Prayagraj,[1] also known asIlahabad orAllahabad in ananglicized version in Roman script,[2] and ancientlyPrayag, is a city situated on an inland peninsula, surrounded by the riversGanges andYamuna on three sides, with only one side connected to the mainland Doab region, of which it is a part. This position is of importance inHindu scriptures for it is situated at the confluence, known asTriveni Sangam, of the holy rivers. As per Rigveda theSarasvati River (now dried up but believed to be flowing under the river Ganges) was part of the three river confluence in ancient times. It is one of four sites of theKumbh Mela, an important mass Hindupilgrimage.
Excavations have revealedIron Age ofNorthern Black Polished Ware in present-day Prayagraj. Archaeological sites in India, such asKosambi andJhusi near Prayagraj in present-dayUttar Pradesh show iron implements in the period 1800–1200 BC.[3] When this area in the North Western part of India was first settled, Prayag was part of the territory of the Kuru tribe, although most of Doab was not settled and consisted of dense forests at that time.
TheDoab region, including Prayaga, was controlled by several empires and dynasties in the ages to come. It became a part of theMauryan andGupta empires of the east and theKushan empire of the west before becoming part of theKannauj empire. Objects unearthed in Prayaga (now Prayagraj) indicate that it was part of theKushana empire in the 1st century AD. According to Rajtarangini of Kalhana, in 780 CE, Prayag was also an important part of the kingdom of Karkota king of Kashmir, Jayapida.[4] Jayapida constructed a monument at Prayag, which existed at Kalhana's time.
In his memoirs on India,Huien Tsang, the ChineseBuddhist monk and chronicler who travelled through India duringHarshavardhana's reign (A.D. 607–647), writes that he visited Prayaga in A.D. 643.
Purimtal Jain Tirth, located in Prayagraj (formerly known asPurimtal and later known asAllahabad), is a site of religious and historical significance forJains. This ancient pilgrim site is revered as the spot whereRishabhanatha, the firstTirthankara, achievedKevala jnana as per Jain beliefs.[5] As documented inVividha Tirtha Kalpa by Acharya Jinaprabhasuri,Purimtal once featured numerous Jain temples.Rishabhanatha is said to have attained omniscience under theAkshayavat tree. This tree, often referred to as the "indestructible" tree in legends, is a point of spiritual reverence in other religions as well. The site also holds importance inHindu andBuddhist traditions. Originally, sandalwood footprints of Rishabhanatha were placed beneath the tree, which were later replaced with stone replicas following theft.[6]
Acharya Hemachandrasuri'sTriṣaṣṭiśalākāpuruṣacaritra describesPurimtal as a 'hub of Jain activity', where multipleTirthankaras, includingMahavira, visited and meditated. Mahavira is said to have practiced deep meditation in theShakatmukh Udyan nearby, and a divine Samavasaran (transl. three-tiered pavilion for delivering sermons) was constructed here. Acharya Arnikaputra is also said to have attained omniscience andmoksha near theTriveni Sangam, the confluence of theGanges,Yamuna, andSaraswati rivers.[7]
In the 15th century,Akbar constructed a fort enclosing theAkshayavat tree. During British rule, public access to the fort was restricted, and the shrine was relocated to the Patalpuri Śvetāmbara Jain Temple on the fort’s outskirts. While the Patalpuri Śvetāmbara Jain Temple houses a tree worshiped as theAkshayvat, many believe the original Akshayvat is in an underground temple within the fort. Maps from the British Library confirm this, showing the original temple’s location at the fort's center.[8]
Purimtal is home to five Jain temples, including fourDigambara and oneŚvetāmbara temple. The Śvetāmbara Jain temple features a marble idol ofRishabhanatha, dating back to the 11th century CE. Alongside the idol, the temple enshrines images of otherTirthankaras, such asVimalnatha,Parshvanatha,Mahavira, andShantinatha. Footprints of Jain monks are also installed here. TheAllahabad Museum further highlights the region's Jain heritage, displaying ancient idols and artefacts excavated from nearby areas.[9]
Purimtal is associated with numerous milestones in Jain history, including: -
TheAkshayvat tree remains a key attraction. Ongoing efforts to preserve and documentPurimtal’sJain heritage ensure its enduring relevance to the community and the broader historical narrative.[9]
In some recent academic studies, theGuptas are traced to have originated from the Prayaga region, where they first established power.Goyal suggests that theAllahabad Pillar Inscription strongly indicates that the early Gupta center of power was in the moderneastern Uttar Pradesh, probably around Prayaga.[10]
TheVishnu Purana provides an intriguing reference: "Anu-Ganga Prayāgam Māgadha Guptās-cha bhokshyanti," which has been translated byMajumdar as "The territory along theGanges (up to) Prayaga will be enjoyed by the people ofMagadha and the Guptas." This excerpt suggests that the Guptas were distinguished from the people of Magadha, yet both jointly ruled the region along the Ganges up to Prayaga.[11]
Historically, theGupta Empire emerged from the unification of the Gupta andLicchavis states, which aligns with this Purana's reference. The text seems to imply that the Licchavis of Nepal were identified with the Magadhas, and their joint domain included Magadha and the territory stretching westward to Prayag.[12]
In this context, the capital of the Gupta empire likely started around Magadha and Prayag and expanded from there. The concentration of early Gupta inscriptions and gold coinages around Prayag (especially ofSamudragupta's famous prasasti) tends to suggest that this region was the residence of greatest power of the Guptas. They probably controlledSarnath in the east,[13] and as their stronghold, they used Prayag. For the initial phase of the empire, the exact boundaries in the region above and the west is vague, but they most definitely controlled easternUttar Pradesh. By the late third and early fourth centuries, this area had burgeoned into a dynasty aiming to build a great empire.[14]
Various scholarships considers Prayaga as the initial Gupta capital and supports this arguments with ThePuranic references, and multiple earlyGupta era inscriptions alongside the discovery of numerous coin hoards scattered around the region, further suggesting that the Guptas strengthened their sovereignty over the area prior to further expansion.[10]
This statement was also supported byR.S. Sharma who claimed that it is highly likely the Guptas based themselves inUttar Pradesh because from there they could expand anywhere. With Prayag as their center, they extended their rule over Anuganga (mid-Gangetic basin), Prayag (modern Prayagraj),Saketa (modernAyodhya), and Magadha.[11]
Samudragupta is thought to have come to the throne in the mid-4th century CE. His precise date of coronation is not known, however, evidence from both numismatics and epigraphy bear witness that he was one of the greatest rulers of ancient India. He was an excellent statesman, a gifted poet, and a musician. As noted in the Allahabad Pillar inscription, he was also a great conqueror who unified north and central India.[15]
In the same inscription,Sri Gupta andGhatotkacha are given the title ofMahārāja whileChandragupta I andSamudragupta are referred to asMahārājādhirāja, reflecting the increasing power and imperial glory of the dynasty.[16]
In contrast to the account ofXuanzang, the Muslim historians mention the tree to be located at the confluence of the rivers. The historian Dr. D. B. Dubey states that it appears that between this period, the sandy plain was washed away by the Ganga, to an extent that the temple and tree seen by the Chinese traveller too was washed away, with the river later changing its course to the east and the confluence shifting to the place where Akbar laid the foundations of his fort.[17]
As the majority of the houses would have been mud-walled, a flood could easily destroy them. Sir Alexander Cunningham, founder of the Archaeological Survey of India, concluded as much in his reports published in 1875 on theArchaeological Survey of India, supporting that assumption: "I infer that during the long period that intervened between the time of Hiuen Tsang and that of Akbar, the two rivers gradually carried away the whole of the sandy plain. Long before this time, the old city had, no doubt, been deserted, for we know that the fort of Allahabad was founded on its site."[18] However, present day Cambridge archaeologistDilip Kumar Chakrabarti disagrees. He argues that there is no way modern Prayag is ancient, but that the city site ofJhusi located opposite of the confluence was the ancient settlement of Prayag.[19]
The early 19th century historianSir Henry Miers Elliot believed that a town existed before Allahabad was founded. He adds that afterMahmud of Ghazni captured Asní nearFatehpur, he would not have crossed intoBundelkhand without visiting Allahabad, had there been a city there worth plundering. He further argues that its capture would have been heard about whenMuhammad of Ghor captured Benares. However, Ghori's historians never took notice of it. Yet theAkbarnama mentions that theMughal emperor Akbar founded a great city in Prayag.`Abd al-Qadir Bada'uni andNizamuddin Ahmad mention that Akbar laid the foundations of an Imperial City at Prayag which he calledIlahabas.[20]
Akbar's fort was built between 1574 and 1583. The Akbarnama states that, "For a long time [Akbar's] desire was to found a great city in the town of Prayag, where the rivers Ganges and Jamna join, which is regarded by the people of India with great reverence and which is a place of pilgrimage for ascetics of that country, and to build a choice fort there." He had been impressed with its strategic position, as it sat on the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, with the fort allowing for any movement along both. Other writers also attribute it to the facilitate the collection of pilgrimage tax from those visitingTriveni Sangam, though this appears unlikely as he had already abolished it in 1563.[21]
It is said that Akbar was so impressed by its strategic site after visiting it in 1575 that he ordered that a fort be constructed and renamed itIllahabas orAbode of God by 1584, later changed toAllahabad underShah Jahan. Speculations regarding its name however exist. Because of the surrounding people calling itAlhabas, has led to some people holding the view that it was named afterAlha fromAlha's story and was renamed by Akbar in the interest of Islam.[22]James Forbes' account of early 1800s claims that it was renamed Allahabad or abode of God byJahangir after he failed to destroy theAkshayavat tree. The name, however, predates him, withIlahabas andIlahabad mentioned on coins minted in the city since Akbar's rule, the latter name became predominant after the emperor's death. It has also been thought to not have been named afterAllah butilaha (the gods). Shaligram Shrivastav claimed inPrayag Pradip that the name was deliberately given by Akbar to be construed as both Hindu ("ilaha") and Muslim ("Allah").[23]
In 1580, Akbar reorganized his empire into 12 divisions, perAin-i-Akbari, "to each of which he gave the nameSubah and distinguished them by the appellation of the tract of country or its capital city." He combined the provinces ofJaunpur Sultanate,Kara-Manikpur and territory ofBandhogarh into theSubah of Ilahabas. He had been worried about the administration of the area, particularly after Ali Quli Khan Zaman's rebellion. Allahabad was selected as its capital.[24] Akbar deputed his sonSalim (the future emperor Jahangir) to carry on the war againstMewar while leaving to campaign in Deccan. The latter, however, tried to seize Agra's treasury in mid-1600 and came here after his failure. Upon reaching Allahabad, he seized its treasury and set himself up as a virtually independent ruler while raising an army.[25] In May 1602, Salim had his name read inFriday prayers and his name minted on coins in Allahabad.Abu'l Fazl was sent to deal with him but the prince had him assassinated. Akbar then reconciled with him and Salim returned to Allahabad, where he spent his time drinking and taking opium before returning to the royal court in 1604.[26]
AfterKhusrau Mirza's death in 1622 atBurhanpur, he was buried alongside his motherShah Begum in a garden nearKhuldabad. This garden was later namedKhusro Bagh after him.[27] In March 1624,Jai Singh I and otherKachwaha nobles seem to have retired from Deccan underParviz Mirza andMahabat Khan. On the orders of Jahangir, they proceeded to Allahabad to checkPrince Khurram's rebellion.[28] After capturing Jaunpur,Prince Khurram ordered the siege of Allahabad. The siege was however lifted by Abdulla Khan after Parwez and Mahabat Khan came to assist the garrison.[29]
A unique artefact associated with Jahangir's reign found in Allahabad is alarge jade terrapin, now in theBritish Museum's collection.[30] In 1630–31, a man named Abdal near dense forests of Allahabad rebelled, constructed a fort and used to plunder passersby. Thesubedar Qulij Khan Turani consequently attacked him, arrested 1,000 rebels while their ladies committedjauhar. The place was renamedIslamabad and the temple constructed by the rebel was converted into a mosque.[31]
During the Mughal war of succession, the commandant of the fort of Allahabad who had joinedShah Shuja made an agreement withAurangzeb's officers and surrendered it to Khan Dauran on 12 January 1659.[32] In 1720, theSayyid brothers negotiated the surrender of the rebellious governor Girdhar Bahadur, under the condition of him being made the governor ofAwadh, being able to appoint all civil and military officers in the province and being given 30 lakh rupees from Bengal's treasury.[33]
TheEast India Company coveted the fort for the same reasons of military strategy for which Akbar built it. British troops were first stationed at Allahabad fort in 1765 as part of theTreaty of Allahabad signed by LordRobert Clive, Mughal emperorShah Alam II, andNawab of AwadhShuja-ud-Daula.[21] The combined forces of Bengal's NawabMir Qasim, Shuja and Shah Alam were defeated by the English atBuxar in October 1764 and atKora in May 1765. Alam who was abandoned by Shuja after the defeats, surrendered to the English and was lodged at the fort, as they captured Allahabad,Benares andChunar in his name. The territories of Allahabad and Kora were given to the emperor after the treaty was signed in 1765.
Shah Alam spent six years in the Allahabad fort and after thecapture of Delhi in 1771 by the Marathas, left for his capitalin under their protection.[34] He was escorted to Delhi byMahadaji Shinde and left Allahabad in May 1771. During their short stay, Marathas constructed two temples in the city, one of them being the famousAlopi Devi Mandir. After reaching Delhi in January 1772 and realising the Maratha intent of territorial encroachment, however, Shah Alam ordered his generalNajaf Khan to drive them out. In retaliation,Tukoji Rao Holkar andVisaji Krushna Biniwale attacked Delhi and defeated Mughal forces in 1772. The Marathas were granted an imperialsanad for Kora and Allahabad. They turned their attention to Oudh to gain these two territories. Shuja was however, unwilling to give them up and made appeals to the English and the Marathas did not fare well at the Battle of Ramghat.[35] In August and September 1773,Warren Hastings met Shuja and concluded a treaty, under which Kora and Allahabad were ceded to the Nawab for a payment of 50 lakh rupees.[36]
Saadat Ali Khan II after being made the Nawab byJohn Shore, entered into a treaty with the Company and gave the fort to the British in 1798.[37]Lord Wellesley after threatening to annex the entire Awadh, concluded a treaty with Saadat on abolishing the independent Awadhi army, imposing a larger subsidiary force and annexingRohilkhand,Gorakhpur and the Doab in 1801.[38]
In 1765, the combined forces of theNawab of Awadh and the Mughal emperorShah Alam II lost theBattle of Buxar to theBritish. Although the British did not take over their states at that time, they established a garrison at Fort Allahabad, understanding its strategic position as the gateway to the northwest.Governor GeneralWarren Hastings later took Allahabad from Shah Alam and gave it to Awadh, alleging that he had placed himself in the power of the Marathas.
In 1801 the Nawab of Awadh ceded the city to theBritish East India Company. Gradually the other parts of Doab and adjoining regions to its west (including the Delhi andAjmer-Merwara regions) were won by the British. These northwestern areas were made into a new province called theNorth-Western Provinces, with its capital at Agra. Allahabad was located in this province.[39]
Acquired in 1801, Allahabad asides from its importance as a pilgrimage center, it was a stepping stone to the agrarian track upcountry and theGrand Trunk Road. It also potentially offered sizeable revenues to the Company. Initialrevenue settlements began in 1803. Theqanungos assisted the BritishCollector Edward Cuthbert. They provided physical paper records and histories of revenue returns which helped in negotiations with the cultivators,tehsildars,zamindars and those who owned rent-free lands.[40]
In 1834, Allahabad became the seat of the Government ofAgra Province and a High Court was established. A year later both were relocated to Agra.
In 1857, Allahabad was active in theIndian Mutiny. After the mutiny, the British truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it withPunjab, and transferred the capital of the North-Western Provinces to Allahabad, where it remained for the next twenty years.
In 1877 the two provinces of Agra and Awadh were merged to form a new state which was called theUnited Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Allahabad was the capital of this new state till the 1920s.
During the Mutiny of 1857, Allahabad had only a small garrison of European troops. Taking advantage of this, the rebels brought Allahabad under their control.Maulvi Liaquat Ali, one of the prominent leaders of the rebellion, was a native of the village of Mahgaon near Allahabad.
After the Mutiny was quelled, the British established the High Court, the Police Headquarters and the Public Service Commission in the city. This transformed Allahabad into an administrative center, a status that it enjoys to this day.
The fourth and eighth session of theIndian National Congress was held in the city in 1888 and 1892 respectively on the extensive grounds ofDarbhanga Castle, Allahabad.[41][42] At the turn of the century, Allahabad also became a nodal point for the revolutionaries.
In 1931, atAlfred Park in Allahabad, the revolutionaryChandrashekhar Azad killed himself when surrounded by theBritish Police. The Nehru family homes ofAnand Bhavan andSwaraj Bhavan, both in Allahabad, were at the center of the political activities of the Indian National Congress. In the years of the struggle for Indian independence, thousands ofsatyagrahis (nonviolent resistors), led byPurshottam Das Tandon,Bishambhar Nath Pande andNarayan Dutt Tiwari, went to jail. The firstPrime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, as well as several Union ministers such as Mangla Prasad, Muzaffar Hasan, K. N. Katju, and Lal Bahadur Shastri, were natives of Allahabad.
The first seeds of the idea ofPakistan were sown in Allahabad. On 29 December 1930,Allama Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address to theAll-India Muslim League proposed a separateMuslim state for the Muslim majority regions of India.
After independence, areas from the adjoining region ofBagelkhand in the east were merged with Allahabad district, which remain part of the district to this day. TheMayawati government split the original Allahabad district into two districts,Kaushambi andAllahabad district. From 16 October 2018 it is officially renamed as Prayagraj.[43][2]
Prayagraj has many sites of interest to tourists and archaeologists. Forty-eight kilometres to the southwest, on the banks of the Yamuna River, are the ruins of Kaushambi, which was the capital of theVatsa kingdom and a thriving center ofBuddhism. On the eastern side, across the river Ganges and connected to the city by the Shastri Bridge isPratisthan Pur, capital of theChandra dynasty. About 58 kilometres northwest is the medieval site ofKara with its impressive wreckage ofJaichand of Kannauj's fort.Shringaverpur, another ancient site discovered relatively recently, has become a major attraction for tourists and antiquarians alike. On the southwestern extremity of Prayagraj liesKhusrobagh; it has three mausoleums, including that of Jahangir's first wife, Shah Begum.
Prayagraj is the birthplace ofJawaharlal Nehru, and the Nehru family estate, calledAnand Bhavan, is now a museum. It is also the birthplace ofIndira Gandhi, and the home ofLal Bahadur Shastri, both later prime ministers of India.Vishwanath Pratap Singh andChandra Shekhar were also associated with Prayagraj. Thus, Prayagraj has the distinction of being the home of several prime ministers in India's post-independence history.
Allahabad University was founded on 23 September 1887, making it the fourth oldest university in India. It has been grantedCentral University status. Allahabad University is a major literary centre for Hindi studies. ManyBihari,Bengali andGujarati scholars spent their lives here, propagated their works inHindi and enriched the literature. In the 19th century, Allahabad University earned the epithet of 'Oxford of the East'. The founder of theInternational Society for Krishna ConsciousnessA. C. Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada attained sainthood in this place.
Many famous writers of Hindi and Urdu literature have a connection with the city. Notable amongst them areMunshi Premchand,Mahadevi Varma,Sumitranandan Pant,Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala',Subhadra Kumari Chauhan,Upendra Nath 'Ashk' andHarivansh Rai Bachchan. This is the literary Hindi heartland. The culture of Prayagraj is based on Hindi literature.Maithili Sharan Gupt was also associated with this literary Hindi soil in many ways.
The famous English author andNobel Laureate (1907)Rudyard Kipling spent time at Prayagraj working forThe Pioneer as an assistant editor and overseas correspondent.
Another landmark of the literary past of Prayagraj was the publishing firm Kitabistan, owned by the Rehman brothers, Kaleemur Rehman and Obaidur Rehman. They published thousands of books, including those by Nehru. They became the first publishers from India to open a branch in London in 1936.
Sanskrit scholars likeGanganath Jha, Dr. Baburam Saxena, Pandit Raghuvar Mitthulal Shastri, Professor Suresh Chandra Srivastava, and Dr. Manjushree Srivastava were both students and teachers at the University of Allahabad. The most prominentArabic andPersian scholars included Dr. Abdul Sattar Siddiqui and his colleague Muhammad Naeemur Rehman who was known for his well organized personal library of tens of thousands of books, which was open to all.
A noteworthy poet isRaghupati Sahay, better known under the name of Firaq Gorakhpuri. Firaq was a majorUrdu poet and literary critic of the 20th century. Both Firaq and Harivansh Bachchan were professors of English at Allahabad University. Firaq Gorakhpuri and Mahadevi Varma were awarded theJnanpith Award, the highest literary honour conferred in theRepublic of India in 1969 and 1982 respectively.Akbar Allahabadi is one of the most well-read poets of modern Urdu Literature. Other poets from Allahabad include Nooh Narwi, Tegh Allahabadi, Raaz Allahabadi, Firaq Gorakhpuri, and Asghar Gondvi. Professor A. K. Mehrotra, former head of English department at the University of Allahabad, has been nominated for the post of professor of poetry which was earlier held by poets like Matthew Arnold and W. H. Auden.
Short story writers Azam Kuraivi,Ibn-e-Safi, and Adil Rasheed are all from Prayagraj. Critics like Dr. Aijaz Husain, Dr. Aqeel Rizwi and Hakeem Asrar Kuraivi also hail from Prayagraj.Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, who editsShabkhoon, is known all over the Urdu world as a pioneer in Post Modernist literature. Rajendra Yadav, Mamta and Ravindra Kalia, Kamaleshwar, Namwar Singh,Doodhnath Singh and many other new age literary writers and critics began their literary careers in Prayagraj. The city is also home to many young and upcoming literary figures. It has also been one of the biggest centres of publication of Hindi literature; examples are Lok Bharti, Rajkamal and Neelabh.
Dr. Rajesh Verma is working on a book about eco-feminism, which will be the first major work on environment-related issues to be published in Prayagraj. Prayagraj has also produced a great lyricist,Virag Mishra, who recently won theStardust Award for Standout Performance by a lyricist, for "Zinda Hoon Main".
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UP therefore seems to have been the place from where the Guptas operated and fanned out in different directions. Probably with their centre of power at Prayag, they spread into the neighbouring regions.
