The United Provinces of British India, more commonly known as the United Provinces, was a

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, which came into existence on 3 January 1921 as a result of the renaming of the ''

United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...

''. It corresponded approximately to the combined regions of the present-day Indian states of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

and

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. It ceased to exist on 1 April 1937 when it was renamed as the

United Province United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two ...

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and divis ...

became its capital some time after 1921.

Nainital Nainital ( Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a city and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the High Court of the state being located there and is the headquarters o ...

was the summer capital of the

Administrative divisions

The United Provinces of British India included 9 divisions with 48 districts: * Meerut Division **

Meerut District Meerut district, is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Meerut is the district headquarters. Meerut district is also a part of the Meerut division. The administrative head of district of Meerut is a District Magistrat ...

** Dehra Dun District **

Saharanpur District Saharanpur district is the northernmost of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India. Bordering the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and close to the foothills of Shivalik range, it lies in the northern part of the Doab ...

Muzaffarnagar District Muzaffarnagar district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. It is part of Saharanpur division. The city of Muzaffarnagar is the district headquarters. This district is the part of National Capital Region. History Medieva ...

Bulandshahr District Bulandshahr district (also spelled Bulandshahar) is a district in the Meerut region in the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), situated between the two rivers Ganga and Yamuna. It is a part of the National Capital Region of India, and Bul ...

Aligarh District Aligarh district is a district in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. This district is a part of Aligarh Division. The districts which adjoin Aligarh are (clockwise from north) Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Sambhal, Badaun, Kasganj, Hathr ...

* Agra Division ** Muttra District (Mathura) **

Agra District Agra district is one of the 75 Districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is the historical city of Agra. Agra district is a part of Agra division. Geography The district lies in the cultural region of Braj. Agra district is ...

Farrukhabad District Farrukhabad district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in Northern India. The town of Fatehgarh is the district headquarters. The district is part of Kanpur Division. Farrukhabad is situated between Lat. 26° 46' N & 27° 43' N and L ...

Mainpuri District Mainpuri district is one of the districts in the Agra division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Mainpuri town is the district headquarters. It consists of six tehsils, namely Mainpuri, Bhongaon, Karhal, Kishni, Kurawali and Ghiror. Mainpuri fo ...

** Etawah District **

Etah District Etah district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, since 1854. Etah City is the district headquarters. Etah district is a part of Aligarh Division. About According to the 2011 census Etah district has a population of 1,761,15 ...

Rohilkhand Division Moradabad division is an administrative geographical unit of Uttar Pradesh state of India. Moradabad is the administrative headquarters of the division. It forms a part of the Rohilkhand region. Currently (2005), the division consists of distr ...

Bijnaur District Bijnor district is one of the 75 districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. Bijnor city is the district headquarters. The government of Uttar Pradesh seeks it to be included in National Capital Region (NCR) due to its close proximity to ...

(Bijnor) **

Moradabad District Moradabad district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Moradabad is the district headquarters. Moradabad district is a part of Moradabad division. It is used to be the second most populous district of Uttar Pradesh (out of 75), aft ...

** Budaun District **

Bareilly District The Bareilly district belongs to the state Uttar Pradesh in northern India. Its capital is Bareilly city and it is divided in six administrative division or tehsils: Aonla, Baheri, Bareilly city, Faridpur, Mirganj, and Nawabganj. The Bareil ...

** Shahjahanpur District **

Pilibhit District Pilibhit district is one of the 75 districts in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, and Pilibhit city is the district headquarters. Pilibhit district is a part of Bareilly Division. A Tiger Reserve Area was named Pilibhit Tiger Reserve in ...

Allahabad Division Allahabad division, officially known as Prayagraj division, is an administrative unit of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 2000, when Uttar Pradesh was reorganised by forming Uttaranchal out of its northern areas, Allahabad division and the d ...

** Cawnpore District (Kanpur) ** Fatehpur District **

Allahabad District Allahabad district, officially known as Prayagraj district, is the most populous district of Uttar Pradesh state of India. The district headquarters is Allahabad which was renamed Prayagraj at the same time as the district was renamed. The Di ...

Jhansi Division Jhansi Division is one of 18 divisions of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The city of Jhansi is the administrative center. The division is part of the historic Bundelkhand region, which includes a portion of southern Uttar Pradesh and e ...

Banda District Banda District may refer to: * Banda District, India, a district in Uttar Pradesh, India * Banda District, Ghana, a district in the Bono Region, Ghana * Banda District (Republic of the Congo) Banda is a district in the Niari Department Niari ...

** Hamirpur District ** Jhansi District ** Jalaun District * Benares Division ** Mirzapur District ** Benares District **

Jaunpur District Jaunpur district is a district in the Varanasi Division of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The district headquarters is Jaunpur which is situated on the banks of the Gomti River. It is located 228 km southeast of the state capital Luc ...

Ghazipur District Ghazipur district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The city of Ghazipur is the district headquarters. The district is part of Varanasi Division. The region of Ghazipur is famous mainly for the production of its unique r ...

Ballia District Ballia district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ballia district is a part of Azamgarh division situated in the east of Uttar Pradesh. The main economic activity is agriculture. City is the district headquarters and commercial ...

Gorakhpur Division Gorakhpur division is an administrative geographical unit of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. Gorakhpur is the administrative headquarters of the division. Currently (2017), the division consists of four districts: Districts * Gorakhpu ...

Azamgarh District Azamgarh district is one of the three districts of Azamgarh division in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Etymology The district is named after its headquarters town, Azamgarh. Azam, a son of Vikramajit, founded the town in 1665. Vikramajit ...

Gorakhpur District Gorakhpur district is one of the 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. This district is a part of the Gorakhpur division. The city of Gorakhpur, or Gorakhpur is the administrative headquarters of this district and Gorakhpur divi ...

Basti District Basti district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state, India, and a part of Basti Division. Basti city is the district headquarters. Origin of name and history Basti was originally known as Vaishishthi. The origin of the name Vaishi ...

* Kumaun Division **

Almora District Almora is a district in the Kumaon Division of Uttarakhand state, India. The headquarters is at Almora. It is 1,638 meters above sea level. The neighbouring regions are Pithoragarh district to the east, Chamoli district to the west, Bageshwar d ...

** Naini Tal District **

Garhwal District Garhwal District is a former district in Kumaon of British India of the United Provinces, and had an area of . It later became a part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, today it is part of the Indian state Uttarakhand. History The first dy ...

* Lucknow Division **

Lucknow District Lucknow district is a district located in the state of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. The city of Lucknow is the district headquarters and the district is part of Lucknow Division. It also is the capital of Uttar Pradesh Lucknow is Bounded on ...

** Unao District (Unnao) **

Rae Bareli District Raebareli district is a district of Uttar Pradesh state in northern India. The city of Raebareli is the district headquarters. This district is a part of Lucknow Division in Uttar Pradesh state. The total area of Raebareli district is 3,371 ...

Hardoi District Hardoi district is a district situated in the center of Uttar Pradesh, India. The district headquarters is in the city of Hardoi. Hardoi is the third largest district of Uttar Pradesh. It falls under Lucknow division in the history region o ...

Sitapur District Sitapur district is one of the districts which is situated in Uttar Pradesh state of India, with Sitapur town as the district headquarters. Sitapur district is a part of Lucknow division. History Sitapur was first constituted as a distri ...

Kheri District Lakhimpur Kheri district is the largest district in Uttar Pradesh, India, on the border with Nepal. Its administrative capital is the city of Lakhimpur. Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of Lucknow division, with a total area of . The nation ...

Faizabad Division Faizabad division, officially known as Ayodhya division, is an administrative geographical unit of Uttar Pradesh state in India. Ayodhya is the administrative headquarters of the division. The government of Uttar Pradesh approved the renamin ...

Faizabad District Faizabad district, officially Ayodhya district, is one of the 75 districts of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ayodhya, which is believed to be the birth place of Hindu deity Rama, is the administrative headquarters of the district. ...

Bahraich District Bahraich district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Bahraich town is the district headquarters. Bahraich District is a part of Devipatan Division. History According to some other historians in the middle age this pl ...

Gonda District Gonda district (Hindi: गोण्डा/गोंडा, Urdu: گونڈہ) is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh, India. The city of Gonda is the district headquarters, and also the administrative centre for the Devipatan Division. The t ...

Sultanpur District Sultanpur district is a district in the Awadh region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This district is a part of Faizabad division (officially ''Ayodhya division'') in Uttar Pradesh. The administrative headquarters of the district is Sul ...

** Bara Banki District ** Partabgarh District

Princely states

Rampur State Rampur State was a 15 gun-salute princely state of British India. It came into existence on 7 October 1774 as a result of a treaty with Oudh. Following independence in 1947, Rampur State and other princely states of the area, such as B ...

* Tehri-Garhwal State

Dyarchy (1920–37)

The

Government of India Act 1919 The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 101) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report o ...

expanded the United Provinces Legislative Council to 123 seats, including more elected Indian members. The reforms also introduced the principle of

diarchy Diarchy (from ancient Greek, Greek , ''di-'', "double", and , ''-arkhía'', "ruled"),Occasionally misspelled ''dyarchy'', as in the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' article on the colonial British institution duarchy, or duumvirate (from Latin ', ...

, whereby certain responsibilities such as agriculture, health, education, and local government, were transferred to elected ministers. However, the important portfolios like finance, police and irrigation were reserved with members of the Governor's Executive Council. Some of the prominent members and ministers in the United Provinces were

Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan Maharaja Sir Mohammad Ali Mohammad Khan, Khan Bahadur, KCSI, KCIE (4 June 1878 – 23 March 1931) was the Raja of Mahmudabad from 28 June 1903 to 23 March 1931 and a noted politician, zamindar of British India. Raja of Mahmudabad He wa ...

(Home Member),

C. Y. Chintamani Sir Chirravoori Yajneswara Chintamani (10 April 1880 – 1 July 1941) was an Indian editor, journalist, liberal politician and parliamentarian. Life He was born on the Telugu New Year's Day (ugadi) at Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, India. He ...

(Minister of Education and Industries) and

Jagat Narain Mulla Pandit Jagat Narain Mulla (14 December 1864 — 11 December 1938) was a prominent lawyer and public prosecutor in the United Provinces during the British Raj. He is noted for contesting the Kakori conspiracy case on behalf of the British. He was ...

(Minister of Local & Self Government).

References

{{Uttarakhand 1921 establishments in British India 1937 disestablishments in British India Provinces of British India British administration in Uttar Pradesh

Administrative divisions

Princely states

Dyarchy (1920–37)

See also

References