Pearl by the River: Nawab Wajib Ali Shah’s Kingdom in Exile

History emerges with clarity in retrospect. Events become significant only when one peeps into the past. Perhaps no one had anticipated that the exile of Wajid Ali Shah, King of Awadh, would eventually lead to a cultural and aesthetic renaissance in Calcutta.

Wajid Ali Shah reached the banks of Hooghly on 26 May 1856, following a long and weary journey of three months. But destiny was not kind to him and soon he was arrested and placed in Fort William by the British Government. After being in custody for twenty-five months the former King was eventually released. But a twist of fate had changed his path and taken him away from a life of luxury to austerity.