Linger In Lucknow

Steeped in history, the thriving North Indian city is a fascinating place to visit.

- Amar Grover

In Indian elections, it is almost a political truism that whichever party wins Uttar Pradesh wins the country. Arcing across the north’s vast Gangetic Plain, this is India’s most populous state. Its teeming capital, Lucknow, is one of India’s fastest-growing cities, but it has also long been among the region’s most overlooked tourist destinations.

Lucknow has been important for centuries and, for the British, it was an epicentre of 1857’s Indian Mutiny (or as Indian historians refer to it, the First War of Independence). It proved a pivotal event that shaped the Raj, and you can gain an insight into the period by visiting the city’s old British Residency complex.

Nowadays simply signposted the “Residency”, it has become as much a neat public park as a national monument. “I used to come and play cricket here as a youngster,” recalled Shariq, my guide, now in his mid-twenties. “It was easy to sneak in – the guards didn’t really care and the grounds were never this well maintained.” These days, paid entry has thinned the crowds and dislodged gangs of mischievous youths; there are now more discreetly courting couples than ball games beneath the swaying palms.

Originally lying on the edge of the city, it was Lucknow’s nawabs, or kings, who permitted the Residency’s construction for East India Company officials. The walled enclave was virtually a self-contained colony with fortified gates and batteries, a treasury and a church, a mess hall, post office and numerous other outbuildings, including the Resident’s two-storey villa. The entire complex stood on elevated ground and its defensive qualities ensured that 1857’s six-month siege was both harrowing and heroic.