In 1528 the Mughal Sultanate conquered and formally incorporated Awadh as one of its constituent provinces. With the decline of Mughal power the nawab-vazirs of Awadh began to assert their independence. After the East India Company appropriated half of Awadh as 'indenmity', the then nawab, Asaf'ud Daulah, moved his capital to Lucknow in 1775. A move that resulted in the growth of the city and its distinctive culture known as'Lakhnavi tehzeeb'. Since then, nawabi Lucknow has undergone enormous changes. The refinement of 'pehle aap' has all but disappeared. Originally built to support a hundred thousand people, amid palaces, gardens and orchards, the city now staggers under the burden of fifty times that number. Its unchecked growth and collapsed civic amenities are slowly draining the life and beauty of this once vibrant city. The rich and flamboyant culture has faded amidst the decay that has eaten into the fabric of the city and the corruption and treachery that permeate the government. In separate pieces William Dalrymple and Barry Bearak trace the decline of Lucknow---the city, its architecture, people, politics, governance---and the sad end of the havelis and their once grandiose occupants. The elegiac Marsia tradition of the Shias strives to be heard over angry chants of 'Hulla Bol' of political rallies in Mrinal Pande's account of her visit to the city. And, in his hyperbolic saga of seven generations of the fictional Anglo-Indian Trotter family, I. Allan Sealy meanders through two hundred years of Lucknow's chequered history. However, despite the apparent disintegration, Lucknow's ineffable spirit can still be found---in the tantalizing flavours of Lakhnavi cuisine; the delicate artistry of chikankari; the legendary courtesans and the defiant voice of the rekhti; the melodious notes of the ghazaI and the thumri ... Engaging and thoughtful, Shaam-e-Awadh: Writings on Lucknow celebrates the unique character of this city of carnivals and calamities.

Timeless recipes from the stately kitchens of the Awadh regionDastarkhwan (noun): A meticulously laid out ceremonial spread of food. The nawabs of Awadh were renowned for their extravagance and their patronage of the best craftsmen. Of all the arts that flourished then, cooking was considered one of the finest, and its practitioners were among the most sought after. Famous for its nafaasat (refinement) and nazaakat (delicateness), Awadhi cuisine blends spices over a slow fire to achieve seasonal harmony with nature. Retelling anecdotes and secrets long held by the descendants of the nawabs, talukdars, bawarchis and rakabdars of the region, Sangeeta Bhatnagar and R.K. Saxena recreate the culture and cuisine of a culturally and imaginatively rich era.

Kabhi hum bhi tum bhi thhe aashna tumhein yaad ho ke na yaad ho Once you and I were friends, whether you remember it now or not--Momin Khan Momin This is a book about love—love for one’s country and for all that goes to make it one we can be proud to belong to. Poetry, it has been said, flourishes when all else is uncertain. With that in mind, renowned literary historian and translator, Rakhshanda Jalil, uses Urdu poetry to look at how the social fabric of secular India is changing. Rakhshanda delves into the past, to the events that have threatened communal harmony, from the bloodletting of partition, or the politics of successive elections, to communal riots, Mumbai, Gujarat and so on, to the present moment, to recent events around Ayodhya, cow slaughter and ‘love jihad’. The book is divided into four sections: politics, people, passions, places. Strewn with delightful, thoughtful Urdu couplets that bring depth, lyricism and gravitas to the narratives, the writer cautions us against current popular sentiments based on hating the ‘other’. Living in an India that now requires us to be resolutely one or the ‘other’, all of us are losing the wonderful capacity to contain within ourselves many seemingly diverse ideologies and beliefs which is a motif that is reiterated through the verses and words in this book. The section titled ‘People’ has the most delightful, charming vignettes of popular icons, from Tipu Sultan and Rani Lakshmi Bai to Gandhi and Nehru, from Ghalib and Majaz to Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar, viewed through an Urdu lens that makes each person memorable, unique and an advocate of peace and unity. From essays doused in the language of secular patriotism like Har Dil Tiranga, to pieces redolent with nostalgia like Dopahar ki Dhoop Mein, Rakhshanda invokes the power of love, inclusivity and communal harmony that is the trademark of poetry and literature, and which must continue to permeate the way we live our lives if we want to bequeath a meaningful legacy to the generations to come in our country.

Awadh is synonymous in history with its eventful nawabi reign that lasted for over a century. Awadh’s dynasty was founded in a humble habitat on the banks of the River Saryu near Ayodhya. The place was named Faizabad and grew to become the political capital and a renowned centre of culture and prosperity under its successive nawabs. Faizabad’s tryst with its royalty lasted for over half a century before passing the baton to Lucknow, which became the new capital of Awadh. The new first city shed its old husk to adorn a fresh one. The praxis, customs, etiquettes, poetry, art and craft that its royalty fashioned remain alive to this day.

Using primarily Urdu sources from the nineteenth century, this book allows us to rethink notions of 'the Muslim', in its numerous, complex and often contradictory forms, which emerged in colonial North India after 1857. Allowing the self-representation of Muslimness and its manifestations to emerge, it contrasts how the colonial British 'made Muslims' very differently compared to how the community envisaged themselves. A key argument made here contests the general sense of the narrative of lamentation, decay, decline, and a sense of self-pity and ruination, by proposing a different condition, that of zillat, a condition which gave rise to much self-reflection resulting in action, even if it was in the form of writing and expression. By questioning how and when a Muslim community emerged in colonial India, the book unsettles the teleological explanation of the Partition of India and the making of Pakistan.