Luxury comes in many forms. Some associate it with brands, others experiences and a few, even time. But in India, after the maharajas, the true connoisseurs of luxury were the nawābs . Stories abound of their extravagant indulgences — like that of Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi IV, the Nawāb of Bahawalpur, who commissioned a rosewood bed with engraved sterling silver from La Maison Christofle in Paris. Its piece de resistance was four life-size European nude figurines that would dance. He is also remembered for the time he had an elephant hauled up to the roof of the Sadiqgarh Palace to test its strength, so he could hang three Baccarat chandeliers (each weighing nearly four tonnes).
What they were most known for, however, were their extravagant cuisines — where bawarchis (cooks) created slow-cooked dishes like pasanda and murgh musallam, and desserts like the halwa-e-sheer . According to some stories, the nawāb of Rampur’s kitchens made over 300 halwas a day, every day.
So it seems appropriate that Meera Ali’s new book, Dining with the Nawabs , was conceptualised over a meal of pulao , pasanda and karela dal . “The history, lifestyle and cuisine of the nawābs are not well-documented, unlike our maharajas. After the Nawāb of Awadh was unceremoniously deposed in 1856 (which precipitated the First War of Independence), they got a raw deal.
The families were dispossessed and, since many were against the British, they refused to learn the new ways and slipped into oblivion,” begins Ali, who spent two years researching and working on the book, which is peppered with beautiful photographs clicked by Delhi-based photographer, Karam Puri.
Of emeralds and ink
Ali visited, and spent a few days, with each of the 10 featured nawābi families. And she confesses the trips were enlightening. In Khairpur, now in Pakistan, she was fascinated by the family’s 1,000-acre reserve forest, which houses various game like hog deer and wild boar. In Hyderabad and Bahawalpur, she was shown their stunning heirloom jewellery. “Sadeq Mohammad Khan V’s emerald necklace had a stone the size of an egg. When the Bahawalpur nawāb was invited to Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, the English ambassador requested him to wear his emeralds as the queen wanted to see them. In the book, Princess Aneeza is pictured wearing earrings made out of it,” says Ali, who herself inherited heirloom fabrics like kheem khab (Benarasi zari brocade), farshi ghararas , and blouses made of fine Chinese lace.
However, if you look beyond the obvious extravagance, she feels, the nawābi culture has significance even today. “They were the custodians of Mughal culture in its complete form, be it poetry, literature, dance, music or etiquette. When you meet these families today, that etiquette is still alive,” shares the 50-year-old architect-turned-luxury garment designer, who feels that as an insider (she is married to filmmaker Muzaffar Ali, the Raja of Kotwara) they opened up to her completely. “Luxury is also being able to preserve your culture. And culture means many things — clothing, cuisine, and reading, writing and understanding the prose and poetry of your language. My daughter can’t read either Urdu or Hindi. What access will she have to the hundreds of years of knowledge that we have created?” she asks.
Eye for detail
But you wonder, isn’t such luxury needless? Ali disagrees. Post-luxury places more importance on the experience than the acquisition. “I am not a consumer, I am a creator. For me, the definition of luxury is to have the peace of mind to indulge in my creation, which then becomes a luxurious item for someone else to possess,” she smiles, adding that luxury is also in the details, “like making a simple dal , but with all the right ingredients. Or driving a car that gives you pleasure. If it doesn’t, then walk or cycle; it’s healthier”. And in case you are curious, yes, Ali cooks and she makes a mean dum pukht , from scratch.
