Awadh
Awadh, also known as Oudh, was a historic region and semi-autonomous kingdom in northern India, ruled by a dynasty of Shia Muslim Nawabs from 1722 until its annexation by the British East India Company in 1856.[1][2] The state originated when Saadat Khan, appointed as Mughal governor of the province, consolidated power and laid the foundations for hereditary rule, transforming Awadh from a Mughal subah into a prosperous successor state amid the empire's decline.[3] Centered on the fertile Gangetic plains with Lucknow as its capital from 1775, Awadh flourished economically through agriculture, trade, and revenue reforms, while its Nawabs patronized Indo-Persian culture, including architecture like the Bara Imambara, performing arts such as Kathak dance, and a refined cuisine blending Mughal and local traditions.[4][5] The kingdom's progressive ceding of territory and autonomy to the British via treaties, culminating in the 1856 annexation justified by claims of administrative malfeasance, provoked acute local grievances over disrupted taluqdari land rights and royal deposition, directly fueling the 1857 Indian Rebellion.[6][7] Despite its fall, Awadh's legacy endures in Uttar Pradesh's cultural heartland, marked by syncretic Hindu-Muslim heritage and architectural grandeur that outlasted political vicissitudes.[8]Geography and Extent
Historical Boundaries and Location
The historical core of Awadh comprised the fertile alluvial plains of the central Gangetic region in northern India, centered around key urban and administrative hubs such as Lucknow, Faizabad (including Ayodhya), Sultanpur, Barabanki, Rae Bareli, and Unnao, which formed the political and cultural heartland under Mughal provincial governance from the 16th century onward.[9] This nucleus extended southward from the Ganges River, incorporating territories vital for agricultural surplus and military logistics, while avoiding overlap with adjacent subahs like Agra or Allahabad until expansions in the 18th century.[10] By the mid-18th century, under the autonomous Nawabs beginning with Saadat Khan's appointment as subahdar in 1722, Awadh's boundaries expanded through conquests and diplomatic maneuvers, incorporating areas like parts of Rohilkhand and the Doab after the 1750s Rohilla conflicts and alliances against Maratha incursions.[11] The kingdom's maximal extent prior to British interventions reached approximately 50,000 square miles, but following the 1801 Treaty of Bassein and subsequent cessions—including Gorakhpur, the lower Doab, and Farrukhabad—the residual territory stabilized at around 24,000 square miles by the early 19th century, bounded roughly by the Ganges to the north, the Ramganga to the west, and the Ghaghara to the east.[6] This configuration positioned Awadh as a critical buffer state between the Mughal imperial remnants near Delhi and the expanding influences of Bengal and the Deccan powers, enhancing its role in containing regional threats.[12] Awadh's strategic location in the Indo-Gangetic corridor underscored its importance for overland trade routes linking northern India to the eastern provinces, with control over riverine access points facilitating commerce in grains, textiles, and saltpeter, while its proximity to Delhi—about 250 miles southeast—allowed Nawabs to maneuver between nominal Mughal suzerainty and independent assertion.[13] Cartographic records from the period, such as those commissioned by European observers in the 1770s, depict Awadh's frontiers as fluid yet defensible, often delineated by natural features like river confluences rather than fixed fortifications, reflecting the era's decentralized power dynamics.[4] This geographical positioning not only bolstered economic resilience but also invited repeated interventions, culminating in the British annexation of 1856.Physical Features and Resources
The Awadh region comprises vast alluvial plains within the Indo-Gangetic basin, featuring flat, low-lying terrain at elevations averaging 100-200 meters above sea level, shaped by millennia of sediment deposition from river systems.[1] These plains extend across the historical core between the Ganges and Ghaghara rivers, with minimal topographic variation except for occasional levees and depressions formed by fluvial action.[14] Principal rivers traversing Awadh include the Ganges to the south, the Ghaghara (also known as Sarayu in upper reaches) from the north, and tributaries such as the Gomti and Sai, which originate in the nearby Vindhyan hills and deposit nutrient-rich silt during seasonal floods.[14] This hydrological network historically facilitated irrigation and prevented aridity, though it also posed risks of inundation in low-lying areas.[9] The region's soils are predominantly fertile alluvial loams and clays, enriched by riverine silt, particularly in interfluve doab zones, enabling high agricultural productivity with double-cropping systems.[1] These soils support staple crops like rice in kharif (monsoon) seasons, wheat in rabi (winter), and sugarcane as a cash crop, with historical yields bolstered by the dark, organic-rich profiles in central and southern districts.[9] Awadh's climate is humid subtropical with monsoon dominance, characterized by hot summers (March-June) exceeding 40°C, mild winters (December-February) around 10-20°C, and annual rainfall of 800-1,500 mm concentrated in July-September, which replenishes groundwater and sustains soil moisture for rain-fed farming.[15] Natural resources beyond agriculture are modest; northern fringes adjacent to the Terai belt yielded timber from sal and teak forests, used for construction and fuel, while mineral deposits were negligible due to the sedimentary plain's geology, lacking significant metallic ores or coal seams.[16] This resource profile underscored agriculture's centrality, with riverine fertility driving population density and economic surplus historically.[1]Name and Origins
Etymology
The name Awadh originates from the Sanskrit word Ayodhyā (अयोध्या), denoting "not to be warred against" or "unassailable," a term derived from the negative prefix a- combined with yodhya, the future passive participle of the verb yudh ("to fight" or "wage war").[17][18] This etymology reflects the ancient city's reputed invincibility, as the capital of the Kosala kingdom, which lent its designation to the broader historical region.[4] In medieval Persianate administrative and literary records, the name shifted phonetically to Avādh or Ūdh (anglicized as "Oudh"), adapting Indo-Aryan sounds to Persian orthography and pronunciation, where intervocalic y often simplified or elided in favor of smoother transitions.[4] Early attestations appear in Indo-Persian chronicles from the Delhi Sultanate era onward, marking the region's incorporation into Islamic polities following invasions in the late 12th and 13th centuries, though precise initial references trace to transitional texts blending local and Persian influences.[19] Within the Awadhi dialect—an Eastern Hindi variety rooted in Indo-Aryan Prakrit forms—the name exhibits phonetic evolution from Ayodhyā to Avadha or Awadh, characterized by vowel elongation (e.g., o to wa), consonant softening, and regional nasalization absent in modern standard Hindi, as evidenced in early literary usages like Malik Muhammad Jayasi's Padmāvat (1540 CE) and Tulsidas's Rāmcaritmānas (c. 1575 CE), where variants such as avadha denote the locale.[19] These shifts underscore Awadhi's divergence from Western Hindi dialects, preserving older Sauraseni and Magadhi Prakrit substrates while adapting to vernacular speech patterns in the Oudh heartland.[19]Ancient and Mythological Associations
Ayodhya, the ancient core of the Awadh region, features prominently in the Ramayana, an epic traditionally dated to the 5th–4th centuries BCE, as the capital of the Kosala kingdom ruled by the Ikshvaku dynasty and the birthplace of Rama, depicted as an ideal king and incarnation of Vishnu. This narrative establishes Ayodhya's mythological significance as a prosperous riverside city on the Sarayu, symbolizing dharma and royal virtue in Hindu tradition, though its historicity relies on literary rather than empirical corroboration.[20][21] Historical identification links Ayodhya with Saketa, a prominent urban center in the Kosala mahajanapada during the 6th–5th centuries BCE, one of the 16 great kingdoms outlined in early Indian texts. Buddhist scriptures, including the Samyutta Nikaya, describe Saketa under King Prasenajit (Pasenadi), a contemporary of Gautama Buddha, who visited and taught there multiple times, evidencing the city's role in early Buddhist dissemination. Jain texts similarly record Mahavira's presence and designate Ayodhya as a key pilgrimage site (tirtha), supported by artifacts such as a 4th–3rd century BCE Jain figure unearthed locally.[21][22] Archaeological strata at Ayodhya reveal settlement continuity from the Painted Grey Ware culture (circa 1200–600 BCE) through the Northern Black Polished Ware horizon (700–200 BCE), indicating Iron Age occupation contemporaneous with the mahajanapadas and Vedic-to-urban transition, though monumental structures appear later under Mauryan influence (3rd century BCE). The Faizabad area, adjacent to Ayodhya, shares this Kosalan context, with regional sites reflecting early agrarian and trade networks.[23] Post-mahajanapada records thin out, with no dense epigraphic trail linking Vedic Kosala directly to later polities until scattered Gupta-era references (4th–6th centuries CE) to northern districts, underscoring evidentiary gaps in administrative or cultural continuity amid migrations and invasions, such as Nanda expansions around 400 BCE that disrupted Kosalan hegemony.[23][22]History
Pre-Mughal and Early Islamic Periods
The region of Awadh was incorporated into Muslim rule as part of the Delhi Sultanate's expansion into the Gangetic plains during the early 13th century, following the Ghorid invasions that destabilized Hindu kingdoms in northern India after 1194. Under sultans like Iltutmish (r. 1211–1236), the area became a frontier province subject to raids and gradual consolidation, with governors appointed to collect tribute and suppress revolts amid ongoing Hindu resistance.[4] By the mid-14th century, Awadh functioned as a key administrative iqta (land grant) under the Tughlaq dynasty, contributing revenue from its fertile agriculture and strategic location along trade routes, though central control weakened due to rebellions and Timur's sack of Delhi in 1398. The establishment of the Jaunpur Sultanate in 1394 by Malik Sarwar, a former Tughlaq wazir, shifted effective governance, as the Sharqi rulers extended authority over Awadh, Kanauj, and parts of the Doab, fostering urban development in Jaunpur while maintaining a semi-independent stance toward Delhi until Bahlul Lodi's campaigns subdued the sultanate by 1479.[4][24][25] Local dynamics featured persistent resistance from Hindu chieftains, particularly Rajput lineages and tribal groups like the Bhars, who controlled fortified pockets in eastern Awadh and extracted concessions through guerrilla tactics or nominal submission, preserving cultural continuity despite Islamic overlordship. Sufi missionaries, primarily of the Chishti order, played a role in gradual Islamization by establishing hospices that bridged communal divides, though governance remained fragmented under appointed amirs and zamindars prone to factionalism. This era of sultanate-era provincialism, documented in chronicles like those of contemporary historians, set precedents for decentralized rule without the later imperial centralization.[4][26]Mughal Provincial Administration
The subah of Awadh was created by Mughal Emperor Akbar during his administrative reforms between 1572 and 1580, as one of the initial twelve provinces designed to centralize control over vast territories through appointed governors and standardized fiscal mechanisms.[27] This reorganization divided the empire into subahs, each subdivided into sarkars (districts) and parganas (sub-districts), with Awadh encompassing fertile Gangetic plains including areas around modern Lucknow, Faizabad, Bahraich, and Gorakhpur. The subahdar, directly appointed by the emperor, oversaw civil and military administration, ensuring tribute flowed to Delhi while suppressing local rebellions and maintaining imperial forts.[2] Revenue administration integrated Awadh into the broader Mughal zabt system, where land taxes were assessed based on soil fertility, crop yields, and measurement under Akbar's minister Raja Todar Mal, with rates typically fixed at one-third of produce payable in cash.[28] Zamindars, as hereditary local intermediaries, played a pivotal role in collection, advancing funds against future harvests and managing peasant cultivation, though their authority was checked by periodic imperial audits to curb encroachments. This yielded substantial imperial revenue, supporting military campaigns and court expenditures, as evidenced by detailed provincial accounts compiled in official records.[29] Lucknow developed as a prominent faujdari center by the early 17th century, hosting faujdars responsible for law enforcement, troop deployment, and quelling disturbances across multiple sarkars.[30] Following Aurangzeb's death in 1707, central oversight eroded amid succession wars and fiscal strains, allowing subahdars greater leeway in alliances and resource allocation, though formal subordination to Delhi persisted until the early 18th century. Governors increasingly navigated local power structures, including alliances with Shia Muslim elites amid broader sectarian influences from Persian migrants, which subtly shifted administrative networks without overt defiance.[31]Establishment and Rise of the Nawabs
![Portrait of Safdarjung, second Nawab of Awadh][float-right] Saadat Khan, known as Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed subahdar of Awadh by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah in 1722, capitalizing on the empire's weakening central authority following the instability after Aurangzeb's death in 1707.[3][32] As the first de facto Nawab ruling until his death in 1739, he suppressed rebellious local chiefs and zamindars, including the Sheikhs of Lucknow, to consolidate provincial control and redirect revenue collection to his administration rather than Delhi.[33][34] His nephew and successor, Safdarjung, who assumed the nawabship in 1739, further secured hereditary succession by expanding Awadh's territory through military campaigns, including actions against Bundela Rajputs and incursions into Rohilkhand against Afghan Rohilla chiefs in the 1740s.[32] These efforts, supported by Awadhi troops in Mughal armies, enhanced stability and allowed the governors to transition toward semi-independent rule, with Safdarjung refusing imperial transfers and asserting autonomy by the mid-1740s.[35] Early Nawabs balanced diplomacy amid threats from regional powers, as Saadat Khan mobilized forces against Maratha advances near Jalesar and maintained nominal Mughal allegiance through tribute payments.[36] Safdarjung extended this by negotiating the Treaty of Ahadnama with Marathas in 1752, which delineated spheres of influence and provided respite from invasions, while navigating Afghan pressures via alliances and conflicts in Rohilkhand.[37] By the 1740s, these measures, combined with farmans recognizing hereditary claims, solidified Awadh's status as a successor state exploiting the Mughal power vacuum.[32]Nawabi Era: Governance, Patronage, and Internal Challenges
The Nawabi era, spanning from the mid-18th to mid-19th century, featured a centralized administration under the Shia Nawabs who governed Awadh as a semi-autonomous province, initially owing nominal allegiance to the Mughal emperor. Key figures like Asaf-ud-Daula (r. 1775–1797) implemented policies blending fiscal pragmatism with public welfare initiatives; during the 1784 famine, he launched massive construction projects, including the Bara Imambara complex in Lucknow, which employed up to 20,000 workers daily by day and had materials dismantled and rebuilt at night to sustain employment without depleting resources.[38][5] These efforts not only mitigated immediate starvation but also symbolized the Nawabs' role as paternalistic rulers, channeling state resources into infrastructure that enhanced urban prestige. Patronage under the Nawabs profoundly shaped Awadh's cultural landscape, with Asaf-ud-Daula and successors promoting Shia religious practices and Indo-Persian arts. As devout Twelver Shias, the Nawabs elevated Muharram observances, constructing imambaras and tazias that replicated Karbala's shrines, embedding these rituals into Lucknow's architecture and social life; Asaf-ud-Daula's expansions made the city a pilgrimage center for Shia devotees across India.[39] This support extended to literary and performing arts, fostering institutions for Urdu poetry, Kathak dance, and miniature painting, which blended Mughal, Persian, and Awadhi elements under royal ateliers.[40] Despite these achievements, internal challenges eroded governance efficacy, primarily through chronic fiscal mismanagement and military overextension. The Nawabs maintained armies exceeding 100,000 troops for defense and prestige, incurring costs that outstripped agrarian revenues reliant on taluqdari intermediaries; court extravagance, including lavish festivals and palace expansions, led to mounting debts, with estimates under later rulers like Wajid Ali Shah (r. 1847–1856) reaching crores of rupees borrowed at high interest.[12][41] Administrative corruption and inefficient tax farming compounded these issues, as revenue demands alienated zamindars and peasants, fostering internal rebellions and weakening central authority without external interventions.[10]British Subsidiary Alliance and Annexation
In 1801, Nawab Saadat Ali Khan signed the Treaty of Lucknow with the British East India Company under Governor-General Lord Wellesley, formalizing a subsidiary alliance that subordinated Awadh's sovereignty. The treaty required the Nawab to disband his own army, host a British subsidiary force funded by Awadh's treasury, and cede approximately half of his territories—including Rohilkhand, Gorakhpur, the Lower Doab, Allahabad, Farrukhabad, Etawah, Cawnpore, and Fatehgarh—to the Company in exchange for protection against external threats.[42][43] This arrangement effectively placed Awadh's foreign policy under British control while imposing heavy financial burdens, as the subsidy for the British troops strained the state's revenues and limited internal autonomy.[12] The subsidiary alliance marked the onset of incremental British encroachment, with subsequent interventions reinforcing Company oversight. British Residents, such as John Richard Abercrombie, increasingly influenced court decisions, while demands for higher subsidies exacerbated fiscal pressures, compelling the Nawabs to raise taxes and alienate local elites like the taluqdars. By the 1840s and 1850s, under Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, British assessments highlighted administrative inefficiencies, including irregular revenue collection and failure to suppress banditry, though these reports often served expansionist aims rather than purely reformist ones.[44][45] Culminating this process, Governor-General Lord Dalhousie ordered the annexation of Awadh on 7 February 1856, invoking clauses from the subsidiary treaties that permitted deposition for "persistent misrule." Dalhousie's proclamation cited empirical indicators of governance failure, such as chronic revenue shortfalls—where collections averaged below 200 lakh rupees annually against a potential exceeding 250 lakh—and widespread taluqdar discontent over unpaid stipends and arbitrary exactions, justifying direct British administration to secure fiscal stability and order.[6][12] Wajid Ali Shah was deposed, granted a pension of 12 lakh rupees, and exiled to Calcutta, where he resided until his death in 1887, thereby completing the legal mechanism of takeover without immediate reliance on the Doctrine of Lapse, which applied to lapse of adoption rights in princely states.[45] This annexation added substantial revenues to the Company, estimated at over 4 million pounds sterling annually across similar policies, underscoring the fiscal pretexts amid broader imperial consolidation.[46]Central Role in the 1857 Indian Revolt
The annexation of Awadh in February 1856 generated acute grievances among taluqdars, whose estates were often confiscated or reorganized under the British doctrine of lapse and summary settlement policies, fostering widespread resentment that primed the region for rebellion when the sepoy mutiny erupted elsewhere.[47] On May 30, 1857, sepoys of the Bengal Army's 48th Native Infantry and 71st Native Infantry in Lucknow mutinied, killing British officers and setting fire to European bungalows, rapidly gaining support from local taluqdars and civilians aggrieved by land revenue impositions.[48] Begum Hazrat Mahal, consort of the deposed Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, assumed leadership of the rebels, coordinating military strategies and civil administration while proclaiming her 13-year-old son, Birjis Qadr, as Wali (viceroy) of Awadh to legitimize the resistance against British rule.[49][50] This unity between disaffected sepoys—many recruited from Awadh—and taluqdars manifested in the prolonged Siege of Lucknow, where rebels encircled the British Residency from early June until November 27, 1857, subjecting the garrison of approximately 3,000 defenders to intense bombardment and assaults that caused over 2,000 British casualties, including civilians.[51] British forces under Henry Havelock provided partial relief on September 25, 1857, evacuating survivors, but rebels retained control of much of the city until Sir Colin Campbell's full relief on November 17, enabling a temporary consolidation under Begum Hazrat Mahal's command.[51] Concurrent local uprisings proliferated across Awadh, including in Faizabad, where taluqdars like Raja Man Singh initially hesitated but faced rebel overtures reflecting shared opposition to post-annexation land policies, as noted in British administrative records; similar unrest extended to adjacent Kanpur, where sepoy mutineers from Awadh-linked units joined Nana Sahib's forces in June 1857, underscoring the regional contagion of grievances.[52][53] British reconquest intensified in early 1858, culminating in the capture of Lucknow on March 21 after Campbell's forces overwhelmed remaining rebel positions, restoring nominal control over Awadh by mid-year amid guerrilla resistance.[54] Suppression involved summary executions of captured rebels, numbering in the thousands across the region, alongside systematic property confiscations targeting taluqdars who had joined the uprising—such as the seizure of estates deemed forfeited under martial law—to redistribute to loyalists or for revenue settlement, fundamentally reshaping local power dynamics by dismantling rebel networks and enforcing disarmament through fort demolitions and police deployments.[55][56] These measures, documented in East India Company dispatches, prioritized rapid pacification over prior liberal reforms, marking Awadh's transition to direct Crown rule.[45]Direct British Rule and Administrative Reforms
Following the suppression of the 1857 revolt, in which Awadh served as a central theater of resistance, British authorities established direct Crown rule over the region, initially under a Chief Commissioner within the North-Western Provinces. This shift from East India Company oversight to imperial administration, formalized by the Government of India Act 1858, prioritized rapid stabilization through loyalty incentives and revenue security, reversing aspects of the pre-revolt annexation's disruptive land policies that had alienated taluqdars.[57] A pivotal reform was the Oudh Estates Act of 1869, which legally enshrined the proprietary rights of approximately 250 prominent taluqdars, granting them heritable, transferable estates subject to fixed revenue demands. Enacted to counter the post-annexation fragmentation that had devolved land to ryots and fueled disorder, the Act empowered these intermediaries to manage collections and local policing, fostering allegiance by restoring their pre-1856 influence while ensuring British fiscal control. This taluqdari settlement, distinct from ryotwari systems elsewhere, demonstrably reduced administrative chaos, as taluqdars' fixed assessments—totaling around 10 million rupees annually by the 1870s—encouraged estate improvements over the Nawabi era's exploitative ijara farming.[58][59] Infrastructure development further entrenched control and revenue extraction. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, incorporated in 1866 and operational from 1872 with lines connecting Lucknow to Bareilly and beyond, spanned over 1,200 miles by 1900, enabling efficient troop deployment and commodity transport that boosted indigo and grain exports. Concurrently, irrigation expansions, including extensions of the Agra Canal into eastern Oudh districts, irrigated over 500,000 acres by the 1880s, yielding documented increases in cropped area—such as wheat output rising 20-30% in canal-affected taluks per provincial gazetteers—while railways lowered transport costs, spurring commercialization without reliance on prior Nawabi stagnation.[14] Security measures reflected pragmatic containment of communal risks over ideological suppression. Immediately post-revolt, British officials banned large Muharram processions and ta'ziya constructions in Lucknow, viewing them as potential conduits for Shia-led agitation amid residual loyalties to the exiled Wajid Ali Shah; restrictions persisted until the mid-1860s, enforced via district magistrates to avert Sunni-Shia clashes or anti-British symbolism. As stability solidified through taluqdari cooperation, permissions resumed under regulated conditions by 1870, prioritizing order over erasure, with processions integrated into controlled civic life.[60]Rulers and Administration
Key Nawabs and Succession
Sa'adat Khan I, appointed as the first Nawab of Awadh in 1722 by Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah, ruled until his death in 1739 and focused on military consolidation by subduing local Rajput and Sheikh factions while establishing administrative control over the province.[61] He transferred the capital from Fatehpur to Faizabad to centralize power and suppress rebellions, laying the foundation for Awadh's semi-autonomy amid Mughal decline.[62] Succession passed to Safdar Jang, Sa'adat Khan's son-in-law and nephew, who governed from 1739 to 1754 and expanded Awadh's territory through diplomatic alliances and military campaigns against neighboring powers like the Marathas and Rohillas.[62] He strengthened ties with the Mughal court by serving as Wazir while maintaining Awadh's defenses, though internal family rivalries and external pressures marked his reign.[63] Shuja-ud-Daula, Safdar Jang's son, ascended in 1754 and ruled until 1775, surviving the defeat at the Battle of Buxar in 1764 against British forces by signing the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765, which ceded Allahabad and Kora to the East India Company and imposed a 50 lakh rupee indemnity.[64] This treaty preserved his core territories but subordinated Awadh to British influence, with Shuja focusing on military reorganization and court patronage thereafter.[65] Asaf-ud-Daula, Shuja's son, reigned from 1775 to 1797 and is noted for relocating the capital to Lucknow in 1775, initiating extensive urban development including the construction of the Bada Imambara in 1784 to provide famine relief employment.[62] His building projects, such as the Rumi Darwaza gateway, transformed Lucknow into a cultural hub, though financed partly through heavy taxation and British loans.[66] The line continued through Asaf's brother Sa'adat Ali Khan II (1798–1814), who stabilized finances post-British restoration, and adopted heirs like Ghazi-ud-din Haidar (1814–1827), but succession grew contested with later rulers facing British oversight. Wajid Ali Shah, the final Nawab from 1847 to 1856, prioritized artistic patronage including poetry and theater, yet was deposed by the British East India Company in 1856 on grounds of misgovernment and extravagance, as documented in Company reports citing administrative neglect and fiscal mismanagement.[67] Hereditary claims persisted under his son Birjis Qadr during the 1857 revolt, but British annexation ended the Nawabi dynasty.[68]| Nawab | Reign Dates | Key Relation and Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Sa'adat Khan I | 1722–1739 | Founder; military suppression of locals.[61] |
| Safdar Jang | 1739–1754 | Son-in-law; territorial expansion via diplomacy.[62] |
| Shuja-ud-Daula | 1754–1775 | Son; post-Buxar treaty resilience.[64] |
| Asaf-ud-Daula | 1775–1797 | Son; Lucknow's urban founder.[62] |
| Wajid Ali Shah | 1847–1856 | Grandson lineage; cultural patron, deposed for extravagance.[67] |