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[[Category:India |L]]
[[Category:History |L]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
[[Category:Name|Alphabet]]
 
This article was written in 1939 and has been extracted from
 
'''HISTORIC LUCKNOW '''
 
By SIDNEY HAY
 
ILLUSTRATED BY
 
ENVER AHMED
 
With an Introduction by
 
THE RIGHT HON. LORD HAILEY,
 
G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.
 
Sometime Governor of the United Provinces
 
Asian Educational Services, 1939.

=The Kaiser Bagh Palaces=

Wajid Ali Shah,
the last King of Oudh, who came to the throne in 1847, started to build the Kaiser Bagh
Palaces the year after his accession, intending to make them the eighth wonder of the world.
The buildings were completed in 1850. Rumour had it that their cost exceeded eighty lakhs
and that the area they covered was greater than that of the Tuileries and the Louvre put
together. So eager was the King for quantity that, as with most of his inspirations, quality was
forgotten. All that now remains of his enormous conception are buildings on three sides of a
quadrangle.

Somewhere near the tennis courts of the Oudh Gymkhana Club stood the Jilankhana, a
triumphal gateway whence royal processions wound their way through dense crowds of
applauding citizens. Another gateway led to the Chini Bagh ornamented with Chinese vases
and decorations, the Lakhi Gate which as its name implies cost a lakh of rupees, the Kilo
Khana, the Hazrat Bagh, the Chandiwala Baradari with its floor of polished silver, and many
others now only names instead of grandiose buildings.

Wajid Ali Shah was fond of singing and dancing. He even dressed in female garments
himself and danced before the ladies of the harem. Every year he acted in a play—always the
same one.
[[File: keshr.png||frame|500px]] 
One of his wives was chosen to represent Ghyzalah, and as she was beautiful, the honour
of representing her was eagerly sought in the harem ; others were dressed as peris with silver
wings. Another represented Rajah Indra, the king of fairies of Hindu mythology Others were
dressed up as evil genii and their attendants with black ornaments, black wings and black
faces. None wished to act these last parts, but at the expression of the King’s wishes none
could refuse. 

The play was enacted in the silver baradari of the Kaiser Bagh palace in
Lucknow, which was divided for the purpose into three compartments. One of these was fitted
up as Rajah Indra’s court, the pillars covered with silver and rich ornaments attached to the
ceiling and walls. At night it was a blaze of light with chandeliers and mirrors. In the centre
stood Indra’s throne, and there the lady representing him sat in state clothes in rich apparel
and attended by crowds of peris.

Without, fountains of scented water played. The seats of the garden were gilded or silvered
over to shine amid the flowers and fountains lit up during the day by the sun’s rays and at
night by a myriad lamps. For ten days and nights this pageant continued. Another room was
fitted up as a royal bedroom. A golden bedstead, a rich counterpane, a magnificent carpet, and
golden furniture framed the beautiful Ghyzalah, her delicate limbs in gauze or muslin edged
with golden tissue, her black hair shining with gems. On the tenth day, the King danced for
the entertainment of the multitude and insisted upon the queen and Khas Mehal and other
leading ladies of the court giving him presents of money.

The yellow buildings round the quadrangle are now the property of the Taluqdars of Oudh
as town houses. Gateways on either side, bearing a resemblance to the crown surmounting La
Martinière College, are ornamented with the royal fish badge. Massive doors studded with
curious iron plaques swing on rusted hinges.

It is possible to walk for some distance along the flat roofs. The rooms within are long and
not very lofty, with deep verandahs giving on to the central court.
Many of the King’s most precious treasures (not to mention his harem numbering nearly
four hundred, each of whom occupied a suite of rooms and had her own attendants) were
housed in the Kaiser Bagh, and the mutineers made it one of their most formidable
strongholds in 1857.
[[File: keshr1.png||frame|500px]] 
In the fighting at the Moti Mahal during the first relief the British troops were much
harassed by fire from the Kaiser Bagh. The 78th Highlanders fought their way along the
Hazratganj and suddenly found themselves on the flank of the enemy battery which was
causing most of the trouble. The Highlanders made a rush to spike the guns before pressing
on and joining the main column.

During the second relief musketry fire from the Kaiser Bagh again swept the ranks of the
relieving troops. From November 20 to 22 the full force of British guns was turned on it. This
was after the Residency had been evacuated by the women and children. By the 22nd three
wide breaches had been made in the walls and the entire enemy resources were mustered at
these points, for an assault was expected. Attention thus diverted from the Residency, shortly
before mid-night the gallant little personnel of the Residency collected at the Bailey Guard
gateway and silently filed out.

Early in March 1858 the enemy again fortified the Kaiser Bagh with three lines of
entrenchments including the canal. On March 13, the Sikhs attached to the British force
penetrated into an outlying court of the Kaiser Bagh. From the roofs of the houses they fired
upon the men below, to drive them from the guns. 

This so weakened the defences that Napier
and Franks held a rapid consultation and decided to concentrate their entire strength upon the
Kaiser Bagh. During this attack Captain L. S. Da Costa, 56th Native Infantry, was killed. He
lies buried near Major Hodson in La Martinière Park. Franks’ column attacked from the
enclosure of Sa’adat Ali Khan’s tomb and joined the main body of soldiers, sailors, Gurkhas
and Sikhs in the courts of the palace. The bulk of the attack was broken but armed men found
refuge in the buildings, and every palace became a fortress. From the green Venetian blinds
closing the apertures which pierce the walls in double rows, a stream of bullets poured into
the square, so that the marble pavement was stained with the blood of Sikh and Briton.

“Building after building was taken and bloodthirst revenge and greed for gold glutted the
avarice of the Sikh and the British soldier. Rough hands tore away the silks, velvets, brocades,
laces and gems accumulated by the lights of the Harem ; wrought silver plates were torn from
the throne of some favourite mistress or queen ; the monuments of western and eastern art
were broken to pieces, and fragments of rare China and of crystal vessels strewed the floors.
When night put an end to the pillage, the palace of the Kaiser had become a ruined charnelhouse

=The Khurshaed Munzil=

Khurshaed Munzil
means “House of the Sun.’ It was named by Nawab Sa’adat Ali Khan after one of his
favourite wives, Khurshaed Zadi, for whom he designed it. It was built between 1800 and
1810, and is a two-storeyed building having six towers at irregular intervals round it and four
entrances which were originally drawbridges over the deep revetted moat. This is now empty
of water but is believed to be in some way connected to the Gumti.

Some say that Sa’adat Ali Khan’s son, Ghazi-ud-Din, completed the house on his
accession to the throne and that he added the moat and drawbridges. Ornamenting the outside
of the house is a frieze of suns carved in stone. An unusual feature is an inside stair case, built
thus instead of outside as usual, because the house was expressly designed for women in
purdah.

When Oudh ceased to be an independent kingdom in 1856, the Khurshaed Munzil was
occupied by the officers of the regiment quartered in Lawrence Terrace, and became known
to fame as the 32nd Mess House. In 1857 it was taken possession of by the insurgents and
was the scene of sharp fighting.

On July 7, Havelock started from Allahabad on the first relief expedition, and by
September 25 his force was within a few hundred yards of the Residency. Musketry fire
assailed them from the Khurshaed Munzil as their enemies contested every foot of the way.
At that time there was a more or less open field of fire between the Kaiser Bagh and the rising
ground upon which stands the Khurshaed Munzil except for the maze of lanes and low-walled
courtyards covering the gardens where the statue of Queen Victoria now stands.

From 9 a.m. on November 17, Peel’s guns concentrated on Khurshaed Munzil and at about
three in the afternoon, when the musketry fire from its defenders had diminished, Captain
(afterwards Field-Marshal Viscount) Wolseley of the 90th Foot was ordered to lead an assault
against it, his force consisting of a company of the 90th and detachments of the 53rd Foot and
the 2nd Punjab Infantry. 

The enemy failed to stand up against their concerted rush. Lieutenant
(afterwards Field-Marshal Lord) Roberts closely supported by Sir David Baird and Captain
Hopkins of the 53rd Foot made a dash for the narrow staircase of the turret nearest to the
Kaiser Bagh, and planted there the standard of the 2nd Punjab Infantry. Twice was it shot
down but the third time it resisted every effort to dislodge it and proclaimed to all and sundry
the capture of the house.

By this time only four hundred yards separated the relieving force from the garrison.
Outram and Have lock were determined to press on. Sir Colin Campbell was awaiting them
on the sloping lawns of the Khurshaed Munzil. Hope Grant, an eye-witness of the incident,
records “a cordial shaking of hands.” Just inside the main entrance to the Khurshaed Munzil
stands a small pillar which bears the inscription: “It was here that Havelock, Outram and Sir
Colin Campbell met on the 17th November, 1857.” J. Jones Barker painted a well known
picture entitled “The Meeting of the Generals at the Relief of Lucknow.” 
[[File: mannnn1.png||frame|500px]] 
The original belongs
to the Glasgow Municipality and a copy hangs in the museum at the Residency. Another
writer describes the scene thus: “What a meeting was that ! The Iron Chief, Sir Colin, with the
dust of battle still upon him, the good Sir James, and the dying Havelock. Meeting, too, while
the walls of the palace where they stood were still reverberating with the din of battle—fit
atmosphere for that reunion. 

True knights, these three brave hearts! Each had imperilled his
life to rescue the helpless, and one was soon to lay his down, worn out in their defence.”
The possession of the Khurshaed Munzil was the keystone to the whole position, and when
it was once in the hands of the relieving force the relief of the Residency was assured.
Early the next year, when the British had withdrawn from their hard-won posts in
Lucknow, the opposing force reoccupied them and their second line circled round the
Khurshaed Munzil and the Moti Mahal.

On March 11, 1858, a British battery situated where the Colvin Institute now stands began
to bombard the Khurshaed Munzil. Two days later it was recaptured for the last time.
In 1876 the Lucknow Girls’ School, founded by Mrs. Abbott, moved from the Moti Mahal
to the Khurshaed Munzil, and Government made over the building free of rent to the School
authorities on condition that it should be returned if at any time the school were abolished.
[[File: mannnn.png||frame|500px]] 
The name of the school was changed to La Martinière Girls’ School because it was to enjoy
some of the funds of General Martin’s trust. Spacious halls form class rooms and the drawing
room on the ground floor. Above are dormitories, for some sixty pupils. Wide verandahs skirt
the lofty-rooms. From each of the six turrets one has a fine view of the surrounding country.
On one of them still proudly stands a battered flagstaff.

=The Lal Baradari=

The Lal Or Red Baradari
is so called because of the colour with which its exterior is still ornamented. It stands on the
opposite side of the road to the Great Chutter Munzil and was built by Sa’adat Ali Khan
between 1789 and 1814. It is sometimes known as the Qasr-us-Sultan and was built as a
throne room or a coronation hall for royal durbars.

Baradari literally means a building with twelve doors, and William Knighton describes this
one as it was in the reign of Nasir-ud-Din Haider who ruled fourteen years after the death of
Sa’adat Ali Khan. Like every room in the palace it had suffered alterations induced by Nasirud-
Din’s obsession with the west. Rich scarlet and gold tapestry hung on the walls. A dim
light filtered through the windows, enhancing the solemnity of royal receptions. A few full
length portraits of the royal family hung upon the walls while the throne occupied the upper
end of the hall. 

It was of great value and consisted of a platform approached by six steps.
Three sides were protected by a golden railing. The sides were of solid silver richly
ornamented with jewels. Former kings had been content to sit in oriental fashion upon a
velvet cushion placed on this platform ; but Nasir-ud-Din was too westernised and insisted
upon having a gold and ivory chair.

A square canopy supported by wooden poles covered with beaten gold hung above a
throne ornamented with precious stones. A magnificent emerald, said to be the largest in the
world, hung at the front of the canopy which was of crimson velvet with rich golden
embroidery and a fringe of pearls matching the window curtains. A gilt chair stood upon the
right of the throne for the Resident.

At public durbars and state councils the nobility of Oudh and English officers were
presented to the King. They advanced with a present which the King touched if disposed to be
very gracious, or bowed distantly to signify resentment. The prime minister took the present
and laid it on one side of the throne, and the presenter retired backwards to the right or left—
usually to the right if a European, to the left if an Indian. 
[[File: lal.png||frame|500px]] 
Then the King placed a necklace of
honour around the neck of the Resident who returned the compliment. Then they advanced
into the centre of the hall where necklaces were bestowed upon them. These necklaces were
usually made of silver ribands and were worth from five to twenty-five rupees.
At the conclusion of these cremonious levees the King conducted the Resident to the door
of the apartment, poured attar of roses on his hands, and exclaimed, “God be with you!”
before making his way to his private apartment.
[[File: lal1.png||frame|500px]] 
It was in the Lal Baradari that the Queen Begum tried to install on the throne her adopted
grandson, Moona Jan, when Nasir-ud-Din Haider died of poison in the Farhat Baksh, a
stone’s throw away.

The building is now used as a museum and contains many things of interest including
delicately executed portraits of men who in years gone by played a big part in the
administration of the rich little kingdom of Oudh.

=La Martiniere=

“Here Lies Claude Mautin, Born
at Lyons, the 5th day of January, 1735. Arrived in India as a common soldier and died at
Lucknow, the 13th September, 1800, a Major-General, Pray for his soul.”
General Martin directed in his long and interesting will that these words should be
inscribed on the tombstone which covers his remains in La Martinière College, Lucknow.
They were inspired not so much by a desire for self-advertisement but as an example to future
generations of schoolboys of what determination and enterprise could do.

Claude Martin was the son of a French silk manufacturer of Lyons and first came to India
in 1758 in the bodyguard of the Governor of Pondicherry. A year or two later he deserted,
taking with him many of his countrymen whom he formed, with the consent of the English,
into a band of French chasseurs with himself at their head. This continued until 1764 when in
spite of his utmost efforts his men mutinied. A few years later found him making survey maps
of Oudh. He was of an inventive turn of mind and attracted the notice of the reigning Nawab,
Shuja-ud-Doulah, who obtained Martin’s discharge in order to entrust him with his own
artillery park and arsenal.
[[File: la.png||frame|500px]] 
La Martinière was originally called “Constantia” from General Martin’s motto, labore et
constantia. The ceilings are domed and in the whole building there is not a single wooden
beam. The original palace consisted only of the central portion and is of curious design., many
of the rooms being linked half way up the walls by a circular purdah gallery so that in very
truth the walls might have ears. The curved wings were built about 1840, in accordance with
the General’s will which was written with scrupulous care in triplicate in both English and
Urdu. The pillar standing in the lake was also built under the terms of his will as memorial.
The lake originally covered a much smaller area and was enlarged in 1880 as a famine relief
measure.

The artist Zoffany was an Oudh contemporary of Martin’s. In the very room through
which she must so often have passed, hangs a picture by Zoffany of one of General Martin’s
wives. She was of a princely family from which she ran way, to be discovered, by a French
officer in the chikan work bazar in Lucknow. He bought her and sold her again to General
Martin at the age of about eight. He educated her and finally married her. In this painting she
is portrayed with one of Martin’s adopted sons.

The ceilings of all the rooms in La Martinière are in the bas-relief Italian style of raised
plaster work in green, blue and pink. At intervals real wedgewood plaques are pegged into the
walls, some only an inch or two in diameter and others about two feet by three, numbering
some hundreds in each room.
[[File: la1.png||frame|500px]] 
Below the ground level in the tykhana General Martin lies buried. This is according to his
directions, in order to prevent the building from being appropriated by Mussalmans. In pre-
Mutiny days figures of French grenadiers, their arms reversed, guarded the tomb. The rebels
broke these and even scattered General Martin’s bones to the four winds. When peace was
restored they were collected and reinstated, but the statues were lost for all time. General
Martin designed a most ingenious air cooling system. Great pillars run at intervals from top to
bottom of the building. Down the centre of each is driven an air shaft with holes
communicating with the various rooms through which it passes, thus enabling the hot air to
rise and the cool air to take its place.

The school boasts a fine library which adjoins the chapel. Both must originally have been
reception rooms. In the latter are some good stained glass windows and memorial slabs. One
of these is to Captain Spence who for 64 years was connected with La Martinère. He came as a
foundationer and ultimately became the estate superintendent. The estate covers an area of roughly
two square miles. He left a substantial sum of money to the College when he died, which
contributed largely to the Spence Hall.

An old-fashioned cannon named “The Lord Cornwallis” stands on the terrace. It was cast
in 1786 by Martin who actually accompanied it to Seringapatam in 1792. In 1871 it was
restored to the College by the Allahabad Arsenal. He also cast a large bell which he intended
for use as a school bell. After the Mutiny it was found cracked and half buried in the garden.
Some fifteen years ago it was restored and set in its place.

Huge stone lions adorn the upper terrace of the building; in their heads are spaces intended
for lanterns whose beams would gleam out between the teeth of the monsters. At the corners
are little turrets loop-holed every few inches. Still higher, statues adorn the terrace
balustrades. Above the third storey a flagstaff stands on the crest of an enormous crown,
which commands a glorious view of the city and the surrounding country.

During the insurrection the sixty-five boys of La Martinière withdrew to the Residency,
where the Martinière Post was garrisoned by the teachers and bigger boys under the command
of Mr. George Schilling, the Principal of the School. Mrs. Bartrum mentions in her diary the
“little servants” who acted as messengers, and who were the younger boys of La Martinière.
During the entire siege only three boys were wounded ; two died from disease.

On November 14 at 9 a.m., Sir Colin Campbell’s force started from the Alam Bagh on
their relief march. Until they neared Dilkusha no resistance was offered them for they had
come by an unsuspected route, but there they were met by musketry and artillery fire. This
they soon overcame. Pushing on they rapidly drove the rebels out of La Martinière at the point of the
bayonet and by noon were in position.
Since those troublous times only the high floods of 1915 and 1923 have disturbed the even tenor of this
famous school.


=Lucknow Shrines=

Two Shrines Lie To The
south-west of the Chauk, a point of pilgrimage for many pious Muhammadans at Moharram
time.

The more celebrated of the two was erected to Abbas, an uncle of Ali, who was cousin and
son-in-law to the Prophet and who was killed in the battle of Kerbala. The word dargah
means sacred threshold or door-place ; hazrat means saint. The shrine of saint Abbas was
erected to house the metal crest which crowned the banner of Abbas, “conveyed thither long
ago by a poor pilgrim from the west.” Hence the pilgrimage when the banners make
obeisance on the fifth day of Moharram. During the Moharram banners are carried in
procession to the shrine, where their bearers touch with them the sacred relic, before passing
through the rear gateway.

About a hundred years ago the Dargah was a fine building some five miles from the
King’s Palace. Upon a centre platform garnished with bunting and gay flags the sacred crest
was fixed upon a pole. On the morning of the fifth day of Moharram crowds visited the
shrine, each party bearing its own banner. Naturally enough no one was allowed to eclipse the
cortege of the King in magnificence. An advance guard of half-a-dozen gorgeously
caparisoned elephants carried the bearers of the banners accompanied by a military guard.
Following them came a symbolical chief mourner carrying a black pole upon which hung a
bow and two reversed swords.

Behind him came the King with his male relatives. Next was led a charger representative
of the one Hosein was riding when he was killed. A grey Arab, on its reddened legs and sides
arrows appeared to be buried to indicate the sufferings of horse and rider. A turban in the
Arabian style and a bow and quiver of arrows were affixed to the saddle which rested upon a
beautifully embroidered saddle-cloth. The trappings were all of solid gold. Attendants,
gorgeously dressed, accompanied the horse with fly-whisks made of the yak’s tail. Sometimes
fifty thousand banners passed through the shrine on this annual date, forming a continual
stream from early dawn until dusk.
[[File: lucknow.png||frame|500px]] 
Occasionally the royal Begums accompanied by all the pomp and circumstance at their
command made formal pilgrimage to the shrine. In the van marched the King’s bodyguard,
resplendent in blue and silver and accompanied by band and colours. They were followed by
two battalions of infantry in crimson and a company of spearmen in white, silver spear-heads
flashing in the sun. More men in white carrying royal pennants preceded the litter of the
Queen which was supported by twenty bearers changed every quarter of a mile. 

They wore
tightly-fitting garments under a loose scarlet coat lavishly adorned with gold embroidery and
a scarlet turban, into which was pinned the goldfish badge of Oudh. The Queen had to be
surrounded by women bearers when she embarked or alighted. They marched near the royal
litter, followed by the gold and silver sticks, the chief eunuch upon an elephant, the ladies of
the court in a heterogencous collection of vehicles, and finally an entourage of court soldiers,
spearmen, story-tellers, hair-dressers, tailors, learned men versed in the Koran, and a hundred
others.

Near the Dargah of Hazrat Abbas is the Talkatora Karbala, the rendezvous for the
Moharram processions from the city for the final disposal of the tazias. It was built about
1800 by Mir Khuda Baksh Khan, a Naib of Sa’adat Ali Khan, and represents the tomb of
Hosein.

=Lucknow Bridges=

Untilthe Twentieth
century there were but two bridges spanning the Gumti at Lucknow, one iron and the other of
stone. The latter was begun by the second Nawab, Safdar Jang or Mansur Ali Khan, whose
first name is perhaps best known from his tomb at Delhi.

The erection of the bridge dragged slowly on. It was finally completed by the fourth
Nawab, Asaf-ud-Doulah, Safdar Jang’s grandson. It stood near the existing Hardinge Bridge.
Above the delicate tracery of the Mosque of Aurangzeb, abutted upon the more solid outlines
of the Machhi Bhawan Fort, high stone walls commanding the coming and going of all who
entered and left Lucknow by way of the river.

Early in the present century the bridge was condemned as unsafe and was demolished in
1911 to make way for the Hardinge Bridge which was opened on January 1, 1914, by Lord
Hardinge, then Viceroy and Governor-General of India. At the same time he performed the
inauguration ceremony of the King George’s Hospital. Upon the bridge a tablet states: “This
bridge was constructed by the Public Works Department in place of the Nawabi Bridge,
which was situated about fifty yards downstream and was built in 1780 by Asaf-ud-Doulah,
Nawab-Wazir of Oudh.”

Lord Hastings visited Lucknow in 1814 and mentions that the stone bridge over the Gumti,
although a handsome structure originally, was in a state of decay. He expressed surprise that
the Nawab did not repair it but was told that the Nawab had a firm conviction that repairing
the bridge would infallibly cause his death within the year.

Bridges seemed connected with superstition in the minds of the Nawabs, for Bishop Heber
who visited Lucknow in 1824 mentions in his observations the broad and rapid stream of the
Gumti, where there was a fine old bridge, but one which might in a few minutes be rendered
impassable by any force without a regular siege. He goes on to say: “There are two bridges
over the Gumty, one a very noble old Gothic edifice of stone of, I believe, eleven arches; the
other a platform laid on boats, and merely connecting the King’s park with his palace. 

Sa’adur
Ali has brought over an iron bridge from England and a place was prepared for its erection ,
but on his death the present sovereign declined to prosecute the work on the ground that it
was unlucky, so that in all probability it will lie where it is till the rust reduces it to powder.”
This was the Iron Bridge which came from England in 1798 and, as has been said, lay in the
cases in which it had arrived for over forty years.
[[File: bridge.png||frame|500px]] 
The Iron Bridge was conceived by Rennie only twenty years after the first iron bridge had
been made in England. It bears a resemblance to the one designed by him at Boston,
Lincolnshire, over the River Witham. Rennie’s name once more came into prominence during
the hard-fought controversy over Waterloo Bridge, also built to his design.
Early in the nineteenth century a steam boat lay on the river, a vessel fitted up like a brig
of war, bearing testimony to the King’s fondness for mechanical inventions. “He had a skilful
English mechanic in his service, and himself knew more of the science and of the different
branches of philosophy connected with it, than could be expected in one who understood no
language save his own.”

General Martin who died in 1800 probably suggested that Sa’adat Ali Khan should
purchase the iron bridge. In 1856 Polehampton refers to the English iron bridge as well as a
handsome one on brick piers, plastered and coloured yellow.
During Nasr-ud-Din Haider’s reign, he directed his engineer, a Mr. Sinclair, to erect the
bridge ; he constructed piers for it in front of the Residency, but for some reason the project
was once more discontinued. The bridge was finally placed in position between 1842 and
1847 under the direction of Colonel Fraser at a cost of Rs. 180,000 excluding the actual iron
work.
[[File: bridge1.png||frame|500px]] 
Further downstream is the Bruce Bridge, known locally as Monkey Bridge, leading to the
University buildings. The house immediately on the left, now occupied by the Vice-
Chancellor of the University, was known as the Kabootar Wali Kothi, or Pigeon House, “a
poultry yard of beautiful pigeons.”

About sixty yards to the east of this bridge blocks of masonry may still be seen on either
bank. These formed the approaches to the Bridge of Boats, existent in 1857—over which the
mutineers made their escape after the capture by Havelock of the Moti Mahal palaces.
A little further down is the bridge in Sultan Ganj on Outram Road, which, with two
railway bridges, makes a total of six all of which cross the river at Lucknow. There are also
numerous ferries.

Between 1814 and 1827 King Ghazi-ud-Din Haider decided to build a canal to bring the
waters of the Ganges across to the Gumti, thus irrigating parts of Hardoi, Unao and Lucknow.
The work was put in the hands of some rascally contractors who carried it out so badly and
unscientifically that the project failed, having cost a prodigious sum of money. Four bridges
spanned the canal, all of which still exist, one by the Char Bagh, one north of the Sudder
Bazaar and two close to Government House.

The old Stone Bridge which had seen so much proud pomp before the gradual decay of
Nawabi days, still played a part in 1857, for the gallant Kavanagh who volunteered to make
his way out of the Residency to guide Sir Colin Campbell’s relieving force into Lucknow,
swam across the river and re-entered the city over the Stone Bridge, stealthily keeping under
the shadow of the wall. Twice during his perilous journey was he challenged, but he managed
to avert suspicion until he finally reached the British camp.
“As he approached, an elderly gentleman with a stern face came out, whom Kavanagh
asked for Sir. Colin Campbell. ‘I am Sir Colin Campbell,’ was the sharp reply. Who are you?”
Kavanagh pulled off his turban and took out a short note of introduction from Sir James Outram.

=Metro=
==Inaugurated in 2017==
[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lucknows-metro-dream-turns-to-reality-today/articleshow/60373862.cms  Lucknow's Metro dream turns into reality, Sep 5, 2017: The Times of India]


September 5, 2017 marks the tipping point in Lucknow's history from being an old 'heritage city' to a 'city with the Metro'. Here's what the city's Metro has to offer commuters in the city.

=Muhammad Ali Shah=

''' 1837—1842 ''' 
When King
Nasir-ud-Din Haider died by an unknown hand, drinking poisoned sharbat as he lay on his
bed of silken cushions in the Farhat Bakhsh palace, the country had passed into such a state
that anything might happen. Five years before, the British Government had instructed Colonel
Low, the Resident, to uphold Nasir-ud-Doulah, one of the King’s uncles, as his successor.
Directly the news of the King’s death was brought, Colonel Low hurried down the slope
which led from the Residency to the palace. 

Nasir-ud-Doulah was informed and escorted with
all possible speed to the palace where he arrived at about three in the morning of July 8, only
a few hours after Nasir-ud-Din had passed away. He was even then an old man and infirm,
and this rude awakening in the middle of the night did not suit him ; so he retired unnoticed to
a small room in the palace until morning.

Meanwhile the Resident took a firm grip of affairs at the palace, for he was expecting
trouble. He placed his escort as sentries at every entrance of the palace, and a corps of Oudh
Infantry took post at the main southern gate. Preparations were hurried forward so that the
coronation of the new King should take place soon after daybreak.

There seemed nothing more for the Resident to do. He repaired to the verandah
overhanging the Gumti, and there he sat, enjoying the cool dawn breezes and discussing plans
with his assistants.

Suddenly news was brought to him that the Queen Begum, step-mother of the late King,
was advancing upon the palace with a large armed band, intending to force the officials to
crown a child called Moona Jan, either her illegitimate son or her adopted grandson, as King
of Oudh.
[[File: MUHAMAD.png||frame|500px]] 
[[File: MUHAMAD1.png||frame|500px]] 

Captain Paton, one of Colonel Low’s assistants, at once rushed to the south gate, collecting
four men as he ran, to find a seething mob already surging round the gate. The palace guards
and the police had done nothing to disperse the mob who had already forced a passage. In
poured the rabble, sweeping aside all resistance, even beating Captain Paton to the ground
with lathis and musket butts. They spared his body servant who escaped out of the gate in
time to bring an advance party of thirty sepoys to save his already insensible master’s life
from being beaten out of his body.

The rabble was by this time completely beyond control. Colonel Low was helpless and
under the guard of a rebel sentry. He was forcibly taken to the Lal Baradari where the child
Moona Jan was already seated, upon the throne, listening to the state band playing,
incongruously enough, a discordant version of ‘God Save ihe King’!
The Resident and his assistants were dragged through the unruly crowd to the throne,
where Colonel Low was peremptorily ordered to congratulate the young pretender. The
penalty of refusal was, he was assured to the accompaniment of much brandishing of swords
and daggers, instant death.

He refused, however, to show the least agitation. Quite calmly he represented to the
Begum that even if she did kill him, the British Government would exact a large fine from
her. She refused to listen, but her Vakil had sense enough to realise the truth of this assertion
and to see that he and his mistress would suffer a heavy penalty if any British official were
harmed. He took matters into his own hands. Grasping Colonel Low by the arm, he thrust a
way through the muttering mob, shouting to all and sundry that by order of the Begum the
Resident was to be escorted from the throne room. 

Even so, it was not an easy path. By dint of
much pushing and elbowing they eventually reached the exit, accompanied by Captain
Shakespeare, the second assistant. There in the garden they found five infantry companies and
four guns which had just arrived from Mariaon under the command of Colonel Monteith.
Colonel Low forthwith took command. He ordered the Begum and her youthful candidate to
surrender, giving the old lady fifteen short minutes in which to disperse her followers. She
still hoped against hope to triumph and would not obey. Colonel Low relinquished command
of affairs to the soldiers. 

Then and there the guns opened fire upon the throne room while
Major Marshall led a party of the 35th (Company’s) Infantry to the attack, first firing upon the
now panic-stricken people, then resorting to the bayonet.
The swashbuckling insurgents turned into cowering refugees, fleeing in wild disorder and
leaving fifty of their number dead or wounded in the building. The British casualties were
three or four wounded only.

The story goes that as the sepoys charged into the throne room they saw a number of wildlooking
men advancing threateningly upon them from the opposite end of the hall. Not until
they opened fire did they realise that they had mistaken for the enemy their own images
reflected in a large mirror.

While these people of Oudh shed their blood in a futile cause, the dead body of their late
king lay in state in one part of the palace, while the new king as yet uncrowned, sat, according
to some authorities, cowering in fear of his life in an upper chamber of the palace, or
according to others, sleeping peacefully throughout the proceedings. Ultimately the Begum
and her protégé were captured and sent to Chunar as state prisoners. 

Nasir-ud-Doulah was
finally crowned, upon which he changed his name to Muhammad Ali Shah. He proved worthy
of the Government’s choice, for he ruled as well and as wisely as his health would permit. To
some extent he refilled the state coffers, sadly depleted almost to the last few rupees by the
wanton extravagance of his predecessor.
The throne itself, so insecure for those who sat there, was of gold, embroidered in pearls
and small rubies.

Some contemporary authorities held that he ought not to have succeeded to the throne, for
Sa’adat Ali Khan had sons; and although his eldest son Shams-ud-Din died during his father’s
life-time, his four sons were not out of the line of succession. Their claims to the throne of
Oudh were urged by Captain White in a pamphlet entitled ‘The Prince of Oudh’. However
that may be, Muhammad Ali Shah was the one ruler since his brother’s death who tried to
stem the tide of degeneracy which ultimately lost the line their kingdom.

Enfeebled and old though he was, he decided to beautify the Husainabad area of Lucknow.
To that end he began building a structure known as the Sat Khanda. which derived its name
from the fact that it was designed to have seven storeys, from the topmost of which the King
could lie on his couch and watch the progress of his building schemes. No more than five
storeys were finished before he died. They stand incomplete to this day, gradually crumbling
to decay in a corner of the Husainabad Park in which he built the Husainabad Tank, a graceful
pool bordered at one end by another of his conceptions, the Taluqdars’ Hall; also the florid,
tawdry-looking Husainabad Imambara where he lies buried.

The Honourable Emily Eden, on a tour with her brother Lord Auckland, visited Lucknow
in 1837. The King sent relays of coach horses to facilitate her approach to Lucknow and
caused tents to be pitched for her comfort at convenient intervals along the route. The King’s
own cook also sallied forth to meet the party.

The Governor-General himself remained at Cawnpore, for etiquette did not permit the
King, who was by this time bed-ridden, to receive a distinguished guest from his couch and
without the pomp and ceremony which were a fitting accompaniment to the meeting of an
Indian King with the British King’s representative.

In 1837 a new treaty was drawn up by which Colonel Low hoped to guard against a
repetition of such misrule as the former one, but it was never ratified as the Court of Directors
for some reason did not approve of it.

Muhammad Ali Shah did his best to rule well, but it was a feeble and incapable best, for
the poor old man was too broken in health to accomplish much. Hakim Mahdi was reinstated
as minister but he died soon after he had resumed office. His successors, worthy men enough,
lacked initiative to inaugurate a new system of government.

The King was popular and had a certain amount of influence over his subjects, especially
as he made determined efforts to improve the city and did not dispense all thought and
substance upon his own palace. He spent large sums in making Husainabad a broad and
handsome street. When he died his treasury contained about £800,000. This was substantial
enough, taking into consideration his extensive building operations and the fact that he had
succeeded to a bare pittance.

Prince Alexis Soltikoff visited Lucknow at the close of 1841 and describes Husainabad as
a large and noisy street, terminated by a gateway of Moorish design, behind which towered
slender minarets with small golden domes gleaming in the sun. At one end of the broad
highway stood the Imambara, enclosing aviaries of rare and lovely birds, several edifices of
Eastern design, and a small gilded mosque erected over the remains of the queen mother.
Only a few months later, in May 1842, the King himself was laid to rest in a silver
sarcophagus, to be succeeded by his second son.

=The Maqbara Of Amjad Ali Shah=

King
Amjad Ali Shah came to the throne of Oudh in 1842. He reigned until he died on February 13,
1847 “of an ulcer, or some such sore on his shoulder, and… the sore must have been poisoned
by some one, most probably by one of the physicians bribed by some one who benefited most
by his death…When the King, Amjad Ali Shah, fell his end approaching, he ordered the
council-chamber to be prepared and fresh carpets to be spread, and new cushions, and he had
his beard trimmed, and put on new and splendid clothing and, having lain down in the
council-chamber, he sent for the queen. 

There they both wept, and he spoke much to her in
whispers. The boil or ulcer on his shoulder at that time was as large as a saucer, and the flesh
all eaten away, it was said, from some poisonous ointment given by the physician. How can I
tell if the report was true? Such was the rumour in the palace, and of course the physician
would not have dared to do so of himself. 

He must have been bribed to do it.
“After much whispering talk he said he would sleep, and the queen laid down his head
gently and covered it. The attendants, suspecting he was dead, got her away with great
difficulty and she thought he was still sleeping; but he was dead. He died, like a king, in his
royal robes on his throne, in his council-chamber.”

When the King was dead, the sound of wailing was drowned in the shouts of gladness
proclaiming the new King Wajid Ali Shah. The Queen mother was forced to abandon her
dead, to clothe herself in gorgeous raiment and attend the coronation of her son. The body
was left to the care of servants who prepared it for burial within the dark and silent palace.
From without came the noise of joy and commotion, cannons firing and bands playing.
Amjad Ali Shah died early in the morning. The coronation ceremony, when the court lords
took the oath of allegiance, lasted until past midnight. When the poor widowed queen was at
last permitted to return to the palace, she found her lord and master already buried. He lies in
the Imambara which faces Hazrat Ganj, near Mission Road and the Lal Bagh, shielded from
view by a large gateway.
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The building has little architectural beauty. It is a single rectangular chamber approached
by a fine flight of steps. At the top of them a stone tank abuts on to a stone terrace for
ablutions of the faithful.

Shabby doors fitted with broken panes of glass afford a glimpse of the interior now
furnished with little but cobwebs. Once this was lavishly lined with silken carpets, wonderful
chandeliers and priceless art treasures, but during the troubles of 1857 the local hooligans
could not withstand the attractions of loot. They stripped the Imambara of everything of
value. Beneath a trapdoor in the centre of the floor a few steps lead to the vault where the
King’s body lies, forgotten and forsaken.

On March 12 and 13, 1858, after the Begum Kothi had been taken, the British troops
pushed on to Amjad Ali Shah’s tomb from which they drove their enemies with the help of a
couple of batteries of guns, which made two breaches in the south-eastern wall of the
Imambara enclosure. Two companies of the 10th Foot and about a hundred men of the
Ferozpore Sikhs formed a storming party. Feeble resistance was offered and the troops
pressed on to an outlying building of the Kaiser Bagh Palaces.
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When Oudh became quiet this Imambara was used as the English Church until 1860 when
Christ Church was completed. Lord Canning during his second visit to Lucknow attended
divine service in the building.

Christ Church was built as a memorial to those who lost their lives as a result of the
Mutiny. Its walls bear many brass tablets recalling names and places associated with
unparalleled bravery. The Reverend Henry Polehampton, with his infant son, is here
remembered: he was severely wounded whilst shaving and later succumbed to an attack of
cholera. Nawab Mohin-ud-Doulah Bahadur of Lucknow erected a tablet to Captain Maclean
of the 7th Regiment, Native Infantry, as a token of his friendship and regard. The great
Kavanagh who took his life in his own hands “with the devotion of an ancient Roman”, and
Major Johnson, who had been through the Crimean and Persian campaigns—these and many
others are remembered in the quiet and peaceful Church.

In the earthquake of 1933, the Cross on the spire of the Church was twisted until it faced
down Hazrat Gunj.

=The Maqbara Of Sa’adat Ali Khan=

Contrary To Custom, Nawab
Sa’adat Ali Khan did not build his own tomb ; for the place where it stands with that of his
wife Khurshaed Zadi, overlooking the present Oudh Gymkhana Club tennis courts, was
formerly the site of a royal palace.

Before Sa’adat Ali Khan came to the throne in 1798 he lived for some years in Calcutta
and adopted many European customs and ideas, among them a belief in the merits of the East
India Company.

Asaf-ud-Doulah died in 1797 leaving no legitimate heir. A claimant who pretended to be
his son was actually allowed to sit on the throne for four months until the British deposed him
in favour of Sa’adat Ali Khan, half brother to Asaf-ud-Doulah. The latter did much to
beautify his capital with palaces, mosques and bridges, to the detriment of the state coffers
which suffered still more from the lavish splendour in which the Nawab lived. On the
accession of Sa’adat Ali Khan life in the capital proceeded as usual, and the Nawab continued
to indulge his extravagant tastes, paying no attention to the duties incumbent upon him. Lord
Wellesley was then Governor-General and he decided that the Nawab’s army must be
disbanded. Financial difficulties became more and more acute and in November 1801, by the
Treaty of Lucknow, the Nawab relinquished all claim to ten districts receiving in return
British assistance for internal and external defence.

At the same time he made a vow at the shrine of Hazrat Abbas to devote himself thereafter
wholly to the welfare of his state. Colonel Sleeman, Resident at Lucknow from 1849-56, says
that he kept his vow, and no King of Oudh ever conducted the Government with so much
ability as he did for the remaining fourteen years of his life. As late as 1880, “he was still
remembered, even by the large landholders—to keep whom in check was one of his chief
aims—as the best, wisest and strongest administrator the province ever knew.”
He gained an unmerited reputation for parsimony and extortionate dealings, probably
because he employed Europeans to cope with refractory zamindars and did not allow the
enormous and useless expenditure usual in an eastern state.

He had nine sons. For his favourite wife, Khurshaed Zadi, he built the Khurshaed Munzil,
now the Martinière Girls’ School, as well as many other fine buildings including Dilkusha
Palace and the Moti Mahal. In spite of this he cleared his kingdom of debt. At his death
fourteen crores of rupees constituted a reserve treasury.
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On July 11, 1814 Sa’adat Ali Khan died and was succeeded by his son Ghazi-ud-Din
Haider. The latter announced that as he had taken his father’s place, his father must have his.
In accordance with this somewhat astonishing reasoning, he pulled down his palace and built
instead his father’s tomb on the site. It is a fine conception although its proportions have since
been spoilt by a grass mound piled around its foot. From the base of the dome the panorama
of Lucknow unfolds itself to the bold adventurer who decides to risk the cracks produced by a
recent earthquake.

The floor is paved with squares of black and white marble. A marked depression running
from north to south indicates the King’s last resting place. The tomb proper flanked by those
of his two brothers, lies in a vault beneath und is reached by a dark and narrow winding stair.
In the same building lie three of his wives and three daughters. His favourite wife, Khurshaed
Zadi, mother of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider, is buried a stone’s throw away in a similar mausoleum
slightly smaller than his own.

During the Mutiny both tombs were strongly fortified with concealed cannon which
effected considerable damage to Havelock’s force during the first relief. On March 13, 1858
Frank’s column occupied the courtyard of the tombs and, from the scant shelter it afforded,
stormed the Kaiser Bagh.
[[File: mk1.png||frame|500px]] 
In their hurried flight from Lucknow early in 1858, the rebels abandoned near the Jama
Masjid a number of tin boxes and leather cases containing gunpowder. General Outram
ordered the sappers to destroy them and so, on March 17, under the direction of Captain
Clerke, Adjutant of the Royal Engineers, they conveyed them to a large and deep well and
began to throw them down. One of the boxes scraped the side of the well and blew up,
igniting box after box, until the whole exploded, killing Captain Clerke, Lieutenant Brownlow
of the Bengal Engineers, a corporal, a lance-corporal and twelve sappers of the 23rd Company
of Royal Engineers. 

A flat marble slab surrounded by a low iron railing marks the spot of this
disaster a few yards from the resting places of Sa’adat Ali Khan and his wife. So a
Muhammadan eastern potentate lies cheek by jowl with such sturdy British yeomen as Sapper
Andrew Fairservice, Sapper James Bunting and Sapper John Yeo.

=The Mariaon Cantonment In The Eighteen Fifties=

Between The
third and fourth milestone on the road leading from Lucknow to Sitapur, about a hundred
yards from the left hand side, there stands an obelisk—all that remains of what was once a
large and flourishing cantonment.

Many years before the cantonment existed, an ascetic named Mandal Rikh lived in a great
forest. The place where he dwelt became known as Mandiaon. For a long time it was peopled
by the Bhar tribe eventually driven out by one of Saiyid Salar’s Lieutenants, Malik Adam,
who in his turn was killed and buried in the Subhatia Mohalla of Lucknow. About a hundred
and fifty years later Raja Singh conquered the village and made it over to his Kayasth and
Brahmin followers whose descendants live there to this day.
[[File: aaa.png||frame|500px]] 
When Sa’adat Ali Khan came to the throne in 1798, he built a cantonment called Mariaon
for the European community which flourished during the 19th century. There were lines for
three native infantry regiments, a battery of European horse artillery and a bullock battery of
regular native artillery. At Mudkipur, a couple of miles away, were the 7th Light Cavalry.
A little way down the Lucknow-Sitapur road stands a large house with semi-circular
gates—the few remaining traces of a rich Nawab’s house. On either side of each gate stood a
cage, one containing a fine tiger, the other three or four small leopards. Begging at the gate
near by sat an old Mussalman Fakir, naked except for a cloth round his loins.

A little further along the road, on the left-hand side, is the shed of another big house, still
called “Beechy Sahib ka Bangala” by the villagers. Here it was that the Reverend Henry
Polehamton lived with his wife. Mr. Polehampton, in one of his long and interesting letters,
says : “I think I told you long ago, they say this house is haunted… and that no one but a
Padre can live in it. They say Mr. Beechy who died there haunts it.” In those days it had the
best garden in cantonments, with plenty of strawberries, oranges and lemons and quantities of
other fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers.

Life in cantonments then was very much as it is now, only cheaper. The “Khansama” or
house-steward was paid ten rupees a month ; a “khitmutgar” or table-attendant seven ; the
dhobi, ayah, cook and bearer, eight each ; bhisti, sweeper, chowkidar and palanquin bearers
four each ; punkah coolies, gardeners, and grass cutters three ; and the goat boy one. The
average rent was about sixty pounds. Board and lodging and servants came to about £280 per
annum.
[[File: aaa1.png||frame|500px]] 
The Polehamptons kept six or seven goats and every evening and morning, before tea and
breakfast, they were milked just outside the verandah and the milk carne in foaming. Most of
the servants were married. Altogether there were fifty children in the compound. The
servants’ houses were built of earth and were low and dark.

There was an ice club and a book club. The subscription to the latter was heavy, but then
everything English was expensive and books were badly needed. They had wood fires for
there was no such thing as coal, wood costing in the bazaar a rupee for three maunds. They
had to depend a good deal upon local products for food, such as custard apples and Indian
corn grown in the garden which they roasted for dessert ; and green young lemons.

The church was near the Polehamptons’ house and held about a hundred people. A little
distance away along a broad metalled road was the cemetery shaded by fine trees. The route,
now inches deep in sand, may still be seen leading off the main road to the right and passing
through a village on the site of the old Bullock Battery lines.

A little beyond the village lies the graveyard, a sorry sight of dilapidated tombs. Trees
have thrust their limbs between the masonry. Head stones lurch drunkenly at a precarious
angle. Only two lead inscriptions have escaped the pillagers’ hands, those of Lieutenants
MacDonnell and Richards. The former was the Adjutant of the 2nd Punjab Cavalry, and was
killed in action at Courci in March 1858. 

The enemy were in retreat, but they showed
indomitable courage when the British troopers charged through them three times. They never
even wavered. During these charges MacDonnell was killed and Captain Gosserat of the 34th
Madras Light Infantry, then in command of a squadron of the 1st Punjab Cavalry, was
wounded. He lingered on for over a fortnight, being laid to rest in the Residency Cemetery.
Lieutenant Richards took part in the attack on Birwa Fort in Hardoi, carried out by Brigadier
Barker as late as October 1858. He was wounded there and brought back to die early in
December at Mariaon.

Although disease and epidemic carried away a large percentage of the population, life was
not all funerals and Mariaon boasted a fine park. Dinner at three was “tiffin” to fashionable
Anglo-Indians who dined at eight. A band of one of the regiments played every evening at
sunset for about an hour. Gentlemen would get out of their buggies and go about talking to
ladies at their carriage doors. At about seven they all went home.

All that remains of the Mariaon Residency are the foundations upon which has been
erected an obelisk. Affixed to it is a plaque which reads:—
“This pillar commemorates old Mariaon cantonment garrisoned in 1857 by the 13th, 48th
and 71st Native Infantry. A large proportion of the regiments mutinied on the evening of May
30, 1857. This pillar marks the site of the Residency Bungalow occupied by Sir Henry
Lawrence, K.C.B., on that memorable occasion and subsequently by rebels. The mutiny of
May 30 was crushed by a small force of British and loyal Indian troops, and the rebels were
routed, but the Mariaon cantonment was abandoned on the 29th June, 1857, when Sir Henry
Lawrence’s force concentrated on the Lucknow Residency and the Machi Bhawan.”
Sir Henry refers to the Mariaon Residency in one of his letters as being nearly as large as
his town house in Lucknow.

On May 18, 1857, Sir Henry wrote: “Time is everything just now—time, firmness,
promptness, conciliation, and prudence.... ten men may in an hour quell a row which after a
day’s delay may take weeks to put down.”

False alarms of risings were rife. Sir Henry took no notice of a rumour that a rising was
timed to begin at 9 p.m. on May 30. That evening some officers on his staff were dining with
him at the Mariaon Residency. After dinner they strolled out on to the verandah. When the 9
o’clock gun fired, Sir Henry said smilingly, “Your friends are not punctual.” Scarcely had he
said it when there was a burst of musketry and fires were seen burning in all directions.
Hastily the horses were saddled and Sir Henry and his staff rode off to the camp of the 32nd
Regiment where the men were already drawn up for action together with the European
battery.

Almost immediately the sepoys of the 71st Native Infantry appeared and began firing upon
the 32nd, but they fled when the English troops retaliated. In their flight they murdered
Lieutenant Grant commanding a picket in cantonments.

In spite of patrols the mutineers pillaged and looted all night, Brigadier Handscomb being
killed by a chance bullet.
Only the Residency escaped the attention of the insurgents. Next morning it was estimated
that about seven hundred men had remained faithful from the three native infantry regiments
and the 7th Light Cavalry. 

At Mudkipur the men had burnt and sacked the Cavalry lines.
Cornet Raleigh, a boy of seventeen, had been sick in quarters in Mudkipur: when attemping to
mount his horse that morning, he was killed without a chance to defend himself.
The troops remained in Mariaon while Sir Henry transferred his headquarters to the
Lucknow Residency. When everything was ready the entire European population withdrew
behind the walls of the Machhi Bhawan and the Residency. The famous siege had begun!

=The Machhi Bhawan=

Although All Trace Has
long since vanished of any part of the actual Machhi Bhawan fort, the name lingers and
applies to the mound upon which the Medical Colleges now stand.

In 1470 A.D. a Muhammadan saint named Sheikh Mina was born at Lucknow. He was
educated by an eminent dervish, Quiran-ud-Din. At his death a tomb was erected over his
remains. It is carefully preserved to this day and is the oldest identified monument in
Lucknow. It is a place of pilgrimage.

The city in those days was known as Lukshmanpur. When Mahmud of Ghazni invaded
India he brought with him Sheikhs and Pathans some of whom settled in Lukshmanpur.
A Hindu architect name Likhna designed a fort for them known as Likhna Kila which
gradually shortened into Lucknow. Within its sheltering walls stood the Panch Mahal, so
called because it was five storeys high. 

When Sa’adat Khan first moved his court from
Fyzabad to Lucknow in 1732 he hired the Panch Mahal and another building known as the
Mubarak Mahal for about five hundred and fifty rupees a month. Then Nawab Safdar Jang
came to the throne in 1739. He strengthened the fortifications of the old fort and renamed it
Machhi Bhawan, or Fish House, “machhi” meaning fish and “bhawan” being the Sanskrit
word for house. He enlarged it to reach the river. High walls encompassed it. From the water
it looked like a fortress commanding the old stone bridge now swept away. On the south-east
side it overlooked the Residency. Beneath the outer walls ran the most frequented
thoroughfares of the city.
[[File: machi.png||frame|500px]] 
Asaf-ud-Doulah, the fourth Nawab, who succeeded to the throne in 1775 and is generally
acknowledged to have been the greatest of the rulers of Oudh, strengthened the fort still more
with round earthen bastions. Within he built a palace facing the Gumti, consisting of six main
quadrangles surrounded by pavilions. Entrance was by two noble gateways, the outer one
containing the Naubat Khana. where musicians played at stated times every day. The state
apartments encompassed the main courtyard in the centre of which was a well. Fountains
played and streams wound in and out to keep it cool during the summer.

In 1784 the Great Imambara was built as a famine relief measure within the Machhi
Bhawan area—which gives some slight idea of the size of the fortress.

In 1857 the buildings within the fort were the property of Nawab Yahuja Ali Khan who
sold them to Sir Henry Lawrence for Rs. 50,000. Murmurs of unrest were even then
beginning to be heard, so Sir Henry gave orders that the fortifications of the Machhi Bhawan
should be strengthened. By the middle of May he was prepared for all eventualities and had
distributed his troops. 

To the Machhi Bhawan he sent a hundred Europeans, three hundred
sepoys and about twenty guns, with a large quantity of ammunition. On the last day of May
he hastily transferred his headquarters to the Lucknow Residency from Mariaon and
feverishly fortified the surrounding positions. Cellars were excavated and ammunition from
the Machhi Bhawan stored in them. Preparations went on more or less unimpeded until news
was brought that the advance guard of a force from Nawabgunj had already reached Chinhut
and was preparing to advance on Lucknow.

At sunset on June 29, British troops quietly withdrew with their entourage into the
Residency and the Machhi Bhawan; on the 30th a force of six hundred and eighty-six men
and eleven guns advanced to the disastrous battle of Chinhut. The little force was badly
defeated. It was forced to retire but held its own until the guns from the Machhi Bhawan
checked the oncoming enemy, enabling it to withdraw into the Residency.
[[File: machi1.png||frame|500px]] 
The guns from the fort prevented the enemy from crossing by the stone bridge, but early in
June the river dwindled until it was fordable and they made their way across into houses
overlooking the Residency from which they proceeded to pour musketry fire into the British
position.

Thus the siege began.
At daybreak on July 1 the besiegers made their first attack on the Residency. It was
repulsed, but Sir Henry came to the conclusion that there were not enough troops to defend
both positions, so a semaphore was sent from the Residency to the Machhi Bhawan saying,
“Spike the guns well, blow up the fort, and retire at midnight.” At that hour, then, the
defenders of the fort, commanded by Colonel Palmer, marched into the Residency with guns
and treasure, leaving two hundred and forty barrels of gunpowder, which blew up with a
terrible explosion a few minutes later, a train of gunpowder having been laid by Captain M.
C. Thomas of the Madras Artillery.

Mrs. Bartrum records in her diary: “Last night the Machhi Bhawan fort was blown up. It
was such a tremendous shock that we all sprung out of our beds.... thinking that the sepoys
had really blown up our defences and forced their way in. Our room was so thick in dust that
when we had lighted a candle we could scarce see one another.

The next morning a voice outside the Water Gate of the Residency was heard shouting,
“Arrah, then, open your gates.” The speaker was a private of the 32nd Regiment, who had
been drunk the night before and asleep when the evacuation took place. He had been blown
up—which rapidly sobered him—but he was unhurt. 

The force of the explosion had torn
every stitch of clothing off him and he arrived at the Residency stark naked.
Nothing more is heard of the fort until early the following year, when on March 16
Outram’s force captured it after slight resistance. The same year it was rebuilt and after being
strongly fortified was occupied by troops and officers’ families.

In 1905 when King George V visited India as Prince of Wales, he came to Lucknow in
December and laid the foundation-stone of the Medical College. In January 1912, Sir John
Prescott performed the opening ceremony of the buildings now known as King George’s and
Queen Mary’s Medical Colleges.

=The Moti Mahal=

The Moti Mahal, Or Pearl
Palace, was thus called because its original dome resembled a pearl. It has been through many
vicissitudes since then and was re-roofed in 1923. The name now embraces two other
erstwhile famous buildings, the Mubarak Manzil and the Shah Manzil. The Moti Mahal was
built by Nawab Sa’adat Ali Khan between 1798 and 1814. The other two were added by his
son and successor Ghazi-ud-Din Haider. They are now the property of the Maharaja of
Balrampur.

The royal fish badge ornaments the entrance gateway, from which a wide drive leads
between gay flower beds to the Moti Mahal itself. Here at the Mubarak Munzil fights of large
animals took place, generally in a special enclosure where stood a balcony for the King and
his attendants.

In 1856 an excellent road with lamp posts on either side led to the Shah Munzil, a spacious
palace stretching to the Gumti. It had a lovely garden where lemon and orange trees mingled
with rose and pomegranate. Fountains and statues adorned the garden where gold and silver
fish gavotted.

On September 25, 1857, the relief column under Havelock took a route unforeseen by the
enemy. After sharp skirmishing around the area of the Yellow House, they proceeded
unmolested until they reached the Moti Mahal where there was some heavy fighting. Guns from
the Kaiser Bagh and the Khurshaed Munzil took toll of them until they reached the lee of the
Chutter Munzil. 

They ejected the garrison of the Moti Mahal and left the wounded there
together with the heavy guns and ammunition under the command of Colonel Robert P.
Campbell of the 90th Perthshire Light Infantry. Their protection proved insufficient and the
whole of the next day had to be spent in extricating them. Colonel Campbell got out the next
night but was shot in the knee, his leg being later amputated. He could not withstand the shock
and died, and is commemorated with the other officers and men of the 90th Perthshire Light
Infantry in the Residency Cemetery.
[[File: moti.png||frame|500px]] 
On that day, September 26, Brigadier Cooper of the Artillery and Dr. Bartrum were both
killed in the courtyard of the Moti Mahal. At the outbreak of the Mutiny Dr. Bartrum with his
wife and child was at Ghonda, about 80 miles from Lucknow. By June 6, Mrs. Bartrum says
that they were becoming alarmed. The next day Sir Henry Lawrence sent a messenger via
Secrora, ordering the ladies and children into Lucknow for better security, Mrs. Bartrum and her
baby were confined within the Residency during the siege and on September 23 she wrote,
“Such joyful news! A letter is come from Sir James Outram in which he says we shall be
relieved in a few days ; every one is wild with excitement and joy. Can it really be true ?”

Three days later, the very day her husband was killed, she was up with daylight and dressed
her baby in the one clean dress which she had kept for him throughout the siege until his father
should come. The next day, she was still watching for her husband and still he came not. On the
28th the servants brought in a few things belonging to him. His sword, his pistol, and his
instrument case had all been taken. The grief-stricken widow recognised her dead husband’s
horse.

During the second relief, when the rebels had been driven out of the Khurshaed Munzil, they
were pursued to the Moti Mahal with desperate bayonet fighting, when the British force
gradually drove their opponents from room to room and finally stood panting in sole possession.
A garden path still clings to the original garden wall and leads to a stone erected in 1932
stating, “This tablet commemorates the reuniting of the two wings of the 90th Perthshire Light
Infantry, now the 2nd Battalion, the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles), near this spot during the
relief of the Residency, 17th November, 1857.” 
[[File: moti1.png||frame|500px]] 
Another, visible from Clyde Road, says that
“About 20 paces from this spot in the side wall of the Moti Mahal was the gap through which
Sir James Outram and Sir Henry Havelock passed on their way to meet Sir Colin Campbell
when the relieved and relieving forces joined hands on the 17th November, 1857.” This historic
reunion in the garden of the Khurshaed Munzil has been commemorated in a famous picture,
“The Meeting of the Generals.”

=The Musa Bagh=

Further Afield Than Most Of
Lucknow’s historic spots lies the Musa Bagh. The effort of finding it is well rewarded by the
calm and peaceful atmosphere of the old house, as it reigns supreme over the green and fertile
fields stretching on every side. From the Great Imambara, go through the Rumi Darwaza past
the Husainabad Imambara and straight on. The local inhabitants are, for once, well informed
of its whereabouts. After one or two vicissitudes, and remembering to go in the direction of
the water works, you come suddenly upon a wide straight road, wider than the Hazratganj,
once shaded by lofty trees. 

Upon a commanding site stand the remains of a wall weatherbeaten
into that beautiful colour which only old brick-work can attain. The site was originally
chosen and laid out as a garden by Asaf-ud-Doulah who transferred the seat of government
from Fyzabad to Lucknow in 1775. His half-brother Sa’adat Ali Khan succeeded him and
built a house at one corner of the Musa Bagh.

Designed by General Claud Martin on the lines of an English country manor, it was badly
knocked about in 1858, but it is possible to reconstruct it in some measure in the mind’s eye.
In the centre, a large hall stood supported by two noble columns of pillars from which other
rooms gave off. At each corner was a small circular chamber containing a winding stair. In
the centre chamber, curiously enough, a small well penetrates deep into the ground. Little of
interior decoration remains except some weather-beaten stucco work touched here and there
with faded colouring. A Mr. Sherer alludes to the “effigies of Nasur-ud-Din Haider” which
adorned the walls of the Musa Bagh.

Oval holes cut in the high wall encircling the garden look over the fields sloping gently to
the Gumti, and from this vantage point the Nawab-Wazir would watch wild beast fights
whose fame had spread over all Oudh.
[[File: musu.png||frame|500px]] 
The contests between the smaller animals such as antelopes took place at the Musa Bagh.
These animals were caught in the lower hills of the Himalayas and trained to fight. The two
deer would trot towards each other, manoeuvring for position, crossing their antlers, retreating
and advancing until their antlers became interlocked and each antelope strained his whole
frame to press his adversary backwards. 

At last one animal would show signs of strain and
inch by inch the stronger opponent would gain ground. On pushed the stronger antelope, head
depressed, every muscle starting, every limb dancing with animation, whilst his opponent
rolled his eyes wildly, becoming paralysed with terror. His graceful limbs twitched with fear
as he yielded ground.

Finally they reached the limit of the enclosure; still the remorseless enemy would push
with renewed vigour. Resistance finally broke and the oppressed antelope turned sideways as
if to escape by flight. In a moment the sharp points of the victor’s antlers plunged into the
flanks of the vanquished. The animal thus gored groaned with pain as he sank down, big tears
coursing down his cheeks. Again and again he would try to escape, but there was no hope.
Finally the stronger antelope, watching his opportunity would rush at his adversary and
plunge his blood-tipped horns into the flanks of his exhausted stag which fell never to rise
again.

Strangely enough the great insurrection of 1857-58 both began and ended at the Musa
Bagh. The 7th Oudh Irregular Cavalry were stationed there. Having been told that a type of
newly issued cartridge had been greased with cow’s fat, they refused to bite it. Sir Henry
Lawrence issued an order that they were to be deprived of their arms, and then events began
to move. 
[[File: musu.png||frame|500px]] 
The scene of action left the Musa Bagh until March 1858, when the Queen Mother
and her son took up their headquarters there with a. force of some nine thousand men
commanded by prominent leaders. Sir Colin Campbell naturally decided that they must not be
allowed to remain there and on March 19 at 6-30 in the morning, Outrarn moved off towards
the Musa Bagh. His force consisted of two squadrons of the 9th Lancers, Middleton’s Field
Battery, three companies of the 20th, seven companies of the 23rd, the 79th Highlanders, and
the 2nd Punjab Infantry, supported by Hope Grant’s guns and musketry fire from the opposite
side of the river.

At the same time Brigadier Campbell advanced from the Alam Bagh and cut off the retreat
of the flying rebels. But he was late and although his force pursued the rebels for some
distance a great number of them slipped through to Fyzabad.

Captain Wale raised and commanded the 1st Sikh Irregular Cavalry and he and his
regiment were among the pursuing force. After several miles, however, he gave the order to
halt. “Then from the far side of a ravine, a solitary figure fired his musket at a group of
officers,” killing Captain Wale. He was the eighth son of General Wale, out of a family of
sixteen, and lies buried in the Musa Bagh, under a stone erected by Captain L. B. Jones,
Acting-Commandant, 1st Sikh Irregular Cavalry, “as a token of regard for his officer, whom
he admired both as a friend and a soldier. Captain Wale lived and died a Christian soldier.”

Captain W. Heley Hutchinson and Sergeant Newman, both of the 9th Royal Lancers, were
badly wounded while pursuing the enemy from Musa Bagh and both lie buried in the Wilayati
Bagh. When the rebels had finally been driven from the Musa Bagh by sharp fighting, a small
force was detailed to occupy it, and at Lotan Bagh nearby lies Major John Griffith Price, 2nd
Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), who died of fever at the Musa Bagh, on the 12th of May,
1858. This force was soon withdrawn, and but for an occasional intrusion the Musa Bagh is
given over to peaceful tillers of the soil.

=Nasir-Ud-Din Haider=

''' 1827—1837 ''' 

Following Tradition,
the second King of Oudh, who succeeded to the throne in 1827, changed his name from
Suleman Jah to Nasir-ud-din Haider.

King Ghazi-ud-Din Haider died—and it is significant of the violent deeds prevalent in
those days that historians add that he died “a natural death”—on October 20, 1827, to be
succeeded by one whom he had declared to be his son by a slave girl, but who was popularly
reputed to be the son of a washerman attached to the palace. 

This rumour is supported by a
document which states that “Ghazee-ood-Deen had no son and only one daughter, who
married her cousin and had issue Mossem-ood-Doulah, the true heir to the throne. Ghazeeood-
Deen, instead of leaving the throne to his true heir and grandson Mossem-ood-Doulah,
left it to Nuseer-ood-Deen Hydeer.” Moreover, Colonel Low, the British Resident in
Lucknow, wrote a memorandum saying that a letter was intercepted from the Padshah Begum
addressed to the late Mr. Secretary Stirling to the effect that Nasir-ud-Din Haider was not the
rightful heir, nor even the son of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider.

Although Nasir appeared to inherit none of the dignity and kingly qualities of his
predecessor, a love of mechanics characterised them both. He built and equipped the Tara
Wala Kothi, or observatory, which he placed under the charge of Colonel Wilcox. He was
much interested in steamers, then a recent invention even in Europe. So interested was he that
he bought and placed upon the Ganges one of these new-fangled contraptions in order to
make occasional excursions. 

The Bengal Steam Navigation Fund enjoyed his liberal support
in return for keeping him informed of current developments. He employed a succession of
European artists of note as his court painters, among them Robert Home and George Beechey.
The latter was also made Comptroller of the King’s Household. Indeed, Nasir-ud-Din
surrounded himself with Europeans wherever possible and was at the mercy of any
degenerate rascal who happened to come along so long as he was a European. Chief among
these was the notorious barber, de Russet, who was said to have fleeced the King of no less
than 24 lakhs of rupees.

[[File: nazir.png||frame|500px]] 
Nasir-ud-Din who had no proper conception of his kingly responsibilities cared only for
amusements, and his tastes grew more and more degenerate with the passing of time.
He took as his chief wife Sultana Boa, the grand-daughter of the Emperor Shah Alam. But
when she realised what manner of man he was, she cut herself off from him and lived in
seclusion. Another of his wives was a Miss Walters, daughter of George Hopkins Walters, a
retired servant of the Company. She held his attention for some years during which she
wheedled considerable wealth from him. 

She married him in 1827 and died in November
1830. The house in which her mother, then Mrs. Wheatley, and elder sister lived stands to this
day within the Residency enclosure where it is known as the Begum Kothi. The elder
unmarried daughter was known as the Begum Ashraf-un-Nisa, whilst the younger one who
married the King became a Muhammadan and took the name of Jukuddera Queela.
Still another woman was raised from the status of an infant’s nurse to that of chief consort.
She became known as Malika Jamani, or Queen of the Age, when she married the King. Her
son, Kywan Jah, already three years old before she entered the palace by the front door, the
King insisted upon nominating as his heir.

The King had originally peculiarly lank straight hair, and not an approach to a curl had
ever been seen therein. The barber, de Russet, wrought wonders during a chance visit from
Calcutta and the King was delighted. Honours and wealth were showered upon the lucky
coiffeur. So much did Nasir-ud-Din come to lean upon him that he trusted de Russet to see
that every bottle of wine was sealed in the barber’s house before being brought to the royal
table. Before he opened it, the little man carefully inspected the seal to see that all was well.
He then opened it, took a sip himself, and poured out a glass for the King.

In the Lucknow museum stands a bronze bust of King Nasir-ud-Din Haider, showing a
sensual, almost feminine, countenance with full lips, the whole framed in luxuriant curls,
upon which rests a fine massive crown. It is interesting to compare this bust with an earlier
portrait showing him with a firmer mouth, his hair short and severely straight, as it was before
the ministrations of de Russet. 

He wears in both pictures the same ermine robe of state, the
same jewelled collar, and the same wondrous chain of gems, and what must be the same
crown, although in one or the other it has been carelessly copied, for the details are dissimilar.
Animal fights were a fashionable court pastime of the day, especially when the combatants
were elephants or quails. The fights of the former took place near the Moti Mahal palace, and
those of the latter upon the King’s dinner table after a banquet.

King Nasir-ud-Din Haider had that shrewd cunning often associated with the possessor of
a weak intellect. He was quick to see slights whether or not they were intended. On the other
hand, he was easily delighted with childish games if he was assured they were popular among
European children. Leap-frog took his fancy and, although he collapsed when trying to “make
a back” or when he failed to clear a back bent for him, it was not through lack of effort. He
had heard from the Englishmen surrounding him about the fox’s brush as a trophy at the end
of a run. Not to be outdone, he set his cheetahs coursing after deer. At the end of the chase,
having followed on horseback, he secured the tail of a deer, attached it to the front of his cap,
and rode home in triumph.

Year by year the power of the barber steadily grew. He could do no wrong in the King’s
eyes. Nobody dared gainsay him. But year by year the King grew more capricious and, at last,
after a more than usually strong representation from the British Resident, Nasir-ud-Din
exclaimed in a fit of rage to de Russet that he had driven away the only good counsellors in
the state. The barber saw that his reign of influence was about to end, wisely gathered
together all the valuables he could muster and fled from the kingdom into the Company’s
territory.

After his departure the King was more rudderless than ever. His fear of poisoning grew
overwhelming. All his drinking water he drew from a small well in the palace, kept free from
contamination by being under his own lock and key. He always locked away the jar in which
he drew his own water. The persons who ministered to his thirst, save when the water came
from English sealed bottles, were two sisters, Dhuneea and Dulwee.

Gradually aliens were introduced into the ranks of the palace servants. Four months after
the barber’s departure, the King died by drinking poisoned sharbat — the very thing of which
he had been most afraid—on July 8, 1837. He was interred in the kerbala built by himself at
Iradat Nagar on the north bank of the Gumti.