Lucknow enjoyed a short but spectacular rise after the Nawabs of Avadh made it their capital in 1775. Celebrated as a city of palaces, shrines and extraordinary European-inspired architecture, the arts of dance, music, drama, poetry, painting and silverware flourished under its wealthy rulers. This cultural splendour ended when the East India Company annexed Avadh and the Indian Mutiny broke out. The city was occupied by rebel sepoys and Lucknow became famed throughout the Empire for the defence of the British Residency by its small garrison of soldiers, civilians and schoolboys, its reliefs by Havelock and Outram and its eventual fall to the British in fierce fighting.
Dr Rosie Llewellyn-Jones MBE is a renowned historian of colonial India who has lectured widely in Britain, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, France and the USA. Her many books include Lucknow 1857, The Last King in India: Wajid Ali Shah, The Uprising of 1857, A Fatal Friendship: The Nawabs, the British and the City of Lucknow and, most recently, Empire Building: The Construction of British India, 1690-1860.
This online lecture is presented by The British India Historical Trust. For more information and to book tickets, please visit https://www.britishinindia.org.uk/live-lectures.