Oude

or Oudh . A province of British India, separated on the north from Nepaul by the lower ranges of the Himalaya, whence it gradually slopes to the Ganges, which forms its boundary on the south and southwest. The people of this province are of a decidedly warlike disposition; they mainly supply the famous (or infamous) Sepoys of the Bengal army. Oude is believed by Sanscrit scholars to be the ancient Kosala, the oldest seat of civilization in India. The country was conquered by a Mohammedan army in 1195, and made a province of the Mogul empire. In 1753 the vizier of Oude, Saffdar Jung, rebelled against his imperial master, Ahmed Shah, and forced the latter to make the governorship hereditary in his family. When the mutiny of 1857 broke out, Oude became one of the great centres of rebellion. The country was subdued by the British.