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About Lucknow:
Lucknow city is
capital of Uttar Pradesh and lies on the Gomati River, at
the junction of numerous roads and rail lines. Lucknow's
industries include food processing, manufacturing and
handicrafts. The `chiken' and `jardozi' (embrodery) works
of Lucknow are famous. Lucknow became important in 1528,
when it was captured by Babur, the first Mughal ruler of
India. Under Akbar, his grandson, the city became part of
Oudh province. Asaf-ud-Dawlah, who became nawab of Oudh
in 1775, transferred his capital from Faizabad to Lucknow.
When the Indian Mutiny broke out in 1857, Sir Henry
Lawrence, the British commissioner, and the European
inhabitants of Lucknow were besieged for several months
until rescued by British troops. The British then
abandoned the city until the following year, when they
regained control over India. Lucknow contains notable
examples of architecture. The Bara Imambara (1784) is a
single-storied structure where Shia Muslim sect assembles
during the month of Muharram. The Rumi Darwaza was
modeled (1784) after the Sublime Porte (Bab-i-Humayun) in
Istanbul. The best-preserved monument is the Residency (1800),
the scene of the defense by British troops during the
1857 Mutiny. A memorial commemorating the Indians who
died during the uprising was erected in 1957. Among
Lucknow's educational institutions are the University of
Lucknow (1921), the Bhatkhande College of Hindustani
Music, Nadwa, an institute of Muslim theology, the
Central Drug Research Institute (1951), an arts and
crafts college, and a state museum. The city also has a
botanical and a national zoological garden.
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