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The Oudh State (, , also Kingdom of Awadh, Kingdom of Oudh, Awadh Subah, Oudh Subah, or Awadh State) was a Mughal Empire subah, then an independent kingdom, and lastly a British protectorate in the Awadh region of North India until its annexation by the British East India Company in 1856. The name Oudh, now obsolete, was once the anglicized name of the state, also written historically as Oudhe.
As the Mughal Empire declined and decentralized, local governors in Oudh began asserting greater autonomy, and eventually Oudh matured into an independent polity governing the fertile lands of the Central and Lower Doab.
The capital of Oudh was in Faizabad, but the company's Political Agents, officially known as "Residents", had their seat in Lucknow. At par existed a Maratha embassy, in the Oudh court, led by the Vakil of the Peshwa, until the Second Anglo-Maratha War. The Nawab of Oudh, one of the richest princes, paid for and erected a Residency in Lucknow as a part of a wider programme of civic improvements.Davies, Philip, Splendours of the Raj: British Architecture in India, 1660–1947. New York: Penguin Books, 1987
Oudh joined other Indian states in an upheaval against British rule in 1858 during one of the last series of actions in the Indian rebellion of 1857. In the course of this uprising, detachments of the Bombay Army of the East India Company overcame the disunited collection of Indian states in a single rapid campaign. Determined rebels continued to wage sporadic guerrilla clashes until the spring of 1859. This rebellion is also historically known as the Oudh campaign.Michael Edwardes, Battles of the Indian Mutiny, Pan, 1963,
After the British annexation of Oudh by the Doctrine of Lapse, the North Western Provinces became the North Western Provinces and Oudh.
As the Mughal Empire began to dissolve in the early 18th century, many subahs became effectively independent. As regional officials asserted their autonomy in Bengal and the Deccan as well as with the rise of the Maratha Empire, the rulers of Oudh gradually affirmed their own sovereignty. Safdar Jang went as far as to control the ruler of Delhi, putting Ahmad Shah Bahadur on the Mughal throne with the cooperation of other Mughal nobility. In 1748 he gained the subah of Allahabad with Ahmad Shah's official support. This was arguably the zenith of Oudh's territorial span. (2026). 9781932705546, Sterling Publishers. ISBN 9781932705546 (2026). 9781843311522, Anthem Press.. ISBN 9781843311522
The next nawab, Shuja-ud-Daula, extended Oudh's control of the Mughal emperor. He was appointed Vizier to Shah Alam II in 1762 and offered him asylum after his failed campaigns against the British in the Bengal War.
Shuja-ud-Daula bought the Mughal provinces of Kora and Allahabad in the Treaty of Benares (1773) with the British (who held de facto control over the area) for 50 lakh rupees, increased the cost of Company mercenaries, and military aid in the First Rohilla War to expand Oudh as a buffer state against Maratha interests. Done by Warren Hastings, this move was unpopular among the rest of Company leadership, but Hastings continued a harsh policy on Oudh, justifying the military aid as a bid to strengthen Oudh's status as a buffer state against the Marathas. To shape the policy of Oudh and direct its internal affairs Hastings appointed the resident Nathaniel Middleton in Lucknow that year as well. At the conclusion of the First Rohilla War in 1774, Oudh gained the entirety of Rohilkhand and the Middle Doab region, only leaving the independent Rampur State as a Rohilla enclave.
The Treaty of Chunar (1781) sought to reduce the number of British troops in Oudh's service to cut costs, but failed in this measure due to the instability of Asaf-ud-Daula's rule and thus his reliance on British aid essentially as a puppet regime.
In light of the Napoleonic Wars and British demands for greater revenue from the company, in 1801, Saadat Ali Khan II ceded the entire Rohilkhand and Lower Doab as well as the sarkar of Gorakhpur under the pressure of Lord Wellesley to the British in lieu of the annual tribute.Treaty with the Nawab of Oudh for the cession of Territory in commutation of Subsidy, concluded by Henry Wellesley and Lieut.-Col. William Scott 10th Nov. 1801 The cession halved the size of the polity, reducing it to the original Mughal subah of Awadh (excepting Gorakhpur which was ceded) and surrounded it by directly administered British territory, rendering it useless as a buffer. The treaty also mandated a government to be put in place that primarily served the citizens of Oudh. It was on the basis of the failure to meet this demand that the British later justified the annexation of Oudh.
Farrukhabad and Rampur State was not annexed by the British yet; instead, they served as separate princely states for the moment.
The kingdom became a British protectorate in May 1816. Three years later, in 1819, the Ghazi-ud-Din Haidar Shah took the title of Badshah (king), signaling formal independence from the Mughal Empire under the advice of the Marquis of Hastings.
Throughout the early 1800s until annexation, several areas were gradually ceded to the British.
After the rebellion, Oudh's territory was merged with the North Western Provinces, forming the larger province of North-Western Provinces and Oudh. In 1902, the latter was renamed the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. In 1921, it became the United Provinces of British India. In 1937, it became the United Provinces and continued as a province in independent India until finally becoming the state of Uttar Pradesh in 1950.
| Ayodhya |
| Gorakhpur |
| Bahraich |
| Khairabad |
| Lucknow |
All rulers used the title of 'Nawab'.
| Borhan al-Molk Mir Mohammad Amin Musawi Saʾadat ʾAli Khan I |
| Safdarjung |
| 13 May 1753 |
| 5 October 1754 |
| Shuja-ud-Daula Haydar |
| 26 January 1775 |
| Asaf-ud-Daula |
| Mirza Wazir ʾAli Khan |
| Yamin ad-Dowla Nazem al-Molk Saʾadat ʾAli Khan II Bahadur |
| Ghazi ad-Din Rafaʾat ad-Dowla Abul-Mozaffar Haydar Khan |
| 19 October 1827 |
| Naser ad-Din Haydar Solayman Jah Shah |
| Moʾin ad-Din Abu'l-Fath Mohammad ʾAli Shah |
| Naser ad-Dowla Amjad ʾAli Thorayya Jah Shah |
| Naser ad-Din ʾAbd al-Mansur Mohammad Wajed ʾAli Shah |
| Birjis Qadr (in rebellion) |
| 1774 | ||
| 1776 | ||
| 1779 (second time) | ||
| 1780 | ||
| 1781 (second time) | ||
| 1782 (third time) | ||
| 1783 (third time) | ||
| William Palmer | 1783 | 1784 |
| Gabriel Harper | 1784 | 1785 |
| 1794 | ||
| 1796 | ||
| 1799 | ||
| 1804 | ||
| 1807 | ||
| 1815 | ||
| 1817 | ||
| 1820 | ||
| 1823 | ||
| 1827 | ||
| 1831 | ||
| 1842 | ||
| 1841 | ||
| 1843 | ||
| 1844 | ||
| J. D. Shakespear | 1844 | 1845 |
| T. Reid Davidson | 1845 | 1847 |
| 1849 | ||
| 1854 | ||
| 1856 |
Although it was ruled by Muslims, a majority, roughly four fifths, of Oudh's population were Hindus.
The cities of Allahabad, Varanasi, and Ayodhya were important pilgrimage sites for followers of Hinduism and other Dharmic . The town of Bahraich was also revered by some .
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