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THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
VOLUME-I, 15TH EDITION, Page 751
Ayodhya, also called Oudh, or Awadh, town, Faizabad district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, on the Ghaghara (Gogra) River. An ancient city, Ayodhya is regarded as one of the seven holy places of the Hindus. According to traditional history, it was the early capital of the kingdom of Kosala, while in Buddhist times (6th-5th century BC), Sravasti became the kingdom's chief city. Scholars generally agree that Ayodhya is identical with the city of Saketa, where the Buddha is said to have resided for a time. Its later importance as a Buddhist centre can be gauged from the statement of the Chinese Buddhist monk Fahsien in the 5th century AD that there were 100 monasteries there, There were also a number of other monuments, including a stupa (shrine) reputed to have been founded by Asoka (3rd century B.C.). Ayodhya is revered by Hindus because of its association in the great Indian epic poem Ramayana with the birth of Rama and with the rule of his father, Dasaratha. According to this source, the city was prosperous and well fortified and had a large population.
The Kannauj kingdom arose in Oudh during the 11th and 12th centuries. The region was later included in the Delhi sultanate, the Jaunpur kingdom, and, in the 16th century, the Mughal empire. Oudh gained a measure of independence early In the 18th century but became subordinate to the British East India Company in 1764. In 1856 it was annexed by the British: the annexation and subsequent loss of rights by the hereditary land revenue receivers provided one of the causes of the Indian Mutiny in 1857. Oudh was joined with the Agra Presidency in 1877 to form the North-Western Provinces and later the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, now Uttar Pradesh state.
There are few surviving monuments of any antiquity. Rama's birthplace is marked by a mosque, erected by the Mughal emperor Babur in 1528 on the site of an earlier temple. The numerous Vaisnava Shrines and bathing Ghats are of no great age. Close to the modern town are several mounds marking the site of ancient Ayodhya that have not yet been adequately explored by archaeologists. Pop. (1981) 30,500.
Authors : Shri M. Rama Jois
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