6 days ago
Nawab's elephant & Bakshi-ka-Talab
There are certain places whose names are associated with amusing events. The famous Bakshi-ka-Talab, located about 14 km from Lucknow on Lucknow-Sitapur Road, is one such place.
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According to historian Agha Mehdi, Nawab Nasir-ud-din Haidar, the 8th ruler of Awadh, once wanted to purchase an elephant. He chose his trusted man on the post of paymaster, Tripur Chand, for the task.
Though he was popular as Lalji, Tripur Chand was referred to as Bakshi Tripur Chand because of the nature of his job.
The Nawab gave money to Bakshi Tripur Chand to buy an elephant but strangely he did not turn up in court even after an exceptionally long time.
Bakshi's rivals started circulating rumours that Bakshi, tempted by the money, had disappeared.
When everyone lost all hopes of his return, Bakshi appeared in court. When Nawab Nasir-ud-din sought explanation for the reason for his long absence and asked about the elephant, Bakshi requested the Nawab to accompany him to see the elephant.
As he was one of the confidants of Nasir-ud-din, the curious Nawab went along with him to a place near the city where, pointing towards a 'talab' (pond), Tripur Chand said it was the Nawab's elephant.
Nawab was pleased to see that the money meant for purchasing the elephant was not spent by Bakshi for his personal gains but for the welfare of common people who were facing acute water crisis.
Bakshi Tripur Chand was honoured and rewarded by the Nawab and the 'talab' became popular as 'Bakshi Ka Talab'. Now, the entire locality around this is officially called 'Bakshi-ka-Talab'.
(The writer is a well-known historian and the author of 'The Life and Times of the Nawabs of Lucknow')
