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.
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