Prayag

Prayag stands at the meeting of the Ganges and Yamuna, a confluence held sacred by Hindus and associated with a third, unseen river, the Sarasvati. Pilgrims have long come to bathe here, and old texts describe a busy gathering of priests, guides and vendors beside the water. The place is also sacred to Jains, who associate it with the first Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha.

The Mughal emperor Akbar founded an imperial city at the confluence, known as Ilahabas or Allahabad, and built a great fort beside the rivers. It became a provincial capital under his successor Jahangir. After the Battle of Buxar in 1764, the city and the neighbouring territory of Kara passed through the hands of the Mughal emperor and the East India Company. The Company later ceded the territory to Awadh, before acquiring it again in 1801.