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The City of Nawabs

Nawabs of Lucknow

LucknowThe Nawab of Awadh or the Nawab of Oudh (IPA: /ˈaʊd/) was the title of the rulers who governed the state of Oudh or Awadh in India during the 18th and 19th centuries. The Nawabs of Awadh belonged to a dynasty of Persian origin from Nishapur. In 1724, Nawab Sa'adat Khan established the Oudh State.

Establishment of the State of Oudh

As the Mughal Empire declined, the emperors lost their power and became puppets and prisoners of their new overlords. Awadh thus grew stronger and more independent. The capital city at the time was Faizabad.

Saadat Ali Khan I

Saadat Ali Khan (Hindi: सआदत अली खान, Urdu: سعادت علی خان‎) (b. c. 1680 – d. 19 March 1739) was the Subahdar Nawab of Awadh (Oudh) from 26 January 1722 to 1739,[2] and the son of Muhammad Nasir.[3] At the age of 25 he accompanied his father Muhammad Nasir and joined the final campaign of the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb against the Maratha in the Deccan, where the Mughal Emperor honorably awarded him the title Khan Bahadur for his steadfast services.
Sa'adat Khan was born Muhammad Amin Musawi the son of Muhammad Nasir Musawi a Shia Muslim merchant of Khurasan and descendant of Musa al-Kadhim. His grandfather a wealthy merchant migrated to India during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Saadat Ali Khan I's father became a very prominent official during the rule of Bahadur Shah I.
He had five daughters but his eldest was married to his nephew Muhammad Muqim better known as Abul Mansur Khan Safdar Jung the son of his Sister and Sayadat Khan a descendant of Qara Yusuf who succeeded him in the government of Awadh.

Nawab Saadat Ali Khan I

Abul-Mansur Khan Safdar Jung

Nawab Saadat Ali Khan I

Safdar Jung (Hindi: सफ़्दरजंग, Urdu: صفدرجنگ‎) (b. c. 1708 – d. 5 October 1754), was the Subadar Nawab of Oudh (the ruler of the Indian state of Oudh, also known as Awadh) from 19 March 1739 to 5 October 1754. He was a descendant of Qara Yusuf from the Kara Koyunlu
In 1739 he succeeded his father-in-law and maternal uncle, the Burhan ul Mulk Saadat Ali Khan I to the throne of Oudh, apparently by paying Nadir Shah twenty million rupees. The Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah gave him the title of "Safdarjung".
Safdarjung was an able administrator. He was not only effective in keeping control of Oudh, but also managed to render valuable assistance to the weakened Muhammad Shah. He was soon given governorship of Kashmir as well, and became a central figure at the Delhi court. During the later years of Muhammad Shah, he gained complete control of administration in the Mughal Empire. When Ahmad Shah Bahadur ascended the throne at Delhi in 1748, Safdarjung became his Wazir ul-Mamalik-i-Hindustan or Chief Minister of Hindustan. He was also made the governor of Ajmer and became the "Faujdar" of Narnaul. However, court politics eventually overtook him and he was dismissed in 1753.[1] He returned to Oudh in December 1753, and made Faizabad military headquarter. He died in October 1755 at the age of 46 years in Sultanpur near Faizabad.

Asaf-ud-Daula

Asaf-ud-Daula (Hindi: आसफ़ उद दौला, Urdu: آصف الدولہ‎) (b. 23 September 1748 – d. 21 September 1797) was the nawab wazir of Oudh (a vassal of the British) ratified by Shah Alam II, from 26 January 1775 to 21 September 1797,[1] and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah. His mother and grandmother were the begums of Oudh.
Asaf-ud-Daula became nawab at the age of 26, on the death of his father, Shujauddaula, on 28 January 1775.
When Shuja-ud-Daulah died he left two million pounds sterling buried in the vaults of the zenana. The widow and mother of the deceased prince claimed the whole of this treasure under the terms of a will which was never produced. When Warren Hastings pressed the nawab for the payment of debt due to the British East India Company, he obtained from his mother a loan of 26 lakh (2.6 million) rupees, for which he gave her a jagir (land) of four times the value; of subsequently obtained 30 lakh (3 million) more in return for a full acquittal, and the recognition of her jagirs without interference for life by the Company. These jagirs were afterwards confiscated on the ground of the begum's complicity in the rising of Chai Singh, which was attested by documentary evidence, as the evidence now available seems to show that Warren Hastings did his best throughout to rescue the nawab from his own incapacity, and was inclined to be lenient to the begums.

Nawab Asif ud Daula