The Lion and the Lily is a nuanced, detailed, and richly told account of the rise and fall of Awadh in the eighteenth century against the background of the international struggle between Britain and France.
Awadh's rise to prominence began when Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk (r.1722-1739) was posted there by the Mughal emperor as a demotion for failing to quell a jat rebellion. Undeterred. Saadat Khan and his successors worked relentlessly to bring stability and glory to the province. Shuja-ud-Daula (r-1754-1775), the third nawab, was widely considered the most powerful and courageous ruler of the time. But after the disastrous loss of the Mughal army at the Battle of Buxar (1764) Shuja was forced into an unsavoury alliance with the British. Despite this unfortunate development, Shuja worked hard to develop Awadh, and Faizabad in particular. Shuja's son, Asaf-ud-Daula (r.1775-1797). was a visionary and an exemplary diplomat, and his mother, Bahu Begum, a formidable force of nature. Asaf created a Shia renaissance that was a challenge to both Mughal Sunni power and the increasing parochialism of the EIC. His adopted son. Wazir Ali (r.1797-1798), was deposed by the British who then crowned his uncle Saadat Ali Khan (r.1798-1814) as a puppet ruler. In the treaty of 1801, Saadat Ali Khan ceded half of Awadh to the British East India Company and agreed to disband his troops in favour of an expensive British-run army. These and other developments would reduce Awadh to a shadow of its former glory within a couple of decades.
Using Persian, English, and hitherto untranslated French sources as well as recent work by art historians, bestselling author Ira Mukhoty brings to focus the life and times of Awadh in the eighteenth century as well as some of the most important figures of the period-the nawabs. EIC officials such as Robert Clive, Warren Hastings, Richard Wellesley, as also the powerful begums, elite eunuchs, soldiers and adventurers, such as René Madec, Jean-Baptiste Gentil, Claude Martin, Antoine Polier, artists both Indian and European, and others. The Lion and the Lily is a nuanced, detailed, and richly told account of the rise and fall of Awadh in the eighteenth century against the background of the international struggle between Britain and France.
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