Pearl by the River :

Nawab Wajid Ali Shah’s Kingdom in exile

(Rupa Publication India )

 

 

 

                      Vintage photograph of Sultan Khana

 

Wajid Ali Shah rented a palatial house in Garden Reach paying five hundred rupees per month for it. The house was a riverside resort of the Maharaja of Burdwan. However, the English records state that the government was conducive to finding a decent abode for the ex-king and his retinue. Therefore, a palatial riverside resort that belonged to Sir Lawrence Peel, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court in Calcutta, at Garden Reach was rented out to him. Wajid Ali’s own book Sheo-e-Faiz indicates that after his arrival in Calcutta Wajid Ali stayed in the house of Burdwan’s Maharaja, which was rented at five hundred rupees per month. Wajid Ali Shah’s writing testifies―

 

Raja Bardhawan ki kothi panch saye ki kiraet per raisa.

 

Meaning-Burdwan’s Maharaja’s kothi was rented at five hundred rupees per month. Therefore, the information that Sir Laurence Peel’s house was arranged by the British, is not true. Moreover, the mansion of Laurence Peel is more than five kilometres away from the Shahi Masjid along the river. Contemporary narrator Abdul Halim Sharar, described Shahi Masjid as King’s personal worship place located adjacent to his palace - Sultan Khana.

 

The Mansion of Sir Laurence Peel

 

Presenting a vintage photograph of the original Sultan Khana built by Wajid Ali Shah at Metiyaburj. See on the left hand side the old building structure, which belonged to Maharaja of Burdwan and rented to the King. Alongside, also see the Bungalow of Sir Laurence Peel in today’s perspective.

  

Grab your copy Pearl by the River : Wajid Ali Shah’s Kingdom in Exile to read more…..

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