Haveli Worth Rs 100000000000, private zoo with 18000 pigeons, once a ruler of Awadh, still burdened in debt due to…, he was…

Some individuals are incredibly wealthy — grand living spaces, extravagance, and anything money can buy. But life is uncertain. Fortunes may fade quickly, empires may collapse, and those who have thrived on wealth may suddenly find themselves dealing with unforeseen loss. Wealth is never guaranteed, as history shows us at times; it can dissipate as rapidly as it came about. One such person was Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Awadh.

The last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah, is remembered today as a person of incredible riches and extravagance. In today’s terms, the value of his assets would be thousands of crores of rupees. He was royal from 1847 to 1856, a mere nine years. However, his contributions remain today in the very identity of Lucknow, beyond mere buildings and art. His contributions extended well past legacy architecture and preservation of art and culture; he had a thriving economy based on agriculture, trade, and had something extraordinary from the last master of taxes. While there are no official records on the exact amount of wealth, there are historians and old documents suggesting that even back then the amounts were staggering, and once calculated for today’s values, the amounts would be mind-boggling.

The Qaiserbagh Palace complex was one of Wajid Ali Shah’s most amazing projects, and he commissioned it between 1848 and 1850. The construction cost approximately 8 million rupees in 1850 — the equivalent of nearly Rs 10,000 crore in today’s terms — most likely the costliest royal estate of its time and only one of many luxurious palaces constructed during his reign. Wajid Ali Shah’s court was no different. His court was one of excess, extravagance, with hundreds of wives, dozens of courtiers, a plethora of court artists, musicians, and bands which included a stack of servants and guards, among others — all of which represented lifestyles never seen before and perhaps never replicated since.

The Nawab had not only a love for architecture and poetry but also a genuine love for everything beautiful. He had a unique private zoo which had monkeys, bears, and almost 18,000 pigeons. His gardens were also unique and were a really big space for theatre dramas, dance recitals, and poetry functions – this showed his great love of art, culture, and, as suc,h a great patron of the arts. When Awadh was annexed by the British in 1856, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah was unceremoniously exiled to the Metiabruz area of Kolkata. It was an exile, but it did not mean he was reduced to a poverty-stricken life, not immediately at least. He received an annual pension from the British government of Rs 12 lakh, which was a huge sum at the time, to have him live as royally as possible.

But the Nawab’s costs far exceeded his allowance. An 1874 report from The New York Times states that over 7,000 people were living in his Kolkata residence — including many dancers, bodyguards, pets, and housekeeping staff.

In order to maintain his former regality, Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, of Awadh, had rented several additional bungalows, indicating that he still had considerable wealth, even though he had lost his kingdom.

But, his grandiosity was not to last. Over time, much of his property was seized by the British. The colonial government eventually saddled him with what would amount to nearly Rs 200 crore in present-day terms. Though he continued to receive a pension, his financial situation was increasingly worsened by both the imposing debt and a sharp decline in revenue received from Awadh. He lost a considerable amount of land, palaces, and treasures to the British. According to the media reports, historians suggest the total value of the land, gold, items of value, artwork, and cultural heritage seized by the East India Company and King Akbar could total over Rs 2 lakh crore in the present day.

Years later, Wajid Ali Shah’s heir, Begum Vilayat Mahal, sought reparations from the government, arguing that the government illegally seized ancestral land. The claims, however, were caught up in legal complications and were never fully resolved.

While he lost his kingdom, Wajid Ali Shah is still remembered as an important and exceptional person. His extensive patronage of the arts resulted in a modern Kathak dance form, and took Hindustani classical music to a greater possible level. While he may have lost his kingdom, he has not lost his beauty, his poetry, or his cultural impact; they all remain a part of Lucknow’s historical baggage and have helped define the city.

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