India, Sept. 14 -- Chandganj, also known as Chandganj Garden, is a residential area located in the trans-Gomti region, bordered to the south by the Rai Das Mandir and the railway line, with Aliganj to the north. This area is distinguished into two segments: Bada Chandganj and Chota (Khurd) Chandganj. While often overlooked in terms of historical significance, such assumptions belie the truth of its rich past. The evolution of the trans-Gomti area received a fillip during the reign of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider, the first king of Awadh. His rule witnessed the establishment of a magnificent royal garden named Badshah Bagh, set adjacent to the river, which later became home to the Lucknow University during colonial times. Further east, the area was identified as Haiderabad, which ultimately accommodated the present-day Colvin Taluqdars' College. Both Badshah Bagh and Haiderabad were named in honour of Badshah Ghazi-ud-Din Haider. Notably, Badshah Bagh held the honour of having a battery of Indian freedom fighters who relentlessly bombarded the Residency from across the river during the siege, with one shell that claimed the life of Henry Lawrence on July 2, 1857, being launched from this very battery. The area currently designated as Chandganj was again, a Nawabi garden, originally called Chand Bagh, built by Nasir-ud-Haider, the son and successor of Ghazi-ud-Din Haider. According to Knighton, a British author, it was a large walled-in garden, one of the park places where animal fights often took place. The garden might have been some three to four acres in extent, and was surrounded by a high wall with heavy gates. Chand Bagh was abundant with large yellow flowers, the African marigold. It had a small lodge, like a country house, with large enclosures in its neighbourhood. The courtyard, about 60 sq yards in extent, had buildings all around and a veranda below. A thick bamboo railing was put up in the front of the veranda, so as to completely encircle the courtyard, forming a sort of enlarged cage, inside which ferocious animals were made to fight each other. Thus, From Knighton's narrative, we learn that other than the Moti Mahal, Chand Bagh too was the venue of animal fights during the Nawabi regime. The original Chand Bagh encompassed the present-day Chandganj, as well as the Isabella Thoburn College, which occupied the premises in 1922-23. In fact, the college had been offered a comparatively smaller parcel of land in Banarsi Bagh. But the college authorities preferred Chand Bagh, despite its remoteness from the city, because it wanted more spacious surroundings and a major portion of Banarasi Bagh had already been occupied by the Wingfield Park. Moreover, the latter was prone to periodic flooding during monsoons. Although Chand Bagh bore the poetic appellation of 'Moon Garden' in its time, the origins of the name "Chand" provoke intrigue. Local lore speaks of a "Chand Begum," suggesting that the garden might have been established in her honour. However, a meticulous examination of the Awadh rulers' genealogical records yields no evidence of a figure known as "Chand Begum" during that era. In the present times, tucked away from public gaze, a dilapidated pillar (in pic) stands amidst the throng of Chandganj's residential quarters. Originally composed of lakhauri bricks, this pillar's base has significantly eroded over the past two decades, rendering it on the brink of collapse. It has since been reinforced with modern bricks and coated with a rough layer of lime wash, yet this repair has obscured its architectural elegance entirely. Once again, local inhabitants echo the tale of the enigmatic "Chand Begum," claiming that the pillar once proudly displayed a moon atop its pinnacle, a feature now lost to time. However, we may need to go back a little more into the history of this area to explain this pillar. Much before the present-day military cantonment at Dilkusha came up post-1857, a British army cantonment had existed in the area of current Aliganj and Mohibullapur, commonly known as Madiaon. This cantonment had been built during the reign of Sa'adat Ali Khan, the sixth Nawab of Awadh. The Nawab had been very strict with this fledgling establishment, which included not only its physical boundaries, but also the conduct of the residents who stayed within. On one of his personal visits to the cantonment, then under construction, he had observed that the premises were demarcated from the neighbouring areas merely by a ditch filled with sand; he instructed the acting Resident, Bradshaw, to have eight to twelve masonry pillars along the boundaries, as a more permanent form of demarcation of the cantonment from its immediate surroundings, to which the latter agreed. It is surmised by some writers that the Chandganj pillar might originally be the last remaining one such pillar, which once marked the sound-eastern limit of the cantonment. The writer, a former scientist, has authored several books on the forgotten heritage of Lucknow...