Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 8 (2nd edition).pdf/513

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

L L'C'A‘J'O U" CITY. 503

tillage-s around the city, rents amount to as much M £4, and even £5 an acre. Government land revenue, )6 t4,746 ; average incidence. 55. per cultivated acre. In villages around the city, the assessment falls at the rate of I 35. ild. per acre. Besides Lttcxxow CITY, the pargami contains the towns of UJARUON, Jnggam, Chinhat, Mahahallipur, and 'l'htivrar. 'l'otal nttmbcr of towns and villages, I80.

Lucknow (life/Irma).—Capit:tl city of the Province of 0mm; situated on both banks of the river Gtitnti, in lat. 26° 51’ 40" >1, anal long. 30' 58’ to" B. Distant from Cawnpur 42 miles, from Benares I99 miles, from Calcutta (no miles. Area, t3 square miles. Popula- tion in ISSt—eity, 239,773, and cantonments, “,530; total. 26t,3o3. Though quite a modern town, Lucknow at present ranks fourth in sin: amongst British Indian cities, being only surpasmd by the three Presi- denq capitals of Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay. It stands on a plain, 403 feet above sea-level. 'l‘ill recent years, it formed the metro polls of a great Muhammadan kingdom, and afterwards contained the administrative head-quarters of a considerable British Province ; while even at the present day it retains its position as a centre of modern Indian life, being a leading city of native fashion, and a chief school of music, grammar, and )lusalman theology. Trade and manu- factures are now beginning to restore the wealth which it formerly owed to the presence of the luxurious court of the Xawdb Wazirs or kings of Oudh.

5171101le and General Apparranrn—luck now stands on both banks of the Gtirnti, but the greater portion of the city stretches along its western side, a few suburbs only covering the farther shore. Four bridga span the river, two of them built by native rulers, and two since the British annexation in I856. \‘iewetl froma distance, Lucknow presents a picture of unusual magnificence and architectural splendour, which fades on nearer view into the ordinary aspect of a crowded oriental town. Some of the most striking buildings, which look like marble in the moonlight, are disclosed by the disillusioning sun to be degraded examples of stucco and brick. From the new bridge across the Gtimti, the city seems to be embedded in trees. High up the river, the ancient stone bridge of Asaf-uddaulzi crosses the stream. ’l‘o its left rise the walls of the Machi Bhawan fort, enclosing the Lakshman (fla' (Lakshmztn’s hill), the earliest inhabited spot in the city. from which it derives its modern name. Close by, the immense Intatnbara, or mausoleum of Asaf-ud-daulti, towers above the surrounding buildings. Farther in the distance, the lofty minarets of the Jamai Masjid or “cathedral mosque’ overlook the city; while nearer again, on the same side of the river, the ruined walls of the Residency, with its Memmial Cross, recall the heroic defence made by the British garrison in t851. In front, close to the water’s edge, the Chattar Manzil