page_title: Wajid Ali Shah
section_title: Contributions to literature
hierarchical_section_title: Wajid Ali Shah / Patron of the arts / Contributions to literature
caption_attribution_description: English: African eunuch (3rd from left) and African queen Yasmin (2nd from right) at the court of Wajid Ali Shah. Royal Collection Trust / © Queen Elizabeth II 2013
context_page_description: Wajid Ali Shah was the eleventh and last King of Awadh, holding the position for 9 years, from 13 February 1847 to 11 February 1856.
  Wajid Ali Shah's first wife was Alam Ara who was better known as Khas Mahal because of her exquisite beauty. She was one of two Nikahi wives.
  His kingdom, long protected by the British under treaty, was eventually "annexed bloodlessly" on 11 February 1856, two days before the ninth anniversary of his coronation. The Nawab was exiled to Garden Reach in Metiabruz, then a suburb of Kolkata, where he lived out the rest of his life on a generous pension. He was a poet, playwright, dancer and great patron of the arts. He is widely credited with the revival of Kathak as a major form of classical Indian dance. He is survived by many descendants.
context_section_description: Like the Performing Arts Wajid Ali Shah also patronised literature and several poets and writers in his court. Notable among them were ‘Barq’, ‘Ahmad Mirza Sabir’, ‘Mufti Munshi’, and ‘Aamir Ahmad Amir’, who wrote books at the orders of Wajid Ali Shah, Irshad-us-Sultan and Hidayat-us-Sultan, Amanat the famous author of Indra Sabha and Bekhud wrote Jalwa-Akhatar, Hajjo Sharaf and Afsana-i-Lucknow have presented a picture of the times and life of Wajid Ali Shah. The famous poet Mirza Ghalib also received the gracious patronage of Wajid Ali Shah, who granted him a pension of Rupees five hundred per year in 1854. Wajid Ali Shah used to write himself and was a poet of a considerable merit. He used to write under the nom-de-plume of ‘Akhtar’. He had equal command over Persian and Urdu and wrote several books in both languages. According to his court chronicler Masih-ud-Din he received a liberal western education and was well versed in ancient and modern history and literature. Garcin de Tassy, while travelling in the sub-continent during the mid-nineteenth century wrote in his journal about Wajid Ali Shah and noted, "I do not have to appreciate here this very political resolution, neither do I have to appreciate the qualities or defects of Wajid Ali Shah, as a sovereign, but I am interested in him as a distinguished scholar and as eminent poet in Hindustani".
  Wajid Ali Shah wrote extensively and adopted a simple language that easily conveyed meaning to all. It showed sprinkling of Awadhi, the local dialect. He was a prolific writer. His work Sawat-ul-Qalub runs into 1061 pages and comprises a collection of 44,562 couplets, and was completed in a short span of three years.
caption: African eunuch (3rd from left) and African queen Yasmin (2nd from right) at the court of Wajid Ali Shah
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