Lucknow district

Lucknow district is a district located in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The city of Lucknow is the district headquarters and the district is part of Lucknow Division. It also is the capital of Uttar Pradesh Lucknow is Bounded on the east by Barabanki district, on the west by Unnao and Hardoi districts, on the south by Raebareli district and in the north by Sitapur district.

History

Located in what was historically known as the Awadh region, Lucknow has always been a multicultural place.

The Lucknow district that exists today was created by the British in 1856, upon their annexation of Oudh State. Under the Nawabs of Oudh, the area administered from Lucknow had been rather small, consisting of only the parganas immediately surrounding the city. This was known as the Huzur tehsil. The rest of the area had been part of other divisions whose headquarters lay outside the borders of the present-day district.

From 1856 until 1872, the new Lucknow district consisted of 10 parganas in 4 tehsils: Lucknow tehsil contained the 3 parganas of Lucknow, Bijnaur, and Kakori; Kursi tehsil contained the 3 parganas of Kursi, Dewa, and Mahona; Mohanlalganj tehsil contained the 2 parganas of Mohanlalganj and Nigohan; and Malihabad tehsil consisted of the 2 parganas of Malihabad and Auras- Mohan. In 1872, the first regular settlement conducted by the British was completed, and three parganas were transferred out of Lucknow district: Dewa and Kursi, the two easternmost parganas, were transferred to Barabanki district, while Auras-Mohan in the west was transferred to Unnao district. At the same time, the tehsils of Malihabad and Mahona were merged into a single entity.

Geography and climate

Lucknow district covers an area of 2,528 square kilometers, centrally located in both the central Ganges plain as well as Uttar Pradesh as a whole. It consists of three geographical sub-regions: the Gomti basin, the Lucknow-Uparwar plain, and the upper Sai catchments. The landscape is very flat, with virtually no hills. There is a gradual slope from northwest to southeast, following the course of the rivers. Geologically, it is made of light alluvium and dun gravels of relatively recent age. Scattered throughout the district are the nodular limestone deposits called kankar, which appear in beds of varying thickness located 2–5 feet below the surface.

The area was once lightly wooded, but by the turn of the 20th century most of this had been cut down. Large dhak forests covered parts of the old parganas of Malihabad, Mahona, and Mohanlalganj until the late 1800s, when they were cleared to make space for farms. By the early 1900s, the only large area of dhak forest that remained was in the northeastern corner of Mahona pargana. In 2008-09, it was recorded that 13,082 hectares of Lucknow district were under forest cover, representing 5.19% of the total land area. Of note is the Kukrail forest reserve, on the outskirts of the Lucknow metro area.

The main rivers of Lucknow district are the Gomti and the Sai. The Gomti enters the district at the meeting of the borders with Hardoi and Sitapur districts, and then winds its way through Lucknow district. The riverbed of the Gomti is significantly lower than the surrounding area, limiting its use for irrigation. In many places, the high banks of the Gomti are scarred with ravines, where rainfall has gradually eroded away the earth that used to be there. The main tributary of the Gomti is the Behta, a perennial stream which originates in Hardoi district and joins the Gomti near the village of Kankarabad. The other tributaries include the Loni and the nalas of Jhingi and Akraddi, as well as the Kukrail on the left bank. The Sai enters Lucknow district at the village of Sulsa Mau and flows toward the southeast, forming the border with Unnao district until it turns south at the village of Agahiya. The Sai's banks are shallower and less eroded than those of the Gomti. The main tributary of the Sai is the Bakh, which originates as a chain of jhils in a depression near Bijnaur