Lucknow & The Nawabs

LUCKNOW

Situated on the bank of river Gomti, the City where the Britishers believed their Luck begins Now, such was the city which is popularly known as the place of Nawabs along with the Tehzeeb & Adab followed by the world famous Kebabs. By this time, I am pretty sure you must have adjudged the name of the city I am talking about; it's none other than the city of Cream Monuments and the Fabled City our Lucknow.

From where did this word Lucknow came??

While there are a number of stories regarding the name of the City of Nawabs, here are the some of them below:

1. LAKNA: As the historians and earlier stories have mentioned, it is said that there was a Tribe named Lakna, which use to reside in this place in the earlier times. The people of this Tribe were of Short Height & Dark Skin and were also said to be very strong physically also. So, it is said that the the name LUCKNOW was derived from the word LAKNA.

2. LAKSHMAN: It is said that after returning from Sri Lanka, Lord Ram gifted the city of Lucknow to his younger brother Lakshman, from where it was further named LAKNAVATI which twisted and concluded to the word LUCKNOW.

3. LUCK+NOW: It is said that people use to practice agriculture in Lucknow and grow Indigo here. So, as mentioned above also, the East India Company officials believed that this is the land of Luck and they believed their Luck begins Now, so they named it LUCK+NOW = LUCKNOW.

4. NAKHLAU: We often see the residents of Old Lucknow City calling it's name as NAKHLAU. It is said that the Nails (NAKHUN) of Lord Buddha were found near the Dollyganj (now Daliganj) which gave origin to the word NAKHLAU which further changed itself to LUCKNOW.

NAWABS

Who were Nawabs?

It is said that to maintain their administration in the province, the Mughals appointed their Vizier (Wajeer) who was stationed at the city and came to be known as Nawab.

Entrance of Nawabs:

Before the year 1722, the province of Awadh was ruled by Sayyids and Sheikhzadas. They were appointed by the Mughal rulers but by the time they became powerful and stopped obeying rather started disobeying the Rulers. In order to end their rule, in the year 1722, a young man named Sa'adat Ali Khan from Nishapur which is situated in Iran was called to Awadh. Saadat Ali Khan as said, was a very good fighter, upon his arrival began to survey from people regarding the Sayyids & Sheikhzadas. While the Sheikhzadas use to reside in Lucknow, on the other hand Sayyids use to live in Kakori. Saadat Ali Khan came to know about the rivalry between the Sayyids & Sheikhzadas. It is said that the Panch Mahal (Now KGMU) was the Palace of Sheikhzadas and there was a Sword dangling at the entrance, so that anybody who use to enter the Panch Mahal should first bow and enter it thereby automatically accepting the rule of Sheikhzadas. According to the survey done by Saadat Ali Khan, it came to his knowledge that he cannot defeat the Sayyids & Sheikhzadas in a direct battle as these people were so strong physically also, so he decided to play a mind game with them. Saadat Ali Khan called the Sheikhzadas to Kakori, in order to sort out their differences with Sayyids. After accepting the proposal, when the Sheikhzadas moved out of Lucknow and proceeded towards Kakori, Saadat Ali Khan counter attacked Lucknow and cut down the dangling sword at the Panch Mahal, thereby ending the rule of Sheikhzadas & Sayyids and becoming the First Nawab of Awadh.

NAWABS:

First Nawab: Saadat Ali Khan, he was married to Khadija Alam (1722-1739)

Second Nawab: Safdar Jung (1739-1754)

Third Nawab: Shuja-Ud-Daula, his wife Bahu Begum made Makbara for him. (1755-1775)

Fourth Nawab: Asaf-Ud-Daulah, he shifted Capital from Faizabad to Lucknow. He also constructed monument like Bada Imambara which was completely a work of Philanthropy (1775-1797)