Editing Awadh (section)

=== Awadh under the Mughals ===
From the pre-historic period to the time of [[Akbar]], the limits of the [[subah]] (imperial top-level province) and its internal divisions seem to have been constantly changing, and the name of Oudh, or Awadh, seems to have been applicable to only one of the ancient divisions or ''[[Sarkar (administrative division)|Sarkar]]s'', nearly corresponding to old [[Pachhimrath]]. The title of Subehdar (governor) of Awadh is mentioned as early as 1280 AD, but it can only have denoted the governor of the tract of the country above defined. The Awadh of Mughal Badshah (emperor) [[Akbar]] was one of the twelve (or fifteen) ''subahs'' into which he divided the Mughal Empire as it stood in 1590. As constituted at the end of the sixteenth century, the ''Subah'' contained five ''sarkars'', viz. Awadh, Lucknow, [[Bahraich]], [[Khairabad, Sitapur|Khairabad]] and [[Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh|Gorakhpur]], which in turn were divided in numerous ''[[Pargana|mahals]]'' and ''{{transliteration|hi|[[dastur]]s}}'' (districts).

[[Khan Zaman Khan Ali Asghar]] son of [[Qazi Ghulam Mustafa]] was appointed as [[Subahdar]] of Awadh during the reign of [[Farrukhsiyar]]. This appointment was made in place of 'Aziz Khan Chughtai'.<ref>Tazkirat us-Salatin Chaghta – A Mughal Chronicle of Post Aurangzeb Period (1707–1724) by Muhammad Hadi Kamwar Khan; edited Persian text and with an Introduction by Muzaffar Alam (1980), Centre of Advanced Study Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (U.P.) -202001, India(page 234)</ref> Later on, Mahabat Khan was appointed as [[Subahdar]] of Awadh in place of Khan Zaman Khan Ali Asghar, who was all over again transferred to [[Azimabad]] (Patna) as [[Subahdar]] in place of 'Sar Buland Khan'.<ref>Tazkirat us-Salatin Chaghta – A Mughal Chronicle of Post Aurangzeb Period (1707–1724) by Muhammad Hadi Kamwar Khan; edited Persian text and with an Introduction by Muzaffar Alam (1980), Centre of Advanced Study Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (U.P.) -202001, India(page 236)</ref>

[[Image:Mahi Maraatib fish emblazoned over the gateway to Safdarjung's tomb.jpg|thumb|Mahi Maraatib fish emblazoned over the gateway to Safdarjung's tomb]]
It seems to have been of nearly the same extent as the ''Province of Oudh'' at the time of annexation to [[British India]] in 1858, and to have differed only in including Gorakhpur, [[Basti, Uttar Pradesh|Basti]], and [[Azamgarh]], and in excluding Tanda, Aldemau, [[Rajesultanpur]] and Manikpur, or the territory to the east and South of Faizabad, [[Sultanpur, Uttar Pradesh|Sultanpur]] and [[Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh|Pratapgarh]].<ref name="IHC 107">{{cite book | last = Irwin | first = Henry Crossly | title = The Garden of India. Or, Chapters on Oudh History and Affairs | url = https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.63152 | year = 1880 | publisher = W. H. Allen| location = London | page = 107}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>