City of Nawabs — Awadhi Cuisine, the Rumi Darwaza, and India's Capital of Tehzeeb
Lucknow was the capital of the Nawabs of Awadh from 1775 to 1856, and the refinement of that court — Awadhi dum biryani, galawati kebab, chikankari embroidery, Kathak dance, Urdu poetry — is still the city's defining cultural offering. The Rumi Darwaza, a 60-foot Mughal gateway built in 1784, is one of the most photographed monuments in Uttar Pradesh. Hazratganj, the main commercial boulevard, is lined with colonial-era arcades and patisseries — including Prakash, which has been serving kachori and samosas on the same corner since 1938. The Chowk bazaar, the old city market, remains one of th…
Lucknow was the capital of the Nawabs of Awadh from 1775 to 1856, a period of refined courtly culture that gave the world Awadhi cuisine, Kathak dance, Urdu poetry, and chikankari embroidery. The last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, was deposed by the British East India Company in 1856 on grounds of misgovernment — a pretext that enraged the population and contributed directly to the 1857 uprising (formerly called the Indian Mutiny). The Residency, where British officers and civilians were besieged for 87 days during that uprising, still stands in ruins, preserved as a memorial. Lucknow's culture of t…