Lucknow
(2001 pop. 2.2 million). The capital of Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, Lucknow is a major commercial and cultural center 270 miles southeast of Delhi. In 1590 the Mughal emperor Akbar named it the seat of the governor of Awadh. Muslims constituted its ruling families. Modern Lucknow, known as the city of nabobs, was largely created by Oudh princes, descendants of the Persian adventurer Saadat Khan, who governed the province as a gift of the Mughal court beginning in 1732. The Mughal emperor Asaf-ud-Dawlah moved the court from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775 and turned it into a center of Urdu poetry, courtly diction, music, and dance. The early nineteenth century saw the continued building of palaces and mosques and the cult of the sophisticated courtesan. The British annexed the area in 1856.
Today music festivals and dance made famous by the Oudh court continue in Lucknow. The city produces silver and bidri (ornamental metal) work and trades in copper, brass, and cotton. It is an important rail junction with an impressive station reflecting Mughal and European influences. Also noteworthy is the Great Imambara, the tomb of the nabob Asaf-ud-Dawlah. Most residents are Hindus, but Lucknow is the principal Shiʿite Muslim center in India and still home to many Sunni Muslims.
C. Roger Davis
Further Reading
Hay, Sidney. (1994) Historic Lucknow. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services.
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