Editing Awadh (section)

=== Before independence ===
Since AD 1350 different parts of the Awadh region were ruled by the [[Delhi Sultanate]], [[Jaunpur Sultanate|Sharqi Sultanate]], [[Mughal Empire]], [[Nawabs of Awadh]], [[Honourable East India Company|East India Company]] and the [[British Raj]]. [[Kanpur]] was one of the major centres of [[Indian rebellion of 1857]], participated actively in [[Indian independence movement|India's Independence movement]], and emerged as an important city of [[North India]].

For about eighty-four years (from 1394 to 1478), Awadh was part of the [[Jaunpur Sultanate|Sharqi Sultanate]] of [[Jaunpur, Uttar Pradesh|Jaunpur]]; emperor [[Humayun]] made it a part of the Mughal Empire around 1555. Emperor [[Jehangir]] granted an estate in Awadh to a nobleman, Sheik Abdul Rahim, who had won his favour. Sheik Abdul Rahim later built Machchi Bhawan in this estate; this later became the seat of power from where his descendants, the Sheikhzades, controlled the region. Until 1719, the [[Subah (province)|Subah]] of Awadh (bordering (Old) Delhi, Agra, Illahabad and Bihar) was a province of the [[Mughal Empire]], administered by a Nazim or Subah Nawab (governor) appointed by the Emperor. Nawab –the plural of the [[Arabic]] word '[[Naib]]', meaning 'assistant'– was the term given to ''subahdars'' (provincial governors) appointed by the Mughal emperor all over India to assist him in managing the empire. In the absence of expeditious transport and communication facilities, they were practically independent rulers of their territory and wielded the power of life and death over their subjects. Persian adventurer [[Saadat Ali Khan I|Saadat Khan]], also called Burhan-ul-Mulk, was appointed the Nazim of Awadh in 1722 and he established his court in [[Faizabad]]<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/65/fa/FaizabdInd.html "Faizabad, town, India"]. ''The Columbia Encyclopedia'', 6th Edition. 2001–07 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050907162402/http://www.bartleby.com/65/fa/FaizabdInd.html |date=7 September 2005 }}</ref> near [[Lucknow]]. The [[Nawabs of Lucknow]] were in fact the Nawabs of Awadh, but were so referred to because after the reign of the third Nawab, Lucknow became the capital of their realm, where the British station [[Resident (title)|Residents]] ('diplomatic' colonial Agents) from 1773. The city was "North India's cultural capital"; its nawabs, best remembered for their refined and extravagant lifestyles, were patrons of the arts. Under them music and dance flourished, and many monuments were erected.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.laxys.com/lucknow.html |title=Lucknow City |publisher=Laxys.com |access-date=29 April 2012 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226035738/http://www.laxys.com/lucknow.html%20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Of the monuments standing today, the [[Bara Imambara]], the [[Chhota Imambara]] and the [[Rumi Darwaza]] are notable examples. One of the more lasting contributions by the Nawabs is the [[syncretic]] composite culture that has come to be known as the [[Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb]].