Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The state is bordered by Rajasthan to the west, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi
to the northwest, Uttarakhand and Nepal to the north, Bihar to the east, Madhya
Pradesh to the south, and touches the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh to the
southeast. It covers 243,290 square kilometres (93,933 sq mi), equal to 7.33% of
the total area of India, and is the fourth-largest Indian state by area. It is the
second-largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of ?14.46 lakh crore (US$230
billion).[14] Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the
state's economy. The service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry,
real estate, insurance and financial consultancies.
The natives of the state are generally called Uttar Bhartiya, or more specifically
either Awadhi, Bundelkhandi or Hindustani by their region of origin. Hinduism is
practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam. Uttar Pradesh was
home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India. The state has several
historical, natural, and religious tourist destinations, such as, Agra, Varanasi,
Allahabad, Kaushambi, Ballia, Shravasti, Gorakhpur, Chauri Chaura, Kushinagar,
Lucknow, Jhansi, Bareilly, Budaun, Meerut, Mathura, Faizabad and Shahjahanpur.
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 Prehistory
1.2 Ancient and Classical period
1.3 Medieval and Early Modern period
1.3.1 British India-era
1.3.2 Post-independence
2 Geography
2.1 Climate
3 Flora and fauna
4 Divisions, Districts and Cities
5 Demographics
6 Government and administration
7 Crime
7.1 Terror attacks
8 Economy
9 Transportation
10 Sports
11 Education
12 Tourism
13 Health & Healthcare
14 Culture
14.1 Language and literature
14.2 Music and dance
14.3 Fairs and festivals
14.4 Cuisine
14.5 Dress
15 Media
16 See also
17 References
18 External links
History[edit]
Prehistory[edit]
Modern human hunter-gatherers have been in Uttar Pradesh[15][16][17] since between
around[18] 85,000 and 72,000 years ago. There have also been prehistorical finds in
Uttar Pradesh from the Middle and Upper Paleolithic dated to 21,00031,000 years
old[19] and MesolithicMicrolithic hunter-gatherer settlement, near Pratapgarh, from
around 105509550 BC. Villages with domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats and
evidence of agriculture began as early as 6000 BC, and gradually developed between
c. 4000 and 1500 BC beginning with the Indus Valley Civilisation and Harappa
Culture to the Vedic period and extending into the Iron Age.[20][21][22]
Ancient and Classical period[edit]
Painting of goddess Rama alongside Sita and Laxman
Rama portrayed as an exile in the forest, accompanied by his wife Sita and brother
Lakshmana
The kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional
boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh.[23] According to Hindu legend, the divine
king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the capital of Kosala.[24]
Krishna, another divine king of Hindu legend, who plays a key role in the
Mahabharata epic and is revered as the eighth reincarnation (Avatar) of the Hindu
god Vishnu, is said to have been born in the city of Mathura, in Uttar Pradesh.[23]
The aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area
between the Upper Doab and Delhi, (in what was Kuru Mahajanapada), during the reign
of the Pandava king Yudhishthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black
and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture and the beginning of the Iron Age in
northwest India, around 1000 BC.[23]
Control over Gangetic plains region was of vital importance to the power and
stability of all of India's major empires, including the Maurya (320200 BC),
Kushan (CE 100250), Gupta (350600), and Gurjara-Pratihara (6501036) empires.[25]
Following the Huns' invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab
saw the rise of Kannauj.[26] During the reign of Harshavardhana (590647), the
Kannauj empire reached its zenith.[26] It spanned from Punjab in the north and
Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and Odisha in the south.[23] It included
parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire
Indo-Gangetic plain.[27] Many communities in various parts of India claim descent
from the migrants of Kannauj.[28] Soon after Harshavardhana's death, his empire
disintegrated into many kingdoms, which were invaded and ruled by the Gurjara-
Pratihara empire, which challenged Bengal's Pala Empire for control of the region.
[27] Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty,
from the 8th century to the 10th century.[29][30]