precious!

Great posting. The second verse on this page reads "dil bhara aata hai khuda ki qasam kiya hai be-dasto -paa huay hein hum" Translation: By God, my heart is heavy with grief how helpless have I become without hands and feet. The last line on the page reads "Khauf-e sahra wa khaar hijr-e watan phaari khaata hai mujhko sunderban" Translation: Fear of the jungle and grief of banishment from home (watan) The fear of the Sunderbans devours me . Remember that he was removed by the 'Honorable' E. I. Company from the cultured city of Lucknow and transported to Calcutta which must have been surrounded by the marshes and jungles of the Sunderbans. The poetry is not that great but the message is clear.

What do the two ornamental figures at the top of the page represent?

It shows two fishes (royal emblem of Oudh conferred by the Mughal court in Delhi) devouring two farishtas (angels).

Why devour the angels ?? What could that possibly mean ?

Like the Coat of Arms?

The coat of arms granted by the Royal Mughal court in Delhi was two full fishes on both sides of a circle. There were no angels being devoured. In this particular painting, there is some sarcasm over angels being devoured by the state, an obvious reference to the E.I. Company devouring the angelic people of Oudh, I surmise. The original coat of arms (two fishes but no angels) was later restored by the British government. I think this is still the coat-of-arms in Uttar Pradesh - unless Ms Mayawati has devoured it.

It still is the COA of Uttar Pradesh.They adopted it from Lucknow justa as the centre adopted the Ashokan chakra on the national flag and the four sided lions as India's national emblem of our country.