The Lion and The Lily: The Rise and Fall of Awadh – Ira Mukhoty

Through the turbulent eighteenth century, Awadh grew to become one of the richest, most sophisticated, and most coveted regions in all of Hindustan. While nominally under the Mughal banner, the empire itself was in terminal decline, leaving a vacuum where the British and French East India Companies fiercely vied for control of the subcontinent against the backdrop of the Seven Years’ War, the French Revolution, and the Napoleonic Wars.

Bestselling historian Ira Mukhoty chronicles the dramatic trajectory of this grand province. Awadh’s rise to prominence began under Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk in 1722 and reached its zenith under Shuja-ud-Daula, widely considered the most powerful ruler of his time. Following a disastrous defeat at the Battle of Buxar in 1764, Shuja was forced into an unsavory alliance with the British, yet he relentlessly worked to develop Faizabad. His son, Asaf-ud-Daula, went on to orchestrate a magnificent Shia renaissance in Lucknow that challenged both Mughal Sunni authority and the encroaching East India Company, supported by his formidable mother, Bahu Begum. However, British geopolitical maneuvers eventually reduced Awadh to a puppet state; by the Treaty of 1801, Saadat Ali Khan ceded half of the territory, disbanding his own troops in favor of an expensive, British-run army, sealing the province's tragic decline.

Using Persian, English, and hitherto untranslated French sources, alongside recent work by art historians, The Lion and the Lily brings into sharp focus the lavish life and times of eighteenth-century Awadh. Mukhoty weaves a nuanced, richly told tapestry of legendary nawabs, calculating EIC officials like Robert Clive and Warren Hastings, powerful begums, elite eunuchs, and flamboyant European adventurers and artists who shaped the fate of a spectacular civilization caught in a global tug-of-war.