Qaisar Bagh

Qaisarbagh Complex of Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India (photograph taken between 1865 and 1882).

Qaisarbagh (Hindi: क़ैसरबाग़, Urdu: قيصر باغ, pronounced [qɛːsərˈbaːɣ], Emperor's Garden), also spelled Qaiserbagh, Kaisarbagh or Kaiserbagh, is a palace complex in the city of Lucknow, located in the Awadh region of India. It was built by Wajid Ali Shah (1847–1856), the last Nawab of Awadh.[1][2]

During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, it was used as a stronghold of Begum Hazrat Mahal the Begum of Awadh, who played a leading role in the uprising.[3]

The campaigning Irish journalist William Howard Russell wrote a classic account of the looting of the Qaisar Bagh in 1858 by drunken British troops in the course of the Great Uprising/Indian Mutiny.[4] A kiosk from the Qaisar Bagh gardens was sent to England as a tribute for Queen Victoria and now stands in the Frogmore Gardens at Windsor Castle.[5]

Though a major part of the palace was destroyed by British soldiers and lies in ruins, currently it is a major tourist spot of Lucknow.[3]

Qaisarbagh, Lucknow, c.1866
William Howard Russell the London Times correspondent witnesses British soldiers looting Qaisar Bagh, Lucknow, after its recapture in 1858
  1. ^ "General View of the Palace in Kaiser Bagh, Lucknow (by H.A. Mirza & Sons)". Images of Asia. 1910. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  2. ^ "The Walled Palaces of Kaiserbagh (by Anil Mehrotra Neeta Das)". Zeno Marketing Communications. Inc. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Kaiserbagh Palace Complex". Times of India. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  4. ^ Ferdinand Mount, "Atrocity upon atrocity",Times Literary Supplement, 23 February 2018, page 14.
  5. ^ Historic England. "Kiosk to south east of cottage in Frogmore Grounds (Grade II) (1319306)". National Heritage List for England.