Mughal Shahzada's Imambara in Lucknow?

Disappeared Imambara of a Mughal Prince

By Dr.Mazhar Naqvi 

Lucknow, considered to be capital of Azadari world, also has the distinction of once having probably the only Imambara ever built by any Mughal Prince on Indian soil. Though no trace of the imambara can now be found in Lucknow  as a multi-storied complex has been erected in its place, it features prominently in the account of historian like Agha Mehndi , Shah Abdus salam , Tassaduq Husain and Syed Anwar Abbas.

Even though Humayun had regained his lost throne with the help of Safavid King of Persia and a number of Imami scholars, officials and soldiers had accompanied him, the Mughal emperor never dared to encourage Muharram ceremonies nor took active participation in them. For satisfying the Safavid King, he however donated lands for erection of Imam Chowks throughout his kingdom for taziadari during Muharram. Akbar too followed a similar policy despite being son of an Imami mother and protected by an ardent lover of Ahle-Bait Bairam Khan.

Jahangir proved to be even less liberal as the reliance of Mughal kings had reduced considerably on Iran’s support following the consolidation garnered by Akbar through his wisdom and matrimonial alliance with Rajput Princesses. Despite loving passionately his 20^th Imami wife Nur Jehan and patronizing his family generously, he ordered the brutal killing of Qazi Nurullah Shustri, known as Shahid-e-Salis (Third Martyr) at the behest of Anti-Ahle-Bait Mullahs of his court. Shah Jehan also did not promote Muharram rituals nor allowed his courtiers to do so like his predecessors. One of his sons, Shuja, however had a leaning towards Imami faith but he also did not associate himself with Muharram ceremonies publicly for political reasons.

  Aurangzeb being an orthodox Muslim strived to suppress Muharram rituals even before becoming the Emperor. He publicly expressed his annoyance over wide scale celebration of Muharram in Hyderabad after emerging victorious. He is believed to have desecrated the oldest Imam shrine of Badshahi Ashurkhana during his stay at Hyderabad. Aurangzeb also clamped a ban on Muharram processions and hunted Imami Noble Syed Raju to punish him for assisting his father Shah Jahan. It was the divine intervention of Maula Ali who saved Syed Raju in the jungle of Jogi Rampura village Najeebabad. The village is today better known as Najaf-e-Hind and a popular site of pilgrimage.

After the death of Aurangzeb, things changed dramatically. His successors openly exhibited their leaning towards Imami faith and did not place any restriction on Muharram ceremonies. Aurangzeb’s son even made a daring bid to include the name of Hazrat Ali in the azan as Wasi of Allah without interruption. During later Mughal period, Imami queens of Emperors like Qudsia Begum constructed shrines in memory of Hazrat Ali. The elevated position of Syed brothers and rise of nobles like Saadat Ali Burhan-Ul- Mulk and Safdar Jung further gave fillip to promotion of Muharram. The last king Bahadur Shah Zafar also took active part in Muharram processions and also used to act as fakir and Saqqa in memory of Hazrat Qasim and Hazrat Abbas on 7^th and 8^th Muharram.  

But none of the Mughal emperors ever erected any Imambara despite the powerful presence of Iranians in their courts. But they generously donated to the shrines of Sufis who openly encouraged Muharram rituals. Due to the known attitude of Emperors since the days of Babur, influential queens like Hamida Banu, Nur Jehan and Mumtaz Mahal could not even persuade their husbands to erect any shrine in memory of the Chief Patron of Sufis Maula-e-Kaynat Hazrat Ali ibn-E-Abu Talib. Similarly, neither Burhan-Ul-Mulk nor Safdar Jung could muster courage to commission any Imambara in Delhi. In Muraqqa-E-Delhi, Dargah Quli Khan has not mentioned any Ashurkhana nor penned down contribution of any eminent Imami noble. He has only praised Mughal court official Javed khan for organizing Majlises at his palatial house and given description of about a dozen Marsiyakhwans.    

 Lucknow earned the unique distinction of becoming the first place to have an Imambara built by a Mughal Prince when Ghulam Qadir Rohilla blinded Emperor Shah Alam and his son Sulaiman Shikoh escaped from Delhi and took shelter in Lucknow where Nawab Asaf- ud-Daula received him with respect and care. Sulaiman was born to Qudsia Begum who belonged to royal Safavid family. He had two sons namely Sikandar Shikoh and Abbas Shikoh. Shah Abdus Samad has attributed to the erection of Imambara to Sulaiman Shikoh. But Agha Mehndi has given the credit for construction of Imambara to Sikandar Shikoh. According to him, Sikandar Shikoh, the second son of Shah Alam 2^nd and the real brother of heir apparent Akbar Shah had constructed an imposing Imambara during the reign of Nawab Asaf- Ud- Daula as a part of his large residential complex in 1791-92 under the supervision of General McLeod. He had also built a Zenana Imambara inside the complex for the exclusive use of women devotees of Imam Husain. A free kitchen ( Langar) was also established adjacent to Imambara structure for distribution of food among the destitute. He also constructed over 700 shops to ensure regular income for the upkeep and maintenance of Imambara after his death.

His wish however remained unfulfilled as his son did not show much affection towards azadari being under the influence of some orthodox Muslims. Devoid of any patronage, Imambara of Shikoh gradually faded into oblivion .Initially Majlises were discontinued and then the edifice was given to an orphanage called Mumtaz- Durul-Yatama. Till the end of 20^th century, traces of imambara were visible and its photograph has been given by Syed Anwar Abbas in his book. Now this Imambara of great significance is found only in the pages of hi story as its old structure was demolished after the shifting of Mumtaz College to a new location it was followed by the construction of a multi-storied building near Nawab Goongey Ka compound in Ameenabad locality. Nobody has any idea as to what happened to the grave of Sikandar Shikoh, his wife and his friend and eminent poet Mirza Qateel who were all buried in the imambara itself. (References available on request).