tributaries. The former enters the district from the north, and, after passing Lucknow city, turns to the east and enters Bâra Bânki. The Sâi forms the south-west boundary of the district, running almost parallel with the Gumti....
The census of 1869 returned the population of the district at 970,625. Recent changes and transfers to and from other districts have, however, taken place. Allowing for these, Lucknow contains (according to the census of 1869) a population of 789,465 persons (416,960 males and 372,505 females), spread over an area of 965 square miles. Hindus number 614,276; Mohammedans, 167,184; Christians, 4982; the remainder being made up of unclassified prisoners and jail officials. Four towns contain a population exceeding 5000 inhabitants, viz., Lucknow city, Amethi (7182), Kakori (8220), Malihâbâd (8026). The estimated area under cultivation is returned at 547 square miles. Three harvests are reaped in the year, viz., the rabi in spring, comprising wheat, barley, gram, peas, gujai (a mixture of wheat and barley), and birra (a mixture of barley and gram); the kharif in the rainy season, comprising rice, millets, sànwàn, mandιvd, kdkun, and Indian corn; and the hcnwat in the autumn, consisting of jour, bdjra, màsh, rnûng, moth, masιir, and lobia. In addition, there are valuable crops of tobacco, opium, cotton, spices, and vegetables. Irrigation is carried on by means of rivers, tanks, and wells. The cultivators are almost all deeply in debt, and under advances of seed grain from their landlords. Wageshave remained stationary in the country, but have decreased in the city owing to its diminished wealth and population since the departure of the Oudh court. The price of food, on the other hand, has materially risen of late years. When not paid in grain, an ordinary agricultural labourer receives about l⅛d. a day. Artisans, such as smiths and carpenters, receive 4⅛d. a day for work in their own villages, or 6d. a day if called away from their homes. Famineshave occurred in Lucknow in 1769, 1784-86, and 1837, and severe scarcities in 1861, 1865-66, 1869, and 1873—all caused by drought. The district is well provided with communications by road, river, and railway. Three imperial lines of road branch out south, east, and north to Cawnpur, Faizabad, and Sitapur, metalled and bridged throughout, and comprising, exclusive of the roads in Lucknow city and cantonments, a length of about 500 miles. There are also seven principal local lines of road. River communication is not much used. The line of railway is comprised in the Oudh and Rohilkhand railway system. The entire length of railway communication is 52 miles. Manufactures are mainly confined to Lucknow city. In the country towns are a few weavers, dyers, bangle-makers, brass-workers, and potters. Cotton weaving has greatly declined since the introduction of European piece-goods. The principal imports are food-stuffs, piece-goods, arms, hardware, glass, crockery, and salt; while muslins, emljroidery, cotton prints, brass vessels, lace, tobacco, &c., are exported. The district is administered by a deputy commissioner, aided by a magistrate in charge of the city, and a second in the cantonments, one or two assistant commissioners, three extra-assistant commissioners, three tnhsilddrs, and four honorary magistrates. Besides, there are a civil judge and a small-cause court judge, who have no criminal or revenue powers. The total imperial and local revenue of Lucknow district in 1871-72 amounted to £162,926, and the expenditure to £70,534; the Government land revenue was £70,580. Excluding Lucknow city, the schools consist of one Anglo-vernacular middle class, five vernacular middle class, and seventy-one primary schools. The prevailing endemic diseases are fevers, skin diseases, and bowel complaints. Choleraisseldomabsent. Small-pox is also an annual visitant. The average annual rainfall is 37’6 inches, and the mean annual temperature 78 u- 8 Fahr.
Lucknow, capital of the above district, and of the province of Oudh, in 26° 52' N. lat., 80° 58' E. long., is distant from Cawnpur 42 miles, from Benares 199 miles, and from Calcutta 610 miles, and has an area of 13 square miles. It ranks fourth in size among Indian cities, being only surpassed by the presidency capitals of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. It stands on both banks of the Gumti, mostly on the western side, the river being spanned by four bridges, two of them built by native rulers and two since the British annexation in 1856. Viewed from a distance, the city presents a picture of unusual magnificence and architectural splendour, which fades on nearer view into something more like the ordinary aspect of a crowded Oriental town. From the new bridge across the Gumti, the city seems to be embedded in trees. High up the river the ancient stone bridge of Asaf-ud-dauU crosses the stream. To its left rise the walls of the Machi Bhâwan fort, enclosing the Lachman tila (Lachman’s hill), the earliest inhabited spot in the city, from which it derives its modern name. Close by, the immense Imâmbâra, or mausoleum of Asaf ud-daulâ, towers above the surrounding buildings. Farther in the distance, the lofty minarets of the Jamâ Masjid or “cathedral mosque” overlook the city; while nearer again, on the same side of the river, the ruined walls of the residency, with its memorial cross, recall the heroic defence made by the British garrison in 1857. In front, close to the water’s edge, the Chattar Manzil palace, a huge and irregular pile of buildings, crowned by gilt umbrellas, glitters gaudily in the sunlight; while to the left, at some little distance, two mausoleums flank the entrance to the Kaisar Bâgh, the last of the overgrown palaces built by the exiled dynasty of Oudh. Still more picturesque panoramas may be obtained from any of the numerous towers and cupolas which abound in every quarter. But a nearer examination shows that Lucknow does not correspond in its interior arrangements to its brilliant appearance from a little distance. Nevertheless, many of its streets are broader and finer than those of most Indian towns; and the clearance effected for military purposes after the mutiny has been instrumental in greatly improving both the aspect and the sanitary condition of the city. A glacis half a mile broad surrounds the fort; and three military roads, radiating from this point as a centre, cut right through the heart of the native quarter, often at an elevation of some 30 feet above the neighbouring streets. Three other main roads also branch out from the same point, one leading across the bridge, and the others along the banks of the Gumti. The residency crowns a picturesque eminence, the chief ornament of the city, containing, besides many ruined walls, an old mosque and a magnificent banyan tree. An artificial mound rises near at hand, its sides gay with parterres of flowers, while in the rear, half hidden by the feathery foliage of gigantic bamboos, the graveyard covers the remains of some 2000 Europeans, who perished in 1857. The cantonments lie 3 miles to the south-east of the city.
The population of Lucknow, including the cantonments, was returned by the census of 1869 at 284,779. The native civil population consisted of 273,126, viz., 161,739 Hindus and 111,387 Mohammedans. There were also 3648 native soldiers, 4222 Europeans, 760 Eurasians, and 3023 prisoners and jail officials. The traffic of Oudh flows southwards through Lucknow to Cawnpur. Large quantities of grain and timber come in from the trans-Gogra districts to the north, while raw cotton, iron, and imported goods from the south and east are sent in exchange. In 1869-70 goods to the value of nearly three quarters of a million sterling paid taxes at the octroi office. The chief municipal taxable articles are food stuffs, ghi, gùr or molasses, sugar, spices, oilseeds, and tobacco; besides a large quantity of European manufactured articles brought into the town. Of the total municipal revenue in 1870-71 (£20,018), £16,230 was derived from octroi. Lucknow muslins and other textile fabrics have a high reputation. Gold and silver brocade, however, forms the leading manufacture. It is used for the numerous purposes of Indian pomp, and has a considerable market even in Europe. The gorgeous needlework embroidery upon velvet and cotton, with gold thread, thread and coloured silks, furnishes employment to many hands. Lucknow jewellery, once very famous, has declined since the departure of the native court. Glass work and moulding in clay still maintain their original excellence. A Kashmiri colony has introduced a small manufacture of shawls. The Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway, with its branches, has a central station in Lucknow, and gives direct communication with Benares, Bareilly, and Cawnpur, as well as connecting with the great trunk lines to Calcutta, Bombay, and the Punjab. Before the amalgamation of Oudh with the North-Western Provinces in 1877, Lucknow formed the residence of the chief commissioner and his staff, and it still ranks as the headquarters of officials whose authority extends over the whole province. The principal medical institutions are the King’s hospital, Balrampur hospital, Government dispensary and lunatic asylum. The leading educational establishments are the Canning college, Martinière college, Ward’s institution, Loretto convent, and a number of schools under the charge of the Church of England and American missions.
History.— The most interesting event in the modern history of Lucknow is the siege during the mutiny of 1857-58. Symptoms of disaffection occurred as early as April 1857, and Sir Henry Lawrence immediately took steps to meet the danger by fortifying the residency and accumulating stores. On the night of the 30th May the expected insurrection broke out; the men of the 71st regiment of native infantry, with a few from the other regiments, began to burn the bungalows of their officers, and to murder the inmates, but were dispersed by the European force and fled towards Sitapur. Though the city thus remained in the hands of the British, the symptoms of disaffection amongst the remaining native troops were unmistakable, and on June 11 the military police and native cavalry broke into open revolt, followed on the succeeding morning by the native infantry. On the 20th news of the fall of Cawnpur arrived; and on the 29th occurred the failure of Lawrence’s attack upon the advancing enemy, in consequence of which the British troops fell back on Lucknow, abandoned the Machi Bhawan, and concentrated all their strength upon the residency. The siege of the enclosure began upon July 1. Three unsuccessful assaults were made by the mutineers on July 20, August 10, and August 18; but meanwhile the British within were dwindling away. On September 5 news of the relieving force under 0utram and Havelock reached the garrison, and on the 22d the relief arrived at the Alambagh, a walled garden on the Cawnpur road held by the enemy in force. Havelock stormed the Alambagh, and on the 25th fought his way with continuous opposition through the narrow lanes of the city. On the 26th he arrived at the gate of the residency enclosure, and was welcomed by the gallant defenders within. The sufferings of the besieged had been very great; but even after the first relief it became clear that Lucknow could only be temporarily defended till the arrival of further reinforcements should allow the garrison to cut its way out. Night and day the enemy kept up a continual firing against the British position, while 0utram, who had reassumed the command which he yielded to Havelock during the relief, retaliated by frequent sorties. Throughout October the garrison continued its gallant defence, and a small party, shut up in the Alambagh, and cut off unexpectedly from the main body, also contrived to hold good its dangerous post. Meanwhile Sir Colin Campbell's force had advanced from Cawnpur, and arrived at the Alambagh on the 10th of November. The Alambagh, the Dilkusha palace, south-east of the town, the Martinière, and the Sikandra Bagh, the chief rebel stronghold, were successively carried in the course of the six following days, and the second relief was successfully accomplished. Even now, however, it remained impossible to hold Lucknow, and Sir Colin Campbell determined, before undertaking any further offensive operations, to return to Cawnpur with his army, escorting the civilians, ladies, and children rescued from their long imprisonment in the residency, with the view of forwarding them to Calcutta. On the morning of the 20th November the troops received orders to march for the Alambagh; and the residency, the scene of so long and stirring a defence, was abandoned for a while to the rebel army. Outram with 3500 men held the Alambaghuntil the commander-in-chief could return to recapture the capital. The rebels in great strength again surrounded the greater part of the city, for a circuit of 20 miles, with an external line of defence. On the 2d of March 1858 Sir Colin Campbell found himself free enough in the rear to march once more upon Lucknow. He first occupied the Dilkusha, and posted guns to command the Martinière. On the 5th Brigadier Franks arrived with 6000 men; Outram’s force then crossed the Gumti, and advanced from the direction of Faizâbâd, while the main body attacked from the southeast. After a week’s hard fighting, March 9-15, the rebels were completely defeated, and their posts captured one by one.
