Nasir-Ud-Din Haider
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This article was written in 1939 and has been extracted from
HISTORIC LUCKNOW
By SIDNEY HAY
ILLUSTRATED BY
ENVER AHMED
With an Introduction by
THE RIGHT HON. LORD HAILEY,
G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.
Sometime Governor of the United Provinces
Asian Educational Services, 1939.
Nasir-Ud-Din Haider
1827—1837
Following Tradition, the second King of Oudh, who succeeded to the throne in 1827, changed his name from Suleman Jah to Nasir-ud-din Haider.
King Ghazi-ud-Din Haider died—and it is significant of the violent deeds prevalent in those days that historians add that he died “a natural death”—on October 20, 1827, to be succeeded by one whom he had declared to be his son by a slave girl, but who was popularly reputed to be the son of a washerman attached to the palace.
This rumour is supported by a document which states that “Ghazee-ood-Deen had no son and only one daughter, who married her cousin and had issue Mossem-ood-Doulah, the true heir to the throne. Ghazeeood- Deen, instead of leaving the throne to his true heir and grandson Mossem-ood-Doulah, left it to Nuseer-ood-Deen Hydeer.” Moreover, Colonel Low, the British Resident in Lucknow, wrote a memorandum saying that a letter was intercepted from the Padshah Begum addressed to the late Mr. Secretary Stirling to the effect that Nasir-ud-Din Haider was not the rightful heir, nor even the son of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider.
Although Nasir appeared to inherit none of the dignity and kingly qualities of his predecessor, a love of mechanics characterised them both. He built and equipped the Tara Wala Kothi, or observatory, which he placed under the charge of Colonel Wilcox. He was much interested in steamers, then a recent invention even in Europe. So interested was he that he bought and placed upon the Ganges one of these new-fangled contraptions in order to make occasional excursions.
The Bengal Steam Navigation Fund enjoyed his liberal support in return for keeping him informed of current developments. He employed a succession of European artists of note as his court painters, among them Robert Home and George Beechey. The latter was also made Comptroller of the King’s Household. Indeed, Nasir-ud-Din surrounded himself with Europeans wherever possible and was at the mercy of any degenerate rascal who happened to come along so long as he was a European. Chief among these was the notorious barber, de Russet, who was said to have fleeced the King of no less than 24 lakhs of rupees.
Nasir-ud-Din who had no proper conception of his kingly responsibilities cared only for amusements, and his tastes grew more and more degenerate with the passing of time. He took as his chief wife Sultana Boa, the grand-daughter of the Emperor Shah Alam. But when she realised what manner of man he was, she cut herself off from him and lived in seclusion. Another of his wives was a Miss Walters, daughter of George Hopkins Walters, a retired servant of the Company. She held his attention for some years during which she wheedled considerable wealth from him.
She married him in 1827 and died in November 1830. The house in which her mother, then Mrs. Wheatley, and elder sister lived stands to this day within the Residency enclosure where it is known as the Begum Kothi. The elder unmarried daughter was known as the Begum Ashraf-un-Nisa, whilst the younger one who married the King became a Muhammadan and took the name of Jukuddera Queela. Still another woman was raised from the status of an infant’s nurse to that of chief consort. She became known as Malika Jamani, or Queen of the Age, when she married the King. Her son, Kywan Jah, already three years old before she entered the palace by the front door, the King insisted upon nominating as his heir.
The King had originally peculiarly lank straight hair, and not an approach to a curl had ever been seen therein. The barber, de Russet, wrought wonders during a chance visit from Calcutta and the King was delighted. Honours and wealth were showered upon the lucky coiffeur. So much did Nasir-ud-Din come to lean upon him that he trusted de Russet to see that every bottle of wine was sealed in the barber’s house before being brought to the royal table. Before he opened it, the little man carefully inspected the seal to see that all was well. He then opened it, took a sip himself, and poured out a glass for the King.
In the Lucknow museum stands a bronze bust of King Nasir-ud-Din Haider, showing a sensual, almost feminine, countenance with full lips, the whole framed in luxuriant curls, upon which rests a fine massive crown. It is interesting to compare this bust with an earlier portrait showing him with a firmer mouth, his hair short and severely straight, as it was before the ministrations of de Russet.
He wears in both pictures the same ermine robe of state, the same jewelled collar, and the same wondrous chain of gems, and what must be the same crown, although in one or the other it has been carelessly copied, for the details are dissimilar. Animal fights were a fashionable court pastime of the day, especially when the combatants were elephants or quails. The fights of the former took place near the Moti Mahal palace, and those of the latter upon the King’s dinner table after a banquet.
King Nasir-ud-Din Haider had that shrewd cunning often associated with the possessor of a weak intellect. He was quick to see slights whether or not they were intended. On the other hand, he was easily delighted with childish games if he was assured they were popular among European children. Leap-frog took his fancy and, although he collapsed when trying to “make a back” or when he failed to clear a back bent for him, it was not through lack of effort. He had heard from the Englishmen surrounding him about the fox’s brush as a trophy at the end of a run. Not to be outdone, he set his cheetahs coursing after deer. At the end of the chase, having followed on horseback, he secured the tail of a deer, attached it to the front of his cap, and rode home in triumph.
Year by year the power of the barber steadily grew. He could do no wrong in the King’s eyes. Nobody dared gainsay him. But year by year the King grew more capricious and, at last, after a more than usually strong representation from the British Resident, Nasir-ud-Din exclaimed in a fit of rage to de Russet that he had driven away the only good counsellors in the state. The barber saw that his reign of influence was about to end, wisely gathered together all the valuables he could muster and fled from the kingdom into the Company’s territory.
After his departure the King was more rudderless than ever. His fear of poisoning grew overwhelming. All his drinking water he drew from a small well in the palace, kept free from contamination by being under his own lock and key. He always locked away the jar in which he drew his own water. The persons who ministered to his thirst, save when the water came from English sealed bottles, were two sisters, Dhuneea and Dulwee.
Gradually aliens were introduced into the ranks of the palace servants. Four months after the barber’s departure, the King died by drinking poisoned sharbat — the very thing of which he had been most afraid—on July 8, 1837. He was interred in the kerbala built by himself at Iradat Nagar on the north bank of the Gumti.
