Orion Hub - Uttar Pradesh- About Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh, often referred to as U.P., is the most populous state located in northern India. It is the most populous sub-national division in the world. Uttar Pradesh covers a large part of the highly fertile and densely populated upper Gangetic plain. The Indo-Gangetic plain spans most of the state, has been the seat of ancient Hindu culture, religion and learning and has always played a prominent role in Indian political and cultural movements.
The administrative and legislative capital of Uttar Pradesh is Lucknow, and the financial and industrial capital is Kanpur. The state is also home to the tourism capital of India, Agra. The state's high court is based at Allahabad.
Control over this region was often vital to the power and stability of all of India's major empires, including the Mauryan (320-200 BC), Kushan (100-250 AD) Gupta (350-600 AD) empires. After the Guptas, the region was the heart of Harshavardhana's empire, from Punjab to Bengal, with its capital at Kannauj. Many modern communities in different parts of India—Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Bihar and Bengal—often trace their lineage to Kannauj.
Agra and Fatehpur Sikri were important as the capital city of Akbar, the great Mughal Emperor of India. After the decline of the Moghuls, a number of kingdoms arose: Oudh of the Nawabs, Rohilkhand by Afghans, Bundelkhand by the Marathas and Benaras by its own king, while Kumaon-Garhwal were independent kingdoms in their own right. The city of Lucknow was established by the Muslim Nawabs of Oudh in the 17th century.
The major economic activity in the state is agriculture, and in 1991, 73 percent of the population in the state was engaged in agriculture and 46 percent of the state income was accounted for by agriculture. UP has retained its pre-eminent position in the country as a food-surplus state. The production of foodgrains has increased from 14.5 million metric tons in 1960-61 to 42.5 million tons in 1995-96 showing an average annual growth rate of 3.1 percent, which is much higher than the population growth rate.
UP has witnessed rapid industrialization in the recent past, particularly after the launch of policies of economic liberalization in the country.
The state languages of Uttar Pradesh are standard Hindi and Urdu. While standard Hindi is the official language, several regional Hindi 'dialects' are spoken throughout the state. Bhojpuri is the second most-spoken language in the state, according to the language data in the 1991 Census of India. Urdu is prominent in Uttar Pradesh as Lucknow was once the center of Persianate culture in north India. The language of Lucknow is a form of high literary Urdu
. Uttar Pradesh continued to be central to Indian culture and politics and was especially important in modern Indian history as a hotbed of the Indian Independence Movement. The First Freedom fighter Mangal Pandey was from Uttar Pradesh.
The city of Allahabad was home to prominent nationalists such as Motilal Nehru, Purushottam Das Tandon, Madan Mohan Malaviya. Allahabad was also home to a record four Prime Ministers of India: Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Rajiv Gandhi.
U.P. is also known as 'punya bhoomi' in Hindu scriptures. The city of Varanasi (Beranas) has been epi-centre of ancient scholaristic traditions. It is revered as one of the most sacred cities of the world by Hindus, Buddhist and Sufis. Varanasi particularly its Banaras Hindu University and Ghats symbolises the "Rebirth of Hindu Social and Scholaristic Traditions".