North-western Provinces

North-western Provinces, a lieutenant-governorship of British India, constituted under an Act of 1835, and occupying the upper basin of the Ganges and Jumma, extending from Bengal to the Punjab. Oudh, till 1877 a separate government, is now under the lieutenant-governor of the North-western Provinces, but in some respects has separate institutions. The province, which constitutes the great part of Hindustan proper, is mainly a great alluvial plain, sloping from the Himalayas, and comprises the Doab, Rohilkhand, Bundelkhand, &c., and the Upper Ganges valley. It is the great wheat country of India, but is not on a level with Bengal as to resources or trade. The headquarters of Hinduism, and containing some of the most sacred memorials of the Aryan race, it was nevertheless long subject to Moslem sway; and in 1881 134 per cent. of the population were Mohammedans, as compared with 86.3 per cent. Hindus. The divisions of the North-western Provinces are Meerut, Agra, Rohilkhand, Allahabad, Benares, Jhansi, Kumaon, and the four divisions of Oudh—Lucknow, Sitapur, Fyzabad, Rai Bareli. Total area under direct British administration (with Oudh), 107,503 sq. m.; pop. (1891) 46,905,085. The native states have a further area of 5109 sq. m., and a pop. (1891) of 792,491. With the native states the area is about the size of Italy, and the population a half larger than that of Italy. Even with the Himalayan districts, the population is greatly denser than England and Wales. The capital is Allahabad. See INDIA, OUDH.