Wajid Ali Shah had three categories of wives.
Why did the last king of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah, do about 375 marriages? According to one of his descendants living in Kolkata, the Emperor was such a pious person that he did not consider it appropriate to give a woman a chance to serve without marriage. There were three categories of the emperor’s wives. Those who gave birth to children of the emperor were given palace status and were kept behind the curtain. Those who did not give birth to children were called Begums. The lowest status was that of the concubines, who worked as domestic servants but were tied to the king by marriage.
In matters of marriage, the king had many ways to find wives of his choice. When the king looked directly at someone, he was pleased. Some were presented by the Begums or their family members. The officials also considered it a good way to please the king. Black colored wives were among the special favorites of the emperor. He used to take African bodyguards with him. Many of them became his wives. Read some interesting stories related to the colorful king of Awadh.
The spring garden became an expensive forest!
In 1847, Wajid Ali Shah became the king of Awadh for 26 years. Within the next two years, he wrote his love stories in “Parikhana”. In it he candidly wrote that when he was only eight years old, the middle-aged woman Rahim took care of him overpowered him. When he protested, she started threatening him. Then this sequence continued for the next two years. After his dismissal, 35-40 year old Amiran came. Amiran, always dressed in bright clothes, started attracting him. Relationships with him were without fear and pressure.
Wajid Ali Shah.
Further, the prince’s love affairs continued in and around his father’s palace Chhatar Manzil on the banks of Gomti. At the age of fifteen, his first marriage took place with a girl five years older than him, who later came to be known as “Khas Mahal”. By the time he started writing Parikhana, he had been married about two dozen times. How did they feel then? He wrote, “Every person has received the gift of love from God. But what should be a garden of eternal spring has become for me a costly forest.”
Despite the difficulties caused by the large number of wives and their conflicts, there was no decrease in the king’s demand for marriages. This number reached 375. In Islam, in which the number of wives is limited to four and there is a condition of treating everyone equally, how was it possible for the king to have so many marriages? For this, the emperor resorted to the custom of Mutah (temporary marriage), in which the marriage can last from one day to one year or even beyond. Subject to many conditions, this marriage can be done only with Christian and Jewish girls and the children born from it are considered legitimate. Rosie Lievenon, author of “The Last Emperor in India – Wajid Ali Shah”, a descendant of the Emperor living in Kolkata, argued in favor of these marriages, “The Emperor was such a pious man that he did not consider it appropriate to give a woman the opportunity to serve him without marrying him!”
The king’s highest-ranking palace wife was paid sixteen hundred rupees a month. Photo:AI
Wives used to get expenses up to twenty rupees!
It is interesting to know about the lifestyle and status of these wives after marrying the Emperor. It would be expected that the wives who entered the harem after marriage would have been living a life of luxury. But in reality it was the fate of only a few wives. Women who married through Muttah had to return even their jewelery and clothes after the marriage ended. In reality, there were three categories of the emperor’s wives. Those who gave birth to children of the emperor were given palace status and were put behind the curtain. Those who did not give birth to children were called Begums. The lowest status was that of the concubines, who worked as domestic servants but were tied to the king by marriage.
The highest class Mahal Bibi got sixteen hundred rupees per month for expenses. Begums were given a fixed amount of 100 rupees and Khilawati were given 20 rupees. Interestingly, the entire agreed amount did not come into his hands. For example, Begum, who was supposed to get Rs 100, got only sixteen in cash. The remaining eighty-four rupees were spent on food, clothing and residential facilities. There was also a fourth category of “Pari”. They were selected from among the courtesans of Chowk area of Lucknow on the basis of their looks and dancing and singing skills. After training, she used to be the highlight of parties. If the king felt like it, she would also become his wife through mutual marriage.
Qaiser Begum contracted gonorrhea
The condition for the highest status of wives in the palace was to give birth to a child of the emperor. Tricks were used for that also. Yasmin Pari and Safraz Pari claimed that they are pregnant. They were put behind the curtain. Later it was revealed that he had lied. She was then thrown out of the curtain and started dancing and singing again. Hoor Pari’s claim of being pregnant was not believed at first. When she was put behind the curtain after she was five months pregnant, she said to take it out otherwise she would abort the child.
Gave birth prematurely in the seventh month to a weak boy, who soon died. Qaiser Begum, whom the emperor was devoted to, gave him the disease of gonorrhea. He wrote in “Parikhana”, “I used to follow her day and night like a slave. Wherever she slept, wherever she slept, wherever she ate, he ate with her. Gave her money worth thousands of rupees. Gave her the building of the late Jalal-ud-Daula. But he took me to the doctor’s shelter.”
There is no question of high or low on the question of marriage.
The Emperor was very liberal on the question of choosing his wives. No arrogance. It is not a question of high or low. Be it a lowly maid or a slave African, whoever he liked, he married her. Even married wives proved helpful in many matters. The king did not roam in the streets of the city, so the courtiers used to search him. Then he would be presented before the king.
Some mothers would also come with their daughters and encourage them to get married. The reason was clear. Families with poor financial condition would get some money from the king in return and the girls who got married were also expected to have a life full of comforts and luxuries. Interestingly, the Emperor’s first married wife, Bibi Khas Mahal, had gifted him eight pariyas adorned with precious jewelery and dresses. Wajid Ali Shah’s father Amjad Ali Shah was considered to be of saintly nature. But in his middle age his heart had fallen on a vegetable seller. After marriage they named it Sultan Mahal. Both Amjad Ali and Sultan Mahal died in 1847. Amjad Ali had left one lakh rupees for Sultan Mahal in his will. His mother and brother claimed it. Initially Wajid Ali Shah was not ready. But after the intervention of the Governor General he made the payment.
African black wives were very popular
Wajid Ali Shah was very fond of black wives. He liked to walk in the circle of African bodyguards. In 1843, he married Yasmin Mahal, who had short black curly hair. The name of his second African wife was Ajib Khanum. Begum Hazrat Mahal’s father Amber, who is still remembered for her brave fight against the British in 1857, was also an African slave. Although Hazrat Mahal’s features were not foreign like Yasmin’s and she was an attractive woman but her complexion was also dark.
A large number of these wives used to fight among themselves a lot. Their efforts to get close to the king continued and in this effort they even got to the point of fighting like cats on the balconies of the palace and scratching each other’s hair. The king’s efforts to intervene also failed. The king was not satisfied with this. On the other hand, if we convinced one person, the other one would get angry and upset.
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