The Nawab of Oudh, one of the richest princes, paid for and erected a Residency in Lucknow as a part of a wider programme of civic improvements.

In the course of this uprising, detachments of the Bombay Army of the East India Company overcame the disunited collection of Indian states in a single rapid campaign.

He immediately subdued the autonomous Shaikhzadas of Lucknow and Raja Mohan Singh of Tiloi, consolidating Oudh as a state.

[5]: 44  In 1739 Saadat Khan mobilized Oudh to defend against Nader Shah's invasion of India, ultimately being captured in the Battle of Karnal.

[7] As regional officials asserted their autonomy in Bengal and the Deccan as well as with the rise of the Maratha Empire, the rulers of Oudh gradually affirmed their own sovereignty.

He was appointed vazir to Shah Alam II in 1762 and offered him asylum after his failed campaigns against the British in the Bengal War.

The immediate effect was the British occupation of the fort at Chunar and the cession of the provinces of Kora and Allahabad to Mughal ruler Shah Alam II under the Treaty of Benares (1765).

Shuja-ud-Daula bought the Mughal provinces of Kora and Allahabad in the Treaty of Benares (1773) with the British (who held de facto control over the area) for 50 lakh rupees, increased the cost of Company mercenaries, and military aid in the First Rohilla War to expand Oudh as a buffer state against Maratha interests.

To shape the policy of Oudh and direct its internal affairs Hastings appointed the resident Nathaniel Middleton in Lucknow that year as well.

[13] Saadat Ali Khan II acceded to the throne of Oudh in 1798, owing his seat to British intervention including Governor-General of Bengal Sir John Shore's personal proclamation in Lucknow of his rule.

[14] The cession halved the size of the polity, reducing it to the original Mughal subah of Awadh (excepting Gorakhpur which was ceded) and surrounded it by directly-administered British territory, rendering it useless as a buffer.

Three years later, in 1819, the Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah took the title of Badshah (king), signaling formal independence from the Mughal Empire under the advice of the Marquis of Hastings.

[15] Between 5 July 1857 and 3 March 1858, during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Begum Hazrat Mahal, the wife of Wajid Ali Shah proclaimed their son Birjis Qadr the Wali of Awadh and ruled as regent.

Oudh underwent a demographic shift in which Lucknow and Varanasi expanded to become metropolises of over 200,000 people over the course of the 18th century at the expense of Agra and Delhi.

[13] Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah instituted the Oudh Bequest, a system of fixed payments by the British paid to the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.