Awadh: The Nawabs of Lucknow and the Road to Annexation

Who started the Nawabi of Awadh?

The Nawabi dynasty of Awadh began in 1722. Its first ruler was Saadat Khan. He was a Mughal governor of the province.

The Mughal empire was weakening at that time. Governors like him slowly became rulers in their own right. They still praised the emperor in name, but they kept the revenue and the army.

Awadh sat in the rich Ganga plain. That made it one of the wealthiest of the new regional states. For the wider story, read Mughal decline after Aurangzeb.

Sources (card 0): Lucknow district: History.

Why was the Battle of Buxar a turning point?

In 1764 the East India Company fought the Battle of Buxar. It faced the Nawab of Bengal, Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh, and the Mughal emperor together. The Company won.

Buxar was fought on the Awadh–Bihar border region, so it hit Awadh hard. After it, the Nawab could not act freely against the Company. Awadh slid from an equal to a dependent ally.

A year later, in 1765, the Company received the diwani of Bengal. Its power in the east was now real. Awadh stood next in line.

Sources (card 1): NCERT Class 8, From Trade to Territory.

When did the capital move to Lucknow?

Faizabad was the early capital. In 1775, Asaf-ud-Daula moved the capital from Faizabad to Lucknow.

Lucknow grew fast after that. Nobles, poets, singers and craftsmen came to the new court. The city became the cultural centre of north India.

Sources (card 2): Lucknow district: History.

What did the Nawabs build in Lucknow?

Asaf-ud-Daula built the Bara Imambara between 1785 and 1791. It is a huge hall built for Muslim religious gatherings, and it is one of the best-known buildings of the city.

The Rumi Darwaza is a grand gateway nearby. It is often used as a symbol of Lucknow itself.

These buildings show the Awadh style. It mixed Mughal forms with local taste, and it used rich decoration even in brick and lime plaster.

Sources (card 3): Lucknow district: History; UP Tourism: Lucknow.

What was the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb?

Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb means the shared culture of Hindus and Muslims. The Ganga and the Yamuna meet and flow as one, and the phrase uses that picture.

In Lucknow this showed in language, manners, food and festivals. People of both faiths joined in each other’s celebrations. Courtesy and fine speech were part of daily life.

Music and dance flourished too. Kathak and thumri grew strongly in the Lucknow court, and the last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, was a great patron. See Gharanas for how these lineages work.

Fine cloth was a craft of the city as well. Chikankari embroidery is still famous.

Sources (card 4): UP Tourism: Lucknow.

What was the Subsidiary Alliance?

Lord Wellesley devised the Subsidiary Alliance in 1798. It was a treaty that tied an Indian ruler to the Company.

The ruler had to disband his own army. He had to keep Company troops and pay for them. He had to take the advice of a British Resident at his court.

In return the Company promised protection. In practice the ruler lost his power. Read more in Lord Wellesley and the Subsidiary Alliance.

Sources (card 5): NCERT Class 12, Rebels and the Raj; NCERT Class 8, When People Revolt.

What did Awadh lose in 1801?

A subsidiary alliance was imposed on Awadh in 1801. The Nawab at that time was Saadat Ali Khan, who ruled from 1798 to 1814.

The Nawab handed over large territory to pay for the Company’s troops. Gorakhpur is one district that was ceded to the Company in that year.

Awadh kept its throne, but it now sat inside a British ring. The Nawab was a ruler in name only.

Sources (card 6): NCERT Class 8, When People Revolt; Gorakhpur district: History; Lucknow district: History.

What did Dalhousie say about Awadh?

Lord Dalhousie was Governor-General from 1848 to 1856. He was keen to bring more states under the Company.

In 1851 he called Awadh “a cherry that will drop into our mouth one day”. The words show how the British saw the kingdom. They wanted it, and they were waiting.

His Doctrine of Lapse took Satara (1848), Sambalpur (1850), Udaipur (1852), Nagpur (1853) and Jhansi (1854). Awadh was handled differently. The Company said the Nawab ruled badly.

Sources (card 7): NCERT Class 12, Rebels and the Raj; NCERT Class 8, From Trade to Territory.

Why did the British call the Nawab a bad ruler?

The Company said Awadh was badly governed. It used this charge to justify the takeover.

But the Company had itself weakened the state. Since 1801 the Nawab had no army of his own. He relied on Company troops and a Resident who gave “advice”. Blaming him for weak rule was convenient.

Remember this point. It explains why many Indians saw the annexation as unfair, not as a rescue.

Sources (card 8): NCERT Class 12, Rebels and the Raj; NCERT Class 8, When People Revolt.

In February 1856 the British annexed Awadh. The last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, was sent into exile in Calcutta. The takeover cost the taluqdars much of their land and angered the sepoys, who came largely from Awadh.

That anger helped make Awadh a strong centre of the revolt of 1857, when Lucknow rose on 30 May.

The full story is in Awadh After Annexation: Taluqdars and the Summary Settlement, 1856. Read about the Nawab in Wajid Ali Shah.

Sources (card 8): NCERT Class 12, Rebels and the Raj; Lucknow district: History.