Vanishing Culture of Lucknow

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This book offers a fascinating glimpse into the opulent but fast- vanishing culture of Lucknow of the nawabi period. Although the nawabs were displaced from their seat of power by the British after the Mutiny, (now referred to as the First War of Independence), the culture and life style they had helped create did not die out. The princes and begums of the royal families, nobles and certain other privileged groups took over the role of the nawabs as promoters of this culture. The taluqdars were actually encouraged by the British to project themselves as the cultural heirs of the nawabs.

The most striking fact about the culture of Lucknow was the absence of any form of religious bigotry and intolerance. This resulted in the Ganga-Jamuni Tahzeeb a rich and composite cultural mosaic comprising both Hindu and Muslim cultural traits. A further element was added with the incorporation of the British style of architecture, dress-codes and education into the traditional mould.

The author amply illustrates this point by a detailed scrutiny of the various facets of Lucknow culture such as the monuments, forms of entertainment and the entertainers, folk-culture, gastronomic and sartorial tastes, development of languages, modes of transport, painting and calligraphy, judicious use of both indigenous and foreign sources as well as the skilful interpolation of case-studies of the individuals who made up this cultural milieu, with the general description to give a vivid impression of a rich and vibrant culture. The text is amply supported by numerous beautiful photographs.

Amir Hasan engaged in research of the Culture of Avadh initially as a hobby but later as a passion. This work is the outcome of long hours of intense reading, interpreting and most of all reading between the lines. The complications of politics, ambitions and jealousies needed to be unraveled like riddles and the hypotheses proved through a muddle of evidences contained in books of history, literature and philosophy as well as informal information contained in epistles, diaries, records in religious books, songs etc. The languages of these works range from English, Hindi, Urdu to Persian and Arabic. Dr. Hasan had multilingual fluency. He passed away in 1992 at the age of 63. He worked prolifically all his life, opening new avenues for future researchers.

Our earliest memories of our father, Dr. Amir Hasan (1929- 92) are of an author at work. Every morning, we would find him diligently working on some article, paper or book chapter. An early riser, his writing work would be taken up after a walk and a spot of gardening .He would be surrounded by reference books, loose sheets of paper and a tea tray precariously balanced in the midst of it all. One by one, we would wake up and troop to where our parents were having their morning tea. He welcomed us with a smile and read out parts of what he was working on. We were treated to beautifully worded narratives of Awadh, his experiences with the tribals of Tarai and on some rare occasions tribal folklore and also Awadhi shayari. All this was delivered in his deep mesmerizing voice which overrode the early morning chirping of birds and the whisper of breeze in the trees. The scents of the earth rose in the background from the plants he had watered when the rest were still asleep. We were given small proof-reading tasks in the summer vacations. We got to work after breakfast and competed with each other to complete our tasks. We were amateurs and perhaps our work yielded no real results but we learnt camaraderie, team work and we learnt to be proud of our ink-stained fingers. This was the nourishment we grew up on and this was the exposure that enriched our childhood and furnished us with a legacy for life. Our father did not teach us how to become authors. Through sharing his interests with us, he taught us a way of life. His writing was his hobby. He was a civil servant dedicated to the nation and his profession. By sharing his interests with us, he shared values, wisdom and notions of nobility.

In the preface of my earlier book Palace Culture of Lucknow published in 1983, by my present publishers, I had promised my readers that I would 'study many more aspects especially the contribution of common men like musicians, entertainers, sportsmen, cooks, calligraphers, artisans and the like in shaping this (Lucknow) culture, in near future.' I present this volume to my readers in 'partial' fulfilment of this promise; partial, because there are several aspects and topics inadequately covered. Nevertheless, as promised, I did try to shift the emphasis from the nawabs and begums to the common folk-men and women. If the nawabs provided the much-needed money for promotion of literature, fine arts, religious activities and the like, talents, skill and manpower flowed from the people. For understandable reasons, the people's contribution was underrated. It is, therefore, not surprising that contemporary accounts do not directly deal with or throw much light on the person and particulars of the artists, artisans and professional and serving classes who formed the base of the society and made a significant contribution to shaping the culture of Lucknow and for that matter, of Avadh. It has, therefore, been my effort to dig into contemporary literature and accounts as well as travelogues written by foreigners, together as many details as possible. My efforts have, however, not been wholly successful and there is a challenge for me and other writers and students of Man, to study further and write about the several uncovered areas and topics concerning the roles of the common people, men and women, behind the composite culture that developed during the Nawabi period.