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In Hussainabad, located in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, 90-year-old Faiyaz Ali Khan makes his way to the Picture Gallery, a 19th Century structure that stands as a reminder of the city's royal past.

His fingers shake as he moves, but there is a sparkle in his eyes. He has come to collect his royal pension, a payment granted to the offspring and associates of the erstwhile Awadh realm.

Wasika, derived from the Persian word for a formal contract, is a stipend awarded to the descendants and associates of the rulers of the former Awadh kingdom. Awadh, now the heartland of Uttar Pradesh, was governed by semi-autonomous Muslim rulers - called nawabs - until the British East India Company took control in the mid-19th century.

India no longer has a royal system, and former royals do not have any titles, special rights or unique stipends, called privy purses. However, while their kingdoms and political power have vanished, some stipend systems have continued for descendants of these lineages in regions including UP, Kerala, and the western state.

Roshan Taqui, a scholar of Lucknow, where Hussainabad is located, explains that in the early 1800s some members of the Awadh dynasty provided loans to the British enterprise - which was then a commercial entity - on the agreement that the earnings be paid out as pensions to their relatives. These loans were perpetual, meaning the Company never had to return the principal amount.

But soon, the colonial power acquired control in the area while the local rulers became weaker.

Around that time, the historian notes, a number of nawabs were also compelled to provide funds to the Company, which needed it to wage the conflict in Afghanistan.

Waiting near the gallery, which was built during the rule of former Awadh ruler Mohammad Ali Shah, Faiyaz Ali Khan states he has come to collect his payment after over a year.

"We've been receiving this wasika since the era of our ancestors. It's so little that I only come once a year to collect it," he said.

The pension amount is modest, just nine rupees and 70 paise (eleven cents; eight pence) a thirty days, but for his family, it is about honour - their final connection to a once-rich past.

"Even if we get just one paisa, we'll spend a thousand rupees to travel and receive it," says his son the younger generation.

Currently, around twelve hundred individuals - called wasikedars - continue to collect these pensions.

However, the distributions are variable and inconsistent and decrease with each generation. For example, if a person got 100 rupees and had two children, the stipend would be halved after their death, giving each 50 rupees. As descendants multiplied over time, the portion of the stipend became more diminished.

The distribution of the pension began in 1817 when Bahu Begum, the spouse of Awadh's the ruler, gave 40m rupees to the East India Company in multiple payments on the stipulation that her relatives and affiliates obtain regular stipends, as per the historian.

Historical documents show that additional individuals linked to the royal family also gave loans to the Company on comparable conditions.

After India gained independence in the mid-twentieth century, a portion of the funds loaned by the begum was deposited in a bank.

As per the state's pension official the officer, about three million rupees was initially placed in the central bank (previously Calcutta) and subsequently transferred to the industrial city and then the capital. Today, the pensions are paid out from the interest earned on around 2.6 million rupees deposited in a local bank in the urban area.

The payments are handled by dual authorities in the gallery: the Hussainabad Trust, run by Lucknow's district administration, and the state's wasika office. The authorities now sends stipends straight to financial accounts, while the Trust pays in cash.

The minister, the state's minority welfare minister, states the wasika is given out as per regulation and that the practice "dates back to the rulers of the region."

Critics contend that these allowances are vestiges of aristocratic entitlement and should have no role in the modern era. But advocates see them as honorary compensations linked to past agreements that cannot be easily brushed aside.

Another beneficiary, a legal professional who is also a recipient of the stipend, references his own heritage. His ancestor was a official to the ruler.

Now, he receives distinct stipends associated with dual advances, one payment of four rupees and eighty paise quarterly and a second regular stipend of three rupees and twenty-one paise.

"This wasika cannot be measured in money. It's our identity, worth more than millions. Only a few people receive it," he explains, adding that he receives it just before the holy month of Muharram, allocating it solely to spiritual purposes.

"I avoid receiving it annually because if any amount is spent elsewhere, I would feel guilty."

Numerous beneficiaries assert that the pensions should be increased according to modern financial returns.

"We've been getting the stipend at a four percent return since the era of the rulers, while current financial yields are much higher," the elder states.

His son adds that they have petitioned multiple times for the amount to be increased, but without success.

"It's regrettable that I spend 500 rupees on fuel only to receive 9.70 rupees," he says.

Experts also point out that the wasika was initially distributed in silver coins that each weighed over 11.7 grams (around 11.7g).

But when the payments changed to the national money, the value dropped sharply.

Shahid Ali Khan says he plans to go to court to demand a revision of the amount.

"We'll ask why wasika is no longer distributed in silver coins now. And if not in silver, then at least the sum corresponding to current metal prices should be provided," he states.

It is not only the monetary value of the wasika that has faded, but also the splendor associated with it.

Another recipient, whose lineage has been receiving these payments for generations, recalls a period when collecting the pension felt like a festival, with sherbets and beverages being sold on the day.

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