Allahabad Pillar

The Allahabad Pillar is an Ashoka Stambha, one of the Pillars of Ashoka, an emperor of the Maurya dynasty who reigned in the 3rd century BCE. While it is one of the few extant pillars that carry his edicts, it is particularly notable for containing later inscriptions attributed to the Gupta emperor, Samudragupta (4th century CE). Also engraved on the stone are inscriptions by the Mughal emperor, Jahangir, from the 17th century.

At some point of time, the pillar was moved from its original location and installed within Akbar's Allahabad Fort in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. As the fort is now occupied by the Indian Army, the public are only allowed limited access to the premises and special permission is required to view the pillar.

History

The Allahabad Pillar is a single shaft of polished sandstone standing 35 feet (10.7 m) high. It has a lower diameter of 35 inches (0.9 m) and an upper diameter of 26 inches (0.7 m). The customary lotiform bell-shaped capital seen in the other Ashoka Pillars is lost as is whichever statue mounted it. However the abacus, adorned by a graceful scroll of alternate lotus and honeysuckle, that the statue must have rested upon, was found nearby. Cunningham believed that the capital must have been mounted by a single lion. The abacus is almost identical to the one found on the pillar at Sankasya suggesting proximate erection dates.

Allahabad

Allahabad (ⁱ/əˈlɑːhəbɑːd/), also known as Prayag (/prəˈjɑːɡ/) and Ilahabad, is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Allahabad District, the most-populous district in the state. As of 2011, Allahabad is the seventh most-populous city in the state, fifteenth in the Northern India and thirty-sixth in India, with an estimated population of 1.11 million in the city and 1.21 million in its metropolitan region. In 2011 it was ranked the world's 130th fastest-growing city. Allahabad, in 2013, was ranked the third most livable city in the state (after Noida and Lucknow) and twenty-ninth in the country.

The city's original name – Prayaga, or "place of offerings" – comes from its position at the Sangam (confluence) of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Sarasvati rivers. It is the second-oldest city in India, and plays a central role in Hindu scriptures. Allahabad was originally called Kaushambi (now a separate district) by the Kuru rulers of Hastinapur, who developed it as their capital. Since then, Allahabad has been a political, cultural and administrative centre of the Doab region. Mughal emperor Akbar renamed it Ilahabad, which the British changed to Allahabad. In 1833 it became the seat of the Ceded and Conquered Provinces region before its capital was moved to Agra in 1835. Allahabad became the capital of the North-Western Provinces in 1858, and was the capital of India for a day. The city was the capital of the United Provinces from 1902 to 1920 and remained at the forefront of national importance during the struggle for Indian independence.

Allahabad (disambiguation)

Allahabad is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Allahabad may also refer to:

Geography

Politics

Education

Other uses

See also

Allahabad (ship)

Allahabad was an iron sailing ship of 1,190 tons gross and 1,143 tons net register. It was built in Liverpool in 1864, and at the time of her loss was the property of Thomas Wall Stephens of London and him being the managing owner.

Allahabad last left Glasgow on 2 July 1886, with a crew of 20 and a cargo of 1,712 tons, of which 1,635 were coals, bound to Dunedin, New Zealand. Having been signalled on 7 July off the Tuscar, she was on 4 September following, spoken, in about latitude 29° south and longitude 28° west, by the South Australian. From that time she has not been seen or heard of, and never arrived at her destination.

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