Module 1A: Uttar Pradesh History
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Module 1a: Uttar Pradesh History Uttar Pradesh State Information India.. The Gangetic Plain occupies three quarters of the state. The entire Capital : Lucknow state, except for the northern region, has a tropical monsoon climate. In the Districts :70 plains, January temperatures range from 12.5°C-17.5°C and May records Languages: Hindi, Urdu, English 27.5°-32.5°C, with a maximum of 45°C. Rainfall varies from 1,000-2,000 mm in Introduction to Uttar Pradesh the east to 600-1,000 mm in the west. Uttar Pradesh has multicultural, multiracial, fabulous wealth of nature- Brief History of Uttar Pradesh hills, valleys, rivers, forests, and vast plains. Viewed as the largest tourist The epics of Hinduism, the Ramayana destination in India, Uttar Pradesh and the Mahabharata, were written in boasts of 35 million domestic tourists. Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh also had More than half of the foreign tourists, the glory of being home to Lord Buddha. who visit India every year, make it a It has now been established that point to visit this state of Taj and Ganga. Gautama Buddha spent most of his life Agra itself receives around one million in eastern Uttar Pradesh, wandering foreign tourists a year coupled with from place to place preaching his around twenty million domestic tourists. sermons. The empire of Chandra Gupta Uttar Pradesh is studded with places of Maurya extended nearly over the whole tourist attractions across a wide of Uttar Pradesh. Edicts of this period spectrum of interest to people of diverse have been found at Allahabad and interests. The seventh most populated Varanasi. After the fall of the Mauryas, state of the world, Uttar Pradesh can lay the present state of Uttar Pradesh was claim to be the oldest seat of India's divided into four parts: Surseva, North culture and civilization. It has been Panchal, Kosal, and Kaushambi. characterized as the cradle of Indian civilization and culture because it is The western part of Uttar Pradesh saw around the Ganga that the ancient cities the advent of the Shaks in the second and towns sprang up. Uttar Pradesh century BC. Not much is known of the played the most important part in India's history of the state during the times of freedom struggle and after Kanishka and his successors. The independence it remained the strongest Gupta Empire ruled over nearly the state politically. whole of Uttar Pradesh, and it was during this time that culture and architecture reached its peak. The decline of the Guptas coincided with the Geography of Uttar Pradesh attacks of Huns from Central Asia who succeeded establishing their influence Uttar Pradesh is between latitude 24°- right up to Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh. 31°N and longitude 77°-84°E. Area wise, it is the fourth largest state of Uppcsnotes.in Page 1 Module 1a: Uttar Pradesh History The seventh century witnessed the significant role in India's freedom taking over of Kannauj by movement and also rose to become the Harshavardhana. In 1526, Babur laid prime ministers of this great nation. the foundation of the Mughal dynasty. He defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the battle of Panipat. Babar carried out extensive campaign in various parts of Uttar Districts of Uttar Pradesh Pradesh. He defeated the Rajputs near Fatehpur Sikri while his son Humayun Uttar Pradesh is made up of 70 conquered Jaunpur and Ghazipur, after administrative districts, which are having brought the whole of Awadh grouped into 17 divisions. under his control. After Babur's death (1530), his son Humayun forfeited the Agra Division-Agra, Aligarh, Etah, empire after being defeated at the Firozabad, Mainpuri, Mahamaya hands of Sher Shah Suri at Kannauj. Nagar (Hathras) and Mathura Allahabad Division-Allahabad, After the death of Sher Shah Suri in Kaushambi, Fatehpur and 1545, Humayun once again regained his Pratapgarh, empire but died soon after. His son Azamgarh Division-Azamgarh, Akbar proved to be the greatest of Ballia, Mau, Mughals. His established a unified Bareilly Division-Bareilly, Badaun, empire over nearly the whole of the Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur India. During his period, Agra became Basti Division-Basti, the capital of India and became Siddharthnagar, Sant Kabir heartland of culture and arts. Akbar Nagar constructed huge forts in Agra and Chitrakoot Division-Banda, Allahabad. The period of Jahangir (after Chitrakoot, Hamirpur, Mahoba 1605) saw arts and culture reach a new Devipatan Division-Gonda, high. In 1627, after the death of Bahraich, Shravasti, Balrampur Jahangir, his son Shahjahan ascended Faizabad Division-Faizabad, the throne. The period of Shahjahan is Ambedkar Nagar, Barabanki, known as the golden period of India in Sultanpur art, culture, and architecture. It was Gorakhpur Division-Gorakhpur, during his reign that the classical Kushinagar (Padrauna), Devaria, wonder Taj Mahal was built in memory Maharajganj, of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. The régime of Aurangzeb saw the peak of Mughal Jhansi Division-Jalaun, Jhansi, Empire in terms of geographic Lalitpur, expansion. Kanpur Division-Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat (Akbarpur District), Modern-day Uttar Pradesh saw the rise Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, of important freedom fighters on the Auraiya national scenario. Lal Bahadur Shastri, Lucknow Division-Lucknow, Jawaharlal Nehru, Smt. Indira Gandhi, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Charan Singh were only a few of Raebareli, Sitapur, Unnao the important names who played a Uppcsnotes.in Page 2 Module 1a: Uttar Pradesh History Meerut Division-Meerut, Uttar Pradesh Travel Information Bulandshahr, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Bagpat, Uttar Pradesh can be easily considered Mirzapur Division-Mirzapur, Sant as the nerve center of India and all the Ravidas Nagar (Bhadohi District), images of India can be experienced Sonbhadra here. This is the state that gave the Moradabad Division-Moradabad, world Taj Mahal, the mascot for India; Bijnor, Rampur, Jyotiba Phule Varanasi, the spiritual hot spot; Sarnath, Nagar where Buddha preached for the first Saharanpur Division-Saharanpur, time, and Mathura, the place so much Muzaffarnagar synonymous with the life and times of Varanasi Division-Varanasi, Lord Krishna. There are many Tourist Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur Attraction of Uttar Pradesh, which include Agra, Allahabad, Ayodhya, Deogarh, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Business & Economy of Uttar Kushinagar, Lucknow, Mathura, Pradesh Sarnath, Sravasti, Varanasi, Vrindavan, Bithoor, Kalinjar and Kannauj Uttar Pradesh provides employment to nearly one-third of the state's total workforce in its textiles and sugar- refining industries. Other prominent Rivers of Uttar Pradesh industries in Uttar Pradesh include vegetable oil, jute, and cement. Main rivers in Uttar Prdaesh are The Union Government has established Alaknanda, Ramganga, Bhagirathi, a number of large factories that Yamuna & Ganga manufacture heavy equipment, machinery, steel, aircraft, telephone, electronics equipment, and fertilizers. An oil refinery at Mathura and the Education in Uttar Pradesh development of coalfields in the southeastern district of Mirzapur are The female literacy situation in Uttar also major Union Government projects. Pradesh is dismal at 42.98%. However, the male literacy rate is reasonably The state government promotes better at 70.23%. The overall literacy medium- and small-scale industries. rate is still poor at 57.36% and much Agriculture is the mainstay of the state's lower than the all India average. The economy. The chief crops are rice, State government has taken steps to wheat, millet, barley, and sugarcane. make the population totally literate. Since the late 1960s, with the introduction of high-yielding varieties of There are special programs like the seed for wheat and rice, greater World Bank aided DPEP. Steps are availability of fertilizers, and increased being taken with the help of NGOs and use of irrigation, the state has become other organizations to raise the largest producer of food grains in the participation. At the level of higher country. education and technical education Uttar Uppcsnotes.in Page 3 Module 1a: Uttar Pradesh History Pradesh has 16 general universities, percent, and other religious famous among those are Lucknow communities include Sikhs, Christians, University, Uttar Pradesh Technical Jains, and Buddhists. University (UPTU), Allahabad University, Madan Mohan Malaviya The handicrafts of Uttar Pradesh have Engineering College, Agra University, earned a reputation for themselves over Banaras Hindu University, Chaudhary the centuries. The traditional handicrafts Charan Singh University (Meerut), are of a vast variety such as textiles, Aligarh Muslim University, prestigious metal ware, woodwork, ceramics, Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), stonework, dolls, leather products, ivory Indian Institute of Management articles, papier-mâché, articles made of (Lucknow), Dayalbagh Educational horns, bone, cane and bamboo, Institute, Indian Institute of Information perfume, and musical instrument. These Technology (Allahabad), National cottage crafts are spread all over the Institute of Technology (Allahabad) and state but the more important centers are large number of polytechnics, located at Varanasi, Aamgarh, Maunath engineering institutes and industrial Bhanjan, Ghazipur, Meerut, Muradabad, training institutes. and Agra. Carpets from Bhadohi and Mirzapur are Food of Uttar Pradesh prized worldwide. Silks and brocades of Varanasi, ornamental brassware from Uttar Pradesh is a gourmet's paradise. Muradabad, chickan (a type of The cuisine consists of simple, embroidery)