Short answers, pulled from the story.
Mirza Asaf-ud-Daula ascended to power on the 26th of January 1775. He inherited a kingdom that was already teetering on the edge of financial collapse and internal rebellion at the age of 26.
The mother of Asaf-ud-Daula was Umat-ul-Zohra, known to history as Bahu Begum. She amassed a private army and controlled vast swathes of the treasury, effectively holding the kingdom hostage from within the zenana.
Asaf-ud-Daula initiated the construction of the Bara Imambara during the devastating famine of 1784. He employed over 20,000 people to build the vaulted structure as a charitable enterprise designed to generate employment for the starving populace.
Asaf-ud-Daula transformed the capital of Awadh from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775. He embarked on an ambitious campaign to outshine the splendor of Mughal architecture and establish Lucknow as a cultural and architectural marvel.
The Rumi Darwaza or Turkish Gate stands sixty feet tall and was modeled after the Sublime Porte in Istanbul in 1784. This structure represents one of the most important examples of cultural exchange between the Ottoman Empire and the Indian subcontinent.