Imambara Kaiwan Jah- A Grief- Stricken Mother’s Solace

Imambara Kaiwan Jah- A Grief- Stricken Mother’s Solace

By Prof.Mazhar Naqvi 

Imambara Kaiwan Jah in Lucknow symbolizes a grief- stricken mother’s desire to keep alive the memory of her ill-fated son under the shadow of relics dedicated to martyrs of Karbala. The builder of Imambara was not an ordinary lady but a favorite queen of King Naseer Uddin Haider with the title Malika Zamani. Like many a queens of Awadh rulers, she also came from an ordinary background. Her real name was Dulari and Naseer Uddin Haider had conferred upon her the title of Malika Zamani after marrying her. 

Dulari was appointed as wet nurse by Badshah Begum for heir apparent and son of Naseer Uddin Haider, Munna Jaan. Badshah Begum was widow of Badshah Ghazi Uddin Haider and a final authority in all the matters related to royal harem. She had great love for Munna Jaan and she selected Dulari after personally conducting interviews of several candidates. Badshah Begum wanted the best possible care of Munna Jaan and her choice fell on Dulari after Shahi Hakims declared her milk as first rate and absolutely fit for the health of heir apparent.

Being a woman of exceptional beauty, Dulari attracted the attention of Naseer Uddin Haider when he visited harem to see his son Munna Jaan who was born to Begum Afzal Mahal during the reign of Ghazi Uddin Haider. He found Dulari so captivating that he married her much to the heart- burning of Badshah Begum in 1826.Upon ascending throne on October 20, 1827, Naseer Uddin Haider declared her as his first consort with the title of Malika Zamani (Queen of the age).The King also gave her an estate yielding her Rs.6 lakhs annually as pin-money.

Colonel Sleeman has given the background of Dulari in detail in his writings on Awadh Kingdom. He reveals that she was given as bondage against her father’s debt at the age of five and later on she was adopted by one Karamatun Nisa who married her to a boy called Rustam. She bore two children namely Mohammad Ali and Zeenatun-Nisa. Sleeman has also accused her of having extra marital affairs with a blacksmith and a ‘Mahaout’ (Elephant Driver).

To what extent the allegations hold good may be debatable but the fact remains that after becoming Malika Zamani she behaved gracefully as a queen and had firm control over the mood swings of Naseer Uddin. She also proved herself as a great devotee of Imam Husain and Hazrat Abbas by doling out money generously for Muharram ceremonies. Malika Zamani took advantage of her influence on the King and managed to persuade Naseer Uddin Haider to declare her son from Rustam as heir apparent in place of Munna Jaan. She also asked him to demand from British Government to recognize Mohammad Ali alias Kaiwan Jah as heir apparent.

Her efforts yielded no result as Naseer Uddin lost interest in her after the arrival of new Begums and reversed his decision. He also appealed to the British government to cancel the nomination of Kaiwan Jah and asked for the recognition of Munna Jaan as heir apparent. The British took advantage of the reversal of nominations and used it as pretext to reject the coronation of Munna Jaan as the new ruler after the death of Naseer Uddin Haider on the intervening night of 7 and 8 July 1837. Instead of Munna Jaan, they placed 63-year old uncle of the deceased King Muhammad Ali Shah on the throne of Awadh Kingdom.

Dejected over the developments, Malika Zamani preferred a secluded life with full devotion to Azadari. But Kaiwan Jah found reduction in the status of her mother too much. He breathed her last on May 16, 1838 at a young age. Kaiwan Jah was laid to rest in front of ‘Tripolia’ (Three arched gateway) entrance to world famous Karbala Talkatora.

The grief- stricken Malika Zamani erected an Imambara over her son’s grave in a bid to find solace and keep alive the memory of Kaiwan Jah forever. She also decorated the Imambara with exquisite relics, artifacts and calligraphy. Though small in size, the decoration of Imambara offers a visual treat to devotees and visitors due to its richly painted art-work and beautiful calligraphic inscriptions of Quaranic verses, covering even the walls. Stucco moldings embellish the arches and pillars. Imambara has two halls and a Shahnashin with side galleries. Its façade also has floral decoration and calligraphy in stucco thanks to the renovation carried out recently by a group of devout Muslims from their own pockets. (Reference available on request)