3 Review(s)

The Last King in India: Wajid Ali Shah, compiled by the esteemed historian Rosie Llewellyn-Jones, is an insightful book that delves into the life and mind of a monarch, who lived an extravagant life and was always a threat to the British - the last king who lived the life like a grand Mughal emperor and did not concede to the lifestyle of changing times. Summary of the Book Wajid Ali Shah remains to be a mysterious personality to this day due to his eccentric, extreme ways of living. On his funeral on the 21st of September, 1887, thousands of people mourned his death with their shouted prayers and loud wailing. It was not just the death of the last king but also the end of a connection to the old India before the advent of the Europeans. Wajid lived a life of a poet whose songs are still sung. He also lived the life flaunting luxury, building castles, marrying many women and always being a reason to worry for the British. Rosie, based on her thorough and painstaking research, returns to us the life story of the Mughal ruler, describing the smallest of details and facts available with respect to him. About Rosie Llewellyn-Jones Rosie Llewellyn-Jones is a noted author, scholar and historian. She is the Honorary Secretary of the British Association for Cemeteries in South Asia (BACSA). Her expertise is on Lucknow and its culture. She holds a first class honours degree in Urdu and Hindi, and studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, for her Ph.D. on Colonial Architecture in India. She has published works like A Fatal Friendship - The Nawabs, The British and the City of Lucknow, Engaging Scoundrels - True tales of old Lucknow, The Great Uprising in India 1857-58 - Untold stories, Lucknow: City of Illusion, and Portraits in Princely India 1700 – 1947. Rosie is also a regular contributor to History Today.