He would never return.īichali Ghat during Mahalaya Wikimedia CommonsĪt that time, this quiet part of Kolkata called Garden Reach, about 4 miles south of the main city, had a sprinkling of fine houses built by rich Englishmen, with spacious lawns sloping down to the river bank. After a two-month boat journey down the Ganges, he landed at Bichali Ghat in Kolkata on May 13, 1856. If he could not get agreement to having the annexation reversed, he planned to go to London and meet with Queen Victoria.
Wajid Ali Shah was left with no choice but to travel to Kolkata to petition the Governor General. Garden Reach, Metiabruz and the legacy of Wajid Ali Shah But Outram gave him three days to change his mind, and when no word came from the palace, he formally deposed the Nawab and annexed the Awadh province at noon on February 7, 1856. On February 4, 1856, Outram presented Wajid Ali Shah two documents - a letter from Governor General Dalhousie saying that the British Government could no longer support the Awadh regime, and a draft treaty in which the Nawab would sign away his rights to the revenue of the kingdom and agree to Awadh being “vested forever in the Honorable East India Company”*Ī shocked Wajid Ali Shah refused to sign, dramatically taking off his turban and placing it in Outram’s hands in frustration. It was decided to annex Awadh and Governor General Lord Dalhousie, along with Colonel James Outram, the British Resident at Lucknow, were the key executors. Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Awadh Wikimedia Commonsīy the 1850s, the prize was ripe for plucking.
So, what Wajid Ali Shah inherited was a meaningless kingdom with the Nawabs “…like plaster statues on their own palaces, presenting a gorgeously rich exterior, but almost hollow within”* Starting with British victory at the Battle of Buxar in 1764, when the Company annexed parts of Awadh territory, to the establishment of Company troops in Awadh (ostensibly to defend the Nawab…), to placing of a British Resident at the Nawab’s court they gradually dictated all political and military decisions, even taking loans worth nearly £5million pounds* from the Nawabs to finance British interests. Over the years, the English methodically took control of Awadh’s autonomy. It was this wealth that the East India Company desired. Shifting their capital from Faizabad to Lucknow, the Nawabs studded the city with string of glorious monuments showcasing their wealth and grandeur. Founded by the able Saadat Ali Khan, who was appointed the Governor of Awadh by the Mughals, they gained prominence over the next century as the Mughal Empire dissolved. The Nawabs of Awadh had ruled their domain since 1722. When Wajid Ali Shah ascended the musnud (throne) of Awadh in 1847, the heyday of his kingdom was firmly in the past.
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