The amazing splendor of organizing Maha Kumbh-2025 is dazzling from the ground to the sky of Prayagraj. It is no longer just the mythological confluence of Ganga-Yamuna and Saraswati, but it is also the confluence of faith, belief and tradition. It is the land of a safe heritage passed down through the ages, which nourished the Vedic era, which has given its glory to the Puranas and has given a culturally rich history to this country called India after Dushyant’s son Bharat.
Prayagraj has been the land of confluence of rivers as well as civilizations, which was sometimes called Ilavart, sometimes Elabaas, sometimes Kada and sometimes Jhunsi. This Ilawas later became Allahawas and then changed to Allahabad and was also known as Allahabad.
The glory of Prayag has been sung in the Puranas, in fact its first description is found in a hymn of the Rigveda. Regarding Sangam Snan, it is said in a verse of the tenth chapter of Rigveda that ‘Those who take bath at the confluence of white and black rivers, go to heaven and those patient beings who give up their mortal bodies at that place. They attain salvation.
Wherever the white and black rivers meet, the floats rise to heaven,
Those who are steadfast in giving up their bodies attain immortality.
– Rigveda, Khilsukta
Here the white water is said to be of Ganga and the black water is said to be of Yamuna and the confluence of these two waters takes place in Prayag only.
Prayagraj was also known as Ilavas in mythological times.
In ancient times, this area was dominated by ‘Ilavamshiya’ kings. Hence it was also known as Ilavas. Historians believe that Ikshvaku’s contemporary ‘Ail’ caste people had come to Prayag from the Central Himalayan region via Almora, their king ‘Ila’ had annexed Pratisthanpur (Jhunsi) to his kingdom. Soon, except the kingdoms of Ayodhya, Videha and Vaishali, ‘Ilavanshiya’ emperors were in power in the whole of North India and till Vidarbha in the south.
Prayag was once known by the name ‘Kada’
Making the history of Prayag and Sangam Bhoomi the subject of his writing, writer Dr. Rajendra Tripathi ‘Rasraj’ has written in detail about its Mughal period history in his book ‘Prayagraj – Kumbh Katha’. He writes that, ‘After hearing the glory of Prayag, Mughal emperor Akbar made ‘Kada’ his province, at the same time he got to hear the greatness of the confluence of Ganga-Yamuna in Prayag.’ It is clear that at one time before Allahabad, the name of this pilgrimage place was also ‘Kada’.
Mughal emperor Akbar liked the geographical boundaries of Prayag.
When Akbar came here with the desire to see the pilgrimage site, he was very impressed by its geographical extent and what he liked most was that it was the Doab region of Ganga and Yamuna. Complete in every way. There was neither shortage of grains here, nor did agriculture dry up, nor did the market slow down. In this respect, he was very impressed to see the appropriate place of government power. Akbar’s contemporary historian Badayuni writes that ‘in 1575, the emperor visited Prayag and he ‘laid the foundation of a royal city at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna and named it ‘Allahabas”.
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Badayuni called Prayag as ‘Piyag’
He has written that “The infidels consider it a sacred place and are ready to endure all kinds of sufferings in order to attain the virtues mentioned in their religion, one of the most important features of which is reincarnation.” Akbar’s historian Abul Fazal writes, “For a long time, the emperor had desired that ‘at the confluence of the Ganga and Yamuna rivers, in which the Indians have great reverence and which is a place of pilgrimage for the saints and ascetics of the country, A big city should be established in a town called Piyag (Prayag) and a big fort of one’s choice should be built there.
Abul Fazal has mentioned it by the name ‘Payag’
Another writer Kumar Nirmalendu has also given more detail to this history in his book related to Prayag (Prayagraj and Kumbh). He also writes that Abul Fazal wrote Akbarnama between 1589 and 1596, in which he mentions Prayag by the name ‘Payag’. It is recorded in this book that ‘Akbar reached Payag in 1567. He was attracted towards big events famous among Hindu people and had come to see them. Abul Fazal writes that ‘This place was known as Payag (Prayag) since ancient times. The emperor liked the idea that a fort should be built on this sacred land where Ganga and Jamuna meet.
Prayag also started being attacked from the 11th century.
Prayag was a place recognized as a mythological and religious place long ago, but it always remained more of a religious center than a center of power. In the second half of the 11th century, this site started coming under attack. If we look at the history, it comes to light that in the 11th century, the Rajput kingdom was established in North India and the power of Chandravansh Rathore king Chandradev Gaharwar was established over Kannauj including Prayag.
The first attack on Prayag took place in 1094 AD.
Muslim attacks on this region started during the reign of King Jayachandra of this dynasty. Historical documents show that the first attack on Prayag was carried out by Shahabuddin Gauri in 1094 AD. Almost three hundred years later, in 1394 AD, Prayag came under the rule of the King of Jaunpur. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the great saint of Bengal, also came to Prayag in 1500 AD, it is not clear, but his arrival was a big religious event, because a large crowd of Gaudiya Vaishnav sect took a dip in the Sangam along with him. Probably he was also present in the Mahakumbh of 1514. Even at this time Prayag was known as Kada.
A major event of this century was the treaty between Jalaluddin Lohani and Babar. The result of this treaty in Kara was that this Doaba region irrigated by the waters of Ganga-Yamuna came under the control of the Mughals. Abdul Qadir Badayuni has mentioned this in his book ‘Muntakhab-al-Tawarikh’. This book once again highlights the Mughal Emperor Akbar’s interest in Prayag.
Akbar had laid the foundation of the city named ‘Ilahawa’
According to this, ‘Akbar came to Prayag in 1574 AD and laid the foundation of this city in the name of ‘Ilahawa’ on 23rd of Sakar month in Hijri Samvat 982. Akbar had heard the stories of it being Ilavart and Ilavaas from the saints of Sanatani tradition and probably on this basis he might have named it ‘Ilahawa’. Kumar Nirmalendu also mentions in his book quoting history that, ‘In 1583 AD, Akbar declared Prayag the capital of the province. A mint was also established in the fort to mint gold and silver coins. The coins minted in this mint are still present.
‘Allahwas’ and ‘Allahabad’ have also been the names of Prayag.
According to ‘Aine Akbari’, during the reign of Akbar, Allahabad was a big province with an area of 573:312 bighas. There were 11 parganas in it. The importance of this province becomes clear from the fact that the Subedar here was a member of the Mughal Emperor’s family. Jahangir was also the governor of Prayag and it was from here that he started the rebellion against his father. Khusro Bagh was established here in 1601. Later, in 1622 AD, the body of Jahangir’s son Khusro was buried in this garden.
Shahjahan gave the name Allahabad
Now the time came when this ancient pilgrimage site was named Allahabad. This was the reign of Shahjahan. During this period the name of the city was changed from ‘Ilahawas’ or ‘Allahabad’ to ‘Allahabad’. Today, Daraganj locality on the banks of Ganga is also named after Shahjahan’s son Dara. Aurangzeb defeated his brother Shahshuja in this fort in 1658 AD. It is said that in 1666 AD, after secretly leaving the Agra Fort, Satrapati Shivaji Maharaj came to Prayag with his son Shambhaji. He stayed at a Pandey’s house in Daraganj itself and after taking a bath in Ganga, he returned to Maharashtra.
Nawab of Awadh took over the governorship of Prayag
Now the time has come for the 18th century. In the eighteenth century, the Mughal power had reached its weakest phase. The fortmen of Allahabad started showing rebellious attitude again and again. In 1739, Radhoji Bhonsle of Nagpur attacked Prayag and killed Subedar Alim Shuja and looted the entire treasure of the fort. By this time, the influence of Nawab Wazirs of Awadh had also increased and in 1743, Nawab Wazir Safdarjung of Awadh took over the governorship of Prayag.
Allahabad came under the British on November 11, 1801.
In 1764, Mughal Emperor Shah Alam started living in Allahabad and after two years, he made a treaty with the British here and gave them the Sanad of Diwani of Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. Five years later, in 1771, the Marathas attacked Prayag. After this, Shah Alam moved from Allahabad to Delhi but the British saved this city for their ambition and sold it to Nawab Wazir Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh for 50 lakh rupees. Finally, on November 11, 1801, the British Governor General Lord Wellesley ousted Nawab Saadat Ali Khan and placed Allahabad under permanent British control.
In this way, a city and pilgrimage site of the Vedic era passed through many hands and rulers and came into the hands of the British in the first year of the 19th century.
