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In Hussainabad, located in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, nonagenarian Faiyaz Ali Khan journeys to the Picture Gallery, a 19th Century structure that stands as a reminder of the city's royal past.

His hands tremble as he walks, but there is a sparkle in his eyes. He has arrived to receive his royal pension, a payment granted to the descendants and associates of the erstwhile Awadh realm.

This pension, derived from the Farsi word for a written agreement, is a stipend given to the heirs and affiliates of the rulers of the former Awadh state. Awadh, now the central region of Uttar Pradesh, was ruled by partially independent Muslim rulers - known as nawabs - until the British took control in 1856.

India no longer has a royal system, and former royals do not have any honorifics, special rights or special payments, known as privy purses. However, while their realms and political power have long disappeared, some pension arrangements have persisted for heirs of these lineages in regions including Uttar Pradesh, the southern state, and Rajasthan.

A historian, a historian of Lucknow, where the area is located, says that in the early 1800s some members of the Awadh dynasty lent money to the East India Company - which was then a commercial entity - on the agreement that the interest be distributed as stipends to their relatives. These advances were ongoing, meaning the firm never had to return the principal amount.

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

During that period, Mr Taqui says, several nawabs were also forced to lend funds to the enterprise, which needed it to wage the conflict in Afghanistan.

Standing outside the gallery, which was built during the rule of former Awadh sovereign Mohammad Ali Shah, Faiyaz Ali Khan states he has come to collect his stipend after 13 months.

"We've been receiving this wasika since the era of our ancestors. It's such a small amount that I visit annually to collect it," he said.

The stipend sum is meagre, only 9.70 rupees (eleven cents; £0.08) a month, but for his household, it is about prestige - 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 Shikoh Azad.

Currently, approximately 1,200 individuals - known as pension holders - continue to collect these pensions.

However, the payouts are variable and inconsistent and decrease with every successive heir. For instance, if a individual received 100 rupees and had two children, the stipend would be reduced by half after their passing, giving each 50 rupees. As heirs multiplied over time, the portion of the stipend became more diminished.

The distribution of wasika began in 1817 when Bahu Begum, the spouse of Awadh's Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula, gave 40m rupees to the East India Company in multiple payments on the condition that her relatives and affiliates obtain monthly pensions, as per Mr Taqui.

Official records show that additional individuals linked to the dynasty also gave loans to the firm on comparable conditions.

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

As per Uttar Pradesh's pension official SP Tiwari, about 3m rupees was initially placed in the Reserve Bank of Kolkata (previously Calcutta) and later moved to the industrial city and then the capital. Today, the stipends are distributed from the interest earned on around 2.6 million rupees deposited in a city bank in the urban area.

The payments are handled by two offices in the Picture Gallery: the Hussainabad Trust, run by Lucknow's district administration, and the Uttar Pradesh government's wasika office. The government now transfers pensions straight to bank accounts, while the Trust pays in cash.

The minister, Uttar Pradesh's minority welfare minister, states the pension is given out as per regulation and that the tradition "originates from the Nawabs of Awadh."

Skeptics contend that these stipends are remnants of aristocratic entitlement and should have no place in the modern era. But supporters see them as honorary compensations linked to past agreements that cannot be easily brushed aside.

Shahid Ali Khan, a lawyer who is also a beneficiary of the royal pension, references his own heritage. His ancestor was a official to Nawab Mohammad Ali Shah.

Today, he gets distinct stipends linked to two loans, one payment of four rupees and eighty paise quarterly and another regular stipend of 3.21 rupees.

"This pension should not be valued in money. It's our identity, worth more than millions. A select group obtain it," he says, noting that he collects it just before the holy month of the Islamic month, using it only for religious expenses.

"I don't collect it throughout the year because if even a single paisa is used for other purposes, I would have regrets."

Numerous beneficiaries argue that the stipends should be raised according to current interest rates.

"We've been getting the stipend at a 4% interest rate since the era of the rulers, while current financial yields are significantly greater," Faiyaz Ali Khan says.

His offspring comments that they have made repeated appeals for the amount to be increased, but in vain.

"It's unfortunate that I spend 500 rupees on petrol only to receive 9.70 rupees," he remarks.

Scholars also highlight that the wasika was originally paid in precious metal currency that every piece weighed more than a tola (approximately 11.7g).

But when the payments changed to Indian currency, the worth declined significantly.

The lawyer declares he intends to file a case to seek an update of the sum.

"We'll ask why wasika is no longer distributed in precious metal anymore. And if not in coin, then at least the amount equivalent to today's silver value should be paid," he says.

It is not just the financial worth of the wasika that has faded, but also the grandeur surrounding it.

Masood Abdullah, whose family has been receiving these payments for generations, recalls a period when receiving the stipend was a celebratory event, with refreshments and tea being sold on the day.

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