Everything about Uttar Pradesh totally explained
Uttar Pradesh ( ,
translation:
Northern Province), [oftenreferred to as
U.P.] is a
state located in the northern part of
India. With over 180 million people, it's India's
most populous state, as well as the world's
most populous subnational entity.
Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper
Gangetic plain. It shares an international border with
Nepal and is bounded by the Indian states of
Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh,
Haryana,
Delhi,
Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand and
Bihar. The administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh is
Lucknow and the financial and industrial capital is
Kanpur. The state's high court is based at
Allahabad. It is home to many historical cities, including the tourism capital of India,
Agra.
Uttar Pradesh has an important place in the history of ancient India; in those times it was sometimes divided between petty kingdoms or formed important part of larger empires that arose on its east or west, including the
Mauryan, Gupta and
Kushan empires.
The
Indo-Gangetic plain, that spans most of the state, has been the ancient seat of Hindu religion, learning and culture, the birth place of the Indo-Islamic syncretic culture of medieval period, a center of nationalism during the colonial period and has continued to play a prominent role in Indian political and cultural movements. The state has a rich heritage of traditional crafts and cottage industries of various types that require highly skilled craftsmen and artisans.
History
Legend and ancient periods
The known history of Uttar Pradesh goes back to 4000 years, when the Aryans first made it their home in 2000 BC. This heralded the
Vedic age of the Indian civilization and Uttar Pradesh was its home. The
Aryans first
inhabited the
Doab region and the
Ghagra plains and called it the
Madhya Desha (midland) or
Aryavarta (the Aryan land) or Bharatvarsha (the kingdom of Bharat, an important Aryan king). In the ages to come, Aryans spread to other parts of the Indian subcontinent, reaching as far south as
Kerala and
Sri Lanka.
The ancient kingdom of
Kosala in
Ayodhya - where, according to Hindu legend, the divine king
Rama of the
Ramayana epic reigned - was located here.
Krishna - another divine king of Hindu legend, who plays a key role in the
Mahabharata epic and is revered as the eighth reincarnation (
Avatara) of Hindu god
Vishnu - was born in the city of
Mathura. The aftermath of
Mahabharata war is believed to have taken place in the area between Uttar Pradesh and
Delhi, during the reign of the
Pandava king
Yudhishtira.
Control over this region was of vital importance to the power and stability of all of India's major empires, including the
Mauryan (320-200 BC),
Kushan (100-250 AD) and
Gupta (350-600 AD) empires. After the Guptas, the Ganga-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of
Kannauj. During the reign of
Harshavardhana,
Kannauj empire was at its zenith: it covered an area extending from Afghanistan and Kashmir in the west to Bengal in the east and up to the
Vindhyas in the south, with its capital at
Kannauj. Even today many communities in various parts of
India - from
Kashmir,
Rajasthan,
Uttarakhand,
Bihar and
Bengal - boast of being descendants of migrants from Kannauj, reflecting its glory in the past..
The state is important to
Budhism since its early days. The
Chaukhandi Stupa marks the spot where
Buddha met his first disciples. The
Dhamek Stupa in
Sarnath commemorates Buddha's first sermon.
Medieval
Causing the fall of post-Harshavardhana
Rajput kings of north India came the Turko-Afghan Muslim rulers and what we call Uttar Pradesh today once again became the catalyst for things to come; much of the state formed part of the various Indo-Islamic empires (
Sultanates) after 1000 AD and was ruled from their capital, Delhi. Later, in
Mughal times, U.P. became the heart-land of their vast empire; they called the place 'Hindustan'. Hindustan is also often considered another synonym for India.
Agra and
Fatehpur Sikri were the capital cities of
Akbar, the great Mughal Emperor of India. At their zenith, the Mughal empire covered almost the entire Indian subcontinent (including present day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh), which was ruled at different times from Delhi, Agra and Allahabad. But, when the empire disintegrated, their last territory remained confined to the Doab region of Hindustan and Delhi.
Other areas of Hindustan (U.P.) were now ruled by different rulers: Oudh was ruled by the Nawabs of Oudh, Rohilkhand by Afghans, Bundelkhand by the Marathas and Benaras by its own king, while Nepal controlled Kumaon-Garhwal. The state's capital city of
Lucknow was established by the Muslim
Nawabs of Oudh in the 18th century.
Modern-colonial
Starting from
Bengal in the later half of the 18th century, a series of battles for North Indian lands finally gave the
British East India Company accession over this state's territories, including the last Mughal territory of Doab and Delhi as also Bundelkhand, Kumaon and Benaras divisions. Ajmer and Jaipur were also included in this northern territory and they called it the North Western Provinces (of Agra). To day the area may seem big compared to several of the
Republic of India's present 'mini-states' - no more than the size of earlier 'divisions' of the British era - but at the time it was one of the smallest British provinces. Its capital shifted twice between Agra and Allahabad.
After the failed first freedom war or the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, when things settled, the British made a major revamp, in desperation; they truncated the Delhi region from NWFP of Agra and merged it with Punjab, while the Ajmer-Merwar region was merged with Rajputana. At the same time they included Oudh into the state. The new state was called the North Western Provinces of Agra and Oudh, which in 1902 was renamed as the
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It was commonly referred to as the United Provinces or its acronym UP.
In 1920, the capital of the province was shifted from
Allahabad to Lucknow. The high court continued to be at Allahabad, but a bench was established at Lucknow. Allahabad continues to be an important administrative base of today's Uttar Pradesh and has several administrative headquarters.
Uttar Pradesh continued to be central to Indian culture and politics and was especially important in modern Indian history as a hotbed of both the
Indian Independence Movement and the
Pakistan Movement.
Modern post-independence
After independence, the state was renamed Uttar Pradesh ("northern province") by its first chief minister,
Govind Ballabh Pant. Pant was well-known to Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru and was also popular in the Congress party; he established such a good reputation in Lucknow that Nehru called him to Delhi to make him Home Minister in December 27, 1954. He was succeeded by Dr.
Sampoornanand, a university professor and classicist Sanskrit scholar, who was in office till 1957, before becoming governor of
Rajasthan.
Sucheta Kripalani was sworn in in October 1963, and became India's first woman chief minister, until a two-month long strike by state employees in March 1967 caused her to step down. The confusion and chaos ended only with the defection of
Charan Singh from the Congress with a small set of legislators; he set up a party called the Jana Congress, which formed the first non-Congress government in U.P. and ruled for over a year.
Fellow socialist
Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna of the
Bharatiya Lok Dal was Chief Minister for part of the 1970s. He was dismissed by the Central Government, along with several other non-Congress chief ministers, shortly after the imposition of the
Emergency, when
Narain Dutt Tewari - later chief minister of Uttarakhand - became chief minister. The
Congress Party lost heavily in 1977 following the lifting of the Emergency, but roared back to power in 1980, when
Mrs. Gandhi handpicked the man who would become her son's principal opposition,
V.P. Singh, to become Chief Minister.
In 2000, the Himalyan portion of the state, comprising the
Garhwal and
Kumaon divisions, was formed into a new state called
Uttarakhand, meaning the 'Northern Segment' state.
Geography
Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct
hypsographical regions:
- The Gangetic Plain, including the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, the Ghaghra plains, the Ganga plains and the Terai — highly fertile alluvial soils and flat topography (slope 2 m/km) broken by numerous ponds, lakes and rivers.
- The Vindhya Hills and plateau in the south — hard rock strata; varied topography of hills, plains, valleys and plateau; limited water availability.
The state's climate is generally humid subtropical, but variations exist due to difference in altitudes.
Constituent regions
The state comprises the
Doab region - the upper Doab and the lower doab with the
Braj-bhumi in its centre - which runs along its western border from north to south; the
Rohilkhand in the north;
Awadh (Oudh) (the historic country of Koshal) in the centre; the northern parts of
Bagelkhand and
Bundelkhand in the south; and the south-western part of the Bhojpur country, commonly called
Purvanchal ("Eastern Province"), in the east.
Administrative divisions and districts (as in 2007)
The state of Uttar Pradesh consists of
seventy districts, which are grouped into seventeen divisions:
Agra,
Allahabad,
Azamgarh,
Bahraich,
Bareilly,
Basti,
Chitrakoot,
Devipatan,
Faizabad,
Gorakhpur,
Jhansi,
Kanpur,
Lucknow,
Meerut,
Mirzapur,
Moradabad,
Saharanpur and
Varanasi.
Its State Assembly (
Vidhan Sabha) has 403 electoral constituencies. The largest district in terms of area is
Lakhimpur Kheri. The largest district in terms of population is Allahabad followed by Kanpur Nagar (Census 2001).
Urban centres
Major cities
Agra •
Allahabad •
Bareilly •
Ghaziabad •
Gorakhpur •
Jhansi •
Kanpur •
Lucknow •
Mathura •
Meerut •
Noida (
NOIDA (New Okhla Industrial Development Authority)) •
Varanasi (Banaras).
Other important cities
Aligarh •
Azamgarh •
Bahraich •
Ballia •
Banda •
Barabanki •
Bijnor •
Bulandshahr •
Deoband •
Etawah •
Faizabad •
Farrukhabad •
Firozabad •
Ghazipur•
Gola •
Gonda •
Hameerpur •
Kannauj •
Khurja •
Kushinagar •
Lalitpur •
Mainpuri •
Mirzapur •
Moradabad •
Muzaffarnagar •
Noida •
Orai •
Pilibhit •
Raebareli •
Rampur •
Saharanpur •
Shahjahanpur •
Sultanpur.
Languages
The two common state-languages of Uttar Pradesh are standard
Hindi and
Urdu. While standard Hindi (
Khari boli) is the official language, several important regional Hindi 'dialects' are spoken in the state and among these are:
Awadhi,
Bhojpuri,
Braj,
Bagheli and
Bundeli, besides several local dialects that don't have a formal name. Bhojpuri is the second most-spoken language in the state, according to the language data in the 1991
Census of India. Urdu is prominent in Uttar Pradesh as Lucknow was once the centre of Indo-Persianate culture in north India. The language of Lucknow ("Lakhnavi Urdu") is a form of high literary Urdu.
Politics
In the
Uttar Pradesh Elections, 2007,
Mayawati's
Bahujan Samaj Party achieved unexpected majority status leading to her emergence as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. This is the first time, since 1991 victory of the
Bharatiya Janata Party with a majority, that a single party has gained absolute majority; the last two decades having been mostly dominated by various coalitions among the
Samajwadi Party,
Bharatiya Janata Party, and the
Bahujan Samaj Party. One characteristic of the BSP win in 2007 was the amalgamation of
Brahmin votes into the
Dalit dominated party, as opposed to the decades-old trend of deep-rooted electoral divisions in the state between Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims and different OBC groups, which tend to vote in blocks.
Mayawati, having won 206 seats, took the oath of secrecy for the post of UP's next CM on 13 May 2007. She became
Chief Minister for the fourth time. Along with her 19
cabinet rank ministers, 21
State Ministers Independent Charge were also sworn in by
T.V. Rajeshwar the
Governor. Some of the prominent names are:
Nasimuddin Siddique,
Rakesh Dhar Tripathi,
Awadhpal Singh,
Ratanlal Ahirwar,
Badshah Singh,
Sudhir Goyal,
Babu Singh Kushwaha. Former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP party stood second in State with 97 seats.
The image of politics in Uttar Pradesh has been tarnished in recent times by the extensive infiltration of people who are alleged to carry a questionable reputation or are prone to incite violence. But, in the last election, the
Election Commission of India was perceived as having effectively managed to prevent booth-capturing and other abuse, by deployment of extremely strict security.
The state has a glorious record of providing national leadership; eight of India's fourteen Prime Minister's were from Uttar Pradesh. They are:
Jawaharlal Nehru,
Lal Bahadur Shastri,
Indira Gandhi,
Rajiv Gandhi,
Choudhary Charan Singh,
Vishwanath Pratap Singh,
Chandra Shekhar and
Atal Behari Vajpayee, who represents a UP constituency, though he was born in
Gwalior.
Contemporary political scene is also interesting in the national context. Heirs-apparent to the Nehru-Gandhi family have adopted U.P. as their home state. Congress President
Sonia Gandhi represents Rae Bareli and her son
Rahul Gandhi Amethi, Sultanpur. Indira Gandhi's estranged daughter-in-law
Maneka Gandhi is a BJP Parliamentarian from Pilibhit, while her son
Varun Gandhi is expected to make his debut soon. Other prominent politicians include BJP leader and past Human Resources Development minister Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi, SP leader and ex-Chief Minister
Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP leader and now fourth time Chief Minister
Mayawati, BJP President and ex-Chief Minister
Rajnath Singh, former BJP Chief Minister
Kalyan Singh, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief
Ajit Singh and ex-Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and later of Uttarakhand,
Narayan Dutt Tiwari.
At the lowest tier of political pyramid, the state has a large number of village councils known as
Panchayats just like the other states of India. One of the most developed Panchayats is Shahabad in
Maharajganj District.
Education
The State of U.P. has made investment over the years in all sectors of education and has achieved significant success in overcoming its wide spread educational backwardness and illiteracy. The increase in overall literacy rate is due to persistent efforts made by the state government to enroll and retain children in schools and to effectively implement the adult education programmes. The following is indicative of the gradual progress.
In 1981, the literacy rate in UP was 28 percent and increased to 42 percent in 1991. In 1991, the adult literacy rate (percent literate among those aged 15 and above) was 38 percent and increased to 49 percent in 1998, an increase of 11 percentage points in the seven-year period. But, the differential between female and male literacy remained high: while in 1991, male literacy was 56 percent and female literacy 25 percent, eight years later in 1999, as per survey estimates, the male literacy became 73 percent and female literacy 43 percent (NFHS II).
One more notable feature in the state has been the persistence of higher levels of illiteracy in the younger age group, more so in females, especially in the rural areas. In the late 1980s, the incidence of illiteracy in the 10-14 age group was as high as 32% for rural males and 61% for rural females, and more than two-thirds of all rural girls in the 12-14 age group never went to school. Only 25% of the girls in 7+ age group were able to read and write in 1991 and this figure went down to 19% for rural areas: it was 11% for the scheduled castes, 8% for scheduled castes in rural areas and 8% for the entire rural population in the most educationally backward districts. In terms of basic or essential educational attainment (the completion of primary or secondary education), in 1992-1993, only 50% of literate males and 40% of literate females could complete the cycle of eight years of schooling (the primary and middle stages). Possibly,
Bihar is the only state in India which lags behind U.P. in education.
The problems of state's education system are complex. Due to public apathy the public schools are run inefficiently. Privately run schools (including those run by Christian missionaries) are functional, but expensive and so beyond the reach of ordinary people.
In order to make the population totally literate, steps are being taken by the government to raise public participation, for example with the help of NGOs and other organizations. There are also special programmes, like the
World Bank aided DPEP. As a result, progress in adult education has been made and the [[http://www.upgov.nic.in/upinfo/census01/cen01-5.htmcensus] of 2001 indicates a male literacy rate of 70.23% and a female literacy rate of 42.98%.
At the level of higher education and technical education, Uttar Pradesh has several universities and other institutions, among which are:
Bundelkhand University,
Lucknow University,
Allahabad University,
Dayalbagh Educational Institute,
Aligarh Muslim University,
Kanpur University,
Agra University,
Chaudhary Charan Singh University,
Uttar Pradesh Technical University, the prestigious
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
Indian Institute of Management Lucknow,
Banaras Hindu University,
Indian Institute of Information Technology Allahabad,
National Institute of Technology Allahabad,
Integral University, Lucknow,
Shibli National College, Azamgarh, the world famous
Asian Academy Of Film & Television and several other polytechnics, engineering institutes and industrial training centres.
Darul Uloom Deoband, one of the world's most prestigious and influential Islamic seminaries, is located in the otherwise small town of Deobad
Economy
Macro-economic trend
This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Uttar Pradesh at market prices
estimated
by
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
| Year |
ross State Domestic Product |
| 1980 |
155,540 |
| 1985 |
277,480 |
| 1990 |
555,060 |
| 1995 |
1,062,490 |
| 2000 |
1,730,680 |
includes
Uttarakhand
The major economic activity in the state is agriculture and in 1991, 73 percent of the population in the state was engaged in agriculture and 46 percent of the state income was accounted for by agriculture. UP has retained its pre-eminent position in the country as a food-surplus state. The production of foodgrains has increased from 14.5 million metric tons in 1960-61 to 42.5 million tons in 1995-96, showing an average annual growth rate of 3.1 percent, which is much higher than the population growth rate. At present, the new Uttar Pradesh state produces about 92% of the output of the old Uttar Pradesh state of prior to 1947 partition.
UP has witnessed rapid industrialization in the recent past, particularly after the launch of policies of economic liberalization in the country. As of March 1996, there were 1,661 medium and large industrial undertakings and 296,338 small industrial units employing 1.83 million persons. The per capita state domestic product was estimated at Rs 7,263 in 1997-98 and there has been visible decline in poverty in the state. Yet, nearly 40 percent of the total population lives below the poverty line. Uttar Pradesh's gross state domestic product for 2004 was $339.5 billion by PPP and $80.9 billion by Nominal, making it the second largest economy in India after Maharashtra and a bigger economy than many of the world's big economic players like Israel, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
Agriculture
Uttar Pradesh is a major contributor to the national foodgrain stock. Partly this is due to the fertile regions of
the
Indo-Gangetic plain and partly owing to irrigation measures such as the
Ganga Canal and tubewells.
Lakhimpur Kheri is the largest sugar producing district in the country. It is also home to 78% of national
livestock population.
This chart shows the national share of major food commodities from Uttar Pradesh.
Information technology, electronics, and services
Uttar Pradesh is the IT-Hub of North India with software exports next to Karanataka. But, unlike South Indian states, IT enterprises are limited to particular areas only, like NOIDA, Greater NOIDA, Ghaziabad etc., which lie in National Capital Region (NCR).
Uttar Pradesh has booming electronics industries, especially in UP-Delhi-NCR and Lucknow-Kanpur Corridor. It produces almost all types of durables.
Minerals and heavy industries
Uttar Pradesh has ample reserves of coal, dolomite, gems.
Industry
Over 3% of the
S&P CNX 500 conglomerates have corporate offices in Uttar Pradesh.
Tourism
Uttar Pradesh attracts a large number of visitors both national and international. There are two regions in the state where a majority of the tourists go:
The city of Agra, which gives access to three world heritage sites: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri and
The holy cities of Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, and Allahabad, on the banks of sacred rivers Ganga and the Yamuna.
In Agra itself, Dayal Bagh is a temple built in modern times that many visit. It is still under construction and would take an estimated one century for completion. Its life-like carvings in marble are unique in India.
Also world famous is a 16th century capital city known as Fatehpur Sikri, built by the Mughal emperor Akbar near Agra.
Millions of tourists and pilgrims visit the cities of Allahabad, Varanasi and Ayodhya, as those are considered to be the holiest cities in India. Every year, thousands gather at Allahabad to take part in the festival held on the banks of the Ganges, the Magh Mela. The same festival is organised on a larger scale every 12th year and is called the Kumbha Mela, where over 10 million Hindu pilgrims congregate — the largest gathering of human beings in the world.
Varanasi is widely considered to be the second oldest city in the world after Jerusalem. It is famous for its ghats (bathing steps along the river), that remain bustling year round with devotees from all over India and beyond, who want to take a holy dip in the sacred Ganges River.
About 13 km from Varanasi is the historically important town of Sarnath. Gautama Buddha gave his first sermon at Sarnath after his enlightenment and hence it's an important pilgrimage site for the Buddhists. Also at Sarnath are the Ashoka Pillar and the Lion Capital, both important archaeological artifacts with national significance.
Dudhwa National Park is one of the best Tiger reserves in the country. Lakhimpur Kheri is a must see location, and home to the Tiger reserve.
Some areas require a special permit for non-Indians to visit.
Culture
Art and Craft
Uttar Pradesh is famous for its rich heritage of art and craft. Most famous centres are the following: -
Agra and Kanpur are internationally known for their leather craft; shoes and other leather items are made for Indian market and export to foreign countries.
Firozabad, the city of bangles, is also a hub for many glass accessories. The glass artifacts produced in its factories are just amazing and are exported the world over.
Kannauj is well known for oriental perfumes, scents and rose water and also for tobacco.
Khurja is famous for its ceramics pottery. In fact, the entire state is famous for its pottery not only in India but also around the world.
Lucknow, the capital, boasts of its cloth work and embroidery (chikan) work on silk and cotton.
Mirzapur and Bhadohi are known for carpets.
Moradabad is well know for its metal ware, specially brass artifacts.
Saharanpur is known all over India and abroad for wood carving items produced here.
Varanasi is famous for its banarasi saris and silk. A banarasi sari is an essential part of any marriage in the state.
Dance and Music
The state is home to a very ancient tradition in dance and music. During the eras of Guptas and Harsh Vardhan, Uttar Pradesh was a major centre for musical innovation. Swami Haridas was a great saint-musician who championed Hindustani Classical Music. Tansen, the great musician in Mughal Emperor Akbar's court, was a disciple of Swami Haridas. The ragas sung by Tansen were believed to be so powerful that they could bring rain, or light a fire, when recited.
Kathak, a classical dance form, involving gracefully coordinated movements of feet along with entire body, grew and flourished in Uttar Pradesh. Wajid Ali Shah, the last Nawab of Awadh, was a great patron and a passionate champion of Kathak. Today, the state is home to two prominent schools of this dance form, namely, Lucknow Gharana and Banaras Gharana.
In modern times, Uttar Pradesh has given to the world music legends like Naushad Ali, Talat Mehmood, Anup Jalota, Baba Sehgal, Shubha Mudgal, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Kishan Maharaj, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Gopal Shankar Misra, Siddheshwari Devi, Girija Devi etc. The legendary Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar belonged to Uttar Pradesh; she took this aspect of music to amazing heights. "Ae Mohabbat Tere anjaam pe rona aaya" is one of her best musical renditions of all times. It is also, incidentally, the birthplace of British pop legend Sir Cliff Richard.
The region's folk heritage includes songs called rasiya (known and especially popular in Braj), which celebrate the divine love of Radha and Shri Krishna. These songs are accompanied by large drums known as bumb and are performed at many festivals. Other folk dances or folk theater forms include:
Raslila
Swang
Ramlila, which includes enacting the entire Ramayana
Nautanki
Naqal - (mimicry)
Khayal
Qawwali
The Bhatkande Music University at Lucknow is named after the great musician Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande.
Further Information
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