Wajid Ali Shah had more than 200 wives.
The kingdom had been snatched away. King Wajid Ali Shah of Awadh was now living in Mini Lucknow in the Garden Ridge of Calcutta, away from Lucknow. The source of income was the annual pension of Rs 12 lakhs received from the British. But the expenses of fun, colorful gatherings and royal grandeur were huge. Here there was a conflict between the old begums. On the other hand, the series of new marriages of the Emperor was continuing. In 1860, the Emperor got the good news that he was going to get the treasure of Kaiserbagh hidden by the British during the rebellion. Thirteen strong wooden boxes filled with gems and jewelery were handed over to him. But for his big expenses, the amount collected from his auction, which was around Rs 300 crore in today’s terms, did not prove to be of much help. Read some interesting stories of the colorful last king of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah.
While leaving Lucknow on 13 March 1856, Wajid Ali Shah was accompanied by two married women and a Mutah Begum. Apart from the nine divorced begums including Hazratmahal, there are only speculations about how many begums he left behind in Lucknow. The main reason for this was that witnesses were not always required in Mutah marriages. By the way, the Emperor’s own book “Parikhana” tells that by 1848 the number of his wives had reached more than fifty.
According to British records, among the close dependents of the emperor were 2 married wives, 33 mahallats who had the right to live in the palace, 176 begums and 14 concubines. Apart from this, between 1880 and 1887, 27 new married women joined his harem. Sons 22, daughters 17, grandsons and nephews 10, granddaughters 7 and daughters-in-law 6 were also with him.
hand tight and royal expenses
Wajid Ali Shah had no connection with the revolution of 1857, but still the British kept him captive in fear. According to the report of District Magistrate Ferguson, by June 1858, about six hundred personal servants of the Emperor and twenty special nobles along with their families were living in Garden Ridge. The number of begums and maids was 183. The number of people living in the ridge adjacent to the king was about six thousand. There were 170 houses for Begums. According to Ferguson’s calculations, there were 250 bungalows there at that time.
Wajid Ali Shah.
He has mentioned the arrangement of bungalows along with sheds and huts for the Begums. Although at that time there were conditions like refugee camps. Between April and September 1859, a large number of begums and courtiers arrived at Garden Ridge from Lucknow. Badshah was released in July 1959. Till that time his annual pension of Rs 12 lakh had not been released. Loans were also taken from moneylenders. When the payments started in winter, the king’s expenses increased in full swing.
This is how the treasure of Kaiserbagh was saved
A huge amount of money was required for the Emperor’s own hobbies and expenses, as well as for various items, including permanent houses, especially for the Begums. Meanwhile, in early 1860, he received news that the crown jewels were being returned to him. During the Revolution of 1857, Awadh Commissioner Sir Henry Lawrence captured the Kaiserbagh treasures and buried them in tin canisters in the lawn of the Residency.
A big battle was fought in Lucknow between the British army and the rebel soldiers. The Residency was directly the target of the rebels. There was a rain of cannon balls and bullets on the residence. Due to the luck of the Nawab, his treasure buried in the ground at this battlefield was safe. After the failure of the revolution and the capture of Lucknow once again by the British forces, this treasure was taken out and the gems and jewelery were cataloged and sealed in thirteen strong wooden boxes.
Great Gate of Kaiserbagh. Photo: Getty Images
Claimant of Begum Khas Mahalri
These thirteen boxes were enough to wipe away tears for the king who had lost everything. Even before these boxes could be handed over to him, his first married wife Khas Mahal laid claim to some of the gems and jewellery. Major Herbert, the then British agent posted to look after the affairs of the king, was told that it was possible for the Begum to get the jewelery only with the consent of the king.
In fact, by this time the relations between the special palace and the king had deteriorated considerably. The reason for this was the letter written by Khas Mahal to Lord Canning, in which he had demanded a separate pension from the King for his monthly expenses of thousands of rupees and claiming his son to be the heir to the throne. The British government had rejected his demand for separate pension. The special palace’s demand for jewelery also remained unheard. As soon as the emperor found thirteen boxes of gems and jewelery, he handed them over to the famous jeweler Henleton and Company of Calcutta for auction. At that time an amount of five lakhs was collected from their auction. At present this amount is estimated to be approximately Rs 300 crore. However, this amount was also insufficient for the king’s needs.
The king was angry with the begums’ demand for pension from the British.
On April 10, 1860, the fire that broke out in Garden Ridge caused massive destruction there. Along with huts and sheds, many bungalows were also burnt. The emperor’s hands were tight but his expenses were out of control. He even owed Rs 4 lakh to his advisor Munshi Safdar Ali. She was dissatisfied with the expenses that the Begums received. Many of them were demanding pension directly from the government treasury through the British agent appointed for the king. On the other hand, the British government was not ready to give a single penny apart from the emperor’s pension of one lakh per month.
In February 1878, the Emperor was upset when he got a pension of Rs 97,500.00 after deducting Rs 2,500. It was told that two and a half thousand rupees were given directly to the elder prince Fariduddin Kadra. Till that time Fariduddin was getting ninety rupees a month from his father, due to which he was not able to survive.
How far a little oil will spread!
In response to the Emperor’s strong objection to the direct deduction from his pension, the government threatened him that if he did not increase the pensions of his dependents, his financial affairs would be handed over to the British agent Mowbray Thompson. In response the king found another way. He divorced Mashuk Mahal and Wajid Mahal who demanded increase in pension. Mashuk Mahal was the mother of Fariduddin Kadra, to whom the British government had paid Rs. 2.5 thousand directly from the king’s pension. The two divorced begums wrote letters to Thompson and the government, asking for help, citing their past days of prosperity and their support for the king even in his bad times.
The king considered Thompson’s attempts to interfere in his religious and domestic affairs. Thompson wrote to the government that if the Nawab gives pension to all the wives, ex-wives and dependents, if not generously, but keeping in mind the basic needs, then this amount would be twenty-four thousand five hundred rupees per month. Nawab was alert only after the first cut in pension. During the twenty years he spent in Calcutta, the Emperor divorced fifty begums of mutual marriage. But on July 31, 1878, when Agent Thompson received the news of divorcing 27 Begums of Mutah marriage in a single day, he protested against it. Said to give them maintenance even after separation. On February 24, 1879, the King asked Thompson how far a small amount of oil could be spread in the ground! Obviously, Wajid Ali Shah was demanding increase in pension as per his needs.
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