Awadh
An historically important province of North India, Awadh was incorporated within the state of Uttar Pradesh after independence (1947). According to legend, it dates back to the days of the epic Ramayana. The name Awadh is derived from Ayodhya, the capital of the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kosala. Little is known of Ayodhya's history between the seventh and eleventh centuries. Awadh came into prominence under the rule of the Delhi sultans in the twelfth century. Later, it became a province of the Mughal empire after Babur annexed it in 1538. Under Aurangzeb (1658–1707), the capital city, Lucknow, developed as a notable Sunni theological center.
Under the later Mughals, centralized control declined. The governor Sadat Khan (1722–1739) made Awadh practically independent. Subsequently, the English East India Company gained ascendancy over the province. After defeating Nawab Shuja-ud-daulah (1753–1775) at the Battle of Buxar (1764), the company gained the right to free trade in Awadh. During the reign of Wajid Ali Shah (1847–1856), the British government finally annexed Awadh in 1856. Lucknow flourished in the eighteenth century as an important cultural center and rivaled Delhi in its patronage of art, music, and literature.
Further Reading
Fox, Richard G. (1971) Kin, Clan, Raja, and Rule: State-Hginterland Relations in Pre-industrial India. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Majumdar, R. C., J. N. Chaudhuri, and S. Chaudhuri, eds. (1984) The Mughal Empire. Vol. 7 of The History and Culture of the Indian People. Bombay, India: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan.
This is the complete article, containing 240 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page).
