Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 8 (2nd edition).pdf/514

 504 L ucazvow am:

palace, a huge and irregular pile of buildings, crowned by gilt umbrellas, glitters gaudin in the sunlight; while to the left, at some little dis- tance, two ntausoleums ﬂank the entrance to the Kaisar High. 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 eﬂ'ected for military put. poses after the Mutiny, has resulted 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 neighbour. ing streets. Three other main roads also branch out from the same point, one leading across the bridge, and the two others along the banks of the (ltirnti. ’l‘he Residency crowns a picturesque eminence, the chief ornament of the city, containing, besides many ruined walls, an old mosque and a magniﬁcent banian tree. An artiﬁcial mound rises near at hand, its sides gay with parterres of tlowcrs ; while in the rear, half hidden by the feathery foliage of gigantic bamboos, the graveyard covers the remains of some 2000 Europeans, who perished by war or massacre during the Mutiny of 1857. The various archi- lectural works which adorn or disﬁgure Lucknow may best be oun- sidered in their historical order. South-east of the city, and separated from it by a canal, lie the cantonments, which extend over an area at It or 12 square miles.

[Miami—Like so many of the great modem cities of India, Lucknow owes its importance almost entirely to the lasr century. It ﬁrst rose to greatness as the capital of the young dynasty which established itself in Oudh during the decay of the Mughal Empire, and spread its rule, not only over the modern Province, but also through the neigh~ boating tracts of Rohillthand, Allahdhdd, Cawnpnr, and (ihdzipur. l’rorn very early times, however, a small village probably existed upon the spot where the family of Saddat Khan afterwards ﬁxed the seat of their supremacy. The earliest inhabitants appear to have been Ilrtlhtnans and Kriyasths, who dwelt around the Lakshman Ir'M, now the high ground enclosed within the Machi Bhawan fort. Ilene lakshman, brother of Ram Chandra, Raja of Ajotlhya, having obtained a large tract of country up to the (iogra in jrigfr, founded the village of Laltslt manpur, on a spot sacred to Sesnag, the thousandheaded snake, who supports the world upon his back. A mosque, built by the bigoted