Places of Indian Rebellion of 1857-(15)

City of Faizabad (Hindi: फ़ैज़ाबाद,   Old British Colonial: Fyzabad), the old capital of Awadh, is the headquarters of Faizabad District and Faizabad division as well. Its a joint municipal board with Ayodhya in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, situated on the banks of river Ghaghra (locally known as Saryu). It was the first capital of the Nawabs of Awadh and has monuments built by the Nawabs of Avadh, like the Tomb of Bahu Begum, Gulab Bari etc. The Legend of Avadh, Umrao Jaan 'Ada', was born in Faizabad (her childhood name was Ameeran). Another legend and Hindi writer Mr. Radhika Prasad Tripathi was from this city. Akhtaribai Faizabadi, also known as Begum Akhtar, was born in Faizabad. She was a classical singer who performed Urdu ghazals, dadras, thumris, etc. Among other notable people from Faizabad are Mir Babar Ali Anis, a nineteenth century writer of Marsiya (elegies in Urdu) and Brij Narayan Chakbast, another nineteenth-century Urdu poet. Chakbast is credited to have translated the Ramayana into Urdu for the first time.

History

The earliest reference made to Faizabad is said to be in theRamayana, in which the city is referred to as Saket, the mythical private estate of King Dashrath, father of Lord Ram but the other sources indicate that Saket, which means Heaven in Sanskrit, is the ancient name of holy city of Ayodhya not Faizabad. However, more accurately, the reference is found in Medieval and Modern history, when Nawab Saadat Ali Khan, Burhan-ul-Mulk was given the charge of the Subah of Awadh around 1722 by the Mughal Court. Nawab Sa'adat Khan made the first settlements along the banks of Ghaghra with a cantonment consisting of a fortress and mud barracks. Due to these temporary dwellings, Faizabad was first known as 'Bangla' (implied meaning- hutment).
Establishment of Princely state of Avadh

Avadh, a princely state of India, was established around 1722 AD with Faizabad as its capital and Saadat Ali Khan I as first Nawab and progenitor of Nawabs of Awadh He made his own palace near Ayodhya, and founded a new city Faizabad, which became the capital of the new government. Due to his management policy state's income rose from Rupees 70 lakhs to 2 crores. 

Faizabad was developed later on by Saadat Ali Khan's second successor, Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula into a full fledged capital city, with gardens, palaces, markets, roads and other infrastructure. Under Shuja-ud-Daula's reign Faizabad achieved its culmination as an important centre of trade and commerce in northern India and attracted travellers, writers, merchants, artists and courtesans from sll over Europe and Asia.Shuja-ud-Daula also built a fortress on the banks of Saryu after he lost the battle of Buxar in 1764. however, this fort now is nothing more than a hummock, just an edict remains which is pictured here.

Faizabad was also a centre of one of many battles of the Mutiny of 1857. A detailed history of Faizabad can be read in 'Tareekh-e-Farahbaksh', written by Munshi Mohd. Faiz Baksh, (after whom Faizabad is named) a courtier in the Shuja-ud-Daula's court. This book has been translated into English by Hamid Afaq Qureshi as 'Memoirs of Faizabad'. Faizabad also finds a prominent and detailed mention in 'Guzishta Lakhnau' written by Maulvi Abdul Halim 'Sharar'. The third nawab of Awadh, Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula, shifted the Capital of Avadh to Lucknow in 1775 after his terms with his mother became sour. 

Saadat Khan, the first Nawab of Awadh, laid the foundation of Faizabad at the outskirt of ancient city of Ayodhya. Faizabad developed as a township during the reign of Safdar Jang, the second nawab of Avadh (1739–54), who made it his military headquarters while his successor Shuja-ud-daula made it full fledged capital city. Suja-ud-daula, the third Nawab of Awadh, settled at Faizabad after 1764 and built a fort known as Chhota Calcutta, now in ruins. In 1765 he built the Chowk and Tirpaulia and subsequently laid out the Anguribagh and Motibagh to the south of it, Asafbagh and Bulandbagh to the west of the city. During the reign ofShuja-Ud-Daula, Faizabad attained such a prosperity which it never saw again. The Nawabs graced Faziabad with several beautiful buildings, notable among them being the Gulab Bari, Moti Mahal and the tomb of Bahu Begum. Gulab Bari is a striking building of fine properties, standing in a garden surrounded by a wall, approachable through two large gateways. These buildings are particularly interesting for their assimilative architectural styles. Shuja-ud-daula's wife was the well known Bahu Begum, who married the Nawab in 1743 and continued to reside in Faizabad, her residence being the Moti-Mahal. Close by at Jawaharbagh lies her Maqbara, where she was buried after her death in 1816. It is considered to be one of the finest buildings of its kind in Avadh, which was built at the cost of three lakh rupees by her chief advisor Darab Ali Khan. A fine view of the city is obtainable from top of the begum's tomb. Bahu Begum was a woman of great distinction and rank, bearing dignity. Most of the Muslim buildings of Faizabad are attributed to her. From the date of Bahu Begum's death in 1815 till the annexation of Avadh, the city of Faizabad gradually fell into decay. The glory of Faizabad finally eclipsed with the shifting of capital from Faizabad to Lucknow by Nawab Asaf-ud-daula. 

Connection of freedom fighters with Faizabad

Ashfaqulla Khan was detained in the Faizabad jail. A case was filed against him. His brother Riyasat Ulla Khan deployed Kripa Shankar Hajela, a senior advocate to plea his case as a counsellor. Mr Hajela fought the case till the very end but he could not save his life. While in jail, Ashfaq daily performed five times Islamic prayer ('Namaj'). The case of the Kakori conspiracy was concluded by awarding death sentence to four daredevils viz. Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri and Thakur Roshan Singh. The sixteen others were awarded the rigorous punishment varying from four years up to life sentence.

A section of people believe that the prominent Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary, Subash Chandra Bose spent his last days in Faizabad living incognito as a godman called 'Gumnami Baba'. This came under attention when 'Gumnami Baba' died in 1985 and was cremated secretively on the banks of river saryu (a memorial has been built at that place), in the dead of night, in the light of a motorcycle's headlight. Its also said that at the time of cremation his face was disfigured by acid to protect his identity. However, no government enquiry was launched into this matter and the identity of Gumnami Baba still remains an enigma.

Demographics

As per provisional reports of Census India, population of Faizabad in 2011 is 167,544; of which male and female are 87,279 and 80,265 respectively. The sex ratio of Faizabad city is 920 per 1000 males. In education section, total literates in Faizabad city are 130,700 of which 70,243 are males while 60,457 are females. Average literacy rate of Faizabad city is 86.52 percent of which male and female literacy was 89.34 and 83.45 percent. Total children (0-6) in Faizabad city are 16,479 as per figure from Census India report on 2011. There were 8,658 boys while 7,821 are girls. Child sex ratio of girls is 903 per 1000 boys. Faizabad city is governed by Municipal Corporation which comes under Faizabad Urban Agglomeration. Although Faizabad city has population of 167,544; its urban / metropolitan population is 259,160 of which 139,074 are males and 120,086 are females.