Allahabad and its nearby tract with its capital at Kaushambi was known as Vatsa Janapad. It was one of the sixteen ‘Maha Janpadas’ in ‘Aryavart’ in ancient times. In the fourth and fifth centuries, Prayagraj was one of the capitals of the Gupta Empire. In the seventh century Emperor Harsha Vardhana convened a great Buddhist assembly here which was attended by the Chinese pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang. The place was named Allahabad by Akbar who built a fort in 1583 AD. After Mughal rule, the region came under the control of the ‘nawabs’ of Awadh and later the British. After the failure of our first freedom struggle against the British in 1857 AD, the Delhi division was separated from the North-West Province in 1858 AD and also the provincial capital was shifted from Agra to Allahabad.
A tourist finds many well preserved relics belonging to the British here like Muir College and the All Saints Cathedral.
Allahabad is also the place where many events of India’s struggle for freedom took place; this is where the first Indian National Congress formed in 1885 AD
and where Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violence movement started in 1920 AD. It is this confluence of tradition, mythology and history of Allahabad that makes it
a great city. There are many places around Allahabad worth visiting. Every year, thousands gather at Allahabad to take part in the
Magh Mela festival, which is held on the banks of the
Ganga. The same festival is organized on a larger scale every 12th year and is called the
Kumbha Mela, where over 10 million Hindu pilgrims congregate — the largest gathering of human beings in the world. A dip at the confluence during the mela (fair) is the ambition of millions.