Sikandar Bagh

26°51′20.08″N 80°57′8.69″E / 26.8555778°N 80.9524139°E / 26.8555778; 80.9524139

Gate of Sikandar Bagh, Lucknow, circa 2010. The minarets are reconstructions, post 1883[1]

Sikandar Bagh (Hindi: सिकन्दर बाग़, Urdu: سِکندر باغ), formerly known by the British as Sikunder/Sikandra/Secundra Bagh, is a villa and garden enclosed by a fortified wall, with loopholes, gateway and corner bastions, approx. 150 yards square, c. 4.5 acres (1.8 ha), located in the city of Lucknow, Oudh, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by the last Nawab of Oudh, Wajid Ali Shah (1822–1887), as a summer residence. The name of the villa signifies '"Garden of Sikandar", after Sikandar Mahal Begum, the Nawab's favourite wife. It was stormed in 1857 by the British during the Indian Rebellion and witnessed within its walls the slaughter of all 2,200[2] sepoy mutineers who had made it a stronghold during their Siege of Lucknow. The site now houses the National Botanical Research Institute of India.

Wajid Ali Shah, Nawab of Oudh, builder of the Sikandar Bagh
  1. ^ See photograph of 1883 with minarets in place, though damaged, and later b&w photo without minarets, said to be 1870, but clearly post-1883
  2. ^ Regimental History of the 4th Battalion, 13th Frontier Force Rifles (Wilde's), anonymous author, c.1930, p.21. Central Library of RMA, Sandhurst, reprinted 2005