Flag of India on Prayagraj Fort – a moment of pride for every Indian

Prayagraj is located in the center-most part of the Indian sub continent. While Delhi was always the place to be conquered, Prayagraj or Allahabad is considered to be the power centre to dominate Madhya Bharat. The history of Delhi is closely related to that of Prayagraj.

Delhi and Prayagraj

Let us start from 1052 when Anangpal Tomar of the Tomara Dynasty established Delhi as a city. That time the city is called Dhillika. In the same year, he moved the Iron Pillar from Mathura to the present location within the premises of Qutub Minar. The same year he started constructing a fort with walls around 2 miles long and around 30 feet thick. Construction finishes in 1060. He also re-constructed the Yogmaya Temple which was originally constructed by the Pandavas and destroyed repeatedly by invaders. It was unfortunate that Anangpal Tomar was defeated by Someshvara of the Chahamana dynasty after a Tomara Dynasty rule of 457 years. After the death of Someshvara in 1177, the throne of Delhi was passed on to Prithviraj Chauhan who began his rule as a minor. He was defeated by Muhammad Ghori in 1192 who established the Delhi Sultanate. This year also marked the defeat of Rajput Kingdom in India.

This was not the first muslim invasion into the Indian plains. Before that Mahmud of Ghazni raided northern India 17 times between 997 to 1030. That could be the reason why Anangpal constructed the massive wall for the protection of Delhi. Even Muhammad Ghori had to start his campaign in 1173 but could succeed only in 1192. After victory, he could not stay back in India but preferred to hand over the rule to a slave and returned back to his country. Mamluk Dynasty ruled between 1206 to 1290 and was followed by Khalji Dynasty between 1290 to 1320 and then Tughlaq Dynasty from 1320 to 1413. Tughlaq Dynasty made conquests right till South India but that rule also created a situation where opposition to the rule began from small pockets all across India. Next followed the Sayyid Dynasty who ruled from 1414 to 1450 and then Lodi Dynasty from 1451 to 1526.

During the final days of the Lodi Dynasty, Ibrahim Lodi was betrayed by Daulat Khan Lodi who invited Babur from Kabul to invade India and dethrone Ibrahim Lodi. The final battle happened at Panipat in 1526 when Ibrahim Lodi was defeated and killed. This set the stage for Mughal rule in India. Babur’s reign was short. He was succeeded by Humayun (1530 to 1556) followed by Akbar (1556 to 1605), Jahangir (1605 to 1627) and Shah Jahan (1628 to 1658). The rule of Aurangzeb from 1658 to 1707 was considered to be the peak of cruelty and power. But after that the Mughal Dynasty started its decline. It is during this period that Allahabad and specifically the Prayagraj Fort came into prominence.

Construction of Prayagraj Fort

It is believed that the construction of the fort took 40 years. At any point of time, 5000 to 20000 people were working on its construction. The exact reasons for building this fort is not understood. However it is a really large fort. Once the British took control of it, they converted it into a store depot which exists till date. Even in his chronicles there is no mention of a reason.

There is a separate history for Triveni Sangam. That place is as old as time itself. There is a discussion about the possible shifting of the rivers over a period of time and thereby suggesting actual shifting of the sangam point towards West. There is also a possibility that an older structure existed where the fort was built upon but such evidence is not visible. There hasn’t been any archeological excavations done in any location within or around the fort area. There never existed historical records in India those days. Also local folklore never mentions any other structure other than the fort. So we have to leave this line of discussion at that part.

The military reason to build a fort is to establish dominance over the area. Sometimes forts are built on heights so that they can be defended. In plains, forts also serve as residential areas to house the generals or the king himself. It also serves a purpose to garrison troops. We can also have a store house or even a royal treasury. It also acts as a transit point for staging forward an invasion. So from Delhi if the distance is a factor, then Prayagraj would be closer to Bengal.

Significance of Prayagraj and the fort

The fort was built by Akbar in 1583. It remained in Mughal hands till the Battle of Buxar.

The battle of control of central India was fought on 22nd and 23rd Oct 1764 between the East India Company who numbered around 17000 troops and the combined might of Banaras State, Bengal State, Awadh State and Mughal Empire led by Shah Alam II who numbered over 40000. However the British decisively defeated all four of them. The main reason for the defeat was the lack of coordination between the four armies and lack of strong leadership which could unite them. As what happened always in ancient India, the feuding kingdoms could never unite again a common invading enemy.

The defeat paved way for the East India Company to first time garrison troops within the fort in 1765. These troops were placed to protect the Mughal Emperor. Shah Alam felt trapped and escaped to Delhi in 1772. This escape is a story connected to another power in India, the Marathas.

Ahmad Shah Durrani invaded India for the fourth time in 1757. After entering Delhi he placed the Mughal Emperor under arrest. But Delhi was actually ruled by the Marathas and the Mughal Emperor was placed under their protection. The Afghans later reinstated the Mughal Emperor but placed the Emperor under the Rohillas. In return the Rohillas started paying a tribute to Durranis. The Marathas responded by sending a large force who set up camp on the opposite side of Yamuna. The Rohillas decided to attack the camp on 11 August 1757. But after two weeks of intense fighting, they were defeated. The Rohillas were exiled out of Delhi and the administration of Delhi was placed under the Governor of Delhi, Antaji Mankeshwar, while Alamgir II was just a titular Mughal Emperor.

After this victory, the Marathas continued to consolidate their control over Punjab, Lahore, Peshawar (Battle of Peshawar on 8th May 1758) right upto Kandahar. This brought the Marathas into direct confrontation with Ahmad Shah Durrani who in response started raising an army. As mentioned earlier, Ahmad Shah had already raided India four times earlier. It was only fair that the Marathas responded to this threat from the west. Marathas and Afghans finally clashed at Panipat on 14 Jan 1761 which resulted in massive losses on both sides even though the Afghans emerged victorious.

Seeing the Marathas weakened after the Third Battle of Panipat, the Mughal Emperor tried to make some alliance with the other forces in the region. He transferred the seat of power from Delhi to Allahabad and ruled from this fort. This was the period from 1761 to 1764. In the same year, the Battle of Buxar was fought in which Shah Alam II lost. He remained in the fort for the next five years till the Marathas decided to relocate him from the custody of the East India Company. Thus the Mughal rule which was always from Delhi was for a brief time of ten years from the Prayagraj Fort or Allahabad Fort as it was known at that time.

Ten years after the Third Battle of Panipat, Mahadaji Shinde led an expeditionary force for the recapture of Delhi. He not only conquered Delhi but made a march to Allahabad. He did all this under the nose of East India Company who had stationed a garrison of troops at Prayagraj Fort. Mahadaji Shinde also constructed the Alopi Devi Mandir at Alopibagh which is a temple without an idol. Rather there is a doli which was used in India for transportation of women. All these events happened between 1771 and 1772. The Mughal Emperor reached Delhi in Jan 1772. Together with Mahadaji Shinde they first entered Rohilkhand and defeated Zabita Khan who was instrumental in the victory of Afghans. Delhi and the surrounding regions upto Allahabad remained under Maratha rule till 1803. A permanent garrison of troops was stationed at Delhi. Mahadaji Shinde died in 1794 at the age of 63. He was succeeded by Daulat Scindia who cannot carry the legacy of his father. On 30 Dec 1803, Daulat Scindia signed a treaty with the East India Company and surrendered entire stretch from Haryana to Uttar Pradesh. The Maratha rule of Delhi of about 50 years came to an end. During these 50 years, India saw two power centres, Delhi and Prayagraj. If the later part of 1600s was the rise of Mughal power under Aurangzeb, the complete 1700s could be the rise of Maratha power in India. From 1801 to 1818, the British had to fight a series of battles with the Marathas to gain control over India. Even after exile the Peshwa led an uprising in 1857. Later freedom fighters from Maharashtra contributed substantially to fight the British Empire.

After the escape of the Mughal Emperor, the East India Company transferred the charge of the fort to the Nawab of Awadh. With this opened the entire North-East region to the British. Marathas were also consolidating their power in Delhi and further west. After a couple of generations of the rule of Nawabs, the fort was handed over to the East India Company in 1798. So perhaps the reason why the fort was built by Akbar is because Prayagraj could be the Gateway to the North East portion of Central India and he had anticipated the geographical importance of Prayagraj.

That was a great achievement for the East India Company who arrived in India in 1608 on the pretext of trading. Historians claim that the East India Company was just a business entity. But in reality it was a front for the British to enter India. From 1764 to 1857, for almost a 100 years, the East India Company carried out its brutal expansion into India. It led to the first war of Independence. After that the British decided to rule India directly. Little did they imagine that their rule would last not even 100 years more and India will finally be free of all foreign rule.