If Awadh Nawab Wajid Ali Shah in exile built a mini-Lucknow in Matia Burj in Calcutta, so did his Risaldar Nawazish Ali Khan. After the fall of Lucknow in 1858, the Risaldar retreated to Motickpur and constructed a Lucknow-like building in qasba Motickpur in Barabanki district. In 1858, he remodelled an underconstruction imambara of a local zamindar. The structure resembled Lucknow-style imambaras.This was one of the few buildings constructed post 1857. Another was Naya Mahal of marsia poet Muhazzab Lucknowi’s family mansion in Masoor Nagar Lucknow.Risaldar Nawazish Ali Khan, a paanch hazaari (head of 5,000 cavalry unit) of Awadh had nothing in common with the Motickpur family, but for their loyalty to Wajid Ali Shah and his warrior Queen Begum Hazrat Mahal.About 11km away from Haidergarh in Barabanki lies Motickpur. A zamindari estate during the Nawabi era was a stirring hub of revolting Indian forces against East India Company during 1857. So much so that of all the talukdars and local chiefs, Begum Hazart Mahal, while escaping to Nepal, had sent a word to Motickpur zamindar Meer Asghar Ali to block the march of General Outram who was chasing her from Sultanpur side.Realizing that a collection of a few dozen fighters of his estate was no match to the well-organized British troops, the zamindar adopted a guerilla tactic and raided the British forces at Kundhu ka Nala near Jagdishpur. In the darkness of night, the British were caught unaware. Instead of directly attacking the British troops, zamindar’s sepoys attacked their supply line. Horse and bullock carts carrying food for troops and fodder for horses and bullocks, and replenishment of arsenal were all burnt. As the British found themselves hampered without their supplies, their march got delayed by three days.As the zamindar felt that Begum Hazrat Mahal was still in the reach of the British, his sepoys again raided the British at Qila Gosainganj. In that skirmish, a British officer was killed.After the fall of Lucknow, Risaldar Nawazish Ali Khan took refuge in Motickpur. Two traditional Alam of 18th Centuries carried by his Begum are a prized possession at Motickpur imambara.Around 1860-61, Motickpur zamindar was tried for killing a British officer. His mansion and mahalsara (women quarters) were blown off. However, Thakur Lal Bahadur Singh of the nearby Thakur village took the blame on himself. The case got so confusing that both Lal Bahadur Singh and Zamindar Meer Asghar Ali Hussain were acquitted. However, the British got Meer Asghar Ali recorded as ‘dakoo’ (bandit) in Barabanki district Gazetteer.Over almost two centuries relation between the Muslim zamindar and the Thakurs have been so abiding that when a descendent of Lal Bahadur Singh died a man was sent to Motickpur mansion to collect a wood from their kitchen to mark their participation on his pyre, thinking that no male member is based there. Syed Karrar Hussain Zaidi alias Chotey Miyan recalls that his elder brother instead had cut a full mango tree and took it for Thakur’s pyreNeatly arranged, the Motickpur imambara can easily pass off as a Lucknow imambara. Not just in architecture and expanse of the building. it’s the décor — pedestal mirrors and chandeliers and other artifacts which resonate the past grandeur and a preserved heritage.(Writer is exponent of oral history and culture)
