Was Nawab of Awadh Wajid Ali Shah poisoned to death?
While living in Calcutta on an annual pension of Rs 12 lakh given by the British, the last Nawab of Awadh, Wajid Ali Shah, died at 10 pm on Sep 21, 1887.
A few historians like Mirza Ali Azhar suspect that Wajid Ali's death was not natural but a murder, the conspiracy of which was hatched by the British to save money which was given to him as regular pension.
Mirza Ali Azhar says, 'For the past few days, he was practically restored to health.' On the day of Wajid Ali's death, he was reading a book when Hakim Abdul Ali gave him a medicine ('chutney').
After he left, only two persons remained in the room – Zulfiqar-ud-Daulah who was practically blind and Fateh Makandar, who after some time went out to bring 'hukkah' as the Nawab wanted to smoke.
At this juncture, his trusted officer Munsarim-ud-Daulah reached the room as though he was waiting for this opportunity and asked the Nawab to take some more medicine from his hand.
It is suspected that he had mixed poison in it. Initially, the Nawab refused to take it and said that the 'haqeem' had just given him that but when Munsarim-ud-Daulah insisted, the Nawab consumed the 'chutney'.
After some time, the Nawab's condition became serious. Nawab probably realized that his end had come so he twice asked for pen, paper and ink-pot to write but Munsarim-ud-Daulah did not follow his command as he was afraid that Nawab might write something against him.
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After the death of Wajid Ali, the historian says that Munsarim-ud-Daulah was followed by a mob of old women who cried aloud: 'O! Langda Munshi (Munsarim-ud-Daulah was called 'Langda' as he limped), may God turn you into a leper! You have killed our protector, may you and your children suffer for it. May God turn you blind.'
(The writer Ravi Bhatt is a well-known historian and the author of 'The Life and Times of the Nawabs of Lucknow')
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