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Uttar Pradesh

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Uttar Pradesh (उत्तर प्रदेश, اتر پردیش, IPA , translation: Northern Province), [often referred to as U.P.] is located in northern India.

Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper Gangetic plain. While it is only the fifth-largest Indian state in terms of land area, it is the largest in population; 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 is also home to the tourism capital of India, Agra. The state's high court is based at Allahabad. Other notable cities in Uttar Pradesh include Aligarh, Azamgarh, Bareilly, Faizabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, NOIDA (New Okhla Industrial Development Authority), Saharanpur and Varanasi (Banaras).

The Indo-Gangetic plain that spans most of the state, has been the seat of ancient Hindu culture, religion and learning and has always played a prominent role in Indian political and cultural movements.

History

Ancient

Uttar Pradesh has an important place in the history of Hinduism, as well as the history of ancient India. Control over the region was vital to the power and stability of all of India's empires and kingdoms.Kanpur had been a financial capital of UP. The known history of Uttar Pradesh goes back to 4000 years ago, when the Aryans first made it their home in 2000 BC. This heralded the Vedic age of the Indian civilisation 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 moved to other parts of the Indian subcontinent, reaching as far as to Kerala and Sri Lanka in the south. (Please note that the term Aryan doesn't only refer to Brahmins and upper castes, in fact almost 99% of UP's population, including those from reserved castes are, in one way or the other, descendants of Aryans).

The ancient Hindu kingdom of Kosala in Ayodhya, where Lord Rama of the Ramayana reigned, was located here and Lord Krishna, revered as the eighth Avatara of Vishnu, was born in the city of Mathura. The Chaukhandi Stupa marks the spot where Lord Buddha met his first disciples. The Dhamek Stupa in Sarnath commemorates Buddha's first sermon.

The Mahabharat war and the aftermath took part in the area between Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. It was ruled under King Yudhishtira after the Mahabharat.

After that, this area was sometimes divided between petty kingdoms or formed important parts of larger empires from the east or the west, including the Mauryan, Gupta and Kushan empires. The Kannauj Empire originated from the heart of the Ganga Yamuna Doab and covered areas from Afghanistan to Kashmir, Bengal and the Vindhyas. This empire was at its zenith during the reign of Harshavardhana. Control over this region was often vital to the power and stability of all of India's major empires, including the Mauryan (320-200 BC), Kushan (100-250 AD) Gupta (350-600 AD) empires. After the Guptas, the region was the heart of Harshavardhana's empire, from Punjab to Bengal, with its capital at Kannauj. Many modern communities in different parts of India—Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Bengal—often trace their lineage to 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.

Medieval

Causing the fall of the Rajput came the Muslims rulers and what we call UP today once again became the catalyst for things to come. Much of the state formed part of the various Muslim Sultanates who ruled from Delhi. Beyond 1000 AD, Uttar Pradesh became part of several Muslim Sultanates who ruled from Delhi. In Mughal times, U.P. became the heart land of the Moghul empire who called the place 'Hindostan' which became the second name of U.P. (first being Aryavarta/ Madhyadesh). Even today UP-ites call themselves 'Hindustani' (or inhabitants of the Hindi land) rather than Uttar Pradeshi. Hindustan is also another name for India. Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were important as the capital city of Akbar, the great Mughal Emperor of India. The Mughals ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent (including Pakistan and Afghanistan from Delhi, Agra and Allahabad (at different times). Even when the Mughal Empire disintegrated, Hindostan remained their last territory --- which now was confined to the Doab region including 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 city of Lucknow was established by the Muslim Nawabs of Oudh in the 18th century.

Modern

Starting from the latter half of the 18th century, a series of battles finally gave British accession to the last Mughal territory -- the Doab (including Delhi), as also Bundelkhand, Kumaon and Benaras divisions. Ajmer and Jaipur were also included in this territory. They called it the North western provinces (of Agra). Its capital shifted twice between Agra and Allahabad. The area may seem big compared to today's mini states the size of earlier divisions, but at the time it was one of the smallest British province.

After the failed freedom war of 1857, when things settled, the British, in desperation, made a major revamp and truncated the Delhi region from NWFP of Agra and gave it to Punjab, while the Ajmer-Merwar region was given to Rajputana. At the same time it 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 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.

After independence, the state was renamed Uttar Pradesh ("northern province") by its first chief minister, Govind Ballabh Pant.Pant, who was well known to Jawaharlal Nehru, was popular in the local party and left his mark in Lucknow before December 27, 1954, when Nehru called him to Delhi to make him Home Minister. He was succeeded by Dr. Sampoornanand, a university professor and classicist. A Sanskrit scholar, he 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, and was dismissed, 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 — the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions — were formed into a new state called Uttarakhand (meaning the northern part of the state).

Geography

Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two distinct hypsographical regions:

  1. The Gangetic Plain, including the Ganga-Yamuna Doab, the Ghaghra plains, the Ganga plains and the Terai, — highly fertile alluvial soils; flat topography broken by numerous ponds, lakes and rivers; slope 2 m/km
  2. The Vindhya Hills and plateau in the south — hard rock Strata; varied topography of hills, plains, valleys and plateau; limited water availability.

The climate is generally tropical monsoon, but variations exist due to difference in altitudes.

Constituent regions

The state comprises the Doab region (including 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

Present boundaries (2007)

Uttar Pradesh state consists of seventy districts, which are grouped into seventeen divisions: Agra, Azamgarh, Allahabad, Bijnor, Kanpur, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Chitrakoot, Jhansi, Devipatan, Faizabad, Bahraich, Bareilly, Basti, Mirzapur, Moradabad,Mathura, Meerut, Lucknow, Varanasi, Sultanpur, Farrukhabad, Vrindavan, Sonebhadra, and Saharanpur. It has 403 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).

Major cities

Agra • Allahabad • Ghaziabad • Gorakhpur • Jhansi •Kanpur • Lucknow • Mathura • Meerut • Noida • Varanasi

Other towns

Bahraich • Ballia • Banda • Barabanki • Bareilly • Bijnor • Bulandshahr • Etawah • Faizabad • Firozabad • Ghazipur • Gonda • Kannauj • Mathura • Mainpuri • Mirzapur • Moradabad • Noida • Raebareli • Rampur • Azamgarh• Sultanpur. Shahjahanpur• Greater Noida • Muzaffarnagar• Khurja • Hameerpur,orai.Kushinagargola

Languages

The state languages of Uttar Pradesh are standard Hindi and Urdu. While standard Hindi (Khari boli) is the official language, several regional Hindi 'dialects' are spoken throughout the state. Among these are, Awadhi, Bhojpuri, Braj, Bagheli and Bundeli, besides several local dialects that do not have a 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 center of 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 by the Bharatiya Janata Party that a single party has gained absolute majority, the last two decades having been 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 exploiting deep-rooted caste divisions in the state between Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims and different OBC groups, which tend to vote in blocks. No party had received a majority in the state's Assembly since 1991.

Mayawati, having 206 seats, took the oath of secrecy for the post of UP's next CM on 13 May 2007. Former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's party SP stood second in State with 97 seats. She became Chief Minister for 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, Awadhpal Singh, Ratanlal Ahirwar, Badshah Singh, Sudhir Goyal, Babu Singh Kushwaha.

Politics in Uttar Pradesh has been transformed in recent times by the extensive infiltration of , and the Election Commission of India was perceived as having effectively managed extremely strict security to prevent booth-capturing and other abuse.

Eight of India's fourteen Prime Minister's hail 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.

The 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 & ex hrd minister dr. murli manohar joshi,SP leader & ex-Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, BSP leader and three-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 Uttarakhand, Narayan Dutt Tiwari.

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 of Uttar Pradesh.

Education

The State of U.P. has made investments over the years in all sectors of education and has achieved some success.

The female literacy situation in Uttar Pradesh is dismal. Only one out of four in the 7+ age group was able to read and write in 1991. This figure goes down to 19% for rural areas, 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. Possibly Bihar is the only state in India which fares worse than U.P. in education.

In terms of more demanding 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 involved in the primary and middle stages. One other notable feature of the Uttar Pradesh education system is the persistence of high levels of illiteracy in the younger age group. Within that age group, illiteracy was endemic 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.

The problems of education system are exacting. Due to public apathy the schools are in disarray. While privately run schools (including those run by Christian missionaries) are functional, they are beyond the reach of ordinary people. The State government has taken steps to make the population totally literate. There are special programmes like the World Bank aided DPEP. Steps are being taken with the help of NGOs and other organizations to raise participation.

As a result, some progress in adult education has been made and the census 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, and the world famous Asian Academy Of Film & Television and several other polytechnics, engineering institutes and industrial training centres.

The literacy rate in UP increased from 28 percent in 1981 to 42 percent in 1991. The differential between female and male literacy is very high. Male literacy in 1991 was 56 percent and female literacy, 25 percent. As per the latest survey estimates, the male literacy in 1999 was 73 percent and female literacy, 43 percent (NFHS II). 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 adult literacy rate (percent literate among those aged 15 and above) in the state has increased from 38 percent in 1991 to 49 percent in 1998, an increase of 11 percentage points in the seven-year period.

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 Gross 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. 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 some 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 is $339.5 billion by PPP and $80.9 billion by Nominal. After partition, the new Uttar Pradesh state produces about 92% of the output of the old Uttar Pradesh state. Uttar Pradesh is the second largest economy in India after Maharashtra. It has bigger economy than many of the world big economic players like Israel,Switzerland and Hong Kong.

Agriculture

Uttar Pradesh is a very fertile region and 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. 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.

Commodity National Share
Potato 47%
Sugarcane 45%
Wheat 38%
Rice 32%
Groundnut 34%
Molasses 34%
Sugar 30%
Tobacco 20%

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 is limited to particular areas only like NOIDA, Greater NOIDA,Ghaziabad etc. which lie in National Capital Region(NCR). Uttar Pradesh have 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 both national and international visitors. There are two regions in the state where a majority of the tourists go. These are the city of Agra which houses three world heritage sites Taj Mahal, Agra Fort & Fatehpur Sikri and the holy cities: the cities of Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, and Allahabad, by the sacred rivers — the Ganga and the Yamuna are all located in the state. The state hosts a Kumbha Mela every 12 years, where over 10 million Hindus congregate — the largest gathering of human beings in the world.

A vast number of tourists visit the Taj Mahal in Agra. Another important tourist attraction in Agra is the Agra Fort. Also famous is a 16th century capital city built by the Mughal emperor Akbar known as Fatehpur Sikri near Agra. 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. The life-like carving in marble is not seen anywhere else in India.

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.

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 on the banks of the Ganges, the Magh Mela. The same festival is organised in a larger scale every 12th year and attracts millions of people and is called the Kumbha Mela.

Varanasi is widely considered to be the second oldest city in the world after Jerusalem. It is famous for its ghats (steps along the river) which are populated year round with people who want to take a dip in the holy 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 is 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.

Some areas require a special permit for non-Indians to visit.

Culture

Art and Craft

Uttar Pradesh is famous for its rich art and craft. Varanasi is famous for its banarasi saris and silk. A banarasi sari is an essential part of any marriage in the state. Mirzapur and Bhadohi are known for its carpets. Agra and Kanpur are internationally known for their leather craft. Shoes and other leather items are expoted to foreign countries. Moradabad is well know for its metal ware, specially brass artifacts. While the capital Lucknow boasts of its cloth work and embroidery (chikan) work on silk and cotton, the smaller city of Saharanpur is known all over India for wood carving items produced here. Firozabad, the city of bangles, is a hub for glass accessaries factories. The glass artifacts are just amazing and exported world over. The entire state for its pottery is not only famous in India but around the world.

Dance and Music

Kathak, a classical dance form involving calculated movement 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.

During the eras of Guptas and Harsh Vardhan, Uttar Pradesh was a major center for musical innovation. Swami Haridas was a great saint-musian 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 are believed to be so powerful thay they could bring rain or light a fire when recited.

In modern times, Uttar Pradesh has given 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 to the world. It is also incidentally the birthplace of British pop legend Sir Cliff Richard.

The region's folk heritage includes songs called rasiya (known especially 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 theatre forms include:

Eminent Ghazal singer Begum Akhtar belongs to Uttar Pradesh. She was a pioneer in Ghazal singing and 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.

The Bhatkande music university at Lucknow is named after the great musician Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande.

Literature

References

External links



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