什麼是北方邦

（阿格拉與歐德）聯合省（United Provinces (of Agra and Oudh)）

印度北部一邦，首府勒克瑙。是印度人口最多的邦。兩部偉大梵文史詩《摩訶婆羅多》和《羅摩衍那》即以北方邦爲背景。是西元前6世紀後佛教崛起之地。大部分位於恆河上游流域。西元3世紀中葉，孔雀王朝皇帝阿育王、笈多王朝（320年～425?）和戒日王（606～647）等統治過該地區。從16世紀到18世紀末，該地區處於蒙兀兒王朝歷代君主的統治之下。在19世紀，英國人從孟加拉逐步向西擴張勢力。北方邦成爲1857年印度人反英起義的主要舞臺。該地區後來是印度獨立運動的前哨，1950年印度成立共和國時成爲一個邦。2000年北部部分地區被畫入烏多安查邦。北方邦是印度最大的矽土生產邦。農業是該邦經濟最重要的部分。最着名的旅遊勝地爲阿格拉和瓦拉納西。面積243,286平方公里。人口約166,052,859（2000）。

Uttar Pradesh

State (pop., 2000: 166,052,859), northern India. It covers an area of 93,933 sq mi (243,286 sq km); its capital is Lucknow. The state, the most populous in the country, lies largely in the plains formed by the Ganges and Yamuna rivers. The region was the setting of two great sanskrit epics, the [work]Mahabharata and [work]Ramayana, and the scene of the rise of Buddhism after the 6th century BC. It was ruled by Mauryan King Ashoka in the mid-3d century BC, the Gupta dynasty c. 320-c. 425 AD, and King Harsa (606-647). The Mughals gained control in the 16th century, at which time the city of Agra became a chief center. The British arrived in the late 18th century; by the 1830s they held sway and eventually formed the North-West Provinces, to which Oudh was later annexed. It was the main scene of the Indian Mutiny of 1857. The current province was formed in 1902, and became a state of India in 1947. In 2000 the northern portion of it was made into the state of Uttaranchal. Uttar Pradesh is the largest silica-producing state in the country, yet agriculture is by far its most important economic sector. Its noted tourist meccas are Agra and Varanasi.