Lucknow

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Lucknow (Lucknow ) (Hindi: लखनऊ, Urdu: لکھنو; Lucknow [ lʌk ʰ nʌu ː ] ) is the capital of the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It has a population of around 2.8 million ( 2011 census ), is an industrial center ( textile, metal processing, handicrafts ), transport nodes (road, railway, airport) and is located 516 km east of Delhi on Gomti. Under language purists Lucknow is known as the place where the best and purest Urdu and Hindi is spoken.

History

The town was founded in 1528 on the orders of Babur ( 1483-1530 ), the founder of the Mughal Empire. 1775 moved Asaf -ud -Daula ( 1775-1797 ) the capital of the kingdom of Avadh Faizabad to Lucknow. 1856 British forces took a town.

Lucknow is known mainly because of the five -month siege during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. But before the city had already experienced the last troubled days of Islamic rule in India before the surrender.

The fact that the British removed the incompetent last Nawab of Avadh, Wajid Ali Shah (1822-1887), of his office, is considered one of the causes of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. During the siege of Lucknow, the city was the scene of fierce fighting between rebel Indian and British troops. Still bear the fading monuments from the 19th century, the character of the fighting.

From the mid- 18th century, when the Mughal empire was in decline, the Islamic center of power shifted slowly from Delhi in the province of Avadh, whose capital Lucknow was. The later Nawabs in India are synonymous with " sloth and decadence ", but under their rule flourished the fine arts.

Avadh became a magnet for poets and artists, where Hindus and Muslims worked together harmoniously. Lucknow was also an important place of culture and the Shiite Muslim jurisprudence. The legal Gelehrtenschule " Farangi Mahal " attracted students even from China and Central Asia.

In 1921 the University of Lucknow and in 1984 founded the Indian Institute of Management. The award-winning City Montessori School, with about 47,000 students, the largest school in the world.

Attractions

Most monuments are located on or near the south bank of Gomti, an overgrown with seaweed river, which swells upon monsoon and is crowded with fishing canoes.

To the west of the city, close to the "old " Lucknow limiting " Hardinge Bridge", there are several built by the Nawabs of Awadh buildings, including several Imambaras ( "houses of imams " ), tombs of Imams. At the most worth seeing is the " Bara Imambara " ( " Large house of the Imam " ) from the 18th century, which has one of the largest vaulted halls of the world - 15 meters high, 50 meters long and 16 meters wide.

The main road west of the main entrance gates spanning the colossal, conceived in disrepair " Rumi Darvaz ", a triumphal arch modeled after the Sublime Porte in Istanbul. Steps lead to open spaces with views of the monuments of Hussainabad.

A little further west is the " Hussainabad Imambara ", also Chota ( "small" ) Imambara or palace called the lights, because when it is decorated for special occasions and enlightened, it is like a fairytale castle. The Imambara was built in 1837 by Muhammad Ali Shah ( 1837-1842 ).

Middle of a park southeast of the Hardinge Bridge, lie the ruins of the British residence. She was left exactly as they looked after the month-long siege on November 17, 1857 through the intervention of Sir Colin Campbell finally came to an end. Your shattered by a cannon ball tower has become the symbol of the perseverance of the British in India.

Riverside, Rana Pratap Marg in the towers the huge dome of the "Shah Najaf Imambara ," according to the mausoleum of Ali in Iraq and named the most worth seeing in the bright lights during the Shi'ite Muharram festival. In the interiors can be seen, which was buried along with three of his wives among others, the silver plated tomb of force as decadent and depraved Ghazi -ud- din Haidar ( 1814-1827 ).

The Imambara served during the Great Revolt in 1857 as a stronghold of the rebels. The decisive battle took place on November 16, 1857 held in the adjacent Lustgarten Sikandrabag, which allowed the British to liberate the residence. The soldiers of Sir Colin Campbell took one and a half hours to free to shoot your way to the 2,000 sepoys; then broke through the Sikhs and the 93rd Highlanders Regiment. The Indian soldiers were slaughtered mercilessly.

Sons and daughters of the town

• Mirza Beg Hameedullah, Indian jurist
• Saleem Kidwai, professor and author
• Cliff Richard, British pop singer