File picture of Ibrahim Ali Khan, who has been working to force hosts to establish their roots

Lucknow, March 2: Tour operators and a band of wealthy impostors have turned Lucknow into a city of fake nawabs who fleece gullible foreign tourists, say organisations that maintain registers of royal descendants.

A five-star hotel and four travel agencies have been co-organising dozens of “heritage dinners” in old mansions during the tourist season. Western visitors — mostly from Britain, America and France — pay up to Rs 40,000 per head to attend them.

“They are made to meet fake nawabs and given a guided tour of what they believe is a king’s palace,” said Kunwar Baleswar Singh, general secretary of the Lucknow-based British Indian Association, Avadh.

The BIA, set up in 1861 to keep official records of Indian royal descendants and Raj officers, claims to have exposed one alleged impostor last November. The racketeers, however, spare no efforts to make the illusion of royalty complete for their customers.

The tourists are greeted with a genteel “adaab” by a distinguished looking “nawab”, turned out in a luxurious sherwani or achkan, whose manners drip with Avadhi tehzeeb (etiquette).

Antiques and old portraits of nawabs adorn the haveli, and ghazals and chandeliers conjure up an ambience of charming decadence.

The “guests” are offered a sherbet made of fruit juices, nuts and spices while their host reels off the “family history” he has memorised. The dinner is preceded by a trip to the “royal” kitchen to watch courteous chefs prepare kebabs and other meat dishes.

The charge is $650 (Rs 26,000) but if a mujra (dance) is thrown in, it costs an extra $350.

One such dinner turned controversial last September after the host claimed to be a descendant of Asif-ud-Daulah, nawab of Avadh from 1775 to 1797. The matter went to the BIA in October.

On November 6, the organisation issued a statement saying: “As per our records, the title of Nawab is not registered in the name of Shri Nawab Jafar Mir Abdullah. His predecessors were also not registered as per page No. 3 of the list of Taluqdars of Oudh, 1964.”

Abdullah said he had inherited the title of nawab from his mother’s side. The travel agent who had organised the dinner said: “He may not be a genuine nawab, but he was educated and articulate. So where’s the problem in showcasing him as a nawab?”

BIA and two similar organisations — the Royal Family of Avadh and Nawabin-e-Avadh Foundation and the Royal Family of Avadh, Kolkata (RFAK) — are trying to find a way of forcing the hosts to prove their lineage. All three bodies maintain records and are in touch with royal descendants.

“We want the hosts to have to establish their roots from the male side of the family,” foundation president Ibrahim Ali Khan said.

Calcutta-based Asif Ali Mirza, a registered descendant of Awadh’s last nawab, Wajed Ali Shah, said the job was difficult.

“Once I wrote to the Lucknow district magistrate seeking to verify a fact. He did not reply,” Mirza told The Telegraph over the phone.

“When I called him, he said ‘People walk into my office every minute introducing themselves as royal descendants. How do I know who is genuine and who is an impostor?’”

The fake nawabs swarming all over Awadh often gain entry into high society and make powerful friends, another registered royal descendant said.

“They even secure government pension by using their influence with the local administration,” Mirza said.