History of Uttar Pradesh

United Provinces in 1909

The history of Uttar Pradesh the Northern Indian state, stretches back technically to its formation on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces, but the region itself shows the presence of human habitation dating back to between 85,000 and 73,000 years ago. The region seems to have been domesticated as early as 6,000 BC.

Prehistory

Archeological finds have indicated the presence of Stone Age Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers in Uttar Pradesh[1][2][3] between around[4] 85 and 73 thousand years old. Other pre-historical finds have included Middle and Upper Paleolithic artifacts dated to 21–31 thousand years old[5] and Mesolithic/Microlithic hunter-gatherer's settlement, near Pratapgarh, from around 10550–9550 BC. Villages with domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats and evidence of agriculture began as early as 6000 BC, and gradually developed between c. 4000 and 1500 BC  beginning with the Indus Valley Civilization and Harappa Culture to the Vedic period; extending into the Iron Age.[6][7][8]

Painting of goddess Rama alongside Sita and Laxman
Rama portrayed as exile in the forest, accompanied by his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana
Ravana
Bisrakh, Uttar Pradesh the birthplace of Demon king Ravana.[9][10][11]

The kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh.[12] According to Hindu legend, the divine king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala.[13] Krishna, another divine king of Hindu legend, who plays a key role in the Mahabharata epic and is revered as the eighth reincarnation (Avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu, is said to have been born in the city of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh.[12] The aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, (in what was Kuru Mahajanapada), during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhishthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in North-west India, around 1000 BC.[12]

Most of the invaders of south India passed through the Gangetic plains of what is today Uttar Pradesh. Control over this region was of vital importance to the power and stability of all of India's major empires, including the Maurya (320–200 BC), Kushan (100–250 CE), Gupta (350–600 CE), and Gurjara-Pratihara (650–1036 CE) empires.[14] Following the Huns invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of Kannauj.[15] During the reign of Harshavardhana (590–647), the Kannauj empire reached its zenith.[15] It spanned from Punjab in the north and Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and Odisha in the south.[12] It included parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire Indo-Gangetic plain.[16] Many communities in various parts of India claim descent from the migrants of Kannauj.[17] Soon after Harshavardhana's death, his empire disintegrated into many kingdoms, which were invaded and ruled by the Gurjara-Pratihara empire, which challenged Bengal's Pala Empire for control of the region.[16] Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty from the 8th century to the 10th century.[18][19]

In the 16th century, Babur, a Timurid descendant of Timur and Genghis Khan from Fergana Valley (modern-day Uzbekistan), swept across the Khyber Pass and founded the Mughal Empire, covering India, along with modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh[20] The Mughals were descended from Persianised Central Asian Turks (with significant Mongol admixture). In the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire.[17] Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Agra.[21][22] In 1540 an Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh after defeating the Mughal king Humanyun.[23] Sher Shah and his son Islam Shah ruled Uttar Pradesh from their capital at Gwalior.[24] After the death of Islam Shah Suri, his prime minister Hemu became the de facto ruler of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and the western parts of Bengal. He was bestowed the title of Vikramaditya at his coronation in Purana Quila in Delhi. Hemu died in the Second Battle of Panipat, and Uttar Pradesh came under Emperor Akbar's rule.[25] Akbar ruled from Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.[26] In the 18th century, after the fall of Mughal authority, the power vacuum was filled by the Maratha Empire, in the mid 18th century, the Maratha army invaded the Uttar Pradesh region, which resulted in Rohillas losing control of Rohillkhand to the Maratha rulers Raghunath Rao and Malharao Holkar. The conflict between Rohillas and Marathas came to an end on 18 December 1788 with the arrest of Ghulam Qadir, the grandson of Najeeb-ud-Daula, who was defeated by the Maratha general Mahadaji Scindia. In 1803, following the Second Anglo-Maratha War, when the British East India Company defeated the Maratha Empire, much of the region came under British suzerainty.[27]

British rule

Starting from Bengal in the second half of the 18th century, a series of battles for north Indian lands finally gave the British East India Company accession over the state's territories.[28] Ajmer and Jaipur kingdoms were also included in this northern territory, which was named the "North-Western Provinces" (of Agra). Although UP later became the fifth largest state of India, NWPA was one of the smallest states of the British Indian empire.[29] Its capital shifted twice between Agra and Allahabad.

Due to dissatisfaction with British rule, a serious rebellion erupted in various parts of North India; Bengal regiment's sepoy stationed at Meerut cantonment, Mangal Pandey, is widely credited as its starting point.[30] It came to be known as the Indian Rebellion of 1857. After the revolt failed, the British attempted to divide the most rebellious regions by reorganising the administrative boundaries of the region, splitting the Delhi region from 'NWFP of Agra' and merging it with Punjab, while the Ajmer- Marwar region was merged with Rajputana and Oudh was incorporated 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.[31] It was commonly referred to as the United Provinces or its acronym UP.[32][33]

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.[34] Uttar Pradesh continued to be central to Indian politics and was especially important in modern Indian history as a hotbed of the Indian independence movement. Uttar Pradesh hosted modern educational institutions such as the Benaras Hindu University, Aligarh Muslim University and the Darul Uloom Deoband. Nationally known figures such as Chandra Shekhar Azad were among the leaders of the movement in Uttar Pradesh, and Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Gobind Ballabh Pant were important national leaders of the Indian National Congress. The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was formed at the Lucknow session of the Congress on 11 April 1936, with the famous nationalist Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as its first President,[35] in order to address the longstanding grievances of the peasantry and mobilise them against the zamindari landlords attacks on their occupancy rights, thus sparking the Farmers movements in India.[36] During the Quit India Movement of 1942, Ballia district overthrew the colonial authority and installed an independent administration under Chittu Pandey. Ballia became known as "Baghi Ballia" (Rebel Ballia) for this significant role in India's independence movement.[37]

Post-independence

After India's independence, the United Provinces were reorganised as Uttar Pradesh in 1957. The state has provided seven of India's prime ministers and is the source of the largest number of seats in the Lok Sabha. Despite its political influence, it's poor economic development and administrative record, organised crime and corruption kept it amongst India's backward states. The state has been affected by repeated episodes of caste and communal violence.[38] In 1999, northern districts of the state were separated to form the state of Uttarakhand.[39]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Virendra N. Misra, Peter Bellwood (1985). Recent Advances in Indo-Pacific Prehistory: proceedings of the international symposium held at Poona. p. 69. ISBN 90-04-07512-7. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  2. ↑ Bridget Allchin, Frank Raymond Allchin (29 July 1982). The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. p. 58. ISBN 0-521-28550-X. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  3. ↑ Hasmukhlal Dhirajlal Sankalia; Shantaram Bhalchandra Deo; Madhukar Keshav Dhavalikar (1985). Studies in Indian Archaeology: Professor H.D. Sankalia Felicitation Volume. Popular Prakashan. p. 96. ISBN 0-86132-088-3. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Confidence limits for the age are 85 (±11) and 72 (±8) thousand years ago.
  5. ↑ Gibling, Sinha; Sinha, Roy; Roy, Tandon; Tandon, Jain; Jain, M (2008). "Quaternary fluvial and eolian deposits on the Belan river, India: paleoclimatic setting of Paleolithic to Neolithic archeological sites over the past 85,000 years". Quaternary Science Reviews 27 (3–4): 391. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2007.11.001.
  6. ↑ Kenneth A. R. Kennedy (2000). God-apes and Fossil Men. University of Michigan Press. p. 263. ISBN 0-472-11013-6. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  7. ↑ Bridget Allchin, Frank Raymond Allchin (1982). The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. p. 119. ISBN 0-521-28550-X. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  8. ↑ "Prehistoric human colonization of India" (PDF). Retrieved 5 April 2012.
  9. ↑ "indianexpress". indianexpress.
  10. ↑ "hindustantimes".
  11. ↑ "timesofindia".
  12. 1 2 3 4 Sailendra Nath Sen (1 January 1999). Ancient Indian History And Civilization. New Age International. pp. 105–106. ISBN 978-81-224-1198-0. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  13. ↑ William Buck (1 January 2000). Ramayana. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. ISBN 978-81-208-1720-3. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  14. ↑ Richard White (8 November 2010). The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region, 1650-1815. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-00562-4. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  15. 1 2 Marshall Cavendish Corporation (September 2007). World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 331–335. ISBN 978-0-7614-7631-3. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  16. 1 2 Pran Nath Chopra (1 December 2003). A Comprehensive History of Ancient India. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 196. ISBN 978-81-207-2503-4. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  17. 1 2 John Stewart Bowman (2000). Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. Columbia University Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-0-231-11004-4. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  18. ↑ The History of India by Kenneth Pletcher p.102
  19. ↑ The City in South Asia by James Heitzman p.37
  20. ↑ The Islamic World to 1600: Rise of the Great Islamic Empires (The Mughal Empire)
  21. ↑ Annemarie Schimmel (5 February 2004). The Empire of the Great Mughals: History, Art and Culture. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-185-3. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  22. ↑ Babur (Emperor of Hindustan); Dilip Hiro (1 March 2006). Babur Nama: Journal of Emperor Babur. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-400149-1. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  23. ↑ Carlos Ramirez-Faria (1 January 2007). Concise Encyclopeida Of World History. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 171. ISBN 978-81-269-0775-5. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  24. ↑ Stronge, Susan (16 October 2012). Mughal Hindustan is renowned for its opulence. London: The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms (V&A 1999). p. 255. ISBN 9788174366962. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  25. ↑ Ashvini Agrawal (1 January 1983). Studies In Mughal History. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. pp. 30–46. ISBN 978-81-208-2326-6. Retrieved 27 July 2012.
  26. ↑ Fergus Nicoll, Shah Jahan: The Rise and Fall of the Mughal Emperor (2009)
  27. ↑ Mayaram, Shail. Against history, against state: counterperspectives from the margins Cultures of history. Columbia University Press, 2003. ISBN 978-0-231-12731-8.
  28. ↑ Gyanesh Kudaisya (1994). Region, nation, "heartland": Uttar Pradesh in India's body-politic. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 126–376. ISBN 978-3-8258-2097-8.
  29. ↑ K. Sivaramakrishnan (3 December 1999). Modern Forests: Statemaking and Environmental Change in Colonial Eastern India. Stanford University Press. pp. 240–276. ISBN 978-0-8047-4556-7. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  30. ↑ Rudrangshu Mukherjee (1 June 2005). Mangal Pandey: brave martyr or accidental hero?. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-303256-4. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  31. ↑ United Provinces of Agra and Oudh (India); D.L. Drake-Brockman (1934). District Gazetteers of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh: supp.D.Pilibhit District. Supdt., Government Press, United Provinces. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  32. ↑ Dilip K. Chakrabarti (1 June 1997). Colonial Indology: sociopolitics of the ancient Indian past. Michigan: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd. p. 257. ISBN 978-81-215-0750-9. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  33. ↑ Bernard S. Cohn (19 August 1996). Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge: The British in India. Princeton University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0-691-00043-5. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  34. ↑ K. Balasankaran Nair (1 January 2004). Law Of Contempt Of Court In India. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 320. ISBN 978-81-269-0359-7. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  35. ↑ Śekhara, Bandyopādhyāya (2004). From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. Orient Longman. p. 407. ISBN 978-81-250-2596-2.
  36. ↑ Bandyopādhyāya, Śekhara (2004). From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India. Orient Longman. p. 406. ISBN 978-81-250-2596-2.
  37. ↑ Bankim Chandra Chatterji (15 January 2006). Anandamath. Orient Paperbacks. p. 168. ISBN 978-81-222-0130-7. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
  38. ↑ "Communal violence". Business Standard (Ananda Publishers). Kotak Mahindra Bank. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
  39. ↑ J. C. Aggarwal; S. P. Agrawal (1995). Uttarakhand: Past, Present, and Future. Concept Publishing Company. p. 391. ISBN 978-81-7022-572-0.

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Further reading

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