View source for United Provinces of Agra and Oudh

{{short description|Province in British India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
{{Infobox Former Subdivision
|native_name = 
|conventional_long_name = United Provinces of Agra and Oudh 
|common_name = United Provinces
|subdivision = [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|Province]]
|nation =  [[British Raj|British India]]
|image_map = Map of the United Provinces from The Imperial Gazetteer of India (1907-1909).jpg
|image_map_caption = Map of the United Provinces, {{Circa|1909}}
|capital = [[Allahabad]]             |summer Capital = [[Nainital]]
|stat_area1= 
|stat_pop1 = 
|stat_year1=
|p1 = North-Western Provinces
|s1 = United Provinces (1937–1950)
|image_flag = Blue Ensign of British United Provinces.svg
|flag_type = Flag
|image_coat = Badge of British United Provinces.svg
|year_start = 1902
|event_start = 
|year_end = 1937
|event1 = =  
|date_event1 = 
|event2 = 
|date_event2 = 
|today = [[India]]
}}

The '''United Provinces of Agra and Oudh''' was a [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|province]] of India under the [[British Raj]], which existed from 22 March 1902 to 1937; the official name was shortened by the [[Government of India Act 1935]] to '''United Provinces''' ('''UP'''), by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of independent [[India]] until 1950.<ref name=paxton-statesmanyb-historical>{{citation|last=Paxton|first=John|title=The Statesman's Year-Book Historical Companion|chapter=Uttar Pradesh|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=138&ndash;139|year=1988|isbn=978-1-349-19448-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tu-uCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA139|quote=In 1902 the name 'United Provinces of Agra and Oudh' came into use, shorted to 'United Provinces' in 1935.  After independence the territory was enlarged by the addition of the small [[princely state|states]] of Rampur, Banaras and Tehri-Garhwal.  In 1950 the Provinces became the state of Uttar Pradesh.}}</ref>

It corresponded approximately to the present-day Indian [[states and territories of India|states]] of [[Uttar Pradesh]] (UP) and [[Uttarakhand]]. [[Allahabad]] served as the administrative headquarters and the capital of the province. Two years after the annexation of [[Oudh State]] in 1856, ''i.e.'' after 1858 and until 1902, the region had existed as [[North-Western Provinces and Oudh]], Oudh being a Chief Commissionership.

[[Lucknow]] became its capital some time after 1921. [[Nainital]] was the summer capital of the [[province]].{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==History==
{{main|Ceded and Conquered Provinces|Agra Province|North-Western Provinces|Awadh}}
By the 18th century, the once vast [[Mughal Empire]] was collapsing, undone by internal dissension and by expansion of the [[Maratha Empire|Marathas]] from the Deccan, the [[Company rule in India|British]] from [[Bengal Presidency|Bengal]], and the [[Durrani|Afghans]] from [[Durrani Empire|Afghanistan]]. By the middle of the century, present-day Uttar Pradesh was divided between several states: [[Oudh State|Oudh]] in the centre and east, ruled by a [[Nawab]] who owed allegiance to the Mughal Emperor but was ''de facto'' independent; [[Rohilkhand]] in the north, ruled by Afghans; the Marathas, who controlled the [[Bundelkhand]] region in the south, and the Mughal Empire, which controlled the entire [[Doab]] (the tongue of land between the [[Ganges]] and [[Yamuna]] rivers) as well as the [[Delhi]] region.

In 1765, the combined forces of Awadh and the Mughal Emperor met the British at the [[Battle of Buxar]]. The British won, but they did not take any territory; the whole of Awadh was restored to the Nawab, and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam was restored the [[subah (province)|subah]]s of [[Allahabad]] and Kora in the lower Doab, with a British garrison in the fort of Allahabad. Governor-General [[Warren Hastings]] later augmented the territory of Awadh by lending the nawab a British army to conquer [[Rohilkhand]] in the [[Rohilla War]], and by giving Allahabad and Kora to Awadh on the ground that Shah Alam had placed himself in the power of the Marathas. At the same time the British received the province of [[Benares]] from Awadh.

Subsequently, no great change took place until the arrival of [[Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley|Lord Wellesley]] ([[Governor-General of India|Governor-General]] 1797–1805) who acquired a very large accession of territory in two instalments. In 1801 he obtained from the [[Nawab of Oudh]] the cession of Rohilkhand, the lower Doab, and the [[Gorakhpur division]], thus enclosing Awadh on all sides except the north. In 1804, as the result of [[Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake|Lord Lake]]'s victories in the [[Second Anglo-Maratha War]], part of Bundelkhand and the rest of the Doab, including [[Agra]] and the guardianship of the old and blind emperor, Shah Alam, at Delhi, were obtained from [[Scindia]]. In 1815 the [[Kumaon division]] was acquired after the [[Gurkha War]], and a further portion of Bundelkhand from the Maratha [[Peshwa]] in 1817. These new acquisitions, known as the ceded and conquered provinces, continued to be administered by the governor-general as part of [[Bengal]]. In 1833 an act of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] was passed to constitute a new presidency (province), with its capital at Agra. But this scheme was never fully carried out, and in 1835 another statute authorised the appointment of a lieutenant-governor for the North-Western Provinces, as they were then known.

The North-Western Provinces included the Delhi and [[Gurgaon]] territories, transferred later, after the [[Revolt of 1857]] to the [[Punjab region|Punjab]]; and also (after 1853) the [[Saugor and Nerbudda Territories]], which in 1861 became part of the [[Central Provinces]]. Awadh remained under its nawab, who was permitted to assume the title of king in 1819. Awadh was annexed in 1856 and constituted a separate chief commissionership. Then followed the [[Revolt of 1857]], when all signs of British rule were for a time swept away throughout the greater part of the two provinces. The lieutenant-governor died when shut up in the fort at Agra, and Oudh was reconquered only after several campaigns lasting for eighteen months.

In 1877 the offices of Lieutenant-Governor of the North-Western Provinces and Chief Commissioner of Oudh were combined in the same person; the formula was common in British imperial administration, and was known as 'double-hatting'. In 1902, when the new name of United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was introduced, the title of chief commissioner was dropped, though Oudh still retained some marks of its former independence. On 1 April 1937, the official name of the province was shortened to the United Provinces (UP).<ref name=paxton-statesmanyb-historical/>

The United Provinces became a province of the newly independent [[India]] in 1947.  After the [[political integration of India]], and upon the coming into force of the new [[Constitution of India]] on 26 January 1950, three former [[princely states]], [[Rampur State|Rampur]], [[Benares State|Benares]], and [[Tehri Garhwal State|Tehri Garhwal]], were added to it, and it was renamed [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name=paxton-statesmanyb-historical/>

==Geography==
The provinces were bounded on the north by Tibet, and on the north-east by [[Nepal]]; on the east and south-east by the Champaran, Saran, Shahabad, and Palamau
Districts of Bengal; on the south by two of the Chota Nagpur States in the Central Provinces, Rewah and some small States in the Central India kanpur technical augor District in the Central Provinces; on the west by the States of Gwalior, Dholpur, and Bharatpur, the Districts of Gurgaon, Delhi, Karnal, and Ambala in the Punjab, and the Punjab States of Sirmur and Jubbal. The Jumna river formed part of the western boundary, the Ganges part of the southern, and the Gandak part of the eastern; other boundaries are artificial. According to the District surveys the areas of the two Provinces are, in square miles: Agra, 83,198; [[Oudh]], 23,966; total, 107,164.9044
Including some river-beds which form District boundaries and are excluded from the District details, 041 the total area amounts to {{convert|107494|sqmi|km2}}. The area of the two Native States in the Provinces (Rampur and Tehri) is {{convert|5079|sqmi|km2}} more.

A Presidency of Agra was first formed in 1834, and the area had until then separated had been included in the Presidency of Bengal, sometimes called the Western Provinces. The United Provinces included four distinct tracts of country namely, portions of the Himalayas, the sub-Himalayan tracts, the great Gangetic plain, and portions of the hill systems of Central India.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V24_139.gif|title=Imperial Gazetteer2 of India, Volume 24, page 133 -- Imperial Gazetteer of India -- Digital South Asia Library|website=dsal.uchicago.edu|access-date=21 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304223023/http://dsal.uchicago.edu/reference/gazetteer/pager.html?objectid=DS405.1.I34_V24_139.gif|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Administrative divisions==
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh included 9 [[divisions of British India|divisions]] with 48 districts.
{{div col|colwidth=22em}}
* [[Meerut division]]
** [[Meerut district]]
** [[Dehra Dun district]]
** [[Saharanpur district]]
** [[Muzaffarnagar district]]
** [[Bulandshahr district]]
** [[Aligarh district]]
* [[Agra division]]
** [[Muttra district]] (Mathura)
** [[Agra district]]
** [[Farrukhabad district]]
** [[Mainpuri district]]
** [[Etawah district]]
** [[Etah district]]
* [[Rohilkhand division]]
** [[Bijnaur district]] (Bijnor)
** [[Moradabad district]]
** [[Budaun district]]
** [[Bareilly district]]
** [[Shahjahanpur district]]
** [[Pilibhit district]]
* [[Allahabad division]] 
** [[Kanpur Nagar district|Cawnpore district]] (Kanpur) 
** [[Fatehpur district]]
** [[Banda district (India)|Banda district]]
** [[Allahabad division]]
** [[Hamirpur district, Uttar Pradesh|Hamirpur district]]
** [[Jhansi district]]
* [[Benares division]]
** [[Mirzapur district]]
** [[Benares district]]
** [[Jaunpur district]]
** [[Ghazipur district]]
** [[Ballia district]]
* [[Gorakhpur division]]
** [[Azamgarh district]]
** [[Gorakhpur district]]
** [[Basti district]]
* [[Kumaun division]]
** [[Almora district]]
** [[Naini Tal district]]
** [[Garhwal district]]
* [[Lucknow division]]
** [[Lucknow district]]
** [[Unao district]] (Unnao)
** [[Rae Bareli district]]
** [[Hardoi district]]
** [[Sitapur district]]
** [[Kheri district]]
* [[Faizabad division]]
** [[Faizabad district]]
** [[Bahraich district]]
** [[Gonda district]]
** [[Sultanpur district]] 
** [[Bara Banki district]]
** [[Pratapgarh district, Uttar Pradesh|Partabgarh district]]
{{div col end}}

===Princely states===
*[[Rampur State]] 
*[[Garhwal Kingdom|Tehri-Garhwal State]]
*[[Benares State]]

==Dyarchy (1920–37)==
The [[Government of India Act 1919]] expanded the United Provinces Legislative Council to 123 seats, including more elected Indian members. The reforms also introduced the principle of [[diarchy]], whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governor's Executive Council. Some of the prominent members and ministers in the United Provinces were [[Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan]] (Home Member), [[C. Y. Chintamani]] (Minister of Education and Industries) and [[Jagat Narain Mulla]] (Minister of Local & Self Government).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Jafri|first1=Saiyid Zaheer Husain|title=Transformations in Indian History|year=2009|publisher=Anamika Publishers and Distributors|page=447|isbn=9788179752616|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2c9312fKPqgC}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Governors of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=United Provinces of Agra and Oudh |volume=27 |pages=609–612 |short=x}}
*{{Cite Collier's |wstitle=United Provinces of Agra and Oudh |short=x}}

{{Presidencies and provinces of British India}}
{{Agra Division topics}}
{{Agra district}}
{{Lucknow division topics}}

{{coord|25.45|N|81.85|E|region:IN_type:landmark_source:kolossus-svwiki|display=title}}

{{Uttarakhand}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:United Provinces Of Agra And Oudh}}
[[Category:1902 establishments in British India]]
[[Category:1937 disestablishments in British India]]
[[Category:Subdivisions of British India]]
[[Category:Provinces of British India]]
[[Category:British administration in Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:History of Agra]]
[[Category:History of Lucknow]]