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Wajid Ali Shah
Mirza Wajid Ali Shah (Urdu: واجد علی شاه; 30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) 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 (transl. special wife) because of her exquisite beauty. She was one of two Nikahi[clarification needed] wives. His second wife, Muhammadi Khanum, better known as the Begum Hazrat Mahal, rose against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as the regent of Awadh.
His kingdom, long protected by the East India Company (EIC) under a treaty, was annexed by the EIC 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 introduced Kathak, a major form of classical Indian dance as a court dance after the decline of Mughals for recreation activity.
Husainiya Mir Mukhlis Hussain is noted an advisor to Wajid Ali Shah.
Wajid Ali Shah succeeded the throne of Awadh when the kingdom was in decline. The British East India Company (EIC) had annexed much of the kingdom under its rule in a treaty signed with the Nawabs in 1801 and stymied the Awadh economy by imposing the costs of maintaining the Bengal Army on the kingdom's coffer, in addition to repeatedly demanding loans. However, the EIC refrained from annexing the remainder of the kingdom because they needed a buffer state between their territories to the east and south, and the Mughal Empire to the north.
Wajid Ali Shah ascended the throne of Oudh at a time when the East India Company was determined to annex the throne of the prosperous Awadh, which was "the garden, granary, and queen-province of India"- the royal predecessors and successors of Awadh were one of the major threats to the dominance of the Mughal Empire before the arrival of the East India Company to the Indian subcontinent.
When he became king he took keen interest in the administration of justice, introduced reforms, and reorganised the military. Wajid Ali Shah was widely regarded as a debauched and detached ruler. Some of his notoriety seems to have been misplaced. The British Resident of Lucknow, General William Sleeman, submitted a report highlighting "maladministration" and "lawlessness" he described as prevailing there. Sleeman himself was strictly opposed to outright annexation for a variety of reasons, including political, financial and ethical ones.
This provided the British with the official basis for their annexation. Later studies have suggested that Oudh was neither as bankrupt nor as lawless as the British had said, and that Oudh was for all practical purposes under British rule well before the annexation, with the Nawab playing little more than a titular role. The Bengal presidency army was recruited largely from Oudh; while, under direction by the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1855, any tax revenue from Oudh not required for state government costs was appropriated by the East India Company.
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Wajid Ali Shah
Mirza Wajid Ali Shah (Urdu: واجد علی شاه; 30 July 1822 – 1 September 1887) 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 (transl. special wife) because of her exquisite beauty. She was one of two Nikahi[clarification needed] wives. His second wife, Muhammadi Khanum, better known as the Begum Hazrat Mahal, rose against the British East India Company during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 as the regent of Awadh.
His kingdom, long protected by the East India Company (EIC) under a treaty, was annexed by the EIC 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 introduced Kathak, a major form of classical Indian dance as a court dance after the decline of Mughals for recreation activity.
Husainiya Mir Mukhlis Hussain is noted an advisor to Wajid Ali Shah.
Wajid Ali Shah succeeded the throne of Awadh when the kingdom was in decline. The British East India Company (EIC) had annexed much of the kingdom under its rule in a treaty signed with the Nawabs in 1801 and stymied the Awadh economy by imposing the costs of maintaining the Bengal Army on the kingdom's coffer, in addition to repeatedly demanding loans. However, the EIC refrained from annexing the remainder of the kingdom because they needed a buffer state between their territories to the east and south, and the Mughal Empire to the north.
Wajid Ali Shah ascended the throne of Oudh at a time when the East India Company was determined to annex the throne of the prosperous Awadh, which was "the garden, granary, and queen-province of India"- the royal predecessors and successors of Awadh were one of the major threats to the dominance of the Mughal Empire before the arrival of the East India Company to the Indian subcontinent.
When he became king he took keen interest in the administration of justice, introduced reforms, and reorganised the military. Wajid Ali Shah was widely regarded as a debauched and detached ruler. Some of his notoriety seems to have been misplaced. The British Resident of Lucknow, General William Sleeman, submitted a report highlighting "maladministration" and "lawlessness" he described as prevailing there. Sleeman himself was strictly opposed to outright annexation for a variety of reasons, including political, financial and ethical ones.
This provided the British with the official basis for their annexation. Later studies have suggested that Oudh was neither as bankrupt nor as lawless as the British had said, and that Oudh was for all practical purposes under British rule well before the annexation, with the Nawab playing little more than a titular role. The Bengal presidency army was recruited largely from Oudh; while, under direction by the Governor-General Lord Dalhousie in 1855, any tax revenue from Oudh not required for state government costs was appropriated by the East India Company.
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