Straddling both banks of the Gomti River, a tributary of the Ganges, Lucknow is the capital of India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh. Neglected by most tourists, Lucknow is certainly worth a visit. Modem Lucknow is largely the creation of the nawabs of Oudh and parts of the city still retain an 18th-century flavour. The nawabs were the descendants of the Persian merchant adventurer, Saadat Khan, who was rewarded for his services to the Mughal court with the govemorship of the province in 1732. His successor, SafdarJung, ruled from Delhi and is buried there. The fourth of the ten nawabs, Asaf-ud-Daula, moved the court to Lucknow and turned the city into a centre of Urdu poetry, courtly diction, music and dance. At the beginning of the 19th century, under Ali Khan, the court blossomed. The continued emphasis on the building of palaces and mosques, the pursuit of pleasure in the harem, and the largely incompetent rule led to the province being annexed by the British in 1856. The cult of the sophisticated courtesan was a legendary part of the nawabs' life.

The city is still famous for its cultivated manners and refined urbane culture. It remains the home of light-classical North Indian music and the Kathak school of dance. Each February, the two-week Lucknow festival continues the traditions of music and dance made famous by the Oudh court.

Lucknow is the principal Shi'ite Muslim centre in India and the city celebrates holidays and festivals more common to Iran than the other, mostly Sunni, Muslim communities. 

Although never an industrial centre—Kanpur, 79 kilometres (49 miles) to the southwest, is the great factory town of Uttar Pradesh—Lucknow has traditionally produced silver and bidri work (gun-metal inlaid with silver) and traded in copper, brass and cotton. Lucknow is an important rail junction and has excellent connections with most of northern India. The Charbagh Railway Station in the south of the city is an impressive sight and a good place to begin a tour of the city. The architecture reflects both Mughal and European influences. The royal emblem of the nawabs, a pair of fish, still decorates many of the buildings.

Unfortunately, many of the buildings in Lucknow are of brick and some have deteriorated badly. In the city centre,  the Aminabad Market with its narrow alleys, originally run by women for female customers, is now one of the main shopping areas. The more modem Hazaratganj area has wider streets and larger shops. 

The extraordinary complex of buildings two kilometres (1.5 miles) east of Hazaratganj which now houses La Martiniere School was originally known as Costantia. It was built as the country home of a French soldier, Major-General Claude Martin, who made a fortune as a trader. The general died in 1800 before it was completed, but he left sufficient funds to finish the buildings and endow the school. Constantia is a whimsical mixture of styles incorporating gargoyles and other Gothic details with Corinthian columns. The roof is crowned with a strange collection of statues. 

The nearby gardens at Banarsi Bagh contain the zoo and the State Museum (open 10 am-4.30 pm, closed Mondays). Established in 1863, the museum contains an important collection of sculpture, mostly from Mathura. The extensive collection of Kushan, Gupta and Mughal coins can be seen by appointment. 

The British Residency, built in 1800 and made famous during the Great Mutiny, remains in the state of ruin it was left in at the time of its final relief in November 1857, after two sieges lasting 87 and 53 days left more than 2,000 people dead. The broken walls are still pockmarked with cannonball and shot, and the old buildings are surrounded by well-kept lawns and gardens which at the time of the siege were the site of narrow lanes and streets. The small, dusty museum is open from 9 am to 5.30 pm. The ruined church and cemetery, containing the graves of those who died during the siege, are nearby. 

A kilometre or so west of the Residency are the two fascinating Imambaras.  In 1784, Asaf-ud-Daula built the Bara Imambara. This great vaulted hall (open 6 am - 5 pm), reputedly the largest room in the world, is 50 metres (165 feet) long and its 15-metre (50-foot) high roof is unsupported by pillars. The hall, the great mosque and its two supporting minarets were built as part of a famine relief project. Most of the underground passages are now blocked, but an external stairway leads to the labyrinth on the upper floor known as the Bhulbhulaiya. In front of the Imambara is an impressive gateway, Rumi Darwaza, built in imitation of Istanbul's Sublime Porte. Beyond the gateway, the Husainabad Imambara stands in a large quadrangle in front of an inlaid marble tank. The main building (open 6 am-5 pm) contains the silver throne of the nawabs. Opposite the Husainabad Imambara is the Baradari (summer house) built by Ali Shah and now housing a small portrait gallery (open 8 am-5 pm). The Jami Masjid to the west of the Imambara is one of the few in India closed to non-Muslims.