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UNITED PROVINCES OF AGRA AND OUDH (fo...

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 612 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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UNITED PROVINCES OF See also:AGRA AND OUDH (formerly known as the See also:North-Western Provinces and Oudh)  , a See also:province of See also:British See also:India, lying between 23° 52' and 31° 18' N., and between 77° 3' and 84° 39' E . The province, including native states, has a See also:total See also:area of 112,243 sq. m . It is bounded N. by See also:Tibet; N.E. by See also:Nepal; E. by See also:Bengal; S. by See also:Chota See also:Nagpur, See also:Rewa, the See also:Bundelkhand states, and the Central Provinces; and on the W. by See also:Gwalior, See also:Rajputana and the See also:Punjab . z The See also:majority of this See also:synod joined the See also:Church of See also:Scotland in 1839 . The small minority which still retained the name joined the See also:Original Seceders in 1842, the resultant See also:body assuming the designation of See also:United Original Seceders . A small majority (twenty-seven ministers in all) of the Synod of United Original Seceders joined the See also:Free Church in 1852 . A dissentient remnant (eight congregations) of the See also:General See also:Associate Synod united with the Constitutional Associate See also:Presbytery in 1827, the resultant body being called the Associate Synod of Original Seceders . II See also:Physical Aspects.—The province occupies, roughly speaking, the upper See also:basin of the See also:Ganges and the See also:Jumna, corresponding to the Hindostan proper of the See also:Mahommedan chroniclers . A large semi-circular See also:tract, comprising the valleys of the See also:Gogra and the See also:Gumti, has See also:long been separated from the See also:remainder of the See also:great See also:plain as the See also:kingdom of Oudh; and though since 877 it has been under the administrative See also:charge of a See also:lieutenant-See also:governor, it retains certain features of its former status as a See also:chief-commissionership . The province includes the whole upper portion of the wide Gangetic basin, from the Himalayas and the Punjab plain to the Vindhyan See also:plateau, and the See also:low-lying ricefields of See also:Behar . Taken as a whole, the lieutenant-governorship consists of the richest See also:wheat-bearing See also:country in India, irrigated both naturally by the See also:rivers which take their rise in the See also:northern mountains, and artificially by the magnificent See also:system of canals which owe their origin to British enter-prise . It is studded with villages, interspersed at greater distances with commercial towns .

Except during the hot See also:

season, when the crops are off the See also:fields, the general aspect in normal years is that of a verdant and well-tilled but very monotonous plain, only merging into hilly or mountainous country at the extreme edges of the basin on the See also:south and See also:north . The course of the great rivers marks the prevailing slope of the See also:land, which falls away from the Himalayas, the Rajputaiia uplands, and the Vindhyan plateau south-eastwards towards the See also:Bay of Bengal . The 'chief natural features of the province are thus determined by the See also:main streams, whose alluvial deposits first formed the central portion of the United Provinces; while the currents afterwards cut deep channels through the detritus they brought down from the See also:ring of hills or uplands . The extreme or north-western Himalayan region comprises the native See also:state of See also:Garhwal, with the British districts of See also:Dehra Dun, Naini Tat, See also:Almora and Garhwal . The economic value of this mountainous tract is almost confined to the export of See also:forest produce . South of the Himalayas, from which it is separated by valleys or See also:duns, is the Siwalik range, which slopes down to the fruitful plain of the See also:Doab (two rivers), a large irregular See also:horn-shaped See also:tongue of land enclosed between the Ganges and Jumna . The great boundary rivers flow through low-lying valleys ertilized by their overflow or percolation, while a high See also:bank leads up to the central upland, which, though naturally dry and unproductive except where irrigated by See also:wells, has been transformed by various See also:canal systems . This favoured region may be regarded as the granary of upper India . North of the Ganges, and enclosed between that See also:river and the Himalayas and Oudh, lies the triangular plain of See also:Rohilkhand . This tract presents the same general features as the Gangetic valley, varied by the See also:damp and pestilential submontane region of the See also:tarai on the north-See also:east, at the See also:foot of the See also:Kumaon hills . South of the Jumna is the poor and backward region of Bundelkhand, comprising the districts of See also:Jalaun, See also:Jhansi, See also:Hamirpur and See also:Banda . The See also:soil is generally rocky and unfertile, and, the See also:population impoverished, scanty and ignorant .

The southernmost portion of Bundelkhand is much cut up by spurs of See also:

sandstone and See also:granite hills, See also:running down from the Vindhyan system; but the northern See also:half near the Jumna has a somewhat richer soil, and comes nearer in See also:character to the plain of Doab . Below the junction of the Ganges and the Jumna at See also:Allahabad the country begins to assume the See also:appearance of the Bengal plains, and once more expands northwards to the foot of the Nepal Himalayas . This tract consists of three portions, separated by the Ganges and the Gogra . The See also:division south of the Ganges comprises portions of Allahabad, See also:Benares and See also:Ghazipur, together with the whole of See also:Mirzapur, and in general features somewhat resembles Bundelkhand, but the lowlands along the river bank are more fertile . The triangular tract between the Ganges and the Gogra and the boundary of Oudh is the most fertile corner of the Gangetic plain, and contains the densest population . The trans-Gogra region presents a wilder, submontane appearance . Oudh forms the central portion of the great Gangetic plain, sloping downwards from the Nepal Himalayas in the north-east to the Ganges on the south-See also:west . For 60 m. along the northern border of See also:Gonda and See also:Bahraich districts the boundary extends See also:close up to the See also:lower slopes of the Himalayas, embracing the damp and unhealthy sub-montane region known as the tarai . To the westward of this the northern boundary recedes a little from the See also:mountain tract, and the ',See also:arm" in this portion of the range has been for the most See also:part ceded to Nepal . With the exception of a See also:belt of See also:government forest along the northern frontier, the See also:rest of the province consists of a fertile and densely peopled plain . The greatest See also:elevation (600 ft.) is attained in the See also:jungle-clad plateau of See also:Khairagarh in See also:Kheri See also:district, while the extreme south-east frontier is only 230 It. above See also:sea-level . Four great rivers See also:traverse or skirt the plain of Oudh in converging courses —the Ganges, the Gumti, the Gogra and the Rapti .

Numeroussmaller channels seam the whole See also:

face of the country carrying off the surplus drainage in the rains, but drying up in the hot season . All the larger rivers, except the Gumti, as well as most of the smaller streams, have beds hardly sunk below the general level; and in See also:time of floods they burst through their See also:banks and carve out new channels . Numerous shallow ponds or jhils See also:mark the former beds of the shifting rivers . These jhils have great value, not only as preservatives against inundation, but also as reservoirs for See also:irrigation . The soil of Oudh consists of a See also:rich alluvial See also:deposit, the detritus of the Himalayan system washed down into the Ganges valley . Usually a See also:light See also:loam, it passes here and there into pure See also:clay, or degenerates occasionally into barren See also:sand . The uncultivable land consists chiefly of extensive user plains, found in the See also:southern and western districts, and covered by the deleterious saline efflorescence known as reh . Oudh possesses no valuable minerals . See also:Salt was extensively manufactured during native See also:rule, but the British government has prohibited this See also:industry for fiscal reasons . Nodular See also:limestone (kankar) occurs in considerable deposits, and is used as road See also:metal . The villages See also:lie thickly scattered, consisting of low thatched cottages, and surrounded by patches of See also:garden land, or groves of See also:banyan, pipal and pakar trees . The dense foliage of the See also:mango marks the site of almost every little See also:homestead, no less an area than See also:i000 sq. m. being covered by these valuable See also:fruit-trees .

Tamarinds overhang the huts of the poorer classes, while the seat of a wealthy See also:

family may be recognized by cluanps of See also:bamboo . Plantains, guavas, See also:jack-fruit, limes and oranges add further beauty to the See also:village plots . The See also:flora of the government reserved forests is rich and varied . The sal See also:tree yields the most important See also:timber; the finest logs are cut in the Khairagarh jungles and floated down the Gogra to Bahramghat, where they are sawn . The hard See also:wood of the shisham is also valuable; and several other timber-trees afford materials for See also:furniture or roofing See also:shingle . Among the scattered jungles in various parts of the province, the mahua tree is prized alike for its edible See also:flowers, its fruits and its timber . The jhils See also:supply the villages with See also:wild See also:rice, the roots and seeds of the See also:lotus, and the singhara See also:water-See also:nut . The See also:fauna comprises most of the animals and birds See also:common to the Gangetic plain; but the wild See also:elephant is now practically unknown, except when a stray specimen loses its way at the foot of the hills . Tigers are now only found in any See also:numbers in the wilds of Khairagarh . Leopards still haunt the See also:cane-brakes and thickets along the banks of the rivers; and See also:nilgai and antelopes abound . See also:Game birds consist of See also:teal and wild See also:duck, See also:snipe, jungle See also:fowl and See also:peacock . Rivers.—The Ganges and its affluents, the Jumna, the Ramganga and the Gogra, rise in the Himalayas, and meet within the province .

In addition there are the following secondary streams: the Kalinadi and the Hindan flow through the Doab ; the See also:

Chambal intersects the trans-Jumna tract; in Bundelkhand the See also:principal streams are the See also:Betwa and the See also:Ken; the Ramgana, rising in Garhwal, pursues a tortuous course through Rohilkhand; the Gumti flows past See also:Luck-now and See also:Jaunpur to join the Ganges; the trans-Gogra, region is divided into two nearly equal parts by the Rapti . These rivers are constantly modifying the adjacent lands . A small obstruction may divert the stream from one See also:side to the other . The deep stream corrodes and cuts down the high ground; but meanwhile alluvial flats are gradually piled up in the shallows . The tributary streams get choked at the mouth and assist the See also:process of deposition . The deposit is greatest when the floods of the See also:rainy season are sub-siding . See also:Climate.—The climate as a whole is hot and dry . The Himalayan districts of course are cool, and have a much greater rainfall than the plains . They are succeeded by a broad submontane belt, the tarai, which is rendered moist by the mountain torrents, and is covered by forest from end to end . This region bears the reputation of being the most unhealthy in all India, and in many parts only the acclimatized See also:aborigines can withstand its deadly See also:malaria . The plain country is generally warm and dry, the See also:heat becoming more oppressive as the general level of the country sinks towards Allahabad and Benares, or among the hills of Bundelkhand . There are three seasons .

The See also:

cold changes gradually to the hot ; the hot season See also:Fives way abruptly to the .rains ; and the rains again See also:change gradually into the cold season . In point of humidity and temperature the province lies half-way between Bengal and the Punjab . The rainfall varies from 30 to 44 in. in the plains, increasing gradually towards the See also:Himalaya . The temperature in the hot season ranges from 86° to 115° F., and even higher, in the shade . Minerals.—Owing to the loamy nature of the soil, few minerals of any See also:kind are found . See also:Iron and See also:coal exist in the southern hills . A little coal was extracted from Mirzapur in 1896, but the enterprise was dropped . Iron, See also:copper, sapphires, &c., are said to be obtain-able in the Himalaya . It has been suggested that the oily water known as telya Irani indicates the presence of See also:petroleum . See also:Agriculture.—Out of a total area of 104,075 sq. m, in the British districts of the province, over 54,000 sq. m. are under cultivation . The course of tillage comprises two principal harvests: the kharif, or autumn crops, sown in See also:June and reaped in See also:October or See also:November; and the rabi, or See also:spring crops, sown in October or November, and reaped in See also:March or See also:April . The great agricultural See also:staple is wheat, but millets and rice are also largely cultivated .

Phoenix-squares

Speaking broadly, rice and oilseeds predominate in the eastern and sub-Himalayan districts, millets and See also:

cotton in Bundelkhand and wheat in the greater part of the Gangetic plain . The pulses mung, urd and See also:moth are grown generally in the autumn alone, or in See also:combination with millets; and See also:gram, alone or in combination with wheat and See also:barley, is an important spring See also:crop . See also:Sugar-cane, See also:indigo, See also:poppy and See also:tobacco are locally important; and a little See also:tea is grown in the submontane districts of Almora Garhwal and Dehra Dun . Land See also:Tenure.—Owing to See also:historical reasons, the system of land tenure is not See also:uniform . In the Benares division, which was the first portion to come under British See also:administration, the land See also:revenue was permanently fixed in 1795, on the same principles that had been previously adopted in Bengal; and there a See also:special class of tenants, as well as the landlords, enjoy a privileged status . Throughout the rest of the province of See also:Agra, almost all of which was acquired between i8oi and 1803, temporary settlements are in force, usually for a See also:term of See also:thirty years, the revenue being assessed at one-half of the " See also:assets " or estimated rental value . The See also:settlement is made with the landholders or zamindars, who are frequently a See also:group of persons holding distinct shares in the land, and may be themselves See also:petty cultivators . No proprietary rights See also:superior to those of the actual landowners are recognized . The only privileged class of tenants are those possessing " occupancy " rights, as defined by See also:statute . These rights, which are heritable but not transferable, protect the See also:tenant against eviction, except for See also:default in See also:payment of See also:rent, while the rent may not be enhanced except by mutual agreement or by See also:order of a revenue See also:court . " Occupancy " rights are acquired by continuous cultivation for ten years, but the cultivation need not be of the same holding . All other tenants are merely tenants-at-will .

In Oudh, after the convulsion of the See also:

Mutiny, all rights in land were confiscated at a stroke, and the new system adopted was in the nature of a treaty between the state and the talukdars, or great landlords . These talukdars had not all the same origin . Many were See also:Rajput chiefs, ruling over their tribesmen by See also:ancient hereditary right; while others were officials or court favourites, who had acquired See also:power and See also:property during the long See also:period of native See also:misrule . On all the same status was now conferred—a status that has no See also:analogy in the rest of India . By sanad (or patent) and by legislation the talukdars were declared to possess permanent, heritable and transferable rights, with the special See also:privilege of See also:alienation, either in lifetime or by will, notwithstanding the limits imposed by See also:Hindu or Mahommedan See also:law . In addition mist of them follow the rule of See also:primogeniture, while a power of See also:entail has recently been granted . The estates of talukdars extend over more than half the total area of Oudh . No " occupancy " rights based on continuous cultivation are recognized in Oudh, but similar rights, here known as " sub-proprietary," were granted to all those who had possessed them within thirty years before See also:annexation . On the other See also:hand, there are no tenants-at-right in Oudh . Any See also:person admitted to the cultivation of land is entitled to hold it for seven years at the same rent, which may not be advanced by more than 6; °o at the end of the term . Manufactures.—The principal manufactures are those of sugar, indigo and coarse cotton See also:cloth . Ornamental metal-See also:work is made at Benares .

Among the factories on the See also:

English See also:model are the See also:Elgin and See also:Muir cotton See also:mills at See also:Cawnpore, the Cawnpore tanneries and See also:leather factories, the See also:Shahjahanpur See also:rum distillery, and breweries at See also:Mussoorie and Naini Tal . There are also woollen and jute mills, iron and See also:brass foundries, See also:lac factories and oil-mills . The manufacture of synthetic indigo by See also:German chemists has greatly affected the growth and manufacture of indigo, the indigo factories decreasing in 1904–1905 from 402 to 252 . See also:Trade: The export trade is chiefly confined to agricultural produce . The principal staples include wheat, oilseeds, raw cotton, indigo, sugar, See also:molasses, timber and forest produce, dry-stuffs, See also:ghee, See also:opium and tobacco . The imports consist mainly of English piece-goods, metal-work, manufactured wares, salt and See also:European goods . The chief centres of trade are Cawnpore, Allahabad, Mirzapur, Benares, See also:Meerut and See also:Moradabad . Irrigation.—The Doab is intersected by canals See also:drawn from the great rivers . The See also:major productive See also:works are the upper and lower Ganges, the eastern Jumna, and the Agra canals . The greatest work in the province, and one of the greatest irrigation works in the See also:world, is the upper Ganges canal, which is taken from the river where it leaves the hills, some 2 M. above See also:Hardwar . In the first 20 m. of its course this gigantic canal crosses four great torrents, which bring down immense volumes of water in the rainy season . The first two are carried in massive aqueducts over the canal, the third is passed through the canal by a level-See also:crossing, regulated by drop-See also:gates, and the canal is taken over the See also:fourth by an See also:aqueduct .

The total length of ,the main canal is 213 m., navigable through-out, and designed to irrigate 1,500,000 acres . The lower Ganges canal is taken from the river at Narora, 149 M. below Hardwar . After crossing in 55 M. four great drainage lines, it cuts into the Cawnpore, and 7 M. lower down into the See also:

Etawah, branches of the upper Ganges canal . These branches are now below the point of intersection, part of the lower Ganges canal system . The irrigating capacity of this canal is 1,250,000 acres . See also:Railways.—The province is well supplied with railways . The main See also:line of the East See also:Indian runs throughout south of the Ganges, which is bridged at Benares and Cawnpore . North of the riverthe Oudh & Rohilkhand system connects with Bengal and with the Punjab . From Allahabad, Cawnpore and Agra trade finds an outlet to the sea at Bombay as well as at See also:Calcutta . Administration.—The administration is conducted by a lieutenant-governor, with five secretaries and five under-secretaries . There is no executive See also:council; but the See also:board of revenue, consisting of two members, exercises important executive duties, and is also the highest court of See also:appeal in revenue and rent cases . For legislative purposes the lieutenant-governor has a council, first constituted in 1886, and enlarged in 1909 .

It now consists of 48 members, of whom 28 are nominated, and the remainder are elected by See also:

local bodies, landholders, Mahommedans, &c . In Agra the chartered high court sitting at Allahabad, and in Oudh the court of the judicial See also:commissioner, sitting at See also:Lucknow, have final See also:jurisdiction in both 'See also:civil and criminal cases, subject to appeal to the privy council . The former is composed of a chief See also:justice and six See also:puisne See also:judges appointed by the See also:Crown; the latter of a judicial commissioner and two additional judicial commissioners . For See also:ordinary purposes of administration the provinces are divided into nine divisions, each under a commissioner, and into 48 districts, each under a See also:collector or See also:deputy commissioner . Two native states are attached to the United Provinces—See also:Rampur and Garhwal . Population.—Out of a total population in 1901 of 47,691,782 no fewer than 40,691,818, or over 85% were See also:Hindus, and 6,731,034 or 14% Mahommedans . The total number of persons belonging to all the other religions—Sikhs, See also:Jains, Buddhists, See also:Parsees, Christians, See also:Jews, Aryas and Brahmoswas only 268,930, or less than o.6% . While nearly fifty See also:languages in all are spoken in the provinces, out of every 1o,00d See also:people 4527 speak Western See also:Hindi, 3125 Eastern Hindi, 2109 See also:Bihari and 211 Central See also:Pahari . See also:History.—If the See also:present limits be slightly extended in either direction so as to include See also:Delhi and See also:Patna, the United Provinces would contain the area on which almost the whole See also:drama of Indian history has been played . Here See also:lay the See also:scene, known as Madhya Desa or See also:middle country," of the second period of See also:Aryan colonization, when the two great epics, the Mahabadrata and Ramayana, were probably composed, and when the See also:religion of See also:Brahmanism took See also:form . Here See also:Buddha was See also:born, preached and died . Here arose .the successive dynasties of •See also:Asoka, of the Guptas, and of Harshavardhana, which for a thousand years exercised imperial sway over the greater part of India .

Here is See also:

Ajodhya, the See also:home of Rama, the most popular of Hindu demigods; and also Benares and See also:Muttra, the most sacred of Hindu shrines . Here too were the Mahommedan capitals—Delhi, Agra, Allahabad, Jaunpur and Lucknow . Here finally, at the crisis of the Mutiny, British dominion was permanently established in India . The See also:political vicissitudes through which this tract of country passed in earlier times are described under INDIA: History . It will be sufficient here to trace the steps by which it passed under British rule . In 1765, after the See also:battle of See also:Buxar, when the See also:nawab of Oudh had been decisively defeated and Shah Alam, the See also:Mogul See also:emperor, was a suppliant in the British See also:camp, See also:Lord See also:Clive was content to claim no acquisition of territory . The whole of Oudh was restored to the Nawab, and Shah Alam received as an imperial apanage the province of Allahabad and See also:Kora in the lower Doab, with a British See also:garrison in the fort of Allahabad . See also:Warren See also:Hastings augmented the territory of Oudh by lending the nawab a British See also:army to conquer Rohilkhand, and by making over to him Allahabad and Kora on the ground that Shah Alam had placed himself in the power of the See also:Mahrattas . At the same time he received from Oudh the See also:sovereignty over the province of Benares . Subsequently no great change took See also:place until the arrival of Lord See also:Wellesley, who acquired a very large See also:accession of territory in two instalments . In 18o1 he obtained from the nawab of Oudh the cession of Rohilkhand, the lower Doab, and the See also:Gorakhpur division, thus enclosing Oudh on all sides except the north . In 1804, as the result of Lord See also:Lake's victories in the Mahratta See also:War, the rest of the Doab and part of Bundelkhand, together with Agra and the guardianship of the old and See also:blind emperor, Shah Alam, at Delhi, were obtained from Sindia .

In 1815 the Kumaon division was acquired after the See also:

Gurkha War, and a further portion of Bundelkhand from the See also:peshwa in 1817 . These new acquisitions, known as the ceded and conquered provinces, continued to be administered by the governor-general as part of Bengal . In 1833 an See also:act of See also:parliament was passed to constitute a new See also:presidency, with its See also:capital at Agra . But this See also:scheme was never fully carried out, and in 1835 another statute authorized the See also:appointment of a lieutenant-governor for the North-Western Provinces, as they were then styled . They included the Delhi territory, transferred after the Mutiny to the Punjab; and also (after 1853) the See also:Saugor and See also:Nerbudda territories, which in 1861 became part of the Central Provinces . Meanwhile Oudh remained under its nawab, who was permitted to assume the See also:title of See also:king in 1819 . All protests against See also:gross misgovernment during many years having proved useless, Oudh was annexed in 1856 and constituted a See also:separate chief commissionership . Then followed the Mutiny, when all signs of British rule were for a time swept away throughout the greater part of the two provinces . The lieutenant-governor died when shut up in the fort at Agra, and Oudh was only reconquered after several See also:campaigns lasting for eighteen months . In 1877 the offices of lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces and chief commissioner of Oudh were combined in the same person; and in 1902, when the new name of United Provinces was introduced, the title of chief commissioner was dropped, though Oudh still retains some marks of its former See also:independence . See Gazetteer of the United Provinces (2 vols., Calcutta, 1908) ; and See also:Theodore See also:Morison, The See also:Industrial Organization of an Indian Province (1906) .

End of Article: UNITED PROVINCES OF AGRA AND OUDH (formerly known as the North-Western Provinces and Oudh)
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