Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/63

Rh tributaries. The former enters the district from the north, and, after passing Lucknow city, turns to the east and enters Bara Banki. The Sai forms the south-west bound ary 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 ex ceeding 5000 inhabitants, viz., Lucknow city, Amethi (7182), Kakori (8220), Malihabad (8026). The estimated area under culti vation 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, sdnwdn, mandwd, kdkun, and Indian corn ; and the henuiat in the autumn, consisting ofjoar, bdjra, indsh, m&ng, moth, masiir, 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 land lords. Wages have 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 l|d. a day. Artisans, such as smiths and carpenters, receive 4Jd. a day for work in their own villages, or 6d. a day if called away from their homes. Famines have occurred inLueknow 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, embroidery, cotton prints, brass vessels, lace, tobacco, &c., are exported. The district is ad ministered 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 talisilddrs, 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. Cholera is seldom absent. 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 pro vince of Oudh, in 26 52 N. lat., 80 58 E. long., is distant from Cawnpur 42 miles, from Benares 199 miles, and from Calcutta G10 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 prosents a picture of unusual magni ficence 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-daula crosses the stream. To its left rise the walls of the Machf Bhawan fort, enclosing the Lachman tild (Lach- man s hill), the earliest inhabited spot in the city, from 49 which it derives its modern name. Close by, the immense Imdmbara, or mausoleum of Asaf ud-daula, towers above the surrounding buildings. Farther in the distance, the lofty minarets of the Jama Masjid or &quot;cathedral mosque&quot; 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 Bagh, 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 arrange ments 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 popu lation 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 Lncknow 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, gtir 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 (20,0i8), 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 amalga mation of Oudh with the North-Western Provinces in 1877, Luck- now 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 institu tions are the King s hospital, Balrampur hospital, Government dis pensary and lunatic asylum. The leading educational establish ments are the Canning college, Martiniere college, Ward s institu tion, 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 XV. - 7