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108th (Madras Infantry) Regiment of Foot

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The 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) was an infantry regiment of the British Army . However, it was raised initially as part of the Madras Army , by the East India Company (EIC) in 1766.

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120-815: In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion (1857), the British government took control of the Presidency Armies and the 108th became also known by the name 3rd Madras Infantry . Finally, under the Childers Reforms of 1881, the regiment was amalgamated with the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot , to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers . The regiment as first raised by the East India Company as

240-527: A commitment for general service. However, serving high-caste sepoys were fearful that it would be eventually extended to them, as well as preventing sons following fathers into an army with a strong tradition of family service. There were also grievances over the issue of promotions, based on seniority. This, as well as the increasing number of British officers in the battalions, made promotion slow, and many Indian officers did not reach commissioned rank until they were too old to be effective. The final spark

360-473: A fairly extensive area. Many medicinal and herbal plants are grown, while common Indian monkeys are found in patches in and around city forests such as Musa Bagh . Established in 1921, the Lucknow Zoo is one of the oldest in the country. It houses a rich collection of animals from Asia , and other continents. The zoo also has enjoyable toy train rides for visitors. The city has a botanical garden, which

480-810: A part of the Mughal Empire around 1555. Emperor Jahangir (1569–1627) granted an estate in Awadh to a favoured nobleman, Sheikh Abdul Rahim, who later built Machchi Bhawan on this estate. It later became the seat of power from where his descendants, the Sheikhzadas , controlled the region. The Nawabs of Lucknow (actually the Nawabs of Awadh) acquired the name after the reign of the third Nawab when Lucknow became their capital. The city became North India's cultural capital , and its nawabs, best remembered for their refined and extravagant lifestyles, were patrons of

600-517: A plant primarily for light commercial vehicles. It was set up in 1992 and has a production capacity of 640 vehicles per day. Additionally there is a plant of Tata Marcopolo in the city. To promote the textile industry in the city, the Indian government has allocated Rs. 2 billion (2000 million rupees) to set up a textile business cluster in the city. A sprawling 40 hectares (0.40 km ; 100 acres) IT city costing 15 billion Rupees

720-444: A result of the land reforms that came in the wake of annexation of Oudh . It is mentioned that throughout Oudh and Bihar Rajput Taluqdars provided the bulk of leadership and played an important role during 1857 in the region. As the rebellion gained ground, the taluqdars quickly reoccupied the lands they had lost, and paradoxically, in part because of ties of kinship and feudal loyalty, did not experience significant opposition from

840-484: A single depot and recruiting district in the United Kingdom, the 108th was linked with the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot , and assigned to district no. 64 at St Lucia Barracks, Omagh . On 1 July 1881 the Childers Reforms came into effect and the 108th amalgamated with the 27th (Inniskilling) Regiment of Foot to form the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers . Battle honours of the regiment were: Colonels of

960-676: A stronger force under Sir Colin Campbell . Today, the ruins of the Residency and the Shaheed Smarak offer an insight into Lucknow's role in the events of 1857. With the rebellion over, Oudh returned to British governance under a chief commissioner. In 1877, the offices of lieutenant-governor of the North-Western Provinces and chief commissioner of Oudh were combined; then in 1902, the title of chief commissioner

1080-455: A study conducted by Assocham Placement Pattern, Lucknow's economy was formerly based on the tertiary sector and the majority of the workforce were employed as government servants. Large-scale industrial establishments are few compared to other northern Indian state capitals like New Delhi . The economy is growing with contributions from the fields of IT, manufacturing and processing and medical/biotechnology. Business-promoting institutions such as

1200-671: A total of 5.66 per cent of forest cover, the state average being around 7 per cent. Native tree species are: shisham , dhak , mahuamm , babul , neem , peepal , ashok , khajur , mango and gular . Several varieties of mangoes, especially Dasheri , are grown in the Malihabad adjacent to the city and a block of the Lucknow district for export. The main crops are wheat, paddy , sugarcane , mustard, potatoes, and vegetables such as cauliflower, cabbage, tomato and brinjal . Similarly, sunflowers, roses, and marigolds are cultivated over

1320-512: A unit based on molasses in the city. Dyer Breweries was incorporated in 1855 and was Asia's first commercial brewery. The company name was changed to Mohan Meakin Brewery in 1967 (the word "Breweries" was dropped in the eighties as the company diversified into other industries). The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology set up Software Technology Parks of India in 2001. Currently, biotechnology and information technology are

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1440-451: Is Abhishek Prakash. The district magistrate is assisted by a Chief Development Officer (CDO), eight Additional District Magistrates (ADM) (Finance/Revenue, East, West Trans-Gomti, Executive, Land Acquisition-I, Land Acquisition-II, Civil Supply), one City Magistrate (CM) and seven Additional City Magistrates (ACM). The Lucknow Municipal Corporation oversees civic activities in the city. The city's first municipal body dates from 1862 when

1560-512: Is Mukesh Meshram. Lucknow district administration is headed by the District Magistrate of Lucknow, who is an IAS officer . The DM is in charge of property records and revenue collection for the central government and oversees the elections held in the city. The district has five tehsils , viz. Sadar, Mohanlalganj, Bakshi ka Talab, Malihabad and Sarojini Nagar, each headed by a Sub-Divisional Magistrate . The current DM

1680-795: Is a bench of the Allahabad High Court in Lucknow. Aside from this, Lucknow has a District & Sessions Court, five CBI Courts, one family court and two railway courts. The High Court Bench as well as the District & Sessions Court and the CBI courts are located in Qaiser Bagh, and the railway courts are in Charbagh. People have often criticised various governments for being judicial focussed on central UP. Where western Uttar Pradesh

1800-518: Is a zone of wide botanical diversity. It is home to the Uttar Pradesh State Museum , which has sculptural masterpieces dating back to the 3rd century AD, including intricately carved Mathura sculptures ranging from dancing girls to scenes from the life of Buddha. The major industries in the Lucknow urban agglomeration include aeronautics, automotive, machine tools, distillery chemicals, furniture and Chikan embroidery . Lucknow

1920-474: Is also an executive committee (कार्यकारिणी समिति) made up of 12 elected councillors from different political parties, who decide on policy matters of the corporation. The Police Commissionerate System was introduced in Lucknow on 14 January 2020. The district police is headed by a Commissioner of Police (CP), who is an IPS officer of ADGP rank and is assisted by two Joint Commissioners of Police (IG rank), and five Deputy Commissioners of Police (SP rank). Lucknow

2040-423: Is also home to a number of important national and state level headquarters for companies including Sony Corporation and Reliance Retail. The handicrafts sector accounts for 60 per cent of total exports from the state. Companies such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited , KARAM, Tata Marcopolo , Exide Industries , Tata Motors set up their plants in Lucknow. Lucknow is an emerging automobile hub. Tata Motors have

2160-848: Is among the top cities of India by GDP. It is a centre for research and development as home to the R&;D centres of the National Milk Grid of the National Dairy Development Board, the Central Institute of Medical and Aromatic Plants, the National Handloom Development Corporation and U.P. Export Corporation. Lucknow is ranked sixth in a list of the ten fastest growing job-creating cities in India according to

2280-495: Is carried out with the help of pepper-spraying drones. There are more than 10,000 CCTV cameras deployed by the Lucknow Police Department across the city roads and trijunctions, making Lucknow the first city in the country to do so. The Lucknow Modern Police Control Room (abbreviated as MCR) is India's biggest 'Dial 112' service centre with 300 communication officers to receive distress calls from all over

2400-436: Is divided into five zones, each headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police. Of the two Joint Commissioners, one looks after law and order, the other crime. The current police commissioner of Lucknow City is IPS SB Shirodkar. The district police observes the citizenry through high-technology control rooms and all important streets and intersections are under surveillance with the help of CCTVs and drone cameras . Crowd-control

2520-586: Is headed by the Divisional Commissioner of Lucknow, who is an IAS officer of high seniority, the Commissioner is the head of local government institutions (including municipal corporations) in the division, is in charge of infrastructure development in his division, and is also responsible for maintaining law and order in the division. The District Magistrate of Lucknow reports to the divisional commissioner. The current commissioner

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2640-638: Is little evidence that the sepoys' allegiance was affected by this. However, changes in the terms of their professional service may have created resentment. As the extent of the East India Company's jurisdiction expanded with victories in wars or annexation, the soldiers were now expected not only to serve in less familiar regions, such as in Burma , but also to make do without the "foreign service" remuneration that had previously been their due. A major cause of resentment that arose ten months prior to

2760-602: Is planned by the state government at the Chak Ganjaria farms site on the road to Sultanpur and they have already approved special economic zone status for the project, which is expected to create thousands of job opportunities in the state. A defence industrial corridor is also coming in the city. Traditionally, Lucknow has been a mandi town for mangoes, melons, and grains grown in the surrounding areas. Sugarcane -growing plantations and sugar industries are also in close proximity. This attracted Edward Dyer to set up

2880-719: Is that Lucknow was named after a very influential architect named Lakhna Ahir, who built the fort Qila Lakhna. From 1350 onwards, Lucknow and parts of the Awadh region were ruled by the Delhi Sultanate, Sharqi Sultanate , Mughal Empire , Nawabs of Awadh , the British East India Company and the British Raj . For about eighty-four years (from 1394 to 1478), Awadh was part of the Sharqi Sultanate of Jaunpur. Emperor Humayun made it

3000-533: Is the most important center of Shia Islam in the Indian Subcontinent and has influence of Persian, Shiite, Arabic and British culture and tradition in the architecture, language and customs. Lucknow was one of the major centres of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and actively participated in India's independence movement , emerging as a strategically important North Indian city. During the Rebellion,

3120-475: The 3rd Madras European Regiment , when it was formed from the 1st Madras Europeans in 1766. It served in India until 1774, when it was absorbed by the 1st and 2nd Madras Europeans in 1774. Re-raised as a separate regiment in 1777, the 108th was disbanded in 1796. The regiment was re-raised as the 3rd Madras (European) Regiment in 1854, and then saw action in India in 1857 during the Indian Rebellion . After

3240-504: The Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814–16 and brought the defeated Gurkhas under British influence. In 1854, Berar was annexed, and the state of Oudh was added two years later. For practical purposes, the company was the government of much of India. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 occurred as the result of an accumulation of factors over time, rather than any single event. The sepoys were Indian soldiers who were recruited into

3360-559: The CII have set up their service centres in the city. Major export items are marbled products, handicrafts, art pieces, gems, jewellery, textiles, electronics, software products, computers, hardware products, apparel, brass products, silk, leather goods, glass items and chemicals. Lucknow has promoted public-private partnerships in sectors such as electricity supply, roads, expressways, and educational ventures. Lucknow in recent times have lagged in growth and only ranks 7th in per capita income in

3480-560: The Himalayas . In the extraordinary winter cold spell of 2012–2013, Lucknow recorded temperatures below freezing point on two consecutive days and the minimum temperature hovered around freezing point for over a week. Summers are very hot with temperatures rising into the 40 to 45 °C (104 to 113 °F) range, the average maxima being in the high 30s Celsius. Lucknow has been ranked 4th best “National Clean Air City” (under Category 1 >10L Population cities) in India. Lucknow has

3600-426: The Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division . Having a population of 2.8 million as per 2011 census, it is the eleventh most populous city and the twelfth-most populous urban agglomeration of India. Lucknow has always been a multicultural city that flourished as a North Indian cultural and artistic hub, and the seat of power of Nawabs in

3720-533: The Madras Army and Bombay Army were "more localized, caste-neutral armies" that "did not prefer high-caste men". The domination of higher castes in the Bengal Army has been blamed in part for initial mutinies that led to the rebellion. In 1772, when Warren Hastings was appointed Fort William 's first Governor-General, one of his first undertakings was the rapid expansion of the company's army. Since

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3840-491: The Vellore Mutiny was sparked by new uniform regulations that created resentment amongst both Hindu and Muslim sepoys. After the turn of the 19th century, Governor-General Wellesley began what became two decades of accelerated expansion of Company territories. This was achieved either by subsidiary alliances between the company and local rulers or by direct military annexation. The subsidiary alliances created

3960-660: The princely states of the Hindu maharajas and the Muslim nawabs . Punjab , North-West Frontier Province , and Kashmir were annexed after the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849; however, Kashmir was immediately sold under the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar to the Dogra Dynasty of Jammu and thereby became a princely state. The border dispute between Nepal and British India, which sharpened after 1801, had caused

4080-600: The provincial seat of government moved from Allahabad to Lucknow. Upon Indian independence in 1947, the United Provinces were reorganised into the state of Uttar Pradesh, and Lucknow remained its capital. Lucknow witnessed some of the pivotal moments in the history of India. One is the first meeting of the stalwarts Mahatma Gandhi , Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohd Ali Jinnah during the Indian National Congress session of 1916 (the Lucknow pact

4200-510: The upper Gangetic plain and central India , though incidents of revolt also occurred farther north and east. The rebellion posed a military threat to British power in that region, and was contained only with the rebels' defeat in Gwalior on 20 June 1858. On 1 November 1858, the British granted amnesty to all rebels not involved in murder, though they did not declare the hostilities to have formally ended until 8 July 1859. The name of

4320-504: The 11th Bengal Native Infantry) escorted trusted British officers and women and children to safety before joining the revolt. Some officers and their families escaped to Rampur , where they found refuge with the Nawab. The British historian Philip Mason notes that it was inevitable that most of the sepoys and sowars from Meerut should have made for Delhi on the night of 10 May. It was a strong walled city located only forty miles away, it

4440-456: The 11th century, and later, Lucknow. A similar theory states that the city was known as Lakshmanavati ( Sanskrit : लक्ष्मणवती , fortunate) after Lakshmana. The name changed to Lakhanavati , then Lakhnauti and finally Lakhnau. Yet another theory states that the city's name is connected with Lakshmi , the Hindu goddess of wealth. Over time, the name changed to Laksmanauti, Laksmnaut, Lakhsnaut, Lakhsnau and, finally, Lakhnau. Another theory

4560-547: The 18th and 19th centuries. It continues to be an important centre of governance, administration, education, commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, information technology, design, culture, tourism, music, and poetry. Lucknow, along with Agra and Varanasi , is in the Uttar Pradesh Heritage Arc , a chain of survey triangulations created by the Government of Uttar Pradesh to boost tourism in

4680-405: The 84 regular infantry and cavalry regiments. Thus 75% of the cavalry regiments was composed of Indian Muslims, while 80% of the infantry was composed of Hindus. The sepoys were therefore affected to a large degree by the concerns of the landholding and traditional members of Indian society. In the early years of Company rule, it tolerated and even encouraged the caste privileges and customs within

4800-463: The Bengal Army had accepted an obligation to serve overseas if required. As a result, the burden of providing contingents for active service in Burma, readily accessible only by sea, and China had fallen disproportionately on the two smaller Presidency Armies. As signed into effect by Lord Canning , Dalhousie's successor as Governor-General, the act required only new recruits to the Bengal Army to accept

4920-507: The Bengal Army liable to service overseas. Although it was intended to apply only to new recruits, the serving sepoys feared that the Act might be applied retroactively to them as well. A high-caste Hindu who travelled in the cramped conditions of a wooden troop ship could not cook his own food on his own fire, and accordingly risked losing caste through ritual pollution. Several months of increasing tensions coupled with various incidents preceded

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5040-493: The Bengal Army, that some sort of rebellion over the cartridges was imminent. Despite the objections of the civilian Governor-General's staff, he agreed to postpone the musketry practice and allow a new drill by which the soldiers tore the cartridges with their fingers rather than their teeth. However, he issued no general orders making this standard practice throughout the Bengal Army and, rather than remain at Ambala to defuse or overawe potential trouble, he then proceeded to Simla ,

5160-676: The Bengal Army, which recruited its regular infantry soldiers almost exclusively amongst the landowning Rajputs and Brahmins of the Bihar and Oudh regions. These soldiers were known as Purbiyas . By the time these customs and privileges came to be threatened by modernising regimes in Calcutta from the 1840s onwards, the sepoys had become accustomed to very high ritual status and were extremely sensitive to suggestions that their caste might be polluted. The sepoys also gradually became dissatisfied with various other aspects of army life. Their pay

5280-555: The British after aiding the fugitive Nawab of Bengal , Mir Qasim . Roundly defeated at the Battle of Buxar by the East India Company , he was forced to pay heavy penalties and surrender parts of his territory. Awadh's capital, Lucknow rose to prominence when Asaf-ud-Daula , the fourth Nawab, shifted his court to the city from Faizabad in 1775. The British East India Company appointed a resident (ambassador) in 1773 and by early 19th century gained control of more territory and authority in

5400-528: The British by providing both soldiers and support. The large princely states, Hyderabad , Mysore , Travancore , and Kashmir , as well as the smaller ones of Rajputana , did not join the rebellion, serving the British, in the Governor-General Lord Canning 's words, as "breakwaters in a storm". In some regions, most notably in Awadh, the rebellion took on the attributes of a patriotic revolt against British oppression. However,

5520-659: The British sought to destroy the religions of the Indian people, and forcing the native soldiers to break their sacred code would have certainly added to this rumour, as it apparently did. The company was quick to reverse the effects of this policy in hopes that the unrest would be quelled. On 27 January, Colonel Richard Birch, the Military Secretary, ordered that all cartridges issued from depots were to be free from grease, and that sepoys could grease them themselves using whatever mixture "they may prefer". A modification

5640-841: The Crown took control of the Presidency armies in the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion, the regiment became the 3rd Madras Infantry in November 1859. It was then renumbered as the 108th Regiment of Foot (Madras Infantry) on transfer to the British Army in September 1862. It embarked for England in 1876. As part of the Cardwell Reforms of the 1870s, where single-battalion regiments were linked together to share

5760-669: The East India Company army defeated Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II . After his defeat, the emperor granted the company the right to the "collection of Revenue" in the provinces of Bengal (modern day Bengal , Bihar, and Odisha ), known as "Diwani" to the company. The Company soon expanded its territories around its bases in Bombay and Madras; later, the Anglo-Mysore Wars (1766–1799) and the Anglo-Maratha Wars (1772–1818) led to control of even more of India. In 1806,

5880-486: The East India Company while also agreeing to disband his own troops in favour of a hugely expensive, British-controlled army. This treaty effectively made the state of Awadh a vassal of the East India Company , although it continued to be part of the Mughal Empire in name until 1819. The treaty of 1801 proved a beneficial arrangement for the East India Company as they gained access to Awadh's vast treasuries, repeatedly digging into them for loans at reduced rates. In addition,

6000-505: The Flagstaff Tower also set out for Karnal on foot. Some were helped by villagers on the way; others were killed. The next day, Bahadur Shah held his first formal court for many years. It was attended by many excited sepoys. The emperor was alarmed by the turn events had taken, but eventually accepted the sepoys' allegiance and agreed to give his countenance to the rebellion. On 16 May, up to 50 British who had been held prisoner in

6120-548: The Indian firm of Gangadarh Banerji & Co. By January, rumours abounded that the Enfield cartridges were greased with animal fat. Company officers became aware of the rumours through reports of an altercation between a high-caste sepoy and a low-caste labourer at Dum Dum . The labourer had taunted the sepoy that by biting the cartridge, he had himself lost caste, although at this time such cartridges had been issued only at Meerut and not at Dum Dum. There had been rumours that

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6240-458: The Kakori trial which captured the imagination of the country, also took place in Lucknow. Culturally, Lucknow has also had a tradition of courtesans, with popular culture distilling it in the avatar of the fictional Umrao Jaan . Along with the rest of India , Lucknow became independent from Britain on 15 August 1947 . It has been listed as the 17th-fastest growing city in India and 74th in

6360-555: The Queen's proclamation in growing avowals of a new nationalism. Although the British East India Company had established a presence in India as far back as 1612, and earlier administered the factory areas established for trading purposes, its victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757 marked the beginning of its firm foothold in eastern India. The victory was consolidated in 1764 at the Battle of Buxar , when

6480-541: The Regiment were: Regimental titles in italics indicate they were disbanded or renumbered before 1881. Indian Rebellion The Earl Canning George Anson   † Sir Patrick Grant Sir Colin Campbell Sir Henry Havelock   † Surendra Bikram Shah Randhir Singh 6,000 British killed, including civilians The Indian Rebellion of 1857

6600-408: The abolition of sati and the legalisation of widow remarriage were considered by many—especially the British themselves —to have caused suspicion that Indian religious traditions were being "interfered with", with the ultimate aim of conversion. Recent historians, including Chris Bayly , have preferred to frame this as a "clash of knowledges", with proclamations from religious authorities before

6720-401: The actual rebellion. On 26 February 1857 the 19th Bengal Native Infantry (BNI) regiment became concerned that new cartridges they had been issued were wrapped in paper greased with cow and pig fat, which had to be opened by mouth thus affecting their religious sensibilities. Their Colonel confronted them supported by artillery and cavalry on the parade ground, but after some negotiation withdrew

6840-608: The alarm. When his Adjutant Lt. Henry Baugh came out to investigate the unrest, Pandey opened fire but hit Baugh's horse instead. General John Hearsey came out to the parade ground to investigate, and claimed later that Mangal Pandey was in some kind of "religious frenzy". He ordered the Indian commander of the Quarter Guard Jemadar Ishwari Prasad to arrest Mangal Pandey, but the Jemadar refused. The quarter guard and other sepoys present, with

6960-409: The arsenal. Six of the nine officers survived, but the blast killed many in the streets and nearby houses and other buildings. The news of these events finally tipped the sepoys stationed around Delhi into open rebellion. The sepoys were later able to salvage at least some arms from the arsenal, and a magazine two miles (3 km (1.9 mi)) outside Delhi, containing up to 3,000 barrels of gunpowder,

7080-473: The artillery, and cancelled the next morning's parade. On 29 March 1857 at the Barrackpore parade ground, near Calcutta , 29-year-old Mangal Pandey of the 34th BNI, angered by the recent actions of the East India Company, declared that he would rebel against his commanders. Informed about Pandey's behaviour Sergeant-Major James Hewson went to investigate, only to have Pandey shoot at him. Hewson raised

7200-670: The arts. Under their dominion, music and dance flourished, and construction of numerous monuments took place. Of the monuments standing today, the Bara Imambara , the Chota Imambara , and the Rumi Darwaza are notable examples. One of the Nawab's enduring legacies is the region's syncretic Hindu–Muslim culture that has come to be known as the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb . Until 1719, the subah of Awadh

7320-432: The bazaar attacked off-duty soldiers there. About 50 Indian civilians, some of them officers' servants who tried to defend or conceal their employers, were killed by the sepoys. While the action of the sepoys in freeing their 85 imprisoned comrades appears to have been spontaneous, some civilian rioting in the city was reportedly encouraged by Kotwal (chief police officer) Dhan Singh Gurjar . Some sepoys (especially from

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7440-647: The cities of Delhi and Lucknow were laid waste in the fighting and the British retaliation. After the outbreak of the mutiny in Meerut, the rebels quickly reached Delhi, whose 81-year-old Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zafar , was declared the Emperor of Hindustan . Soon, the rebels had captured large tracts of the North-Western Provinces and Awadh (Oudh). The East India Company's response came rapidly as well. With help from reinforcements, Kanpur

7560-496: The company's army. Just before the rebellion, there were over 300,000 sepoys in the army, compared to about 50,000 British. The East India Company's forces were divided into three presidency armies : Bombay , Madras , and Bengal . The Bengal Army recruited higher castes , such as Brahmins , Rajputs and Bhumihar , mostly from the Awadh and Bihar regions, and even restricted the enlistment of lower castes in 1855. In contrast,

7680-423: The condemned soldiers berated their comrades for failing to support them. The next day was Sunday. Some Indian soldiers warned off-duty junior British officers that plans were afoot to release the imprisoned soldiers by force, but the senior officers to whom this was reported took no action. There was also unrest in the city of Meerut itself, with angry protests in the bazaar and some buildings being set on fire. In

7800-472: The cool hill station where many high officials spent the summer. Although there was no open revolt at Ambala, there was widespread arson during late April. Barrack buildings (especially those belonging to soldiers who had used the Enfield cartridges) and British officers' bungalows were set on fire. At Meerut , a large military cantonment, 2,357 Indian sepoys and 2,038 British soldiers were stationed along with 12 British-manned guns. The station held one of

7920-511: The country's first AI City and the largest IT hub in the country. It ranks 7th in the state as per GDP per capita. Lucknow is also being set to manufacture Bramhos Missile with the establishment of two Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) centres. Lucknow region is emerging as a key industrial and logistics hub in North India after Delhi-NCR as the warehousing sector. Lucknow division which consists of six districts, and

8040-412: The difficulties this might cause: unless it be proven that the grease employed in these cartridges is not of a nature to offend or interfere with the prejudices of religion, it will be expedient not to issue them for test to Native corps. However, in August 1856, greased cartridge production was initiated at Fort William, Calcutta , following a British design. The grease used included tallow supplied by

8160-414: The east by Barabanki , on the west by Unnao , on the south by Raebareli and in the north by Sitapur and Hardoi , Lucknow sits on the northwestern shore of the Gomti River . As of 2008 , there were 110 wards in the city. Morphologically, three clear demarcations exist: The central business district , which is a fully built up area, comprises Hazratganj , Aminabad and Chowk. A middle zone surrounds

8280-463: The evening, most British officers were preparing to attend church, while many of the British soldiers were off duty and had gone into canteens or into the bazaar in Meerut. The Indian troops, led by the 3rd Cavalry, broke into revolt. British junior officers who attempted to quell the first outbreaks were killed by the rebels. British officers' and civilians' quarters were attacked, and four civilian men, eight women and eight children were killed. Crowds in

8400-415: The fall of Delhi, many Company administrators hastened to remove themselves, their families and servants to places of safety. At Agra, 160 miles (260 km) from Delhi, no fewer than 6,000 assorted non-combatants converged on the Fort . Lucknow Lucknow ( / ˈ l ʌ k n aʊ / ; Hindustani: [ˈləkʰnəuː] ; ISO : Lakhanaū ) is the capital and the largest city of

8520-402: The feudal nobility, rural landlords called taluqdars , and the peasants . The nobility, many of whom had lost titles and domains under the Doctrine of Lapse , which refused to recognise the adopted children of princes as legal heirs, felt that the company had interfered with a traditional system of inheritance. Rebel leaders such as Nana Sahib and the Rani of Jhansi belonged to this group;

8640-752: The first female mayor of Lucknow. Bharatiya Janata Party won 57 councillor seats, Samajwadi Party won 31 seats, independent candidates won 14 seats, and Indian National Congress won 8 seats. Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, an IAS officer, is the present municipal commissioner since 17 August 2020. The Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 gives provisions for the establishment of ward committees, but they have not been formed yet. The sources for revenue generation for Lucknow Municipal Corporation include property tax, user charges for SWM, penalties, rent from municipal properties, income from water storage, water transmission, drainage and sanitation, grants, and charges for services such as birth and death certificates. There

8760-421: The formal disbanding helped foment the rebellion in view of some historians. Disgruntled ex-sepoys returned home to Awadh with a desire for revenge. During April, there was unrest and fires at Agra , Allahabad and Ambala . At Ambala in particular, which was a large military cantonment where several units had been collected for their annual musketry practice, it was clear to General Anson, Commander-in-Chief of

8880-462: The improvements brought about by British rule. Many Indians rose against the British; however, many also fought for the British, and the majority remained seemingly compliant to British rule. Violence, which sometimes betrayed exceptional cruelty, was inflicted on both sides, on British officers, and civilians, including women and children, by the rebels, and on the rebels, and their supporters, including sometimes entire villages, by British reprisals;

9000-403: The inner zone with concrete houses while the outer zone consists of villages. Lucknow has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cwa ) with cool, dry winters from late November to February and dry, hot summers with sunshine from late March to June. More than nine-tenths of the annual rainfall occurs from July to October when the city receives an average of 827.2 millimetres (32.57 in) from

9120-504: The largest concentrations of British troops in India and this was later to be cited as evidence that the original rising was a spontaneous outbreak rather than a pre-planned plot. Although the state of unrest within the Bengal Army was well known, on 24 April Lieutenant Colonel George Carmichael-Smyth, the unsympathetic commanding officer of the 3rd Bengal Light Cavalry , which was composed mainly of Indian Muslims, ordered 90 of his men to parade and perform firing drills. All except five of

9240-430: The latter, for example, was prepared to accept East India Company supremacy if her adopted son was recognised as her late husband's heir. In other areas of central India, such as Indore and Sagar , where such loss of privilege had not occurred, the princes remained loyal to the company, even in areas where the sepoys had rebelled. The second group, the taluqdars , had lost half their landed estates to peasant farmers as

9360-560: The majority of the East India Company's troops were recruited from both the people and nobility of Awadh. The rebels seized control of the state, and it took the British 18 months to reconquer the region. During that period, the garrison based at the Residency in Lucknow was besieged by rebel forces during the Siege of Lucknow . The siege was relieved first by forces under the command of Sir Henry Havelock and Sir James Outram , followed by

9480-405: The men on parade refused to accept their cartridges. On 9 May, the remaining 85 men were court martialled , and most were sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment with hard labour. Eleven comparatively young soldiers were given five years' imprisonment. The entire garrison was paraded and watched as the condemned men were stripped of their uniforms and placed in shackles. As they were marched off to jail,

9600-589: The municipal board was established. The first Indian mayor, Syed Nabiullah , was elected in 1917 after the enforcement of the UP Municipalities Act, 1916. In 1948, the Uttar Pradesh government changed the system from an electoral one to an administrator-run one and Bhairav Datt Sanwal became the administrator. In 1959, the UP Municipalities Act, 1916 was replaced with Uttar Pradesh Municipal Corporation Act, 1959 and Lucknow Municipal Corporation

9720-547: The outbreak of the rebellion was the General Service Enlistment Act of 25 July 1856. As noted above, men of the Bengal Army had been exempted from overseas service. Specifically, they were enlisted only for service in territories to which they could march. Governor-General Lord Dalhousie saw this as an anomaly, since all sepoys of the Madras and Bombay Armies and the six "General Service" battalions of

9840-424: The palace or had been discovered hiding in the city were killed by some of the emperor's servants under a peepul tree in a courtyard outside the palace. The news of the events at Meerut and Delhi spread rapidly, provoking uprisings among sepoys and disturbances in many districts. In many cases, it was the behaviour of British military and civilian authorities themselves which precipitated disorder. Learning of

9960-402: The peasant farmers, many of whom joined the rebellion, to the great dismay of the British. It has also been suggested that heavy land-revenue assessment in some areas by the British resulted in many landowning families either losing their land or going into great debt to money lenders, and providing ultimately a reason to rebel; money lenders, in addition to the company, were particular objects of

10080-405: The presence of missionaries as a sign of official intent, were convinced that the company was masterminding mass conversions of Hindus and Muslims to Christianity. Although earlier in the 1830s, evangelicals such as William Carey and William Wilberforce had successfully clamoured for the passage of social reform, such as the abolition of sati and allowing the remarriage of Hindu widows, there

10200-412: The rebel leaders proclaimed no articles of faith that presaged a new political system . Even so, the rebellion proved to be an important watershed in Indian and British Empire history. It led to the dissolution of the East India Company, and forced the British to reorganize the army, the financial system, and the administration in India, through passage of the Government of India Act 1858 . India

10320-456: The rebellion, while others held back but also refused to obey orders to take action against the rebels. In the afternoon, a violent explosion in the city was heard for several miles. Fearing that the arsenal, which contained large stocks of arms and ammunition, would fall intact into rebel hands, the nine British Ordnance officers there had opened fire on the sepoys, including the men of their own guard. When resistance appeared hopeless, they blew up

10440-452: The rebels' animosity. The civilian rebellion was also highly uneven in its geographic distribution, even in areas of north-central India that were no longer under British control. For example, the relatively prosperous Muzaffarnagar district, a beneficiary of a Company irrigation scheme, and next door to Meerut , where the upheaval began, stayed relatively calm throughout. " Utilitarian and evangelical -inspired social reform", including

10560-515: The requirements of their religious rituals. Consequently, these soldiers dined in separate facilities; in addition, overseas service, considered polluting to their caste, was not required of them, and the army soon came officially to recognise Hindu festivals. "This encouragement of high caste ritual status, however, left the government vulnerable to protest, even mutiny, whenever the sepoys detected infringement of their prerogatives." Stokes argues that "The British scrupulously avoided interference with

10680-399: The revenues from running Awadh's armed forces brought them useful returns while the territory acted as a buffer state. The Nawabs were ceremonial kings, busy with pomp and show. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the British had grown impatient with the arrangement and demanded direct control over Awadh. In 1856, the East India Company first moved its troops to the border, then annexed

10800-587: The revolt and testimony after it including on such issues as the "insults to women", the rise of " low people ' under British tutelage", the "pollution" caused by Western medicine and the persecuting and ignoring of traditional astrological authorities. British-run schools were also a problem: according to recorded testimonies, anger had spread because of stories that mathematics was replacing religious instruction, stories were chosen that would "bring contempt" upon Indian religions, and because girl children were exposed to "moral danger" by education. The justice system

10920-794: The revolt is contested , and it is variously described as the Sepoy Mutiny , the Indian Mutiny , the Great Rebellion , the Revolt of 1857 , the Indian Insurrection , and the First War of Independence . The Indian rebellion was fed by resentments born of diverse perceptions, including invasive British-style social reforms, harsh land taxes, summary treatment of some rich landowners and princes, and scepticism about

11040-408: The sepoys as ordinary petitioners, but others in the palace were quick to join the revolt. During the day, the revolt spread. British officials and dependents, Indian Christians and shop keepers within the city were killed, some by sepoys and others by crowds of rioters. There were three battalion-sized regiments of Bengal Native Infantry stationed in or near the city. Some detachments quickly joined

11160-514: The sepoys from Bengal – many of whom had fought against the Company in the Battles of Plassey and Buxar – were now suspect in British eyes, Hastings recruited farther west from the high-caste rural Rajputs and Bhumihar of Awadh and Bihar, a practice that continued for the next 75 years. However, in order to forestall any social friction, the company also took action to adapt its military practices to

11280-487: The single exception of a soldier called Shaikh Paltu , drew back from restraining or arresting Mangal Pandey. Shaikh Paltu restrained Pandey from continuing his attack. After failing to incite his comrades into an open and active rebellion, Mangal Pandey tried to take his own life, by placing his musket to his chest and pulling the trigger with his toe. He managed only to wound himself. He was court-martialled on 6 April and hanged two days later. The Jemadar Ishwari Prasad

11400-492: The social structure of the village community which remained largely intact." After the annexation of Oudh (Awadh) by the East India Company in 1856, many sepoys were disquieted both from losing their perquisites, as landed gentry, in the Oudh courts, and from the anticipation of any increased land-revenue payments that the annexation might bring about. Other historians have stressed that by 1857, some Indian soldiers, interpreting

11520-471: The south Raebareli , while to the north lie the Sitapur and Hardoi . Lucknow city is located in a seismic zone III . Lucknow stands at an elevation of approximately 123 metres (404 ft) above sea level. The city had an area of 402 km (155 square miles) until December 2019, when 88 villages were added to the municipal limits and the area increased to 631 km (244 square miles). Bounded on

11640-500: The southwest monsoon winds, although occasionally frontal rainfall from the northeast monsoon will occur in January. In winter the maximum temperature is around 25 °C or 77 °F and the minimum is in the 3 to 7 °C (37.4 to 44.6 °F) range. Fog is quite common from mid-December to late January. Occasionally, Lucknow experiences colder winter spells than places like Shimla and Mussoorie , which are situated high up in

11760-400: The state and 200 dispatch officers to rush for police help. It is billed as the India's most hi-tech police control room. Lucknow is also the center for 1090 Women Power line , a call center based service directed at dealing with eve-teasing. An Integrated 'Dial 112' Control Room building is also there which is having the world's biggest modern Police Emergency Response System (PERS). There

11880-512: The state for alleged maladministration. Awadh was placed under a chief commissioner – Sir Henry Lawrence . Wajid Ali Shah , the then Nawab, was imprisoned, then exiled by the East India Company to Calcutta . In the subsequent Indian Rebellion of 1857 , his 14-year-old son Birjis Qadra , whose mother was Begum Hazrat Mahal , was crowned ruler. Following the rebellion's defeat, Begum Hazrat Mahal and other rebel leaders sought asylum in Nepal . It

12000-646: The state of Uttar Pradesh, despite being the capital. Cities like Noida , Ghaziabad and Meerut have dominated in terms of industrial growth and attracting IT jobs and opportunities. Noida ranks highest, followed by Meerut in per capita income in the state. Multiple software and IT companies are present in the city. Tata Consultancy Services , HCL Technologies are present in the city. IT companies are located in Gomtinagar . While it still lags behind cities like Noida , Greater Noida and Meerut in IT hubs. The city

12120-413: The state. "Lucknow" is the anglicised spelling of the local pronunciation "Lakhnau". According to one legend, the city is named after Lakshmana , a hero of the Hindu epic Ramayana . The legend states that Lakshmana had a palace or an estate in the area, which was called Lakshmanapuri ( Sanskrit : लक्ष्मणपुरी, lit. Lakshmana's city ). The settlement came to be known as Lakhanpur (or Lachhmanpur) by

12240-475: The state. They were, however, disinclined to capture Awadh outright and come face to face with the Maratha Empire and the remnants of the Mughal Empire. In 1798, the fifth Nawab Wazir Ali Khan alienated both his people and the British and was forced to abdicate. The British then helped Saadat Ali Khan take the throne. He became a puppet king , and in a treaty of 1801, yielded large part of Awadh to

12360-555: The three "Presidencies" into which the East India Company divided India for administrative purposes maintained their own armies. Of these, the Army of the Bengal Presidency was the largest. Unlike the other two, it recruited heavily from among high-caste Hindus and comparatively wealthy Muslims. The Muslims formed a larger percentage of the 18 irregular cavalry units within the Bengal Army, whilst Hindus were mainly to be found in

12480-602: The two focus areas to promote economic development in and around the city. The Ministry of Science and Technology is setting up a biotech park in the city. Lucknow is also one of the selected cities for the Smart City project of STPI . The city is being developed on the lines of Delhi 's National Capital Region and will be the headquarters of the Uttar Pradesh State Capital Region or Lucknow State Capital Region. It will be developed as

12600-540: The world. The Gomti River , Lucknow's chief geographical feature, meanders through the city and divides it into the Trans-Gomti and Cis-Gomti regions. Situated in the middle of the Indus-Gangetic Plain , the city is surrounded by rural towns and villages: the orchard town of Malihabad , Kakori , Mohanlalganj, Gosainganj , Chinhat and Itaunja . To the east lies Barabanki , to the west Unnao , to

12720-500: Was a major uprising in India and modern day Pakistan in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company , which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown . The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form of a mutiny of sepoys of the company's army in the garrison town of Meerut , 40 miles (64 km) northeast of Delhi. It then erupted into other mutinies and civilian rebellions chiefly in

12840-467: Was a province of the Mughal Empire administered by a governor appointed by the emperor. Persian adventurer Saadat Khan , also known as Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed Nizam of Awadh in 1722 and established his court in Faizabad , near Lucknow. Many independent kingdoms, such as Awadh, were established as the Mughal Empire disintegrated . The third Nawab, Shuja-ud-Daula (r. 1753–1775), fell out with

12960-409: Was also made to the drill for loading so that the cartridge was torn with the hands and not bitten. This, however, merely caused many sepoys to be convinced that the rumours were true and that their fears were justified. Additional rumours started that the paper in the new cartridges, which was glazed and stiffer than the previously used paper, was impregnated with grease. In February, a court of inquiry

13080-486: Was captured without resistance. Many fugitive British officers and civilians had congregated at the Flagstaff Tower on the ridge north of Delhi, where telegraph operators were sending news of the events to other British stations. When it became clear that the help expected from Meerut was not coming, they made their way in carriages to Karnal . Those who became separated from the main body or who could not reach

13200-530: Was considered to be inherently unfair to the Indians. The official Blue Books, East India (Torture) 1855–1857 , laid before the House of Commons during the sessions of 1856 and 1857, revealed that Company officers were allowed an extended series of appeals if convicted or accused of brutality or crimes against Indians. The economic policies of the East India Company were also resented by many Indians. Each of

13320-495: Was dropped with the formation of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh , although Oudh still retained some marks of its former independence. The Khilafat Movement had an active base of support in Lucknow, creating united opposition to British rule. In 1901, after remaining the capital of Oudh since 1775, Lucknow, with a population of 264,049, was merged into the newly formed United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. In 1920,

13440-443: Was established in 1960 with Raj Kumar Shrivastava becoming the mayor. The head of the corporation is the mayor, but the executive and administration of the corporation are the responsibility of the municipal commissioner, who is an Uttar Pradesh government -appointed Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of high seniority. The last municipal election took place in 2017 when Sanyukta Bhatia from Bharatiya Janata Party became

13560-427: Was held at Barrackpore to get to the bottom of these rumours. Native soldiers called as witnesses complained of the paper "being stiff and like cloth in the mode of tearing", said that when the paper was burned it smelled of grease, and announced that the suspicion that the paper itself contained grease could not be removed from their minds. Civilian rebellion was more multifarious. The rebels consisted of three groups:

13680-536: Was provided by the ammunition for the new Enfield Pattern 1853 rifled musket . These rifles, which fired Minié balls , had a tighter fit than the earlier muskets, and used paper cartridges that came pre-greased. To load the rifle, sepoys had to bite the cartridge open to release the powder. The grease used on these cartridges was rumoured to include tallow derived from beef, which would be offensive to Hindus, and lard derived from pork, which would be offensive to Muslims. At least one Company official pointed out

13800-488: Was relatively low and after Oudh and the Punjab were annexed, the soldiers no longer received extra pay ( batta or bhatta ) for service there, because they were no longer considered "foreign missions". The junior British officers became increasingly estranged from their soldiers, in many cases treating them as their racial inferiors. In 1856, a new Enlistment Act was introduced by the company, which in theory made every unit in

13920-661: Was retaken by mid-July 1857, and Delhi by the end of September. However, it then took the remainder of 1857 and the better part of 1858 for the rebellion to be suppressed in Jhansi, Lucknow, and especially the Awadh countryside. Other regions of Company-controlled India— Bengal province, the Bombay Presidency , and the Madras Presidency —remained largely calm. In the Punjab , the Sikh princes crucially helped

14040-441: Was sentenced to death and hanged on 21 April. The regiment was disbanded and stripped of its uniforms because it was felt that it harboured ill-feelings towards its superiors, particularly after this incident. Shaikh Paltu was promoted to the rank of havildar in the Bengal Army but was murdered shortly before the 34th BNI dispersed. Sepoys in other regiments thought these punishments were harsh. The demonstration of disgrace during

14160-503: Was signed and moderates and extremists came together through the efforts of Annie Besant during this session only). The Congress President for that session, Ambica Charan Majumdar in his address said that "If the Congress was buried at Surat, it is reborn in Lucknow in the garden of Wajid Ali Shah." The Kakori conspiracy involving Ram Prasad Bismil , Ashfaq Ullah Khan , Rajendra Nath Lahiri , Roshan Singh and others, followed by

14280-498: Was the ancient capital and present seat of the nominal Mughal Emperor and finally there were no British troops in garrison there in contrast to Meerut. No effort was made to pursue them. Early on 11 May, the first parties of the 3rd Cavalry reached Delhi. From beneath the windows of the Emperor 's apartments in the palace, they called on Bahadur Shah II to acknowledge and lead them. He did nothing at this point, apparently treating

14400-410: Was thereafter administered directly by the British government in the new British Raj . On 1 November 1858, Queen Victoria issued a proclamation to Indians, which while lacking the authority of a constitutional provision, promised rights similar to those of other British subjects. In the following decades, when admission to these rights was not always forthcoming, Indians were to pointedly refer to

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