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Contents |
An overview
Interesting facts
January 30, 2022: The Times of India
Mind-blowing facts about Lucknow!
Fondly called the City of Nawabs, Lucknow has established its unique place with its tehzeeb (manners), grand architecture, beautiful gardens, delectable cuisine, and much more. It has a special appeal among travellers, and features a perfect blend of colonial charisma and aesthetics. And, if you think these are all that defines Lucknow, here are some mind-blowing facts about this city that you probably didn’t know about.
Chessboard architecture
Did you know Lucknow’s Charbagh Railway station looks like a chess board? Yes, it’s a specimen of architectural genius designed by J. H. Horniman. The building comes complete with pillars and domes, apart from the little-known fact that it is also one of the country’s most beautiful railway stations. Another highlight of this station is that if viewed from above, it actually resembles a chess board with pieces that are engaged in a game.
Tallest clock tower
Husainabad Clocktower, standing at an impressive height of 221 ft, boasts of being one of the country's tallest clock towers. The clock features a 14 ft pendulum and has been designed as a 12-petaled flower. Anyone visiting Lucknow, cannot miss it as it proudly stands right next to the Rumi Darwaza. It also serves as an apt example of Gothic and Victorian style architecture.
Bara Imambara - the bhulbhulaiyya of Lucknow
It’s an architectural marvel, and famed for being Asia's largest hall without any additional support of beams. Although it sounds impossible for such a massive structure to stand tall in the absence of pillars, it stands as its eight chambers were built in such a manner that all of them have a different roof height. Not to miss the space above and between these chambers, the popular bhulbhulaiyya (labyrinth) features 489 interconnecting identical doors.
India’s longest race course
Lucknow Race Course, which was established in 1880, is spread across an area of 70.22 acres, while the racing track is around 3200 m. Not only was it once the country’s longest race track, but was also the only track where races are run anticlockwise. As per the reports, the first recorded race that was held here was in 1883, the Civil Service Cup Race.
The first STD service in the country
In 1960, India’s first STD call was made between Lucknow and Kanpur. Before this, the service was possible only via an operator.
Home to Asia’s biggest park
Spread across an area of more than 376 acres, Janeshwar Mishra Park is famed for being Asia’s biggest park. It features two water bodies within the park, which attracts migratory birds, which further complements the scenic beauty of this park. As per the reports, there are also plans to elevate the amusement quotient of the park by introducing laser shows and a toy train.
World’s largest school
The City Montessori School in the city has won the Guinness World Record for being the world’s largest school in terms of strength of students. If reports are to go by, the school was started with just five students, which then marched ahead to make a mark on the International Educational Map.
First-ever CCTV city
Known as the First CCTV City in India, Lucknow is the most monitored and highly surveilled city of the country. It got this tag for the fact that the city managed to excel in installing more than 9000 cameras way back in 2015, in order to manage road traffic and keep a check on street crime. While the road cameras installed were of supreme quality, which cost INR 1 lakh a piece, the city had cautionary boards signalling that the citizens were under strict surveillance, which helped to bring down both traffic violations and crime incidents.
Lucknow City, as in 1908
This section has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Population
{Lakhnau). — Former capital of the province of Oudh and cantonment, situated in 26° 52' N. and 80° 56' E., on the banks of the Gumtl. It is the junction of several branches of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway with metre-gauge lines connecting the railway systems of Rajputana and Northern Bengal, and the centre from which radiate important roads to the surrounding Districts. Distance by rail from Calcutta 666 miles, and from Bombay 885 miles. Lucknow is the largest city in the United Provinces, and the fourth largest in British India. Population is, however, decreasing. At the four enumerations the numbers were: (1860) 284,779, (1881) 261,303, (1891) 273,028, and (1901) 264,049. In 1901 Lucknow contained 154,167 Hindus, 101,556 Musalmans, and 7,247 Christians, of whom 5,097 were Europeans or Eurasians. The population within municipal limits was 240,649, while that of the cantonments was 23,400.
History
The oldest part of Lucknow is the high ground within the Machchhl Bhawan fort, which is known to Hindus as the Lakshman Tlla, from the tradition that a city was founded here by Lakshmana, brother of Rama Chandra of Ajodhya. Nothing is known of the early history of the place ; but after the Muhammadan conquest of India it was occupied by Shaikhs and Pathans. The former became of some importance and built a fort, and according to one account the place derives its name from Likhna, the architect of the fort. In the fifteenth century one of the Shaikhs, who w'as celebrated for his piety, assumed the name of Shah Mlna. His tomb is still visited by pilgrims, who offer pieces of cloth, and it is specially resorted to when a man has a case pending in court. In 1526 Lucknow was occupied by Humayun, who abandoned it ; but it was again taken by Babar in 1528. A few years later Humayun defeated Mahmud, brother of the last LodI king, near here. Under the Suri kings Lucknow began to rise into importance, and in the reign of Akbar it was the chief town of a sarkar. Its growth, however, like that of so many of the modern cities of India, was most rapid in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies. It rose to greatness as the capital of the dynasty which established itself in Oudh during the decay of the Mughal empire, and spread its rule, not only over the modern province, but also through the neighbouring tracts now included in Rohilkhand, the Gorakpur and Benares Divisions, and the Allahabad Division north of the Ganges. Saadat Khan, the first Nawab, had a residence at Lucknow, but seldom lived there. His son-in-law, Safdar Jang, built a fort at Jalalabad, three miles south of the city, to keep in check the Rajputs of Baiswara, and also commenced the stone bridge over the Gumti. He rebuilt the old stronghold of Lakshman Tila, which was henceforward known as the Machchhi Bhawan or 'fish palace,' from the fish which he was entitled to bear on his standard. Shuja-ud-daula, the third Nawab, resided chiefly at Fyzabad ; and under the reigns of the first three Nawabs Lucknow increased in size, but received few architectural embellishments.
With Asaf-ud-daula, the fourth Nawab, a new political situation developed. The grandeur of Lucknow dates from his reign, and the works he constructed did not degenerate into the mere personal extravagances of his successors. He built bridges and mosques, as well as the Imambara, the chief architectural glory of Lucknow, in which he lies buried, the adjacent mosque, the Rumi Darwaza or Turkish Gate, and the magnificent palace which afterwards became the Residency. Outside the city lies the palace of Bibiapur, built by him as a country- house and hunting-lodge. Numerous other handsome edifices in various parts of the city attest the greatness of this Nawab, whose memory is still preserved in popular rhymes as the embodiment of liberality and magnificence. The Lucknow court had now reached its highest splendour. The dominions of the Nawab extended over a wider area than at any earlier or later period.
All the wealth of the state was devoted to the personal aggrandizement of its ruler and the accumula- tion of the materials of Oriental pomp. The burden on the people was crushing, and when the English traveller, Tennant, passed through Oudh, he found almost everywhere a plundered and desolate country. Saadat All Khan, half-brother to Asaf-ud-daula, ceded a large territory to the British in return for their protection ; and thenceforward the Nawab and his successors, the kings of Oudh, degenerated into a mere faineant dynasty of pleasure-seekers, whose works no longer partook of any national or utilitarian character, but ministered solely to the gratifi- cation of the sovereign. In the place of mosques, wells, forts, or bridges, palace after palace sprang up in succession, each more ungraceful and extravagant than the last. At the same time European influence began to make itself felt in the architecture, which grew gradually more and more debased from reign to reign. Awkward imitations of Corinthian columns supported Musalman domes, while false Venetian blinds and stucco marble replaced the solid brickwork of the earlier period. Palaces were erected for the kings, for their wives, and for their concu- bines, and hardly less palatial buildings to house the royal menageries. Saadat All Khan set the fashion by erecting the Farhat Bakhsh or 'giver of delight,' the chief royal residence till the last king, Wajid All Shah, built the Kaisar Bagh. He also built the portion of Lucknow which extends east of the Machchhl Bhawan, besides numerous small palaces, including the Dilkusha. In his time Lucknow reached very nearly its present size.
Ghazl-ud-din Haidar (1814), son of Saadat All Khan, was the first of his line who bore the title of king. He built for his wives the two palaces called the Great and Lesser Chhattar Manzil (' umbrella ' or ' dome palace '), and also erected fine mausoleums to his father and mother, and the Shah Najaf, in which he himself was buried. Other memorials of this king are the Moti Mahal, the Mubarak Manzil, and the Shah Manzil, where the wild-beast fights took place for which Lucknow was famous. He attempted to dig a canal for irrigation from the Ganges, but it proved a complete failure.
Nasir-ud-din Haidar (1827), son of the last-named monarch, founded the Tarawali Kothi or 'observatory,' under the superintendence of Colonel Wilcox, his astronomer-royal. It contained several excellent instruments. On the death of Colonel Wilcox in 1847, the establish- ment was dismissed, and the instruments disappeared during the Mutiny. The building was the head-quarters of the Fyzabad Maulvi, Ahmad- uUah Shah, during the rebellion, and the insurgent council frequently held its meetings here. It is now occupied as a bank. Nasir-ud-din also built a great karbala in Iradatnagar, under which he lies buried.
Muhammad All Shah (1837), uncle of Nasir-ud-din Haidar, raised his own monument, the Husainabad Imambara, a tawdry building in which the degeneration of architectural taste is distinctly marked. A magnificent stone tank near the road from the Great Chhattar Manzil to Husainabad dates from this reign ; and near it stands an unfinished building, called the Sat Khanda or ' seven-storeyed tower,' though only the fourth storey was ever completed. Muhammad All Shah also erected a mosque close to his mausoleum ; but its courtyard and the buildings attached were never completed, and the mosque itself stood unfinished for many years.
Amjad All Shah (1842), the fourth king, built his own mausoleum in Hazratganj, and laid down an iron bridge across the Gumtl. This bridge had been brought out from England by Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, who, however, died before it arrived. His son, Naslr-ud-din Haidar, directed that it should be put up opposite the Residency ; but the operations for sinking wells to receive the piers proved unsuccessful, and the work was thus delayed till the accession of Amjad All.
Wajid All Shah, the last king of Oudh (1847-56), bears the whole opprobrium for the erection of the Kaisar Bagh, the largest, gaudiest, and most debased of all the Lucknow palaces. It was commenced in 1848 and finished in 1850 at a cost of 80 lakhs. Only the rear portion is now standing.
The annexation of Oudh is described under the account of that province. For a year the work of inaugurating the new administration was busily carried on under General Outram, the last Resident, and Mr. C. C. Jackson of the Civil Service. A couple of months before the outbreak at Meerut, Sir Henry Lawrence (March 20, 1857) had assumed the Chief Commissionership. The garrison at Lucknow then consisted of the 32nd British Regim.ent, a weak company of European Artiller}^ the 7th Native Cavalry, and the 13th, 48th, and 71st Native Infantry. In or near the city were also quartered two regiments of irregular local infantry, together with one regiment of military police, one of Oudh irregular cavalry, and two batteries of native artillery. The town thus contained nearly ten Indian soldiers to every European, or 7,000 to 750. Symptoms of disaffection occurred as early as the month of April, when the house of the surgeon to the 48th was burned down in revenge for a supposed insult to caste. Sir Henry Lawrence immediately took steps to meet the danger by fortifying the Residency and accumulating stores. On April 30 the men of the 7th Oudh Irregulars refused to bite their cartridges, on the ground that they had been greased with cows' fat. They were induced with some difficulty to return to their lines. On May 3 Sir Henry Lawrence resolved to deprive the mutinous regiment of its arms — a step which was not effected without serious delay.
On May 12 Sir Henry held a darhar, and made an impressive speech in Hindustani, in which he called upon the people to uphold the British Government, as most tolerant to Hindus and Muham- madans alike. Two days earlier the outbreak at Meerut had taken place, and a telegram brought word of the event on the morning after the darbar. On May 19 Sir Henry Lawrence received the supreme military command in Oudh. He immediately fortified the Residency and the Machchhi Bhawan, bringing the women and chil- dren into the former building. On the night of May 30 the expected insurrection broke out in Lucknow. The men of the 71st, with a few from the other regiments, began to burn the bungalows of their officers and to murder the inmates. Prompt action was taken, and early next morning the European force attacked, dispersed, and followed up for ten miles the retreating mutineers, who were joined during the action by the 7th Cavalry. The rebels fled towards Sitapur.
Although Lucknow thus remained in the hands of the British, by June 12 every station in Oudh had fallen into the power of the mutineers. The Chief Commissioner still held the cantonments (then situated north of the Gumti) and the two fortified posts ; but the symptoms of disaffection in the city and among the remaining native troops were unmistakable. In the midst of such a crisis, Sir Henry Lawrence's health unhappily gave way. He delegated his authority to a council of five, presided over by Mr. Gubbins, the Financial Commissioner ; but shortly after he recovered sufficiently to resume the command. On June 11, how- ever, the military police and native cavalry broke into open revolt, followed on the succeeding morning by the native infantry.
On June 20 news of the fall of Cawnpore arrived; and on the 29th the enemy, 7,000 strong, advanced upon Chinhat, a village on the Fyzabad road, eight miles from the Residency. Sir Henry Lawrence marched out and gave the enemy battle at that spot. The result proved dis- astrous to our arms through the treachery of the Oudh artillery, and a retreat became necessary. The troops fell back on Lucknow, aban- doned the Machchhi Bhawan, and concentrated all their strength upon the Residency. The siege of the enclosure began upon July i. On the 2nd, as Sir Henry Lawrence lay on his bed, a shell entered the room, burst, and wounded him mortally. He lingered till the morning of the 4th, and then died in great agony. Major Banks succeeded to the civil command, while the military authority devolved upon Brigadier Inglis. On July 20 the enemy made an unsuccessful assault. Next day Major Banks was shot, and the sole command was under- taken by Inglis. On August 10 the mutineers attempted a second assault, which was again unsuccessful. A third assault took place on the 1 8th; but the enemy were losing heart as they found the small garrison so well able to withstand them, and the repulse proved comparatively easy.
Meanwhile the British within were dwindling away and eagerly expecting reinforcements from Cawnpore. On September 5 news of the relieving force under Outram and Havelock reached the gar- rison by a faithful native messenger. On September 22 the relief arrived at the Alambagh, a walled garden on the Cawnpore road held by the enemy in force. Havelock stormed the Alambagh, and on the 25th fought his way against continuous opposition through the eastern outskirts of the city. On the 26th he arrived at the gate of the Residency enclosure, and was welcomed by the gallant defenders within. General Neill fell during the action outside the walls. The sufferings of the besieged had been very great ; but even after the first relief it became clear that Lucknow could only be temporarily defended till the arrival of further reinforcements should allow the garrison to cut its way out. Outram, who now reassumed the command which he had magnanimously yielded to Havelock during the relief, accordingly fortified an enlarged area of the town, bringing many important outworks within the limits of defence ; and the siege began once more till a second relieving party could set the besieged at liberty. Night and day the enemy kept up a continuous bombard- ment of our position, while Outram retaliated by frequent sorties.
Throughout October the garrison maintained its gallant defence, and a small party shut up in the Alambagh and cut off unexpectedly from the main body also contrived to hold its dangerous post. Mean- while Sir Colin Campbell's force had advanced from Cawnpore, and arrived at the Alambagh on November 10. From the day of his landing at Calcutta Sir Colin had never ceased in his endeavours to collect an army to relieve Lucknow, by gathering together the liberated Delhi field force and the fresh reinforcements from England. On the 1 2th the main body threw itself into the Alambagh, after a smart skirmish with the rebels.
Sir Colin next occupied the Dilkusha palace, east of the city, and then moved against the Martiniere, which the enemy had fortified with guns of position. After carrying the post he forded the canal, and on the i6th attacked the Sikandra Bagh, the chief rebel stronghold. The mutineers, driven to bay, fought desperately, but before evening the whole place was in the hands of the British. As soon as Sir Colin Campbell reached the Moti Mahal, on the outskirts of the city proper. General Havelock came out from the Residency to meet him, and the second relief was successfully accomplished.
Even now, however, it was impossible to hold Lucknow ; and Sir Colin Campbell determined, before undertaking any further offensive operations, to return to Cawnpore with his army, escorting the civilians, women, and children rescued from their long imprisonment in the Residency, with the object of forwarding them to Calcutta. On the morning of November 20, the troops received orders to march for the Alambagh ; and the Residency, the scene of so long and stirring a defence, was abandoned for awhile to the rebel army. Before the final departure, Sir Henry Havelock died from an attack of dysentery.
He was buried in the Alambagh, without any monument, a cross on a neighbouring tree marking for a time his last resting-place. Sir James Outram, with 3,500 men, held the Alambagh until the Com- mander-in-Chief could return to recapture the capital. The rebels used the interval for the fortification of their stronghold to the utmost of their knowledge and power. They surrounded the greater part of the city, for a circuit of 20 miles, with an external line of defences, extending from the Gumti to the canal. An earthen parapet was raised behind the canal : a second line of entrenchments connected the MotI Mahal, the Mess-house, and the Imambara ; while the Kaisar Bagh constituted the rebel citadel. Stockades and parapets closed every street ; and loopholes in all the houses afforded an opportunity for defending the passage inch by inch. The computed strength of the insurgents amounted to 30,000 sepoys, together with 50,000 volunteers ; and they possessed 100 pieces of ordnance, guns and mortars.
On March 2, 1858, Sir Colin Campbell found himself free enough in the rear to march once more upon Lucknow. He first occupied the Dilkusha, and posted guns to command the Martiniere. On March 5 Brigadier Franks arrived with 6,000 men, half of them Gurkhas sent by the Raja of Nepal. Outram's forces then crossed the Gumti, and advanced from the direction of Fyzabad, while the main body attacked from the south-east. After a week's hard fighting, from March 9 to 15, the rebels were completely defeated, and their posts captured one by one. Most of the insurgents, however, escaped. As soon as it became clear that Lucknow had been permanently recovered, and that the enemy as a combined body had ceased to exist, Sir Colin Campbell broke up the British Oudh army, and the work of reorganization began. On October 18, 1858, the Governor-General and Lady Canning visited Lucknow in state, and found the city already recovering from the devastation to which it had been subjected. Lucknow remained the capital of a separate administration till 1877, when the post of Chief Commissioner of Oudh was united with that of Lieutenant-Governor of the North- western Provinces.
The city of Lucknow covers a vast area on the south of the Gumti, with suburbs extending across the river. The large cantonment forms an irregular quadrilateral adjoining the south-east Description. corner of the city. Up to the Mutiny, bazars reached to the river almost throughout the whole of its course on the northern boundary of the city ; but a space has gradually been cleared, with an average breadth of about half a mile. Most of the buildings already mentioned lie in this clearing, and within the last few years have been enclosed in verdant lawns which have justly earned for Lucknow its description as the City of Parks. On the extreme west lies the unfinished mosque of Muhammad All Shah, known as the Jama Masjid.
It was intended to rival the great mosque at Delhi, but is remarkable only for its size and gaudy colour decoration, which has recently been renewed. The Husainabad buildings erected by the same king consist of two enclosures at right angles. One of these, which is now lined with shops, contains the tomb of Muhammad All Shah's daughter, a poor model of the Taj at Agra. The other, which is laid out as a garden adorned with stone water-channels, fountains, and badly executed statuary, contains the Imambara, in which Muhammad Ali was buried.
The buildings are richly endowed, the surplus income being devoted to charity. East of Husainabad, and extending to the RumI Darwaza, is a beautiful garden, called the Victoria Park, which was laid out in 1887, enclosing the Sat Khanda, the house first occupied by A.saf-ud-dau]a when he transferred his government to Lucknow, the large tank built by Muhammad All Shah, and a bdradarl constructed by the same king, which contains a series of portraits of the Nawabs and kings of Oudh. Close to the tank is a clock-tower of Moorish design, 221 feet in height and 20 feet square, which was built between 1880 and 1887, and con- tains a chime of bells. On the eastern border of the Park lies the finest group of buildings in Lucknow, including the Rum! Darwaza, the great Imambara, and a mosque, all of which were built by Asaf-ud-daula, The first of these is a massive gateway, popularly believed to be an imitation of the gate at Constantinople from which the Sublime Porte derives its name. It leads into the Machchhi Bhawan, in which are situated the other buildings.
The great Imambara consists of an immense hall, 162 feet long and 54 feet wide. On either side are verandas 27 feet wide, and at the ends octagonal apartments 53 feet in diameter. The whole building is covered with a roof of bricks set in concrete several feet thick, which stands without the thrust entailed by vaulting. No wood is used anywhere in the construction, which is built on very deep foundations, A plain slab marks the resting-place of the founder. In the same enclosure stands the beautiful mosque raised by the Nawab. The Machchhi Bhawan also contains the mound known as the Lakshman Tila, now surmounted by a mosque built by Aurangzeb, and a fine schoolhouse has recently been erected south-east of the Imambara.
The mound occupied by the ruins of the Residency lies at a distance of half a mile south-east of the Machchhi Bhawan, being separated from the Gumtl by a road and open ground. At the time of the Mutiny bazars were situated close to the low wall surrounding it, but these have been cleared away. The shattered walls of the main block of buildings in which Sir Henry Lawrence received his fatal wound. Dr. Fayrer's house where he died, the noble banqueting hall used during the siege as a hospital, the cellar where the women and children took refuge, and several other buildings are still standing, while high above all the topmost tower still rears its battered sides. Further decay has been prevented by carefully executed repairs, and the grounds have been levelled and turfed. In one corner, under the shade of many cypresses, are the tombs or cenotaphs of some 2,000 Europeans who perished during the Mutiny. The palaces of Saadat All Khan and Ghazi-ud-dln Haidar lie east of the Residency, adjoining each other. Only portions remain of the vast Farhat Bakhsh. The part of this building which overlooks the river was constructed by General Claude Martin and sold by him to Saadat Ali Khan.
It is now joined to the Great Chhattar Manzil built by his successor, and the whole building is used as a club. Other portions of the P'arhat Bakhsh are the Lai Bara- darl and the Gulistan-iTram, which are now the Provincial Museum. The former building was the throne-room of the Oudh kings ; and in it a serious disturbance took place in 1837, when an attempt was made to prevent the accession of Muhammad All Shah. A fine court for the Judicial Commissioner of Oudh has recently been completed opposite this building, with a chamber used for meetings of the Provincial Legis- lative Council. A short distance to the south are the stately tombs of Saadat All Khan and his wife, and behind them the Canning College and the large quadrangle forming the Kaisar Bagh. The latter has already commenced to decay and one side has been removed. The other sides have been allotted to the talukddrs of Oudh as residences. East of these buildings lie the Tarawali Kothi, the Khurshed Manzil, called after the wife of Saadat All Khan who commenced it, the Moti Mahal, which also includes the Mubarak Manzil and the Shah Manzil or arena, and the Shah Najaf, where Ghazi-ud-dm Haidar is buried. A large horticultural garden then intervenes, on the east of which is the Sikandra Bagh, where fierce fighting took place on the second relief. Another large public garden, called the Wingfield Park after a Chief Commissioner, lies on the east of the city, and south-east of this is situated the Martiniere College. This bizarre erection, which was built by General Martin as his own residence during the time of Asaf-ud- daula, resembles a colossal Italian villa on an exaggerated scale. The founder's bones were buried within the Martiniere to prevent its confis- cation by the Nawab, but were dug up and scattered during the Mutiny. The Dilkusha palace is situated in cantonments.
Viewed from a distance, Lucknow presents a picture of unusual magnificence and architectural splendour, which fades on nearer view into the ordinary aspect of a crowded Oriental town. Some of the most striking buildings, which look like marble in moonlight, are shown by the disillusioning sun to be degraded examples of stucco and brick. Flying buttresses to support nothing but one another, copper domes gilt from top to bottom, burnished umbrellas, and balustrades of burnt clay form frequent features in the tawdry architecture which renders the distant aspect of Lucknow so bright and sparkling.
Immediately after the Mutiny a wide glacis was cleared round the Machchhi Bhawan, and three military roads, radiating from this point as a centre, were cut right through the heart of the native quarter. The city itself contains shops of the ordinary style and a few large private residences. The civil station, which adjoins the eastern side of the city, has a fine thoroughfare lined with the shops of European tradesmen, called Hazratganj, at the end of which is the Lucknow residence of the Lieutenant-Governor.
Administration
Lucknow is the head-quarters of the principal court in Oudh, the Inspectors-General of Civil Hospitals and of Jails, the Postmaster- General in the United Provinces, the Conservator . . of Forests in the Oudh Circle, the Commissioner of the Lucknow Division, an Executive Engineer, a Superintendent of Railway Police, and an Inspector of Schools. The Church Missionary Society, the American Methodists, the Wesleyan and the Zanana Bible and Medical Missions have important stations here. There are ten hospitals and dispensaries for both sexes, besides three female hospitals. The magnificent hospital founded by the late Maharaja of Balrampur and added to by the present Maharaja is exceptionally well equipped.
The city has been administered as a municipality since 1862. A special Act was passed to regulate it in 1864, which remained in force till 1873, since which date it has been under the ordinary municipal law of the United Provinces. During the ten years ending 1901 the income and expenditure averaged 5-2 lakhs, including a loan from Government of 13-2 lakhs to meet the cost of a water-supply from the Gumti. In 1903-4 the total income was 5-3 lakhs, chiefly derived from octroi (3-6 lakhs), sale of water (Rs. 38,000), water-rate (Rs. 26,000), and conser- vancy receipts (Rs. 22,000). The expenditure of 5-6 lakhs included 1-3 lakhs for conservancy, Rs. 76,000 repayment of loans and interest, Rs. 67,000 public safety, Rs. 50,000 maintenance of water-works, and Rs. 45,000 administration and collection. A drainage scheme is now under construction, and a scheme for electric tramways has been sanc- tioned.
The cantonment, which is the largest in the United Provinces, is garrisoned by British and Native regiments of both cavalry and infantry and by garrison and field artillery. The cantonment fund had an income and expenditure averaging Rs. 53,000 during the ten years ending 1901 ; in 1903-4 the income was Rs. 78,000 and the expenditure Rs. 74,000. Lucknow is the head-quarters of the Oudh and Rohilkhand Rail- way Volunteer Rifles, the Lucknow Volunteer Rifles, and the Oudh squadron of Light Horse.
Commerce
The city is more noted for its manufactures than for general trade ; but its industries have suffered from the changes brought about by British rule. Under the prodigal waste and lavish display of its latest kings Lucknow was a centre for the production of rich fabrics and costly jewellery'. The kings have departed, and their descendants and those of the nobles of the court who still inhabit the city live on pensions which are fast becoming sub- divided to a vanishing point. Cotton fabrics are still manufactured of all grades, from the coarsest cloth to the finest muslin and cotton prints. An important industry connected with cotton is the famous chikan or embroidery in silk or cotton on muslin.
The work affords employ- ment to many women and children of good family who are now impoverished, and very tasteful articles are produced. Lucknow is also celebrated for embroidery with gold and silver thread, but the demand for this is decreasing. The silver work has some reputation and is largely sold to European visitors, while bidr'i or damascening of silver on other metals has been revived within recent years. The brass and copper industry is still of importance, and vessels for use by Muham- madans are especially made. Wood-carving is still carried on, and there is a little carving in ivory. The potters of Lucknow produce various kinds of art-ware, some of which are distinctly good ; •while the clay modellers are pre-eminent in the whole of India. Their models of fruit and vegetables have a large sale among natives and are exported to Calcutta and Bombay, and clay figures representing various types of native life are wonderfully artistic. Minor products are tobacco, shoes, and perfumes.
There are some large industries worked on European lines. Two railway workshops employed 3,400 hands in 1903, while four large printing presses employed 930, a large paper-mill 526, an iron foun- dry 200, a brewery 156, and an ice and flour mill 84.
Education
Lucknow is important as an educational centre. The chief institu- tion is the Canning College, founded in 1864 and partly supported by the talukdars. which contained ^^6 students in 1904, of whom 47 were m the Oriental department and 78
were studying law. There is also a school for the sons of the talukdars and gentry, called the Colvin School. The Reid Christian College, which contains a business department and is managed by the American Methodist Mission, several other mission schools, a normal school, the Jubilee high school, and a number of schools under native manage- ment, may also be mentioned. The secondary schools contain nearly 2,000 pupils, and there are five primary schools with about 150 pupils.
Lucknow city possesses more facilities for female education than any other place in the United Provinces. It contains a high school See W. Hoey, Monograph on Trades and Manufactures (1880). for girls maintained by the American Mission with 150 pupils, of whom 18 were reading in college classes in 1904, while 600 girls are taught in a number of primary schools. The chief school for Euro- peans and Eurasians is the Martiniere, which contains nearly 100 boys. It is partly supported by the endowments bequeathed by General Martin, but the fees amount to more than half a lakh annually. A girls' school, now in the Khurshed Manzil, which was founded in 1866, contains 75 pupils. Lucknow is also a centre of literary activity, and five English and eighteen vernacular newspapers and periodicals are published here. The former include an AngloTndian paper called the Indian Daily Telegraph, and the Advocate, which is the leading organ of native public opinion in the United Provinces, and is also published in a vernacular edition. The Newal Kishore Press is one of the most important publishing houses in India for Hindustani literature.
[M. R. Gubbins, Mutinies in Oiidh (1858) ; McLeod Innes, Lucknow and Oudh in the Mutiny (1902).]
The name of the city
The BJP view
2024
Maulshree Seth, July 16, 2024: The Indian Express
Welcoming leaders to the party’s state working committee meeting in Lucknow on Sunday — attended among others by BJP president J P Nadda and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath — state BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary said it was important to remember “shahr ke vastavik bharatiya vastuvid (the actual Indian architect of the city)” Lakhan Pasi, saying that the meeting would be incomplete without invoking the Pasi king who is believed to have ruled in the 10th or 11th Century.
Till last year, some BJP leaders were pushing for Lucknow’s name to be changed to Lakshmanpuri. But with the INDIA alliance getting a chunk of the support of Pasis — the biggest Dalit community in UP after Jatavs — the ruling party has taken note. Getting back the community’s support will be crucial in the coming by-elections for 10 Assembly seats whose legislators have been elected to Parliament.
Pasis comprise 16% of the Dalit population in UP and are among the most electorally influential communities in the state. They play an especially significant role in the Awadh region of Uttar Pradesh: Faizabad, Lucknow, neighbouring Barabanki, Hardoi, Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Unnao, Rae Bareli, and Pratapgarh. With Pasis backing it, the INDIA alliance either won several seats in this region — Faizabad, Barabanki, Sitapur, Kheri, Pratapgarh, and Rae Bareli — or was able to reduce the victory margins of sitting BJP MPs in Lucknow, Hardoi, and Unnao. The BJP has estimated that Pasis can influence more than 25 Assembly seats in the Awadh region and the fight to get their vote is likely to intensify in the coming months.
Since pulling off an upset by winning the Faizabad seat, of which Ayodhya is a part, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Awadhesh Prasad is among the prominent Pasi faces in the state. Prasad recently took the names of popular Pasi icons Bijli Pasi and Urda Devi during his oath ceremony in Parliament. By invoking Lakhan Pasi, the BJP has attempted to send a signal to the community that it too cares about its history and cultural icons.
“Both (Lakshman and Lakhan Pasi) are part of history. Thousands of years ago, Lucknow was known as Lakhanpuri named after Lakshman. In time, it was Lakhan Pasi who, among the many Pasi rulers of that time, was credited with establishing Lucknow city. Awadh has a rich past of Pasi rulers be it Bijli Pasi or Pasi rulers in neighbouring Malihabad, Barabanki etc,” said the BJP’s Scheduled Caste (SC) Morcha president Ram Chandra Kanaujia.
But the public invocation of Lakhan Pasi by the state BJP chief stands in contrast to the narrative of the Lucknow and Lakshman connection that party leaders had been pushing. Last year, after a huge statue of Lakshman was inaugurated near Lucknow Airport, the BJP’s then Pratapgarh MP Sangam Lal Gupta wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Adityanath, urging that Lucknow be renamed either Lakhanpuri or Lakshmanpuri. He claimed that Lord Ram had gifted the city to his younger brother. The letter sparked a debate, with then SP leader and former minister Swami Prasad Maurya opposing the bid to link the city to Lakshman. Maurya claimed that Lakhan Pasi and his wife Lakhnawati were the reasons why the city came to be known as Lucknow.
Earlier, former BJP MP Lalji Tandon had brought up Lucknow’s connection to the city, claiming that the Teele Wali Masjid in the city stands atop a Hindu structure known as Lakshman Tila. Earlier this year, a local court rejected the Muslim side’s plea against a civil suit seeking the right of worship at the mosque site.
While little is known about Lakhan Pasi, according to BJP leader Kanaujia some historical records say that he ruled in the 10th or 11 Century and that the Bhool Bhulaiya in Lucknow is located where a fort of Lakhan Pasi once stood.
After 1947
Famous places to eat at
2011
The Times of India, Sep 9, 2011
Historical buildings, crumbling edifices, chikankari embroidery, and, of course, the legendary Lucknawi tehzeeb… Add to it a food tradition that’s become synonymous with Lucknow. We scour the nukkads to come up with the best places to eat
— RACHANA RANA BHATTACHARYA
As part of the relief operations for the citizens of his famine-ravaged kingdom, Awadh’s Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah commissioned the building of grand edifices like the Bada Imambara. This would provide a means of livelihood to his subjects. He also directed his cooks to provide them with a nutritious meal every day. His bawarchis hit upon the brilliant idea of creating a ‘one-dish’ meal by placing everything (rice, meat, oil and spices) into a huge degh (pot), sealing it with dough, placing hot coals on the lid to ensure uniform heat and leaving the degh to simmer overnight on a slow fire. One day, the Nawab happened to pass by when the pot was being opened. Drawn by the tantalising whiff of the piping-hot food, he asked for it to be served at his dining table. Since then, neither nawab nor commoner has been able to resist the magic of Dum Pukht biryani, Lucknow’s signature dish down the ages.
Under the patronage of nawabs, Dum Pukht cuisine was refined even further — leading to an entire range of one-dish meals like khichda, haleem and, needless to say, various biryanis. As the cuisine evolved, the Qureshi community (reputedly the finest butchers) defined the selection of prime cuts to suit each recipe, into a very precise science. The Nawabs, who hailed from Iran brought grapes, pomegranates, dried figs and stews like nahari to India. Over time, they learnt to appreciate India’s mastery over spices, which began to flavour Awadhi cuisine. That is why, while Irani nahari is pale, the Lucknawi version is yellow. Garlic and tomatoes were not used at all. The richness of dark kormas and yellow kaliyas was enhanced by the right cuts, complex use of spices and ittars, and the seamless osmosis of slow cooking that infused flavours into recipes. Spicing became secret passed on like heirlooms. Gourmands like Nawab Wajid Ali Shah accorded cooking the status of an art. The key element of Awadhi cuisine was not over-the-top opulence but subtleties of perfection. Nazakat (delicacy) and nafasat (subtlety) were synonymous with the Lucknawi dastarkhwan (banquet).
WHERE TO SAMPLE WHAT
• Tunde’s (Akbari Gate): Gilawati kebabs with paranthas
• Oudhiana: Kakori kebabs
• Near Chand Hotel, Kaiser Bagh: Shammi kebab
• Maharaja Hotel: Murgh kali mirch
• Tulsi Plaza, Idris (Patanala Chowk), Mushtaq Mian’s (near Press Club): Biryani and kebabs
• Rahim’s: Nahari with kulcha
• Sheermal Gali: Traditional breads like naan, khameeri roti, varqi parantha, bakarkhani and sheermal
• Naushejaan, Sekhawat, Chote Nawab, Mughlai Mahal, Daal Mein Kala, Dastarkhawan and eateries at Shahganj: Traditional Awadhi specialities at pocket-friendly rates
• Taj Residency, Clarks Avadh, Carlton and Park Inn: Excellent Nawabi cuisine at five-star rates
See also
Lucknow: Home page
