Awadh

Kingdom of Awadh
अवध की साम्राज्य
Avadh kē Sāmrājy

Horizontal Flag Vertical Flag
Motto	? ?
Cities
Capital	Faizabad 26°46'22.8"N 82°8'45.6"E
Other Cities	Ayodhya Lucknow
Government	Parliamentary constitutional monarchy
Legislature	Lok Sabha (House of the People)
Head of State	Shah Yusuf Ali
Head of Government	?
Demonym	Awadhi
Formation
Foundation	1722
League of Nations	1985
Constitution	1981
Area	95,533 km² 36,885 mi²
Population	? (20?)
Ethnicities - Citizens	? ?% ? ?% ? ?% ? <?%
Languages
Official	Awadhi Hindi
Other
Religions
Official	Shi'a Islam
Others	Hinduism
Currency	1 rupee (R) = 20 annas (a) = 240 paise (p)
Time zone	UTC +5 DST is not observed.
ISO Code	AWA
International License Plate Code	AV
Telephone Code	450
Organizations	?
Sports
Official	?
Other	? ? ? ? ?

History

• Texts in bold print are PoD's.
• Awadh's political unity can be traced back to the ancient Hindu kingdom of Kosala, with Ayodhya as its capital.
• Awadh was known as the granary of India and was important strategically for the control of the Doab, the fertile plain between the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers. Because of this, it became a wealthy kingdom, able to maintain its independence against threats from the Marathas, and the Afghans.
• In 1555 Emperor Humayun made it a part of the Mughal Empire.
• In 1674, Xivazi was crowned raja of a vassal state based in Raigad under Moghul suzerainty. This was the beginning of the Bharati Samraj.
• Until 1719, the province of Awadh was a province of the Moghul National Realm, administered by a nawab appointed by the emperor. In the absence of expeditious transport and communication facilities, the nawabs were practically independent rulers of their territories and wielded the power of life and death over their subjects.
• In 1722 the Persian adventurer Sa'adat Khan was appointed the Nawab of Awadh, establishing his court in Faizabad. He was from a Shia Muslim dynasty of Nishapur who not only encouraged the existing Persian-language belle-lettrist activity to shift from Delhi, but also invited, and received, a steady stream of scholars, poets, jurists, architects, and painters from Iran. Thus Persian was used in government, in academic instruction, in high culture, and in court.
• As the Mughal power declined and the emperors lost their paramountcy, becoming first the puppets and then the prisoners of their feudatories, so Awadh grew stronger and more independent. Its capital city was Faizabad.
• In 1722, taking advantage of the declining power of the Moghul Empire, Awadh gained its independence.

Nawabs of Awadh (1722–)

• Text in bold print indicates POD.

Name	Succeeds	Birth- Death	Reign	Notes
1) Sa'adat Ali Khan I	First Nawab of Awadh	c.1680- 3/19/1739	1722- 3/19/1739	In 1705 he accompanies Emperor Aurangzeb in his final campaign against the Marathas in the Deccan. The emperor awards him the title of "khan". Lays the foundation of Faizabad at the outskirts of the ancient city of Ayodhya. He had no male issue.
2) Safdar Jang	Father-in-law and maternal uncle	c.1708- 10/5/1754	3/19/1739- 10/5/1754	An influential noble at the Mughal court in Delhi. Of the Black Sheep Turkomans. Married daughter of Sa'adat Ali Khan. Faizabad develops as a township; Safdar Jang makes it his military headquarters.
3) Shuja-ud-Daula	Father	1732- 1/26/1775	10/5/1754– 1/26/1775	Makes Faizabad a full-fledged capital city. During his reign Faizabad attained a prosperity that it never saw again. Coins were struck under the nawab's control for the first time in 1737, at a new mint opened in Varanasi, although the coins named the Mughal emperor, not the nawab.
4) Asaf-Ud-Daula	Father	1748– 9/21/1797	1/26/1775- 9/21/1797
5) Wazir Ali Khan	Stepfather	1780- 1/21/1798	9/21/1797- 1/21/1798	Killed in a hunting accident.
6) Sa'adat Ali Khan II	Half-nephew	1752- 7/11/1814	1/21/1798- 7/11/1814
7) Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah		1769- 10/19/1827	7/11/1814- 10/19/1827	First king of Awadh. In 1819 Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar strikes coins in his own name, the coins started to feature the kingdom's European style coat of arms.
8) Nasir-ud-din Haidar Shah		1803- 7/7/1837	10/19/1827- 7/7/1837	3rd son of Sa'adat Ali Khan II
9) Muhammad Ali Shah	Father	1777- 5/7/1842	7/7/1837- 5/7/1842
10) Amjad Ali Shah	Father	1801- 2/13/1847	5/7/1842- 2/13/1847
11) Wajid Ali Shah	Father	1822- 9/21/1887	2/13/1847- 9/21/1887
12) Birjis Qadr Shah	Father	1845- 8/14/1893	9/21/1887- 8/14/1893
13) Meher Quder Shah	Father	8/14/1893- 3/12/1961	9/21/1887- 8/14/1893
14) Anjum Quder Shah	Father	9/7/1922- 7/23/1997	3/12/1961- 7/23/1997	Promulgates the Constitution on 5/11/1981 Awadh joins the League of Nations.
15) Yusuf Ali Shah	Father	7/8/1952-	7/23/1997-	Son and heir apparent, Wajid Ali Mirza, b. 3/5/1984.

Toponomy

• The word Awadh is derived from the name of the city Ayodhya. This, in turn, is a regularly formed derivation of the Sanskrit verb 'yudh, 'to fight, to wage war'. Yodhya is the future passive participle, meaning "to be fought".
• The initial a is the negative prefix; the whole therefore meaning "not to be fought" or, more idiomatically in English, "invincible".
• This meaning is attested by the Atharvaveda, which uses it to refer to the unconquerable city of gods. The ninth century Jain poem Adi Purana also states that Ayodhya "does not exist by name alone but by the merit" of being unconquerable by enemies.

Government

Provinces

• With the exception of Devipatan, the capital of which is Gonda, the names of the capital cities are the same as the province names.

Province Prānt	Area	Population	Prefecture Jila	Notes
Lucknow (L)	17,212 km² 6,650 mi²		Pilibhit (LP) Shahjahanpur (LJ) Lakhimpur (LL) Sitapur (LS) Raebareli (LR)
Devipatan (D)	13,198 km² 5,092 mi²		Bahraich (DB) Sravasti (DS) Balrampur (DR) Gonda (DG)
Basti (B)	10,771 km² 5,269 mi²		Siddharth Nagar (BS) Basti (BB) Sant Kabir Nagar (BK)
Gorakhpur (G)	13,827 km² 5,339 mi²		Gorakhpur (GG) Maharajgan (GM) Kushinagar (GK) Deoria (GD)
Faizabad (F)	8,127 km² 3,908 mi²		Ambedkar Nagar (FA) Praptagarh (FP) Jaunpur (FJ) Barabanki (FB)
Azamgarh (A)	10,286 km² 3,971 mi²		Azamgarh (AA) Maunath Bhanjar (AM) Ballia (AB) Ghazipur (AG)

• Thus, the total area of the kingdom is 95,533 km² (36,885 mi²), slightly larger than *here's* Sierra Leone or slightly smaller than the American state of South Carolina.
• The Kingdom of Awadh is contiguous to the northeast corner of *here's* Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Borders

• Awadh is bordered on the
  • North by Nepal
  • East by Bengal, the Mahananda River
  • South by Samraj, the Ganges River
  • West by Samraj, the Ganges River

Culture

Public holidays

• Because the Islamic and Hindu calendars are lunar calendars, the months advance 11 days each year. When a religious festival falls on a civil legal holiday, the latter is transferred to the following Monday.
• The standard work week in Awadh begins on Monday and ends on Saturday. The work schedule is 48 hours per week, Sunday being a rest day.
• Fixed holidays which fall on a Sunday are transferred to the following Monday.

Date	Name	Notes
1 January	Civil New Year
1 February	Independence Day	Commemorates Independence from the Moghul National Realm in 1722.
15 March 2018	Gudi Padwa	Commemorates the crowning of Rama in Ayodhya after his victory over Ravana.
2 April	Coronation Day	Commemorates the coronation of Shah Anjum Quder.
11 May	Constitution Day	Commemorates the proclamation of the constitution in 1981.
15 June 2018 (1 Shawwāl)	Eid al-Fitr	Marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.
8 July	Shah Anjum Quder's birthday
22 August 2018 (10-13 Dhū al-Ḥijjah)	Eid al-Adha|	Honors the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son as an act of submission to God's command. Only the 13th is a legal holiday.
1st Monday in September, but see above	Election Day	In the even-numbered years; local and federal alternating, e.g., local in 2010, federal in 2012.
11 September 2018 (1 Muḥarram)	Islamic New Year	Spring festival of thanksgiving.
7 November 2018	Diwali	This festival of light celebrates the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.
13 November 2018	Chhath	Celebration to thank Surya, the sun god, for the bounties of life on earth and to request the granting of certain wishes.
25 November 2018 (17 Rabī‘ al-awwal)	Mawlid	The observance of the birthday of Muhammad.

Infrastructure

Roads

• Most of the roads in the Kingdom are paved with either cement or asphalt.
• There are four intranational highways:
  • I-11 connects Lucknow through Barabanki, Faizabad, Ayodhya, Basti, Khalilabad, and Sant Kabir Nagad to Gorakhpur. There is an extension through Kushinagar to Gopalganj in Bengal.
  • I-13 connects Lucknow through Sultanpur and Azamgarh to Mau.
  • I-12 connects Gorakhpur through Bhanjan and Mau to Gazipur. There is an extension north to Darjeeling in Sikkim, and a connection south to Saidpur.
• Bridges cross the rivers at key points. There are international bridges across the Gomti River at Lucknow, across the Little Gandak River between Gazipur and Gopalganj in Bengall, and across the Ganges River at Saidpur between Gazipur and Varanasi.

License plates

• Vehicle registration plates are issued by the national government. The registration numbers are composed of two letters and four digits embossed in blue on a background of green with a blue border on top and bottom. They measure six inches by twelve inches.
• अवध is printed along the top of the plate, Awadh along the bottom.
• There is a two-letter prefix. The first letter represent the province where the vehicle is garaged:

L - Lucknow

D - Devipatan

B - Basti

G - Gorakhpur

F - Faisabad

A - Azamgarh

• The second letter designates the vehicle's use.

N (nijī, निजी) – privately owned

R (sarakār, सरकार) – government owned (the numbers R1-R50 are reserved for the royal family; R101-R300 for the members of the legislature)

K (kampanī, कंपनी) – company owned, including taxi cabs.

P (pulis, पुलिस) – police

S (sainy, सैन्य) – military

• The plates shall be issued in sequential order from 0001 to 9999. When 9999 is reached, an alphanumeric designation shall be used: A001 to A999, B001 to B999, etc.
• License plates for vehicles belonging to the diplomatic corps shall use three letters and three digits. The letters are those of the nation's three-letter country code. The numbers shall run from 001 to 999. Cars bearing these plates have diplomatic immunity.
• A yellow sticker with red digits gives the expiration date of the plate, the number of the month in the lower left corner, the year in the lower right corner.
• If the vehicle is sold, inherited or totally destroyed, the plates are returned to the Motar Vāhan Vibhāg (Department of Motor Vehicles). A new owner must re-register the vehicle.
• These plates are to be placed on both the front and the back of the vehicle, with the exception of bicycles, motorcycles, and animal-drawn conveyances where they are placed only on the back.

Railroads

• There are railroad lines linking all the cities and towns of Awadh. They carry passengers, freight and mail.
• The rails are a wide gauge: 5'6". The trams use standard gauge: 4'8½".
• A highspeed dedicated line links Lucknow and Faizabad.
• With plenty of hydroelectric power from the rivers, all the trains are electrified using overhead wires.
• The major cities provide public transportation with electric trams.

Boat travel

• There is water transportation on the navigable rivers (Ganges, Gomti, Little Gandak, Sharda, Bahraich, Rapti, Ghagra) that carries passengers, freight and livestock. Boats are not permitted to carry mail.
• By international agreement boat traffic on the rivers that are international boundaries (Little Gandak, Ganges, Gomti) may travel on any part of the river, but may not dock in the other state.

Air travel

• Airship transportation is provided by the Royal Air Service (Shāhī Havaī Seva - SHS)
• Air travel is limited. There are only two aerodromes, one in Faizabad and one in Lucknow. Both have scheduled flights to Varanasi. From Faizabad there are flights to Darjeeling. From Lucknow there are flights to Kathmandu.

Electricity

• 94.5% of homes and businesses have electricity.

Telephone

• The telephone companies are privately owned, but they must assign telephone numbers according to the government's system.
• The international calling code for Awadh is 450.
• Each province and its prefectures have two-digit area codes assigned by the government.

Lucknow - 10

Pilibhit - 11

Shahjahanpur - 12

Lakihimpur - 13

Sitapur - 14

Raebareli - 15

Devipatan - 20

Bahraich - 21

Sravasti - 22

Balrampur - 23

Gonda - 24

Basti - 30

Sidharth Nagar - 31

Basti - 32

Sant Kabir Nagar - 33

Gorakhpur - 40

Gorakhpur - 41

Maharajgan - 42

Kushinagar

Deoria - 43

Faizabad - 50

Ambedkar Nagar - 51

Praptagarh - 52

Jaunpur - 53

Barabanki - 54

Azamgarh - 60

Azamgarh- 61

Mau - 62

Ballia - 63

Ghazipur - 64

• The local subscriber has a seven-digit number that is assigned by the phone company. The telephone numbers are written 11-123-1234, where 11 is the area code.
• If phoning from abroad, the number would be 450-11-123-1234.
• The emergency telephone number throughout the Kingdom is 111.

Postal service

• The Kingdom provides postal service to every home and business in the Kingdom.
• The Kingdom prints its own stamps. Some are destined for philately.

Education

• There is a literacy rate of 89% in the Kingdom, 94.8% male, 81.2% female.
• There are six institutes of higher learning:
  • The Royal University of Lucknow
  • Gorakhpur University
  • The Royal University of Agriculture and Technology, Faizabad
  • The Shah Meher Quder Medical University, Lucknow
  • The Royal Institute of Music, Faizabad
  • The Awadhi Veterinary Research Institute, Ayodhya
• There are a public high school and several public elementary schools in each prefecture. There are also private schools at both levels.
• Teachers are accredited by the Department of Education of the Kingdom of Awadh.
• Religious education is the responsibility of parents or guardians.