History of Allahabad
Encyclopedia
Allahabad
Allahabad , or Settled by God in Persian, is a major city of India and is one of the main holy cities of Hinduism. It was renamed by the Mughals from the ancient name of Prayaga , and is by some accounts the second-oldest city in India. It is located in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh,...
(Hindi: इलाहाबाद), also known as Prayag (Hindi: प्रयाग), is one of the largest cities of the North Indian state of Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is situated on an inland peninsula, surrounded by the rivers Ganges and Yamuna
Yamuna
The Yamuna is the largest tributary river of the Ganges in northern India...
on three sides, with only one side connected to the mainland Doab region, of which it is a part. This position is of importance in Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
scriptures for it is situated at the confluence, known as Triveni Sangam, of the holy rivers. Hindu belief says that the invisible Sarasvati River
Sarasvati River
The Sarasvati River is one of the chief Rigvedic rivers mentioned in ancient Hindu texts. The Nadistuti hymn in the Rigveda mentions the Sarasvati between the Yamuna in the east and the Sutlej in the west, and later Vedic texts like Tandya and Jaiminiya Brahmanas as well as the Mahabharata...
also joins here. It is one of four sites of the Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela
Kumbh Mela is a mass Hindu pilgrimage in which Hindus gather at the Ganges river.The normal Kumbh Mela is celebrated every 3 years, the Ardh Kumbh Mela is celebrated every six years at Haridwar and Prayag, the Purna Kumbh takes place every twelve years, at four places Prayag, Haridwar, Ujjain,...
, an important mass Hindu pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
.
The ancient name of the city is Prayag (Sanskrit for "place of sacrifice"), as it is believed to be the spot where Brahma
Brahma
Brahma is the Hindu god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the others being Vishnu and Shiva. According to the Brahma Purana, he is the father of Mānu, and from Mānu all human beings are descended. In the Ramayana and the...
offered his first sacrifice after creating the world. Since its founding, Allahabad has played an important role in the history and cultural life of India.
Ancient times
The city was originally known as Prayaga (place of the confluences) – a name that is still often used. Excavations have revealed Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
Northern Black Polished Ware
Northern Black Polished Ware
The Northern Black Polished Ware culture of South Asia is an Iron Age culture, succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture...
in Allahabad. That it is an ancient town is also illustrated by references in the Vedas
Vedas
The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....
(the most ancient of Hindu sacred texts) to Allahabad. It is believed to be the where Brahma, the Hindu Creator of the Universe, attended a sacrificial ritual.
The Puranas
Puranas
The Puranas are a genre of important Hindu, Jain and Buddhist religious texts, notably consisting of narratives of the history of the universe from creation to destruction, genealogies of kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, and descriptions of Hindu cosmology, philosophy, and geography.Puranas...
, another important group of religious texts, record that Yayati
Yayati
Yayati was a Puranic king and the son of king Nahusha and one of ancestors of Pandavas. He was a great scholar of Vedas. He had five brothers, Yati, Samyati, Ayati, Viyati and Kriti. He had two wives, Devayani and Sharmishtha. Devayani was the daughter of Shukracharya, the priest of Asuras ....
left Allahabad and conquered the region of Sapta Sindhu. His five sons Yadu
Yadu
Yadu is one of the five Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rig Veda . The Mahabharata, the Harivamsha and the Puranas mention Yadu as the eldest son of king Yayati and his queen Devayani. The prince of King Yayati, Yadu was a self-respecting and a very established ruler...
, Druhyu, Puru
Puru
The Purus were a tribe, or a confederation of tribes, mentioned many times in the Rigveda, formed around 3180 BCE. RV 7.96.2 locates them at the banks of the Sarasvati River. There were several factions of Purus, one being the Bharatas...
, Anu
Anu
In Sumerian mythology, Anu was a sky-god, the god of heaven, lord of constellations, king of gods, Consort of Antu, spirits and demons, and dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. It was believed that he had the power to judge those who had committed crimes, and that he had created the stars as...
and Turvashas
Turvashas
The Turvashas were one of the five Indo-Aryan tribes mentioned in the Rig Veda and later texts...
became the main tribes of the Rigveda
Rigveda
The Rigveda is an ancient Indian sacred collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns...
. When the Aryans
Indo-Aryan migration
Models of the Indo-Aryan migration discuss scenarios of prehistoric migrations of the proto-Indo-Aryans to their historically attested areas of settlement in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent...
first settled in what they termed the Aryavarta
Aryavarta
Āryāvarta is a name for Northern India in classical Sanskrit literature. The Manu Smriti gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the Western Sea"....
, Allahabad and the district of Kaushambi were important parts of their territory. The Vatsa
Vatsa
Vatsa was one of the solasa Mahajanapadas of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya....
(a branch of the early Indo-Aryans], the [Kurus) were rulers of Hastinapur (near present day Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
). When Hastinapur was destroyed by floods, they established the town of Kaushambi near present day Allahabad as their new capital.
In the times of the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, Allahabad was made up of a few rishi
Rishi
Rishi denotes the composers of Vedic hymns. However, according to post-Vedic tradition, the rishi is a "seer" to whom the Vedas were "originally revealed" through states of higher consciousness. The rishis were prominent when Vedic Hinduism took shape, as far back as some three thousand years...
's huts at the confluence of the sacred rivers, and much of the countryside was continuous jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
. Lord Rama, the main protagonist in the Ramayana, spent some time here, at the Ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
of Sage Bharadwaj
Bharadwaja
Bharadwaja was one of the greatest Hindu Arya sages descendant of rishi Angirasa, whose accomplishments are detailed in the Puranas. He was one of the Saptarshis in the present Manvantara; with others being Atri, Vashishtha, Vishvamitra, Gautama, Jamadagni, Kashyapa.Bhardwaj Rishi was father of...
, before proceeding to nearby Chitrakoot.
The Doab
Doab
A Doab is a term used in India and Pakistan for a "tongue" or tract of land lying between two confluent rivers...
region, including Allahabad, was controlled by several empires and dynasties in the ages to come. It became a part of the Mauryan and Gupta
Gupta
Gupta is a common surname of Indian origin.According to some academicians, the name Gupta is derived from Sanskrit goptri, meaning military governor. A more direct translation of the Sanskrit word gupta is 'secret' or 'hidden'. According to prominent historian R. C...
empires of the east and the Kushan empire of the west before becoming part of the Kannauj
Kannauj
Kannauj , also spelt Kanauj, is a city, administrative headquarters and a municipal board or Nagar Palika Parishad in Kannauj district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city's name is traditionally derived from the term Kanyakubja . Kannauj is an ancient city, in earlier times the capital...
empire. Objects unearthed in Allahabad indicate that it was part of the Kushana empire in the 1st century AD.
In his memoirs on India, Huien Tsang, the Chinese chronicler who travelled through India during Harshavardhana's reign (A.D. 607–647), writes that he visited Allahabad in A.D. 643.
Muslim rule
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate is a term used to cover five short-lived, Delhi based kingdoms or sultanates, of Turkic origin in medieval India. The sultanates ruled from Delhi between 1206 and 1526, when the last was replaced by the Mughal dynasty...
when the town was annexed by Muhammad of Ghor
Muhammad of Ghor
Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori , originally called Mu'izzuddīn Muḥammad Bin Sām , was a ruler of the Ghurid dynasty who reigned over a territory spanning present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India.Shahabuddin Ghori reconquered the city of Ghazna Sultan Shahāb-ud-Din Muhammad Ghori...
in 1193.
The Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
invasion of India began in 1526, and Allahabad then became a part of their empire. Understanding the strategic position of Allahabad in the Doab region, at the confluence of its defining rivers which had immense navigational potential, the Mughal emperor Akbar built a magnificent fort
Allahabad Fort
right|300px|thumb|Allahabad FortAllahabad Fort at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India was built by Emperor Akbar in 1583. The fort stands on the banks of the Yamuna near the site of confluence with the river Ganges. It is the largest fort built by Akbar...
– one of his largest – on the banks of the holy Sangam
Sangam at Allahabad
In Hindu tradition Triveni Sangam is the "confluence" of three rivers. Sangama is the Sanskrit word for confluence. The point of confluence is a sacred place for Hindus...
and re-christened the town as Illahabad in 1575. The fort has an Ashokan pillar and some temples, and was largely a military barracks.
It was from Allahabad that Prince Salim
Jahangir
Jahangir was the ruler of the Mughal Empire from 1605 until his death. The name Jahangir is from Persian جهانگیر,meaning "Conqueror of the World"...
led a revolt against his father Akbar. In 1602, prince Salim held a parallel imperial court in Akbar's fort here, ignoring the royal summons to leave Allahabad and proceed to Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
. However, before his death in 1605, Akbar named Salim his successor. Salim later served as emperor under the name Jahangir.
Before colonial rule was imposed over Allahabad, the city was rocked by Maratha
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
incursions. But the Marathas also left behind two beautiful eighteenth century temples with intricate architecture.
Colonial rule
In 1765, the combined forces of the Nawab of AwadhNawab of Awadh
The Nawab of Awadh is the title of rulers who governed the state of Awadh in India in the 18th and 19th century. The Nawabs of Awadh originated form Persia-Establishment:...
and the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II
Shah Alam II , also known as Ali Gauhar, was a Mughal emperor of India. A son of Alamgir II, he was exiled to Allahabad in December 1759 by Ghazi-ud-Din, who appointed Shah Jahan III as the emperor. Later, he was nominated as the emperor by Ahmad Shah.Shah Alam II was considered the only and...
lost the Battle of Buxar
Battle of Buxar
The Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764 between the forces under the command of the British East India Company, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal; Shuja-ud-Daula Nawab of Awadh; and Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor...
to the British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
. 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 General Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings
Warren Hastings PC was the first Governor-General of India, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but was acquitted in 1795. He was made a Privy Councillor in 1814.-Early life:...
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
Nawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
of Awadh
Awadh
Awadh , also known in various British historical texts as Oudh or Oude derived from Ayodhya, is a region in the centre of the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh...
ceded the city to the British East India Company
British East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
. Gradually the other parts of Doab and adjoining regions to its west (including the Delhi and Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara
Ajmer-Merwara is a former province of British India in the historical Ajmer region. The territory of the province was ceded to the British by Daulat Rao Sindhia by a treaty on June 25, 1818....
regions) were won by the British. These northwestern areas were made into a new province called the North-Western Provinces
North-Western Provinces
The North-Western Provinces was an administrative region in British India which succeeded the Ceded and Conquered Provinces and existed in one form or another from 1836 until 1902, when it became the Agra Province within the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh .-Area:The province included all...
, with its capital at Agra. Allahabad was located in this province.
In 1834, Allahabad became the seat of the Government of Agra Province
Agra Province
Agra Province was a part of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh in India under the British Raj, which existed from 1904 until 1947; it corresponded to the former regions, Ceded and Conquered Provinces and the North Western Provinces .-See also:*Company rule in India*United Provinces of Agra and...
and a High Court was established. A year later 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
Punjab region
The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...
, 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
Awadh
Awadh , also known in various British historical texts as Oudh or Oude derived from Ayodhya, is a region in the centre of the modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which was before independence known as the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh...
were merged to form a new state which was called the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh
The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1947; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces, by which the province had been commonly known, and by which name it was also a province of...
. Allahabad was the capital of this new state till the 1920s.
Allahabad, the freedom struggle, and Indian politics
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 AliMaulvi liaquat ali
Maulvi Liaquat Ali was a Muslim religious leader from Allahabad, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in present day India. He was one of the leaders in the revolt against the British in 1857, in what is now known as the Indian Mutiny, or the Sepoy Mutiny...
, one of the prominent leaders of the rebellion, was a native of the village of Mahgaon near Allahabad.
The fourth and eighth session of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
was held in the city in 1888 and 1892 respectively on the extensive grounds of Darbhanga Castle
Darbhanga, Allahabad
Darbhanga is a locality/township of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. This colony was formerly owned by the Royal family of Darbhanga. That is the reason of this colony being known as Darbhanga. It still has Darbhanga House and Darbhanga Castle in the Colony...
, Allahabad. At the turn of the century, Allahabad also became a nodal point for the revolutionaries.
In 1931, at Alfred Park in Allahabad, the revolutionary Chandrashekhar Azad killed himself when surrounded by the British Police. The Nehru family homes of Anand Bhavan
Anand Bhavan
Anand Bhavan is a large mansion located in Allahabad, India. It was owned by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 19th century, it has served as the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi Family — future Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was born there...
and Swaraj Bhavan
Swaraj Bhavan
The Swaraj Bhavan is a large bungalow in Allahabad, India. It was constructed by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 1920s to serve as the residence of the Nehru family when the original mansion Anand Bhavan was transformed into the local headquarters of the Indian National Congress....
, 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 of satyagrahis
Satyagraha
Satyagraha , loosely translated as "insistence on truth satya agraha soul force" or "truth force" is a particular philosophy and practice within the broader overall category generally known as nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. The term "satyagraha" was conceived and developed by Mahatma...
(nonviolent resistors), led by Purshottam Das Tandon, Bishambhar Nath Pande
Bishambhar Nath Pande
Dr. Bishambhar Nath Pande was a freedom fighter, social worker, and an eminent parliamentarian in India. Dr. Pande devoted his life to the cause of National Integration, and to the spread of the Gandhian way of life.-Life:Dr...
and Narayan Dutt Tiwari
Narayan Dutt Tiwari
Narayan Dutt Tiwari is an Indian political figure. He was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh three times during the 1970s and 1980s and was Chief Minister of Uttarkhand from 2002 to 2007...
, went to jail. The first Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
, 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 of Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
were sown in Allahabad. On 29 December 1930, Allama Muhammad Iqbal's presidential address to the All-India Muslim League proposed a separate Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
state for the Muslim majority regions of India.
After independence, areas from the adjoining region of Bagelkhand
Bagelkhand
Bagelkhand or Baghelkhand, is a region in central India, in northeastern Madhya Pradesh state. It includes the Madhya Pradesh districts of Anuppur, Rewa, Satna, Shadol, Sidhi, and Umaria....
in the east were merged with Allahabad district, which remain part of the district to this day. The Mayawati
Mayawati
Mayawati is the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, India. She heads the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents the Bahujans or Dalits, the weakest strata of Indian society. This is her fourth term as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh...
government split the original Allahabad district into two districts, Kaushambi and Allahabad district
Allahabad District
Allahabad district is one of the districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, and Allahabad town is the district headquarters. Allahabad district is a part of Allahabad Division.As of 2011 it is the most populous district of Uttar Pradesh ....
.
Historical and archaeological sites
Allahabad 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 the VatsaVatsa
Vatsa was one of the solasa Mahajanapadas of Uttarapatha of ancient India mentioned in the Anguttara Nikaya....
kingdom and a thriving center of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. On the eastern side, across the river Ganges and connected to the city by the Shastri Bridge is Pratisthan Pur
Pratisthan Pur (Jhunsi)
Pratisthan Pur or Pratisthan Puram was capital of the Lunar Dynasty , at present Jhusi, Allahabad. This archeological site has yielded a carbon 14 dating of 7100 BC for its Neolithic levels...
, capital of the Chandra dynasty. About 58 kilometres northwest is the medieval site of Kara
Kara (Kaushambi)
Kara is an old township situated near Sirathu, on the banks of Ganges, west of the city of Allahabad in Kaushambi district in Uttar Pradesh state in India...
with its impressive wreckage of Jaichand of Kannauj
Jaichand of Kannauj
Jaichand was the Rajput ruler of Kannauj. He was the father of Sanyogita, Prithvi Raj Chauhan's wife. Jaichand was the name of the last ruler of Kannauj belonging to the Rathore dynasty.-Sources:...
's fort. Shringaverpur
Shringaverpur
Shringaverpur is a place 45 km from Allahabad on Lucknow road. It was known by the ancients that here Lord Rama crossed the river Ganges on his way to exile along with Sita and Lakshmana....
, another ancient site discovered relatively recently, has become a major attraction for tourists and antiquarians alike. On the southwestern extremity of Allahabad lies Khusrobagh; it has three mausoleums, including that of Jahangir's first wife, Shah Begum.
Allahabad is the birthplace of Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Nehru family estate, called Anand Bhavan
Anand Bhavan
Anand Bhavan is a large mansion located in Allahabad, India. It was owned by Indian political leader Motilal Nehru in the 19th century, it has served as the ancestral home of the Nehru-Gandhi Family — future Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi was born there...
, is now a museum. It is also the birthplace of Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, and the home of Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Lal Bahadur Srivastava Shastri was the second Prime Minister of the Republic of India and a significant figure in the Indian independence movement.-Early life:...
, both later Prime Ministers of India. Vishwanath Pratap Singh and Chandra Shekhar
Chandra Shekhar
Chandra Shekhar Singh was the eighth Prime Minister of India.-Early years:He was born on 1 July 1927 to a Rajput farming family in Ibrahimpatti - Ballia in eastern Uttar Pradesh. Chandra Shekhar Singh did his Master of Arts at Allahabad University. He was known as a firebrand in student politics...
were also associated with Allahabad. Thus, Allahabad has the distinction of being the home of several Prime Ministers in India's post-independence history.
An ancient seat of learning
Allahabad was a well-known centre of education (dating from the time of the BuddhaGautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
), and into modern times.
Allahabad University
Allahabad University
Allahabad University , is a premier Central University located in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India. Its origins lie in the Muir Central College, named after Lt...
was founded on 23 September 1887, making it the fourth oldest university in India. It has been granted Central University
Central University
Central University may mean:*National Central University, Taiwan*Nanjing University, former name*Central University , one of 22 government-designated central universities in India*Central University of Ecuador, the oldest university in Ecuador...
status. Allahabad University is a major literary centre for Hindi studies. Many Bihari
Bihari people
The Biharis are an ethnic group originating from the present state of Bihar with a history going back three millennia...
, Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
and Gujarati
Gujarati people
Gujarati people , or Gujaratis are an ethnic group that is traditionally Gujarati-speaking and can trace their ancestry to the state of Gujarat in western India...
scholars spent their lives here, propagated their works in Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and enriched the literature. In the 19th century, Allahabad University earned the epithet of 'Oxford of the East
Oxford of the East
Oxford of the East may refer to the following:* The city of Pune. Due to it's popularity as a student destination and the number of educational institutions, the city was attributed the moniker 'Oxford of the East' by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru....
'. The founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness , known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organization. It was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada...
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was a Gaudiya Vaishnava teacher and the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly known as the "Hare Krishna Movement"...
attained sainthood in this place.
Literary past
Many famous writers of Hindi and Urdu literature have a connection with the city. Notable amongst them are Munshi PremchandMunshi Premchand
Munshi Premchand , was a famous writer of modern Hindi-Urdu literature. He is generally recognized in India as the foremost Hindi-Urdu writer of the early twentieth century...
, Mahadevi Varma
Mahadevi Varma
Mahadevi Varma best known as an outstanding Hindi poet, was a freedom fighter, woman's activist and educationist from India. She is widely regarded as the "modern Meera". She was a major poet of the Chhayavaad generation, a period of romanticism in Modern Hindi poetry ranging from 1914-1938...
, Sumitranandan Pant
Sumitranandan Pant
Sumitranandan Pant was one of the most famous modern Hindi poets. He is considered one of the major poets of the Chhayavaadi school of Hindi literature. Pant mostly wrote in Sanskritized Hindi. Pant authored twenty eight published works including poetry, verse plays and essays.Pant was born at...
, Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'
Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala'
Suryakant Tripathi 'Nirala' was one of the most famous figures of the modern Hindi literature. He was a poet, novelist, essayist and story-writer...
, Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan
Subhadra Kumari Chauhan was an Indian poetess famous for her emotionally charged Hindi songs.-Early life:Born in Nihalpur village in Allahabad District in Uttar Pradesh. She initially studied in the Crosthwaite Girls’ School in Allahabad and passed the middle-school examination in 1919...
, Upendra Nath 'Ashk' and Harivansh Rai Bachchan. This is the literary Hindi heartland. The culture of Allahabad is based on Hindi literature. Maithili Sharan Gupt
Maithili Sharan Gupt
Maithilisharan Gupt was one of the most important modern Hindi poets. He is considered among the pioneers of Khari Boli poetry and wrote in Khari Boli at a time when most Hindi poets favoured the use of Brajbhasha.- Early life :Born Chirgaon, Jhansi in a Gahoi family...
was also associated with this literary Hindi soil in many ways.
The famous English author and Nobel
Nobel Prize in Literature
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction"...
Laureate (1907) Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
spent time at Allahabad working for The Pioneer as an assistant editor and overseas correspondent.
Another landmark of the literary past of Allahabad 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 like Ganganath Jha
Ganganath Jha
Sir Gaṅgānāth Jhā was an eminent scholar of Sanskrit, Indian Philosophy, Buddhist Philosophy and paṇḍit of Nyāya-Śāstra.-Early life:...
, 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 prominent Arabic and Persian
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
scholars included Dr. Abdul Sattar Siddiqui, his colleague Muhammad Naeemur Rehman, and his student Professor 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 is Raghupati Sahay, better known under the name of Firaq Gorakhpuri. Firaq was a major Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
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 the Jnanpith Award
Jnanpith Award
The Jnanpith Award is a literary award in India. Along with the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, it is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country...
, the highest literary honour conferred in the Republic of India in 1969 and 1982 respectively. Akbar Allahabadi
Akbar Allahabadi
Syed Akbar Hussain Rizvi popularly known as Akbar Allahabadi was an Indian Urdu poet.-Early life:...
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
Ibn-e-Safi
Ibn-e-Safi was the pen name of Asrar Ahmad , a best-selling and prolific fiction writer, novelist and poet of Urdu. The word Ibn-e-Safi is an Arabian expression which literally means Son of Safi, where the word Safi means chaste or righteous...
, and Adil Rasheed are all from Allahabad. Critics like Dr. Aijaz Husain, Dr. Aqeel Rizwi and Hakeem Asrar Kuraivi also hail from Allahabad. Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi
Shamsur Rahman Faruqi is an eminent Urdu critic, poet and theorist, who has nurtured a whole generation of Urdu writers since the 1960s. He is regarded as the founder of the new movement in Urdu literature and has formulated fresh models of literary appreciation...
, who edits Shabkhoon
Shabkhoon
Shabkhoon was an Urdu literary magazine published by Shamsur Rahman Faruqi . It covered the modernist voice in Urdu literature from the sixties to 2005 when it ceased publication.-External links:*...
, 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 Allahabad. 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 Allahabad. Allahabad has also produced a great lyricist, Virag Mishra, who recently won the Stardust Award
Stardust Awards
The Stardust Awards is an award ceremony for Hindi movies, which congratulate the superstars of the new generation who are making an impact on the future. It is sponsored by Stardust magazine.- Background :...
for Standout Performance by a lyricist, for "Zinda Hoon Main".