Today is the day that led to the inception of an iconic Bengali dish and also a day that tells a story of a tragic Indian mother buried in Paris. A short thread on a fabled concourse of history. (1/10)
Back in 1856, on this day, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of British India, annexed the kingdom of Awadh with the allegation of misadministration and exiled the Last Nawab Wajid Ali Shah to Calcutta. (2/10)
Wajid Ali Shah arrived in Calcutta, started living in the Metiabruz area with the aid of a pension, built a mini Lucknow around him, inspired the art scene heavily and introduced Thumri and Kathak to Calcutta. (3/10)
He also brought his exotic Khansamas with him from Awadh who were inventing a new genre of food marrying local ingredients with Awadhi cuisine. They experimented with the famous ‘Alu’, adding it to the Lukhnow Biriyani, thus giving birth to the enigmatic Calcutta Biryani. (4/10)
The story of the mother of Nawab took a completely different turn after the exile.The Queen Mother of Wajid Ali Shah,Malika Kishwar aka Janab-i ‘Aliyyah who spent her entire life behind Purdah,travelled all the way to England to meet Queen Victoria pleading her son’s case. (5/10)
Unfortunately, by the time she met the Queen, Sepoy Uprising had begun back home, her son was declared a traitor and she was denied a passport back to India. An illustration of the Queen from Le Monde illustré by artist Nélie Jacquemart. (6/10)
The helpless Queen Mother tried to go to Mecca via France but unfortunately, her health deteriorated and she breathed her last stranded at a hotel in the rue Lafitte in Paris. The funeral was covered in detail by the French journal L’Illustration and Le Monde illustré. (7/10)
Numerous candles illuminated the scene, the Queen was given a guard of honour and she was carried in a white wooden coffin to the Muslim quarter of Père Lachaise cemetery. (8/10)
The forgotten Queen Mother is buried in the most visited cemetery of Paris in an uncelebrated way. (9/10)
Source: The Last King in India: Wajid Ali Shah by Rosie Llewellyn-Jones. Narrative of the Indian Revolt from Its Outbreak to the Capture of Lucknow
By Colin Campbell Baron Clyde.
Photo courtesy: Madhura Roy, Ahmad Ali Khan, Wikimedia Commons, Le Monde Illustré. (10/10)
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What began as a policy rift spiraled into one of the most bitter face-offs in 20th-century geopolitics. Indira Gandhi vs. Richard Nixon — a diplomatic Cold War drama, soaked in ego, war, and unfiltered racism. Let’s rewind to the early 1970s. Thread.
1/16
The world was on edge. India was on the brink of war with Pakistan. Bangladesh was fighting for freedom.
Millions of refugees were pouring into India.
And the White House—was furious.
Why? Because Indira Gandhi wouldn’t bend to U.S. pressure.
2/16
In 1971, Indira Gandhi visited the U.S. to explain the refugee crisis and the brewing genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
But President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger weren’t interested in moral arguments.
3/16
Magnus Carlsen’s dramatic fist slam this week after an unexpected defeat by Gukesh Dommaraju sparked waves worldwide. But, chess has always been war. In 1978, a world title match featured hypnotism, black magic, yogurt conspiracies, and a murder trial in India.
Thread
1/20
On the surface, it was a game of 64 squares. But in the shadows, it was war. Not metaphorical war — real, ideological, psychological, and bizarre. It’s a game of strategy and psychology, yes, but history tells us it’s also a theater of madness. 2/20
The 1978 World Chess Championship between Anatoly Karpov and Viktor Korchnoi in Baguio, Philippines, was unlike any chess match before or since. This wasn’t just Karpov vs. Korchnoi. It was the USSR vs. a defector. Communism vs. exile. 3/20
In just a few hours, PSG will face Inter Milan—one of Italy’s most iconic clubs—in the UCL final. Indian fans have long held a soft spot for Italian football, yet few remember that it was a group of Italians who sparked Bengaluru’s passion for the game. Thread
1/15
Karnataka has produced many cricket legends — Vishwanath, Kumble, Dravid. In a city that lives and breathes cricket, home to the iconic Chinnaswamy Stadium, there’s one neighborhood that worships football: Gowthampura.
2/15
How did the beautiful game take root here? Surprisingly, the answer: Benito Mussolini.
To understand how a small, working-class suburb in Bangalore became one of India’s football nurseries, we need to wind the clock back to 1941 — the world deep in the throes of WWII.
Today being National Biscuit Day, we present to you one of our past threads about an iconic Indian biscuit brand that became a symbol of national pride and a new Indian identity (1)
In 2011, a Nielsen survey report stated ‘Parle-G’ was one of the bestselling biscuit brands in the world surpassing hugely popular international brands like ‘Oreo’. So how did the cheapest teatime snack become the no. 1 choice around the world? (2)
Even in the present times, with inflation rising year on year, you can get a packet of 10 Parle G biscuits for just Rs. 5. Doesn’t that sound too good to be true? (3)
Last month, India hit rock bottom in news culture. But once, there was a journalist so trusted, villagers from remote corners wrote him letters asking about everything from world affairs to kitchen remedies. Meet the forgotten father of Indian journalism. Thread. 1/20
There was a time when if Ramananda Chatterjee said something—people believed it without question. So much so, that strangers from across India would write to him asking things like: "How much does it cost to build a house in Ghatsila?" "Do the floors crack from the summer heat?" 2/20
These weren’t journalists or scholars—just everyday people, sure that if Ramananda replied, it was the truth. And he always replied—privately, precisely, and never for show. 3/20
Mysore Pak is in the news for all the wrong reasons. Some shops have reportedly begun renaming the iconic sweet. Mysore Pak is more than that. Its origins trace back to one of India's most progressive and secular rulers—a history that's now ironically under strain. Thread 1/13
As the story goes, in 1935, in the city of Mysore ruled by food connoisseur Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, a creative head chef named Kaksura Madappa created a delectable new sweet treat made of ghee, gram flour, and sugar.
2/13
Thanks to Madappa's culinary genius and the Maharaja's patronage, this delectable treat quickly gained immense popularity and has since become one of India's most iconic desserts. Thus Mysore Pak was born. But there is a layer to this story, just like the sweet. 3/13