Thread by @IndiaArtHistory

NAWAB SHUJA-UD-DAULA - THE LAST FIGHTING NAWAB
(A Thread)

Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula was the last "fighting Nawab" of Awadh, having had ample exposure to the art of warfare and statemanship under the tutelage of his able father, Nawab Safdarjang.

Shuja remained loyal to the Mughal court and played prominent roles in many battles, notably Third Battle of Panipat & the Battle of Buxar. After his defeat at the hands of the British, he spent the last days of his life in sprucing up Faizabad, the then capital of Awadh.

He built a fort, named strangely as "Fort Calcutta" on the banks of the Saryu river. His spacious house, "Dilkusha" was later used by the British narcotics department and came to be known as "Afeem Kothi."

Pic:- Depiction of Faizabad Fort by William Hodges, 1787.

Shuja-ud-daula also stayed in the Macchi Bhavan palace complex of Lucknow but he had no presence here. It was left to his son, Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, to transfer the capital of Awadh from Faizabad to Lucknow.

Pic:- Ruins of Macchi Bhawan, 1858

A new era thus began in Lucknow and for the Nawabs. An era of building great edifices, an era of merriment, art, culture and what some would call decadence. But no successor of Shuja-ud-daula ever went to any battle NOR they visited the Mughal court at Delhi.