artist, Robert Home (1752–1834) as his court artist and after his retirement in 1828, he appointed another Briton, George Duncan Beechey (1798–1852) as his court artist. In 1815, Raja Ratan Singh (1782–1851), a noted astronomer, poet and scholar of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Sanskrit and English joined his court. Because of his initiative, a royal litho printing press in Lucknow was set up in 1821 and the Haft Qulzum, a dictionary and grammar of the Persian language in two volumes was published from this press in the same year. Coins of Ghazi-ud-Din After declaring himself as King, Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah issued coins on his name instead of the Mughal emperor, Shah Alam II from AH 1234 (1818). His coins were completely different from his predecessors. The most important feature of his coinage was the introduction of his coat of arms on the reverse of coin, consisting of two fish facing each other, two tigers each holding a pennon for support and a Katar (a small dagger) surmounted by a crown symbolizing the king. Gallery Notes References External links National Informatics Centre, Lucknow – Rulers of Awadh NAWABS OF OUDH & THEIR SECULARISM – Dr. B. S. Saxena HISTORY OF AWADH (Oudh) a princely State of India by Hameed Akhtar Siddiqui 1769 births Indian Shia Muslims Nawabs of Awadh 1827 deaths