Call for Direct Admission
At our university, education goes beyond the classroom. Join us in celebrating their efforts and let's continue to build a more compassionate world together!
At our university, education goes beyond the classroom. Join us in celebrating their efforts and let's continue to build a more compassionate world together!
General News
07 February 2025
🖊️Sohini Ganguly Literature is born when history finds imagination and calls it home. The second day of KLF found its stage graced with royalty at the session ‘Lessons From Riches to Decline: The Rise & Fall of Awadh’. Originally expected to be a conversation between Shahanshah Mirza, the great great grandson of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and Ira Mukhoty, historian and writer of the best selling book The Lion & The Lily: The Rise & Fall of Awadh, the session was transformed to replace the unwell writer with KLF’s very own director, Sujata Sen, accompanying the direct descendant of the Awadh Dynasty’s last ruler. With special mentions about research done by Ira Mukhoty to rediscover history from documentations found at the French Archives, the session began as Mr. Mirza was urged to share his knowledge about the heritage rooted in his bloodline. He shared his immense pleasure about Awadh’s relevance despite the Britishers’ propaganda of throwing them under defamation. “Unfortunately, history is written by the victors. And in this case, a major portion of history was written by the English writers.” He commented, further correcting a lot of misreadings of history as per Ira Mukhoty’s findings. Tales of Asaf-ud-Daula’s benevolence that was defamed by the Britishers, Wazir Ali Khan’s daring attack on one of the English men that led him to spend his last years in Calcutta under custody, misconceptions about Wajid Ali Shah being exiled to Calcutta, his strong bonds with the city that later led to transformation of Metiaburj into ‘Chhota Lucknow’ & his bravery in patronising art forms like Kathak were shared in depth. Praising the last Awadh ruler, Mr. Mirza iconically said, “History can never forget that Calcutta gave refuge to an unlucky ruler, but in the bargain, they got the finest cultures of our country.” The deeply enlightening session left behind a curious audience, ready to grab their copies of Ira Mukhoty’s work that dives into a new side of the 134 years long history of India’s Awadh Dynasty. 