Nawab of Awadh - The Golden Age

The Golden Age

Ghazi-ud-Din was a good monarch, responsible for much building and public works of all kinds, and he paid due attention to the administration of justice. He built the Mubarak Manzil and Shah Manzil as well as Hazari Bagh, in which he introduced Lucknow society to the sport of animal contests for the first time

However, his son Nasir-ud-Din who succeeded to the throne, had an attachment to the English, not founded upon those things the English would like to be admired for justice, liberty, democracy but upon their dress, their eating habits and, more unfortunately, the drinking habits of the more disreputable element of English adventurer with whom he surrounded himself.

Nasir-ud-Din, despite such a temperament, was a popular monarch, who was responsible for the construction of an astrological center, Tarunvali Kothi. Equipped with sophisticated instruments, it was entrusted to the care of a British astronomer. When he died there was another disputed succession and the British insisted on Muhammad Ali, another son of Sadat Ali, being enthroned. Muhammad Ali was a just and popular ruler and under him, Lucknow regained its splendour for a brief spell. He was however sorely troubled by rheumatism. He died in 1842 and his son Amjad Ali succeeded, a man more inclined towards matters religious and spiritual, leading to the neglect of governance.