000			03567nam a22002417a 4500
008			240908b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a9788119635979
037			_cPurchased _n Prism Books,Kadavanthra
041			_aEnglish
082			_a954.029 _bIRA/LI
100			_aIra Mukhoty
245			_aLION AND THE LILY _b: Rise and fall of awadh
250			_a1
260			_aNew Delhi _bAleph _c2024/01/01
300			_g456
500			_aThrough the turbulent eighteenth century, Awadh grew to become one of the richest and most coveted regions in all of Hindustan. Although it was nominally ruled by the Mughal emperor in Delhi, the Mughal empire itself under Muhammad Shah 'Rangeeley, and later under Shah Alam II, was in terminal decline. The British and French East India Companies were vying for control of the subcontinent. As the Seven Years War between these European powers came to an end, and the British lost territory in other parts of the world, they became more determined to seize power in India. Meanwhile, France began a 'war of revenge against its old enemy to restore its prestige. The French Revolutionary wars (179299) and the Napoleonic wars (18031815) would lead to even greater volatility in India. French players continued to intrigue till the last quarter of the eighteenth century in various Indian courts. Awadhs rise to prominence began when Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk (r.17221739) 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.17541775), 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. Shujas son, Asaf-ud-Daula (r.17751797), 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.17971798), was deposed by the British who then crowned his uncle Saadat Ali Khan (r.17981814) 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.
650			_a Indian history
650			_a memoirs and biographies
942			_cLEN
942			_2ddc
942			_2ddc
942			_2ddc
999			_c193376 _d193376