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About Allahabad |
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Allahabad has a history that dates back to the time of the ancient Vedic civilization and the ruins of Koshambi found at the bank of the Yamuna river gives ample evidence to this conjecture. The Vatsa kingdom, established by the early Indo Aryan settlers, founded Koshambi near the present Allahabad. This newly created town acquired much significance when Hastinapur, the then capital of Vatsa ruler, was destroyed by floods and they had to move their capital to Koshambi. Allahabad finds its mention also in the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Prayag, the earlier name of Allahabad, was situated at a confluence of the river Ganga and Yamuna, which was later to be known as the Doaba region in its history. This region was the flourishing ground for the development of many civilizations and cultures.
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Throughout its history, it saw the rise and fall of several rulers and dynasties, and was controlled by some of the greatest empires of the country. To be more precise, Prayag was ruled by the Mauryan, the Gupta and the Kushan before becoming a part of the Delhi Sultanate in 1193.
When the Mughals ascended to the throne of Delhi, Prayag got a new identity under the name of Ilahabad and quickly rose into prominence as a place to offer harmonious blend of two different cultures. Akbar, the Mughal emperor, built a fort here, which was largely used as a military barrack during his rule. When the Mughal empire started to disintegrate, the city bore the brunt of several attacks by the Maratha rulers before slipping into the hands of the British in the eighteenth century.
The British became a maser of the Doaba region after their victory in the Battle of Buxor in 1765. Allahabad came under the direct control of the colonial rule when the Nawab of Awadh ceded it to the British East India Company in 1801. Later it was made a part of the North Western Province of Agra. Allahabad was a hotbed of nationalist activities during the first Independence Movement of 1857. The city of Allahabad was made to serve as the capital of the North Western Provinces and later the United Provinces for some years in the latter half of the nineteenth century. After independence, it became a major city of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Recently we saw Allahabad grow into a major center of education, with the rising number of educational institutions around the Allahabad University.
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