Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh

Faizabad फ़ैज़ाबाद
metropolitan city
Tilak Hall is the headquarters of Faiazabad and Ayodhya municipal corporation.
Faizabad Location in Uttar Pradesh, India
Coordinates: 26°46′23″N 82°08′46″E / 26.773°N 82.146°E / 26.773; 82.146Coordinates: 26°46′23″N 82°08′46″E / 26.773°N 82.146°E / 26.773; 82.146
Country	India
State	Uttar Pradesh
District	Faizabad district
Government
• Type	Municipal corporation
• Body	Faizabad Municipal Corporation
Area
• Total	150 km2 (60 sq mi)
Elevation	97 m (318 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	167,544
• Density	1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	224001
Telephone code	05278
Vehicle registration	UP 42
Sex ratio	993/1000 ♂/♀
Website	faizabad.nic.in

Faizabad (Old British Colonial name: Fyzabad), the old capital of Awadh, is the headquarters of Faizabad District and Faizabad division as well. It is a municipal corporation 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, like the Tomb of Bahu Begum, Gulab Bari.

The Legend of Awadh, Umrao Jaan 'Ada', was born in Faizabad (her childhood name was Ameeran). Another legend and Hindi writer 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.

The earliest reference made to Faizabad is said to be in the Ramayana, 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).