India, Sept. 20 -- In 1775, with Lucknow rising in prominence as the newly designated capital of Awadh under the rule of Asaf-ud-Daula, the esteemed 'begums of Awadh' viz Sadr-i-Jahan Nawab Begum and Bahu Begum, grandmother and mother of Asaf, respectively, chose to remain behind in Faizabad, the original capital that had been established during the reign of Burhan-ul-Mulk. Among those who continued to reside in Faizabad were Jawahir Ali Khan, Basant Ali Khan and Darab Ali Khan, courtiers who enjoyed the trust of the begums and managed their affairs. Bani Khanam, a nobleman's wife, maintained an independent establishment in Faizabad with a woman, Noor Jahan, the general factotum of Khanam's household. Khanam got Noor married to Mir Mohammad Salah, a Saiyad who, despite his lineage, had an easy-going, not-too-impressive personality. Noor preferred to ignore her husband and showered her affections on Agha Ali Khan, the brother of Khanam. Their love affair soon became public knowledge, although Salah remained blissfully unaware of his wife's shenanigans. A 'hammam' or public bath was situated between the houses of Agha Ali Khan and Jawahir Ali Khan, the latter being one of the most powerful courtiers in the court of Bahu Begum. The former, being apprehensive that one day Jawahir might lay claim over the structure, had the 'hammam' demolished, which infuriated Jawahir. The latter decided to teach Agha Ali a lesson, not directly but by reporting his love affair to Bahu Begum. The husband, Salah, was convinced by Jawahir to petition not only Bahu Begum, but also the Qazi of the city. The Qazi, being aware of the wealth and clout of the 'accused' Agha Ali, was initially apprehensive but was assured full support by Jawahir Ali, who took keen interest in the matter, due to obvious reasons. When Jawahir personally read out the husband's petition to Bahu Begum, she flew into a rage and ordered that the matter, pertaining to personal conduct under Islamic law, be referred to the Qazi. The latter, already primed up for this, responded with alacrity and issued an order to Bani, asking her to deliver Noor to her husband. Bani, aghast at the Qazi's daring, preferred to ignore his order. Thereupon, the situation took a turn for the worse, with the Qazi raising a hue and cry over the disrespect to Islam. Thousands of men, mostly cohorts of Jawahir Ali, converged in the city, shouting in protest and raising banners. Common citizens, some of them armed, also joined the fray, jostling and trying to reach Bani's residence. In this mayhem, Bani's servants threw a sheet around Noor, lifted her bodily, deposited her on a litter, and rushed off to the nearby house of Khurram, a eunuch, where Agha Ali had hidden himself. Although Noor proved to be recalcitrant, hurling abuses at her husband, the Qazi received a shawl as compliment from Jawahir Ali, who later realised that the entire ruckus had achieved nothing. He therefore had Noor removed from her hideout and moved to another house, nearer to his own establishment. To put both Salah and Jawahir Ali off-guard, Noor now put up a show of reconciliation with her husband, for sometime. She, however, continued to communicate with Agha Ali on a regular basis through sign language, both of them having taken up positions near windows of adjacent buildings. Eventually the matter came to the knowledge of Jawahir Ali, who forbade the opening of the windows. Noor then petitioned Jawahir that she remained alone in the house all day, her husband, Salah being mostly out. Hence some well-wisher (a woman) may be allowed to visit her occasionally. With Jawahir's permission, a 'covered litter' started coming to the house to 'visit' Noor, leaving after a few days. No guesses as to who was in the litter! Eventually, Noor fled from her 'house arrest' enraging Jawahir, who issued orders to his men to find her at any cost. Hundreds of armed men spread a wide net, in an effort to capture the wayward Noor, which came to the notice of Bahu Begum, who berated Jawahir for his actions. The sullen eunuch did not respond to her reproach, repeating instead, his instructions to his men, that now 'it was a matter of faith and a Saiyada should live with her Saiyad.' Bahu Begum repeatedly asked Jawahir to bring about a reconciliation between man and wife to bring the unsavory affair to an end. The husband, Salah, by now, was not willing to accept his wayward wife. He therefore disguised himself and hid in another house, but was ultimately discovered and dragged in Jawahir's presence. Salah repeated his inability to accept his wife, but gave her permission to return to her former mistress' service. Bani heaved a sigh of relief and took Noor back into her household, because the latter's replacements had been quite unsatisfactory. Thus ended an incident which had held entire Faizabad in its grip for quite some time, having all the elements of a future Bollywood pot-boiler movie. PC Sarkar, a former scientist, has authored several books on the forgotten heritage of Lucknow...