The only time I take a break from dining on the Ganges Voyager, billed as India’s first vegan cruise, is at Murshidabad. We dock there one rainy afternoon and navigate the town’s frayed provinciality to visit the 18th-century Hazarduari Palace, of a hundred doors. It was the home of the erstwhile nawabs of Bengal — built, ironically, by the descendants of Mir Jafar, the betrayer at Plassey, who sided with Clive and whose infamous act tilted the balance of power in India for 200 years thereafter.
The museum at the once opulent palace has stunning Mughal memorabilia. There is Shah Jahan’s travelling chair, Nadir Shah’s lance and the palanquin of Zeb-un-Nissa, Aurangzeb’s daughter. They lie in dust-covered glory. This tryst with nostalgia spurs us on to the steps of the Hazarduari restaurant, owned by the last nawab’s family, to take in its air of disrepair, faux antiques, faded family photos and a lineup of Mughlai dishes: biryani, rezala, qorma, do piyazah. It’s dining in pursuit of history, not necessarily taste.
