinces and Bengal.
* ↑ Gumti means winding or meandering. This river takes its rise in the Pilibhit District of the N.-W. Provinces, in an alluvial tract between the Gurrah and the Ghagra rivers. Its source is in a small lake or morass called the Phaljar Ta1, 19 miles east of Pilibhit town, and about 605 feet above sea level. From thence the river ﬂows in a southeastern direction for 42 miles, when it enters Oudh, in the Kheri District, in latitude 28°11'N., longitude 80°20'E. Continuing in a south-easterly course for 94 miles further, it receives the Kathna as a tributary, on its left bank, and then the Sarayan. After thus meandering for 174 miles from its source it reaches Lucknow. At about 52 miles south-east of Sultanpur, the river re-enters the N.-W. Provinces, in the Jaunpur District, where it is spanned by a bridge of 16 arches. It receives the Sai river, on its left bank, 18 miles below Jaunpur, and the Nund river, also on the left bank, 33 miles lower down, in the Benares District. It empties itself into the Ganges, 5 miles below this point, in latitude 25°31'N., longitude 83°31'E., after a total course of about 500 miles. The Gumti is navigable by boats of 500 maunds or about 18 tons burthen, throughout the year, as far as Dilawarpur Ghat, near Muhumdi, in the Kheri District.
* ↑ The Census of 1891 returned the total population of Lucknow city as 2,44,393 and Cantonments as 23,517. The European element is unusually large. The Hindus number three-ﬁfths of the population. Many pensioners of the British Government and of the King of Oudh reside in the city. The Lucknow Mussalmans are chieﬂy Shias, that being the recognised orthodox sect under the Nawabs. The distinctive characteristics of Muhammadans and Hindus are religiously kept up. One of them is in the fastening of the outer garment. On meeting either party, though the dress is much the same, you at once distinguish the Muhammadan from the Hindu by the universal fact that the latter has his tunic (mirzie or chapkan) made to button on the right side while the Muhammadan hooks his on the left.
* ↑ The Dilkusha Cantonments was built, after the re-occupation of the Province by the British, in 1859.
* ↑ Ayodhya means "the unconquerable” city; and is the name from which the modern province of Oudh, or Avadh, has been called. It was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kosal or Kosala, situated on the banks of the Sarju, or Ghagra. It stands first among the sacred cities of India, because it was here that Ram, the greatest of the incarnations of Vishnu, was born, and from a spot on the Sarju, near Ayodhya, he is said to have ascended to heaven in the sight of his admiring and longing companions.
* ↑ When Asuf-ud-daula, became Viceroy of Oudh, Lucknow was but a village of little importance. The Shekhs, who had risen in rebellion against his rule, built there a castle, the Machhi Bawan, from whence they raided the surrounding country. The Viceroy in person expelled them from their stronghold, and, being pleased with the locality, selected it as the site of his future capital, removing thither, from Fyzabad, in 1775.
* ↑ Burban-ul-Mulk means Governor of the country.
* ↑ Some authorities say he was an adventurer, not a merchant. Very probably he was both.
* ↑ Fyzabad is on the river Ghaghra, navigable thence to Bhalia where it joins the Ganges.
* ↑ This subsidy was subsequently committed for a territorial grant; and the Southern Doab, together with the Districts of Allahabad, Azimgarh, Western Gorakhpur, &c., were ceded to the Hon’ble East India Company, by Sadat Ali, in 1801.
* ↑ Mussulman sovereigns take the title of Padshah (protector—ruler). The ﬁrst wife, the Queen, is therefore the Padshah Begum.
* ↑ Two females, sisters of the King’s prime favourite, Duljeet, from whose hands alone the King would receive any drink, are generally supposed to have poisoned him, at the instigation of the Minister, Nasir having called for some sherbet a short time before his death, which was given to him by the elder, Dhania Mehri.
* ↑ Karbala is the name of the city where Husain is buried, but it generally means the burial place of Tazias, which is a representation of the tomb of Husain.