When a packet from England surprised all in Nawab’s court | Lucknow News
In the Nov of 1836, a packet dispatched from England reached the court of Nawab Nasir-ud-din Haidar, the 8th ruler of Awadh.
To everyone’s surprise, the packet contained a diploma signed by Earl de Grey, declaring Nawab as the member of the British Society of Architects.
The reason for the surprise was that Nawab Nasir-ud-din was not even remotely connected to architecture.
Later, it was found that it was a cunning move on the part of the British authorities who had mastered the art of placating Indian rulers by these intangible gimmicks in exchange of tangible favours.
For a long time, the British had been feeling the need for setting up an observatory in this part of India but did not want to spend their own money on the project. Therefore, they motivated Nawab Nasir-ud-din to execute the project and this prestigious diploma was in barter of the observatory which came to be known as Tarowali Kothi.
The building of the observatory near Hazratganj today houses the office of the State Bank of India.
Contrary to this, the 6th ruler of Awadh, Saadat Ali Khan, who, according to a famous book Imad-us-Saadat, had taken an oath at Dargah Hazrat Abbas that he would not consume liquor, had a reasonable level of architectural skills.
A report of Resident John Baillie, posted in Awadh (1807- 1816), vouches for Saadat Ali’s knowledge of architecture. According to this report (1813), the Nawab has worked on the drawings of new palaces and interiors of its rooms.
Artist Henry Salt, referring to the architectural style of Saadat Ali, says that it was influenced by the European style. Viscount Valentia also had the same opinion about Nawab as he was shown a building which was built in accordance with the maps of Nawab Saadat Ali Khan.
