The Oudh State (or Kingdom of Oudh, or Awadh State) was a princely state in the Awadh region during the British Raj until 1856. Oudh (IPA: /ˈaʊd/),[1] the now obsolete but once official English-language name of the state, also written in British historical texts as 'Oude', derived from the name of Ayodhya.

The capital of Oudh State is in Faizabad, but the British Agents, officially known as 'residents', have their seat in Lucknow.

The Nawab of Oudh, one of the richest princes, pays for and erects a Residency in Lucknow as a part of a wider program of civic improvements.

Oudh joins other Indian states in an upheaval against British rule in 1858 during one of the last series of actions in the Indian rebellion of 1857.

In the course of this uprising, detachments of the British Indian Army from the Bombay Presidency overcome the disunited collection of Indian states in a single rapid campaign.

Determined rebels continue to wage sporadic guerrilla clashes until the spring of 1859.

This rebellion is also historically known as the Oudh campaign.

After the British annexation of Oudh by the Doctrine of Lapse, the North Western Provinces become the North Western Provinces and Oudh.