Lucknow
Lucknow is a metropolis and the second largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where it serves as the capital and the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division. The city had a population of 2.8 million according to the 2011 census making it the eleventh most populous city and the twelfth-most populous urban agglomeration of India. It is an important centre of education, commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, information technology, design, culture, tourism, music, and poetry. Lucknow, along with Agra and Varanasi, forms the backbone of the Uttar Pradesh Heritage Arc.
In the 6th century BCE, Lucknow was part of Kosala, one of the 16 Mahajanapadas during the late Vedic period. The Nawabs of Lucknow acquired the name after the reign of the third Nawab, when Lucknow became their capital. In 1856, the East India Company first moved its troops to the border, then annexed the state for alleged maladministration. Awadh was placed under a chief commissioner. Lucknow was one of the major centres of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and actively participated in India's independence movement, emerging as a strategically important North Indian city. The city witnessed some of the pivotal moments in the history of India including the first meeting of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah during the Congress session of 1916 when Lucknow Pact was signed.
Multiple software and IT companies are present in the city. Lucknow is an emerging automobile hub. It has been the headquarters of the Central Command of the Indian Army. It is the home of several prominent educational and research institutes and universities, including the IIM Lucknow, the Indian Institute of Information Technology, Lucknow, AKTU and the Central Drug Research Institute. Lucknow is designated as a City of Gastronomy by UNESCO heritage.
Toponymy
"Lucknow" is the anglicised spelling of the local pronunciation "Lakhnau". According to one legend, the city is named after Lakshmana, a hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana. The legend states that Lakshmana had a palace or an estate in the area, which was called Lakshmanapuri. The settlement came to be known as Lakhanpur by the 11th century, and later, Lucknow.A similar theory states that the city was known as Lakshmanavati after Lakshmana. The name changed to Lakhanavati, then Lakhnauti and finally Lakhnau. Yet another theory states that the city's name is connected with Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth. Over time, the name changed to Laksmanauti, Laksmnaut, Lakhsnaut, Lakhsnau and, finally, Lakhnau.
Another theory is that Lucknow was named after a very influential architect named Lakhna Ahir, who built the fort Qila Lakhna.
History
From the sixth to the fourth century BCE, Lucknow was part of the realm of Kosala, one of the 16 Mahajanapadas in the Late Vedic period.From 1350 onwards, Lucknow and parts of the Awadh region were ruled by the Delhi Sultanate, Sharqi Sultanate, Mughal Empire, Nawabs of Awadh, the British East India Company and the British Raj.
For about eighty-four years, Awadh was part of the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur. Emperor Humayun made it a part of the Mughal Empire around 1555. Emperor Jahangir granted an estate in Awadh to a favoured nobleman, Sheikh Abdul Rahim, who later built Machchi Bhawan on this estate. It later became the seat of power from where his descendants, the Sheikhzadas, controlled the region.
The Nawabs of Lucknow acquired the name after the reign of the third Nawab when Lucknow became their capital. The city became North India's cultural capital, and its nawabs, best remembered for their refined and extravagant lifestyles, were patrons of the arts.
Under their dominion, music and dance flourished, and construction of numerous monuments took place. Of the monuments standing today, the Bara Imambara, the Chota Imambara, and the Rumi Darwaza are notable examples. One of the Nawab's enduring legacies is the region's syncretic Hindu–Muslim culture that has come to be known as the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb.
File:Chota Imambara, Lucknow 654.jpg|thumb|left|Chota Imambara is a Shia Muslim Hussainiya and a mausoleum for Muhammad Ali Shah.
Until 1719, the subah of Awadh was a province of the Mughal Empire administered by a governor appointed by the emperor. Persian adventurer Saadat Khan, also known as Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed Nizam of Awadh in 1722 and established his court in Faizabad, near Lucknow.
Many independent kingdoms, such as Awadh, were established as the Mughal Empire disintegrated. The third Nawab, Shuja-ud-Daula, fell out with the British after aiding the fugitive Nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim. Roundly defeated at the Battle of Buxar by the East India Company, he was forced to pay heavy penalties and surrender parts of his territory. Awadh's capital, Lucknow rose to prominence when Asaf-ud-Daula, the fourth Nawab, shifted his court to the city from Faizabad in 1775. The British East India Company appointed a resident in 1773 and by early 19th century gained control of more territory and authority in the state.
They were, however, disinclined to capture Awadh outright and come face to face with the Maratha Empire and the remnants of the Mughal Empire. In 1798, the fifth Nawab Wazir Ali Khan alienated both his people and the British and was forced to abdicate. The British then helped Saadat Ali Khan take the throne. He became a puppet king, and in a treaty of 1801, yielded large part of Awadh to the East India Company while also agreeing to disband his own troops in favour of a hugely expensive, British-controlled army.
This treaty effectively made the state of Awadh a vassal of the East India Company, although it continued to be part of the Mughal Empire in name until 1819. The treaty of 1801 proved a beneficial arrangement for the East India Company as they gained access to Awadh's vast treasuries, repeatedly digging into them for loans at reduced rates. In addition, the revenues from running Awadh's armed forces brought them useful returns while the territory acted as a buffer state. The Nawabs were ceremonial kings, busy with pomp and show. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the British had grown impatient with the arrangement and demanded direct control over Awadh.
In 1856, the East India Company first moved its troops to the border, then annexed the state for alleged maladministration. Awadh was placed under a chief commissioner – Sir Henry Lawrence. Wajid Ali Shah, the then Nawab, was imprisoned, then exiled by the East India Company to Calcutta. In the subsequent Indian Rebellion of 1857, his 14-year-old son Birjis Qadra, whose mother was Begum Hazrat Mahal, was crowned ruler. Following the rebellion's defeat, Begum Hazrat Mahal and other rebel leaders sought asylum in Nepal.
It is the most important center of Shia Islam in the Indian Subcontinent and has influence of Persian, Shiite, Arabic and British culture and tradition in the architecture, language and customs.
Lucknow was one of the major centres of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and actively participated in India's independence movement, emerging as a strategically important North Indian city. During the Rebellion, the majority of the East India Company's troops were recruited from both the people and nobility of Awadh. The rebels seized control of the state, and it took the British 18 months to reconquer the region. During that period, the garrison based at the Residency in Lucknow was besieged by rebel forces during the Siege of Lucknow. The siege was relieved first by forces under the command of Sir Henry Havelock and Sir James Outram, followed by a stronger force under Sir Colin Campbell. Today, the ruins of the Residency and the Shaheed Smarak offer an insight into Lucknow's role in the events of 1857.
With the rebellion over, Oudh returned to British governance under a chief commissioner. In 1877, the offices of lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces and chief commissioner of Oudh were combined; then in 1902, the title of chief commissioner was dropped with the formation of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, although Oudh still retained some marks of its former independence.
The Khilafat Movement had an active base of support in Lucknow, creating united opposition to British rule, to create a Caliphate. In 1901, after remaining the capital of Oudh since 1775, Lucknow, with a population of 264,049, was merged into the newly formed United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. In 1920, the provincial seat of government moved from Allahabad to Lucknow. Upon Indian independence in 1947, the United Provinces were reorganised into the state of Uttar Pradesh, and Lucknow remained its capital.
Lucknow witnessed some of the pivotal moments in the history of India. One is the first meeting of the stalwarts Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohd Ali Jinnah during the Indian National Congress session of 1916.
The Congress President for that session, Ambica Charan Majumdar in his address said that "If the Congress was buried at Surat, it is reborn in Lucknow in the garden of Wajid Ali Shah."
The Kakori conspiracy involving Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaq Ullah Khan, Rajendra Nath Lahiri, Roshan Singh and others, followed by the Kakori trial which captured the imagination of the country, also took place in Lucknow.
Culturally, Lucknow has also had a tradition of courtesans, with popular culture distilling it in the avatar of the fictional Umrao Jaan.
Along with the rest of India, Lucknow became independent from Britain on 15 August 1947. It has been listed as the 17th-fastest growing city in India and 74th in the world.
Geography
The Gomti River, Lucknow's chief geographical feature, meanders through the city and divides it into the Trans-Gomti and Cis-Gomti regions. Situated in the middle of the Indus-Gangetic Plain, the city is surrounded by rural towns and villages: the orchard town of Malihabad, Kakori, Mohanlalganj, Gosainganj, Chinhat and Itaunja. To the east lies Barabanki, to the west Unnao, to the south Raebareli, while to the north lie the Sitapur and Hardoi. Lucknow city is located in a seismic zone III.Lucknow stands at an elevation of approximately above sea level. The city had an area of until December 2019, when 88 villages were added to the municipal limits and the area increased to.
Bounded on the east by Barabanki, on the west by Unnao, on the south by Raebareli and in the north by Sitapur and Hardoi, Lucknow sits on the northwestern shore of the Gomti River., there were 110 wards in the city. Morphologically, three clear demarcations exist: The central business district, which is a fully built up area, comprises Hazratganj, Aminabad and Chowk. A middle zone surrounds the inner zone with concrete houses while the outer zone consists of villages.