The House of Awadh: A Hidden Tragedy

Summary

In Delhi's Ridge Forest lies Malcha Mahal, which was home to a family cloaked in mystery: Begum Wilayat Mahal and her children, Princess Sakina and Prince Ali Raza-self-proclaimed descendants of the House of Awadh. From their dramatic arrival at New Delhi Railway Station in 1975, where they squatted for a decade, to their last years in a decaying monument-their story weaves together colonial injustices, Partition's upheaval and modern India's struggles with identity.

Were they true heirs to a lost kingdom, delusional outcasts, or cunning impostors? Drawing on cross-border reportage, archives and intimate interviews, Aletta Andre and Abhimanyu Kumar explore the family's audacious claims as they bring to life an ambitious woman and her sensitive children. They also present a new account of the tragedy of Awadh and its slow ruin, as well as that of India-Pakistan relations from Independence to the present. Gripping and compelling, The House of Awadh is an unputdownable blend of history and memory.