Under The Mughals
From the pre-historic period to the time of Akbar, the limits of the province and its internal divisions seem to have been constantly changing, and the name of Oudh, or Awadh, seems to have been applicable to only one of the ancient divisions or Sarkars, nearly corresponding to old Pachhimrath. The title of Subedar of Awadh is mentioned as early as 1280 A.D., but it can only have denoted the governor of the tract of the country above defined. The Awadh of Akbar was one of the twelve (or fifteen) subahs into which he divided the Mughal Empire as it stood in the year 1590 A.D. As constituted at the end of sixteenth century, the Subah contained five sarkars, viz. Awadh, Lucknow, Bahraich, Khairabad and Gorakhpur, and these, again were divided in numerous mahals and dasturs.
Khan Zaman Khan Ali Asghar son of Qazi Ghulam Mustafa was appointed as Subahdar of Awadh during the reign of Farrukhsiyar. This appointment was made in place of ‘Aziz Khan Chughtai’. Later on, Mahabat Khan was appointed as Subahdar of Awadh in place of Khan Zaman Khan Ali Asghar who was all over again transferred to Azimabad (Patna) as Subahdar in place of ‘Sar Buland Khan’.
It seems to have been of nearly the same extent as the Province of Oudh at the time of annexation to British India in 1858, and to have differed only in including Gorakhpur, Basti, and Azamgarh, and in excluding Tanda, Aldemau, and Manikpur, or the territory to the east and South of Faizabad, Sultanpur, and Pratapgarh.
Read more about this topic: Awadh