I would like to thank the Social Science Research Council and the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Abroad Program for support for this research. The statements made are, however, the responsibility of the author and not of these organizations.

¹ The laws of marriage are discussed most extensively in Sura IV of the Quran. See also Hughes, Thomas Patrick, Dictionary of Islam (New Delhi: Oriental Book Reprint, 1976),Google Scholar s.v. Marriage; Kapida, K. M., Marriage and Family in India, 3d ed. (Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1966), 198–216.Google Scholar

² See Inden, Ronald B., Marriage and Rank in Bengali Culture: A History of Caste and Clan in Middle-Period Bengal (New Delhi: Vikas, 1976), 95.Google Scholar

³ Encyclopedia of Islam (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1913–1938), s.v. Nikah.Google Scholar

⁴ Even when a wife is not in this consanguinous relationship to her husband, he often addresses her as “Bint ‘Amm,” or father's brother's daughter. See Ripinsky, Michael M., “Middle Eastern Kinship as an Expression of a Culture-Environment System,” Muslim World, 58 (1968), 225–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar The Quran, Sura IV, especially verse 27, pertains to these issues. For the pre-Islamic marriage practices of India, see also Trautmann, Thomas R., “Cross-Cousin Marriage in Ancient North India,” in Kinship and History in South Asia, Trautmann, Thomas R., ed., Michigan Papers in South and Southeast Asia, No. 7 (Ann Arbor: Center for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Michigan, 1974), 61–103.Google Scholar Present-day marriage practices by Shi 'ites in India are surveyed by Husain, Sheikh Abrar, Marriage Customs among Muslims in India (A Sociological Study of the Shia Marriage Customs) (New Delhi: Stirling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1976).Google Scholar

⁵ Quran, Sura IV, especially verse 35. See also Manu, , The Laws of Manu, Buhler, Georg, trans. (New York: Dover, 1969), 77–78.Google Scholar

⁶ Ahmad, Imtiaz, “Endogamy and Status Mobility among the Siddique Sheikhs of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh,” in Caste and Social Stratification among the Muslims, Ahmad, Imtiaz, ed. (Delhi: Manohar, 1973), 182.Google Scholar

⁷ Husain, Afzal, “Marriages among Muslim Nobles as an Index of Status and Aristocratic Integration,” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 33 (1972), 307.Google Scholar

⁸ Ahmad, , “Endogamy,” 165.Google Scholar

⁹ There are many kinds of “graded” marriages. Many Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad forbad mut 'ah marriage (literally “marriage of use or pleasure”) but the Shi 'ites believe he did not. The Shi 'i sect asserts that the Caliph ‘Umar—whom they do not recognize as a legitimate authority—had forbidden the practice and therefore, they believe mut 'ah is permitted. Encyclopedia of Islam, s.v. Mut 'ah. For a discussion of primary and secondary forms of marriage in India, see Dumont, Louis, Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970), ch. 5.Google Scholar

¹⁰ Assad, Faqir Jang Muhammad, Akhlak-i Jalaly, Thompson, W. F., trans. (London: W. H. Allen, 1839), 263.Google Scholar

¹¹ Grierson, G. A., Linguistic Survey of India, 11 vols. (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1968), IV, 9.Google Scholar

¹² This pattern persists to the present: Indian Muslim groups “are always regarded as foreign and their members emphasize their foreign origin either by tracing their link to one of the historical personages or tribes of early Islamic Arabia, or by identifying themselves with a place which lies in Arabia or Persia, or by claiming descent from a person who supposedly came from the heartlands of Islamic civilization into India.” Ahmad, , “Endogamy,” 168.Google Scholar See also Saran, P., The Provincial Government of the Mughals (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1973), 29–31.Google Scholar

¹³ These figures refer to officials holding personal rank within the Mughal administrative service of 1,000 zāt or above. See Ali, M. Athar, The Mughal Nobility under Aurangzeb (Bombay: Asia Publishing House, 1966), 35.Google Scholar A “Hindustani” convert to Islam himself, Abul Fazl Allami denegrates his community, Ain-i Akbari, Blockman, H. B., trans., and Phillott, D. C., ed. (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1927), 223.Google Scholar

¹⁴ His demotion to Awadh resulted from a military defeat he suffered at the hands of refractory landholders. For a careful study of the Mughal system, see Habib, Man, The Agrarian System of Mughal India (1556–1707) (London: Asia Publishing House, 1963),Google Scholar especially on Agra and Awadh, 400, 402. A contemporary account of the nobility of the court is Khan, Shah Nawaz, Maathir-ul-Umara, Beveridge, H., trans., and Pershad, Beni, rev., 3 vols. (Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1911–1941), especially I, 168.Google Scholar For studies of the early Awadh line, see Srivastava, Ashirbadi Lai, The First Two Nawabs of Awadh (Agra: Shiva Lal Agarwala, 1933);Google ScholarBarnett, Richard B., North India between Empires: Awadh, the Mughals, and the British (1720–1801) (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980);Google Scholar and Alam, Muzaffar, “The Mughal Centre's Relations with the Subas of Awadh and the Punjab, 1707–1748” (Ph.D. diss., Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1978).Google Scholar

¹⁵ For an earlier history of this society, see Bulliet, Richard W., The Patricians of Nishapur: A Study in Medieval Islamic Social History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1972).Google Scholar

¹⁶ In modem Muslim society in South Asia, marriage between cousins does not alter the kinship terminology used. Das, Veena, “The Structure of Marriage Preferences: An Account from Pakistani Fiction,” Man, 8:1 (03 1973), 30–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Debate about the motivation for parallel cousin marriage in Islam continues. For a recent statement of current research, see Pastner, Carroll McC., “The Negotiation of Bilateral Endogamy in the Middle Eastern Context: The Zikri Baluch Example,” Journal of Anthropological Research, 37:4 (Winter 1981), 305–18.Google Scholar

¹⁷ Husain, , “Marriages among Muslim Nobles,” 309.Google Scholar

¹⁸ For the preference given sons of officials, see Ali, Athar, Mughal Nobility, 11–12.Google Scholar As an example of alleged imperial favoritism, there has been much debate as to the effect on the careers of the family members of Nūr Jahān following her marriage to Emperor Jahangir (1605–27); some argue that their rapid rise stemmed from this marriage. Hodivala, S. H., “The Coins Bearing the Name of Nur Jahan,” Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Numismatic Supplement, 42 (1929), N. 59–68.Google Scholar Others discount the effect. Hasan, S. Nurul, “The Theory of the Nur Jahan ‘Junta’—A Critical Evaluation,” Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 21 (1958), 325–35.Google Scholar Irfan Habib takes a more balanced view in “The Family of Nurjahan during the Reign of Jahangir—A Political Study,” Medieval India—A Miscellany, 1 (1969), 74–95.Google Scholar

¹⁹ The brothers and their families held a total of 786,666 rupees in annual income from the Awadh ruler (in 1190 Fasli, A.D. 1782–83). Resident to Governor General, 21 January 1783, Foreign Secret Consultations 11 August 1783, Commonwealth Relations Office, London (hereafter cited as CRO). For further details about their careers, see Bahādur Singh, “Yādgār–i Bahāduri,” Persian Manuscript 255, Regional Archives, Allahabad, fol. 593; Harnam Singh, “Tārikh–i Sa ‘ādat–i Jāwid,” partly translated by Munshi Sadasukh Lai, MS Add. 30786, fol. 42B, and MS Add. 29202, fols. 110A and B, British Library, London.

²⁰ Bakhsh, Muhammad Faiz, Memoirs of Delhi and Faizabad, Being a Translation of “Tarikh Faizbashsh,” Hoey, William, trans., 2 vols. (Allahabad: North-Western Provinces and Oudh Government Press, 1888–1889), 16–18); Resident to Governor General, 12 February 1776, Bengal Secret Consultations 26 February 1776.Google Scholar

²¹ Talib, Abu, Tafzihu'l Ghafilin, Hoey, W., trans. (Allahabad: North-Western Provinces and Oudh Government Press, 1885), 75.Google Scholar

²² These figures have been compiled by the author from Uttar Pradesh, Union Political Pensioners in Uttar Pradesh (Allahabad: Superintendent of Printing and Stationery, 1964).Google Scholar

²³ See Fisher, Michael H., “British Expansion in North India: The Role of the Resident in Awadh,” Indian Economic and Social History Review, 18:1 (01–03 1981), 69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁴ Hāshim 'Aliī Rizwī, “Mir 'at al-Bilād,” Persian Manuscript 2551, Regional Archives, Allahabad, fols. 144A and B; Amīr ‘ān, Alā, Wazīr Nāma (Cawnpur: Nizami Press, 1876), 28;Google ScholarPrasad, Kunwar Durgā, Bostān-i Awadh (Sandila: Queens Press, 1888), 413.Google Scholar

²⁵ Hastings, Lord, “Summary of Operations in India,” in Great Britain, Parliament, Parliamentary Papers (Commons), 1831–32, vol. 8, Report of the Select Committee, sec. 4:110.Google Scholar

²⁶ Ḥaydar, Kamāl al-Din, Tārīkh-i Awadh, 2 vols. (Lucknow: Nevil Kishore, 1907), I:245–46.Google Scholar

²⁷ Resident to Secretary to Government Political Department, 22 December 1821, Bengal Political Consultations (hereafter cited as BPC) 3 January 1822, No. 23, CRO.

²⁸ Secretary to Government to Resident, 3 February 1822, BPC 3 February 1822.

²⁹ King of Oudh to Resident, 9 February 1822, BPC 5 July 1822, No. 71; Resident to Secretary to Government, 9 September 1823, BPC 3 October 1823, No. 22; King of Oudh to Resident, 2 Muharram 1239 H., BPC 3 October 1822, No. 23.

³⁰ King of Oudh to Resident, 2 Muharram 1239 H., BPC 3 October 1822, No. 23.

³¹ Resident to Secretary to Government, 14 May 1824, BPC 28 May 1824, No. 7; Shooka from King of Delhi to Sir Charles Metcalfe, received 16 January 1826, BPC 3 February 1826, No. 14.

³² Resident to Secretary to Government, n.d., BPC 28 March 1826, No. 26.

³³ Mirza Soleman Shokoh letter, received 3 July 1828, BPC 1 August 1828, No. 17.

³⁴ Resident to Secretary to Government, 20 June 1828, BFC 1 August 1828, No. 13; Resident to Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department, 20 October 1851, India Political and Foreign Consultations, 19 December 1851, No. 115, CRO.

³⁵ Lucknow Almanac for the Year 1849 [text in Persian and Urdu, title page also in English], Hyder, Syed Kumal ooddeen, trans. (Lucknow: H. M. Press, 1849), 46.Google Scholar

³⁶ From the last quarter of the eighteenth century until the English East India Company annexed Awadh in 1856, the Company progressively cut the province off from the rest of the empire. From 1798, all communication between the Awadh ruler and the other powers of India had to pass through the Company's hands. In 1801, half of the ruler's territories were ceded to the Company, leaving Awadh surrounded on three sides by Company territory and on the fourth by Nepal. By 1853, even the ruler's last representative outside of Awadh had been forced to withdraw by the Company. Aitchison, C. U., comp., A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnads Relating to India and Neighboring Countries, 14 vols. (Calcutta: Foreign Office Press, 1876), II; Resident to King of Oudh, 10 August 1853, India Political and Foreign Consultations, 26 August 1853, No. 52, CRO.Google Scholar

³⁷ Between 71 and 86 percent of the landholders of Awadh were Hindu; 83 percent claimed to have been established in Awadh prior to 1722. Compiled by the author from Ali, Darogha Haji Abbas, An Illustrated Historical Album of the Rajas and Taaluqdars of Oudh (Allahabad: n.p., 1880).Google Scholar For a description of the Rajput worldview, see Hitchcock, John T., “The Idea of the Martial Rajput,” Journal of American Folklore, 71:281 (1958), 216–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³⁸ See White, Edmond, Report on the Census of the N.-W. P. and Oudh and of the Native States of Rampur, and Native Garwhal Taken on the 17th February 1881 (Allahabad: North-Westem Provinces and Oudh Government Press, 1822).Google Scholar The only earlier census did not identify Shi ‘ites. Williams, J. Charles, The Report on the Census of Oudh, 2 vols. (Lucknow: Oudh Government Press, 1869).Google Scholar

³⁹ For an analysis of Rajput clans in the region, see Fox, Richard G., Kin, Clan, Raja and Rule: State Hinterland Relations in Pre-Industrial India (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971).Google Scholar

⁴⁰ The rare landholder who did enter Lucknow tried to insure his safety through guarantees from powerful individuals at court. Landholders were beaten, imprisoned, and even killed when found in the capital. Resident to Secretary to Government in the Secret Department, 1 May 1833, Foreign Secret Proceedings 16 May 1833, No. 2, National Archives of India, New Delhi. Resident to Government of India with the Governor General, 23 February 1849, Foreign Political Consultations 21 April 1849, No. 108, National Archives of India, New Delhi.

⁴¹ For a colorful and probably fictionalized account of the looting of a party of nobles from Lucknow by local landholders, see Knighton, William, The Private Life of an Eastern King by a Member of the Household of His Late Majesty Nussir-u-Deen, King of Oude (New York: J. S. Redfield, 1856[?]), 76–78.Google Scholar

⁴² Resident to Secretary to Government of India with the Governor General, 23 February 1849, Foreign Political Consultations 21 April 1849, No. 100, CRO.

⁴³ Goshal, Benod Chandra, Some Notes on Raj Nanpara or the Tragic Story of the Premier Mohamedan Estate in Oudh (Lucknow: Anglo-Oriental Press, 1819); Resident to Secretary to Government, Foreign Department, 6 February 1855, India Political and Foreign Consultations 28 December 1855, No. 307, CRO.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ Quran, Sura IV.

⁴⁵ Allami, , Ain-i Akbari, 45.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ Jahangir, , The Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri or Memoirs of Jahangir, Rogers, Alexander, trans., and Beveridge, H., ed., 2 vols. (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1968);Google ScholarKhan, Khafi, History of Alamgir, Haq, S. Moinul, trans. (Karachi: Pakistan Historical Society, 1975);Google ScholarHusain, , “Marriages among Muslim Nobles,” 306, 310, n. 8.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ Husain, , “Marriages among Muslim Nobles,” 304–5, 310, n. 3.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Ibid., 307.

⁴⁹ The pensions paid out of interest on loans to the English East India Company are listed in Uttar Pradesh, Union Political Pensions. The additional cash stipends are described in Resident to Secretary to Government of India, Foreign Department, 20 October 1853, India Political and Foreign Consultations 19 December 1853, No. 115. The gifts to Karbala were frequent and substantial. See, for example, Nawab Wazir to Resident, 11 September 1816, BPC 20 February 1818, and Resident to Secretary to Government, 14 October 1827, Secret and Political, BPC 16 November 1827, No. 12.

⁵⁰ The pādshāh refers to the death of this Sunni minister as “timely” and saving the ruler's good name. Resident to Officiating Political Secretary to Government of India, 13 July 1840, India Political Consultations 3 August 1840, No. 71.

⁵¹ Resident to Officiating Political Secretary to Government of India, 13 July 1840, India Political Consultations 3 August 1840, No. 71.

⁵² This concept is discussed at length in Khaldun, Ibn, The Muqaddimah: An Introduction to History, Rosenthal, Franz, trans., Bollingen Series 43, 3 vols. (New York: Pantheon Books, 1958), I: ch. 3.Google Scholar

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