Allahabad - History

History

The city was known earlier as Prayāga - a name that is still commonly used. Its age is illustrated by Vedic references to Prayag, where Brahma, the Creator of the Universe, is believed to have attended a sacrificial ritual. Excavations have revealed Northern Black Polished Ware objects in Prayag, further corroborating the conjecture that Prayag existed as a town as early as 600 B.C. The Puranas record that Yayati left Prayag and conquered the region of Saptha Sindhu. His five sons Yadu, Druhyu, Puru, Anu and Turvashu became the main tribes of the Rigveda. Lord Rama, the main protagonist in the Ramayana, spent time at the Ashram of Sage Bharadwaj before proceeding to nearby Chitrakoot.

When the Aryans first settled in what they termed the Āryāvarta (or Madhyadesha), Prayag (or Kaushambi) was an important part of their territory. The Kuru Kingdom, rulers of Hastinapur (near present day Delhi), established the town of Kaushambi near Prayag. They shifted their capital to Kaushambi when Hastinapur was destroyed by floods.

The Doaba region, including Allahabad, was controlled by several empires and dynasties in the ages to come. The area became a part of the Mauryan and Gupta empires of the east and the Kushan empire of the west before becoming part of the local Kannauj empire in 15th century. The city was the scene of Maratha incursions before colonial rule was imposed over India. In 1765, the British established a garrison at Allahabad fort. It is also known as the "Prime minister Capital of the India," the importance of the government to the city has led seven out of fourteen Prime Ministers of India. Prayag became a part of the Delhi sultanate when the town was annexed by Mohammad Ghori in A.D. 1193. Later, the Mughals took over from the slave rulers of Delhi and under them Prayag rose to prominence. Akbar built a magnificent fort (viz. Allahabad fort), on the banks of the holy sangam and rechristened the town as Illahabad in 1575.

In 1765, the combined forces of the Nawab of Awadh and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II lost the Battle of Buxar to the British. Although the British did not yet establish direct rule, they realized the strategic position of Allahabad as the gateway to the northwest and established a garrison at the fort. In 1801, the Nawab of Awadh ceded the city to the British East India Company. Gradually the other parts of Doaba and adjoining region in its west (including Delhi and Ajmer-Mewara regions) were won by the British. The north western areas were made into a new Presidency called the "North Western Provinces of Agra", with their capital at Agra. Allahabad remained an important part of this state. In 1834, Allahabad became the seat of the Government of the Agra Province, and a High Court was established—but a year laterz both were relocated to Agra. In 1857, Allahabad was active in the Indian Mutiny. After the mutiny, the British truncated the Delhi region of the state, merging it with Punjab, and transferred the capital of North west Provinces to Allahabad, where it remained for 20 years. Later, In 1877 the two provinces of Agra (NWPA) and Awadh were merged to form a new state which was called the United Provinces. Allahabad served as the capital of United Provinces until 1920.

During the 1857 mutiny, Allahabad had a significant presence of European troops. Maulvi Liaquat Ali freedom fighter of 1857, unfurled the banner of revolt. 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. The fourth session of the Indian National Congress was held in the city in 1888. By the turn of the century, Allahabad was a nodal point for the revolutionaries. The Karmyogi office of Sundar Lal in Chowk sparked patriotism among youth. Nityanand Chatterji became a household name when he hurled the first bomb at the European club. It was at Alfred Park in Allahabad where, in 1931, the revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad killed himself when surrounded by the British Police. The Nehru family homes Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan were at the center of the political activities of the Indian National Congress. In the years of the freedom struggle, Allahabad was home to thousands of satyagrahis, led, inter alii, by Purushottam Das Tandon, Bishambhar Nath Pande and Narayan Dutt Tiwari. The first seeds of the idea of Pakistan were sown in Allahabad. On 29 December 1930, Allama Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address to the All-India Muslim League proposed a separate Muslim state for the Muslim majority regions of India.