[5] In 1825, when Burma experienced economic problems, Oudh king Ghazi al-Din Haydar supported the British East India Company[6] with a 10-million-rupee loan.
Morteza Ansari had devised a mode of distribution which included "junior mujtahids, low-ranking indigent ulama, Persian and Arab students, the custodians of the shrines, and the poor.
"[6] Although Ansari was involved in the bequest's distribution, he withdrew in 1860 "presumably" to avoid a close relationship with the British[6][7] and was replaced by Sayid Ali Bahr al-Ulum as the distributor for Najaf.
[8] In 1912 the British took over the bequest's distribution, shifting from a policy of leverage in Iran to "acquiring goodwill" from the Shia Muslims in India and "enhancing their prestige" in Iraq.
[4] Arthur Henry Hardinge, the British consul general in Tehran at the time, called the Oudh Bequest a "powerful lever" for promoting "good relations" with him and the Persian clerics.
[10] According to Meir Litvak, the British attempts ended in "dismal failure" and proved that charity cannot replace "the need of religious leaders to maintain popular support by distancing themselves from foreign patronage and tutelage".