Asaf-ud-Daulah

Asaf-ud-Daulah
Nawab Wazir of Oudh
Water colour in style of Zoffany
Reign	1775 - 1797
Born	23 September 1748
Died	21 September 1797 (age 48)
Place of death	Lucknow
Buried	Bara Imambara,Lucknow
Predecessor	Shuja-ud-Daula
Successor	Wazir Ali Khan
Father	Shuja-ud-Daula
Mother	Umat uz-Zohra Begum Sahiba

Asaf-Ud-Dowlah (23 September 1748-21 September 1797) was the nawab wazir of Oudh from 1775 to 1797, and the son of Shuja-ud-Dowlah, his mother and grandmother being the begums of Oudh, whose spoliation formed one of the chief counts in the charges against Warren Hastings.

Colonel Mordaunt's cockfight by Johann Zoffany - Here Asaf-Ud-Dowlah is shown at the centre of the painting. Other notables can be identified with a cursor.

Days in reign

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 he 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.

Movement of Capital

In 1775 he moved the capital of Awadh from Faizabad to Lucknow and built various monuments in and around Lucknow, including the Bara Imambara.

Death

He died on 21 September 1797 in Lucknow and is burried at Bara Imambara, Lucknow.

Gallery

Bara Imambara, Lucknow, built by Asaf-Ud-Dowlah	A view of the Palace of the Asaf-Ud-Dowlah at Lucknow, c.1793	The Muharram Festival. Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, listening at night to the maulvi reading from the scriptures, c.1795	Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, celebrating the Muharram festival at Lucknow, c.1812
A silver ashrafi issued by Asaf-Ud-Dowlah from the Najibabad mint in AH 1211 (1796/7), regnal year 38	A silver ashrafi issued by Asaf-Ud-Dowlah from the Najibabad mint in AH 1211 (1796/7), regnal year 38	Nawab Asaf-Ud-Dowlah seated on a rug smoking a hookah and listening to a party of male musicians, c.1812	The simple grave of Asaf-Ud-Dowlah under a canopy inside the [Bara] Imambara, c.1814-15
Asaf-Ud-Dowlah at a cock-fight with Europeans; this painting most likely depicts the famous cockfight between Asaf al-Daula and Colonel Mordaunt which took place at Lucknow in 1786, c.1830-35

Timeline

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
• NIC Website

See also

• Claude Martin
• Mir Taqi Mir
• Antoine Polier

No comments have been added.

Your name:
City:
Country:	USA UK India Pakistan UAE Saudi Arabia Germany Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burund Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Rep Chad Chile China Columbia Comoros Congo Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic DR Congo Denmark Djiboutil Dominica Dominican Rep Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Eq Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Grenadines Guatemala Guinea Bissau Guinea Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Ivory Coast Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Macau Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nauru Nepal Neth Antilles Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea Norway Oman Pakistan Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Rawanda Romania Russia Sao Tome Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Korea South Africa Spain Sri Lanka St Kitts_Nevis St Lucia Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvala UAE Uganda Ukraine Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Western Samoa Yemen Yugoslavia Zaire Zambia Zimbabwe
Your comments:
Security check * (Please enter the number into adjoining box)