The word Satkhanda means seven-storeyed but this beautifully proportioned tower would never live up to its name as construction was halted at level 4. Nawab Muhammad Ali Shah commissioned the structure during his reign, which started in 1837 and went on till 1842. He built it as a watch-tower to provide a bird’s eye view… Read more »
Historically, Qaiserbagh or the king’s garden, comprised of a range of palaces to accommodate the Nawab of Awadh and his zenana. The last ruler of awadh, Wajid Ali Shah (r.1847-1856), began the building of this palace a year after his succession and it was finished in 1850. The King’s mission was to make Qaisarbagh the… Read more »
This unusual fish-shaped boat belonged to Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, who was forced out of his kingdom into exile by the British in 1856. After the Uprising of 1857, over which the British prevailed but just barely, the boat was sunk and this photograph staged to symbolically mark the end of… Read more »
Roll back the years with vintage photographs of Indian palaces from Sarmaya’s collection