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Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge: key facts and practice questions

Revise Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge for UPPSC and UP Police exams: the facts and distinctions that keep coming up, a one-glance revision list, and 10 practice questions with answers and explanations.

Drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked on 2026-10-15; not yet read line by line by a human editor. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Editorial standards & corrections

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Key concepts and facts

History from Mahajanapadas to Harsha: Of the sixteen Mahajanapadas, Kashi (Varanasi), Kosala (Shravasti, Ayodhya), Vatsa (Kaushambi), Malla (Kushinagar, Pava), Shurasena (Mathura) and Panchala (Ahichchhatra in Bareilly, Kampilya in Farrukhabad) lay in UP. Buddha preached his first sermon at Sarnath and died at Kushinagar; Shravasti was his favourite rainy-season retreat. The national emblem is adapted from Ashoka's Sarnath lion capital. The Allahabad pillar carries Harisena's Prayag Prashasti praising Samudragupta, and the Bhitari pillar in Ghazipur belongs to Skandagupta. Harsha ruled from Kannauj, which later became the prize in the Tripartite Struggle between Palas, Pratiharas and Rashtrakutas. Sikandar Lodi founded Agra in 1504, Jaunpur was the seat of the Sharqi sultans, and Akbar built Fatehpur Sikri and the Allahabad fort.
Awadh, 1857 and the freedom struggle: Saadat Khan Burhan-ul-Mulk founded the Nawabi of Awadh in 1722, Asaf-ud-Daula shifted the capital from Faizabad to Lucknow in 1775 and built the Bara Imambara, and Wajid Ali Shah was the last Nawab before Dalhousie annexed Awadh in 1856 for misgovernment. The 1857 revolt began at Meerut on 10 May; its centres and leaders were Kanpur (Nana Saheb, Tatya Tope), Lucknow (Begum Hazrat Mahal), Jhansi (Rani Lakshmibai), Bareilly (Khan Bahadur Khan) and Faizabad (Maulvi Ahmadullah Shah). Later landmarks: the Lucknow Pact of 1916, Chauri Chaura in Gorakhpur on 4 February 1922, the Kakori action of 9 August 1925 led by Ram Prasad Bismil and Ashfaqullah Khan, and Chandrashekhar Azad's death in Alfred Park, Allahabad, in 1931. The province became United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in 1902, United Provinces in 1937, and Uttar Pradesh on 24 January 1950 (celebrated as UP Diwas). Uttarakhand was separated on 9 November 2000. Govind Ballabh Pant was the first Chief Minister, Sarojini Naidu the first Governor, and Sucheta Kripalani in 1963 became India's first woman Chief Minister.
Geography: UP touches Nepal and nine states and union territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar); Punjab and West Bengal do not border it. It is fourth by area but first by population (Census 2011, about 19.98 crore). The relief runs from the Bhabar pebble belt and the marshy Terai in the north through the vast Gangetic plain to the Vindhyan-Bundelkhand plateau in the south. The Ganga enters UP at Bijnor and meets the Yamuna at Prayagraj Sangam; the Ghaghara joins it near Chhapra in Bihar; the Gomti rises in Pilibhit and passes Lucknow and Jaunpur; the Chambal joins the Yamuna in Etawah, the Betwa at Hamirpur and the Ken in Banda. Sonbhadra borders four states and hosts the Rihand Dam and the Obra, Anpara and Singrauli power plants. Matatila and Rajghat dams are on the Betwa. The Upper Ganga Canal starts at Haridwar and the Lower Ganga Canal at Narora. Protected areas to remember: Dudhwa (Lakhimpur Kheri), Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Katarniaghat (Bahraich), Okhla (Gautam Buddh Nagar), Nawabganj (Unnao), Samaspur (Rae Bareli) and the Chambal gharial sanctuary.
Economy: UP leads India in sugarcane, wheat, potato and milk; in rice it is among the top three producers with Telangana and West Bengal, and the first place changes from year to year - in the Ministry of Agriculture's Final Estimates UP (16.14 million tonnes) was first in 2022-23, Telangana (16.87 million tonnes) overtook it in 2023-24 (UP 15.99, second), and in the 2024-25 Final Estimates (released November 2025) UP was first again with 20.76 million tonnes, ahead of Telangana (17.45) and West Bengal (16.02). Industry is remembered by city: Kanpur leather, Moradabad brass, Firozabad glass, Aligarh locks, Meerut sports goods, Bhadohi carpets, Varanasi silk, Saharanpur wood carving, Khurja pottery, Kannauj perfume and Lucknow chikankari, which the ODOP scheme of 2018 formalised. Narora in Bulandshahr has the state's only nuclear plant, Mathura its refinery, and Noida its IT hub.
Polity: The legislature is bicameral, with a 403-member Vidhan Sabha and a 100-member Vidhan Parishad. UP sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha and 31 to the Rajya Sabha. The High Court sits at Prayagraj (established 1866, moved there in 1869) with a Lucknow bench since 1948. Lucknow is the capital and districts are grouped into divisions under commissioners.
Culture and tourism: State symbols are the barasingha (animal), sarus crane (bird) and palash (flower); the state tree is given as ashoka in most state-symbol lists but as sal in the NCERT module 'India: Unity in Cultural Diversity'. Folk forms: Nautanki, Raslila and Charkula (Braj), Kajri (Mirzapur), Birha and Sohar (Purvanchal), Alha (Bundelkhand). Dialects: Khari Boli (west), Braj, Awadhi, Bundeli, Bhojpuri. Literature: Tulsidas, Kabir, Surdas, Jayasi, Premchand, Nirala, Mahadevi Verma, Bachchan, Jaishankar Prasad, Maithili Sharan Gupt. UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Fatehpur Sikri and (since July 2026) the Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath; intangible heritage: Ramlila and Kumbh Mela. Institutions: BHU (1916), AMU (1920), Allahabad University (1887), IIT Kanpur (1959), IIM Lucknow (1984), CDRI, NBRI and IITR at Lucknow, IVRI at Bareilly.
Traps: Mangal Pandey acted at Barrackpore, not Meerut. Awadh was annexed for misgovernment, not under the Doctrine of Lapse. Lakshmibai died at Gwalior, not Jhansi. Sumitranandan Pant and G.B. Pant were born in present-day Uttarakhand. Do not assume West Bengal leads in rice: UP, Telangana and West Bengal are the top three producers, and the leader changes from year to year (Telangana was first in the 2023-24 Final Estimates, but UP was first again in 2024-25). The Ghaghara meets the Ganga in Bihar, not in UP.

One-glance revision list

Buddha's life in UP: first sermon at Sarnath, favourite retreat at Shravasti, death at Kushinagar. Birth (Lumbini) was in Nepal.
Mnemonic for 1857 leaders: 'Meerut starts, Kanpur Nana, Lucknow Begum, Jhansi Rani, Bareilly Khan' (Khan Bahadur Khan).
Name changes: 1902 United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, 1937 United Provinces, 24 January 1950 Uttar Pradesh, 9 November 2000 Uttarakhand carved out.
Confluence list: Chambal-Yamuna at Etawah; Betwa-Yamuna at Hamirpur; Ken-Yamuna in Banda; Yamuna-Ganga at Prayagraj; Ghaghara-Ganga at Chhapra (Bihar).
Sonbhadra is the only UP district touching four states (MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar) and is the state's power hub: Rihand, Obra, Anpara, Singrauli.
Industry cities: Kanpur leather, Moradabad brass (Peetal Nagri), Firozabad glass (Suhag Nagri), Aligarh locks, Meerut sports goods, Bhadohi carpets, Kannauj ittar.
Numbers to remember: Vidhan Sabha 403, Vidhan Parishad 100, Lok Sabha 80, Rajya Sabha 31; Allahabad High Court 1866, Lucknow bench 1948.
State symbols: animal barasingha (swamp deer), bird sarus crane, flower palash, tree ashoka (NCERT's module lists sal). Dudhwa is the home of the barasingha.
Dialect map from west to east: Khari Boli (Meerut), Braj (Mathura-Agra), Kannauji, Bundeli (Jhansi), Awadhi (Lucknow-Ayodhya), Bhojpuri (Varanasi-Gorakhpur).
UNESCO in UP: four World Heritage Sites as of July 2026: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri in Agra district, and the Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath (2026) in Varanasi; Ramlila (2008) and Kumbh Mela (2017) as intangible heritage.
Lucknow institutes: CDRI (drugs), NBRI (botany), IITR (toxicology), CIMAP (aromatic plants), Birbal Sahni Institute (palaeobotany), Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research.

Lessons in depth

10 longer lessons on Uttar Pradesh General Knowledge, one per sub-topic, each with its key facts and a quick revision.

Practice questions

Try each question before opening the answer.

1. At which site in Uttar Pradesh did Gautama Buddha deliver his first sermon, the Dharmachakra Pravartana? (A) Kushinagar (B) Sarnath (C) Shravasti (D) Kaushambi

Answer: (B) Sarnath. Buddha gave his first sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath near Varanasi. Kushinagar is where he attained Mahaparinirvana, and Shravasti is where he spent many rainy seasons.

2. The Ganga enters the plains of Uttar Pradesh in which district? (A) Saharanpur (B) Bijnor (C) Muzaffarnagar (D) Meerut

Answer: (B) Bijnor. After leaving Haridwar in Uttarakhand, the Ganga enters UP in Bijnor district, with the Upper Ganga Canal taking off upstream at Haridwar.

3. The Allahabad High Court, one of the oldest in India, was established in which year, and where is its only bench located? (A) 1862; Agra (B) 1866; Lucknow (C) 1869; Kanpur (D) 1887; Lucknow

Answer: (B) 1866; Lucknow. The High Court was established in 1866 at Agra as the High Court for the North-Western Provinces and shifted to Allahabad in 1869. Its Lucknow bench was created in 1948.

4. Sarnath, where the Buddha preached his first sermon, is called by what name in ancient Buddhist texts? (A) Kushinara (B) Rishipatana (Isipatana) (C) Kapilavastu (D) Vaishali

Answer: (B) Rishipatana (Isipatana). Buddhist texts call Sarnath Rishipatana (Pali: Isipatana), the deer park (Mrigadava) near Varanasi. Kushinara is the old name of Kushinagar.

5. The Sufi saint Shaikh Nizamuddin Auliya was born at which town of present-day Uttar Pradesh? (A) Kalpi (B) Patiali (C) Badaun (D) Bilgram

Answer: (C) Badaun. Nizamuddin Auliya was born at Badaun and later settled in Delhi as a leading Chishti saint. Patiali is the birthplace of his disciple, the poet Amir Khusrau.

6. The Gorakhnath Math at Gorakhpur, a city named after the saint Gorakhnath, is a principal seat of which sect? (A) Dadu Panth (B) Kabir Panth (C) Nath Sampradaya (D) Ramanandi Sampradaya

Answer: (C) Nath Sampradaya. Gorakhpur is named after Guru Gorakhnath, the great yogi of the Nath tradition associated with hatha yoga. The Kabir Panth's main centres are at Kabir Chaura in Varanasi and at Maghar.

7. Arrange in chronological order the cities that served as the seat of government of the North-Western Provinces (from 1836) and the provinces that succeeded it: Lucknow, Agra, Allahabad. (A) Allahabad, Agra, Lucknow (B) Agra, Allahabad, Lucknow (C) Agra, Lucknow, Allahabad (D) Lucknow, Agra, Allahabad

Answer: (B) Agra, Allahabad, Lucknow. The North-Western Provinces were governed from Agra until 1858, when the seat moved to Allahabad after the revolt. The government shifted to Lucknow in the early 1920s, and Lucknow is the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

8. The Meerut Conspiracy Case, begun in 1929, was a prosecution of: (A) Revolutionaries of the HSRA (B) Leaders of the Khilafat Movement (C) Leaders of the Awadh Kisan Sabha (D) Communist and trade union leaders

Answer: (D) Communist and trade union leaders. In 1929 the government arrested leading labour organisers, including communists and the Britons Philip Spratt and Ben Bradley, and tried them at Meerut. The long trial spread communist ideas more widely.

9. The name Varanasi is traditionally derived from two streams that meet the Ganga at the northern and southern ends of the city. Which are they? (A) Varuna and Assi (B) Gomti and Sai (C) Ken and Tons (D) Rapti and Ami

Answer: (A) Varuna and Assi. The Varuna joins the Ganga on the northern side of the city and the small Assi stream on the southern side; Varanasi is traditionally the land lying between them.

10. Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, on the Kaimur range in the south-east of the state, lies in which districts? (A) Jhansi and Lalitpur (B) Banda and Chitrakoot (C) Chandauli and Varanasi (D) Mirzapur and Sonbhadra

Answer: (D) Mirzapur and Sonbhadra. The Kaimur sanctuary covers the Vindhyan-Kaimur plateau in Mirzapur and Sonbhadra districts, south of the Ganga.

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