The Ancient Geography of India/Prayaga
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14. Prayaga.
[p.388]:From Hayamukha the pilgrim Xuanzang proceeded 700 li, or 116 miles, to the south-east to Prayaga, the well-known place of pilgrimage at the junction of the Ganges and Jumna, where Akbar, many centuries later, built his fort of Ilahabus, or Allahabad, as it was afterwards called by Shah Jehan. The distance and bearing given by Hwen Thsang agree almost exactly with those of Prayaga from Daundiakhera. The distance is 104 miles by the nearest road to the south of the Ganges ; but as the pilgrim followed the northern road, the distance must have been increased to 115 or 120 miles. According to him[1] the city was situated at the confluence of the two rivers, and to the west of a large sandy plain. In the midst of the city there was a Brahmanical temple, to which the presentation
- ↑ Julien's ' Hiouen Thsang," ii. 276.
[p.389]: of a single piece of money procured as much merit as that of one thousand pieces elsewhere. Before the principal room of the temple there was a large tree with wide-spreading branches, which was said to be the abode of a man-eating demon. The tree was surrounded with human bones, the remains of pilgrims who had sacrificed their lives before the temple, a practice which had been observed from time immemorial.
I think there can be little doubt that the famous tree here described by the pilgrim is the well-known Akshay Bat, or " undecaying Banian tree," which is still an object of worship at Allahabad. This tree is now situated underground, at one side of a pillared court, which would appear to have been open formerly, and which is, I believe, the remains of the temple described by Hwen Thsang. The temple is situated inside the fort of Allahabad, to the east of the Ellenborough Barracks, and due north from the Stone Pillar of Asoka and Samudra Gupta. Here, then, must have been the site of the city in the seventh century, and this agrees with the sunken position of the tree, for originally both tree and temple must have been on the natural ground level ; but from the constant accumulation of rubbish, they have been gradually earthed up, until the whole of the lower portion of the temple has disappeared underground. The upper portion has long ago been removed, and the only access to the Akshay Bat now available is by a flight of steps which leads down to a square pillared courtyard. This court has apparently once been open to the sky ; but it is now completely closed overhead, to secure darkness and mystery for the holy fig-tree.
[p.390]:The Ahshay-bat is next mentioned by Rashid-ud-din in the Jamiu-t-tawarikh, where he states that the "tree of Prag" is situated at the confluence of Jumna and Ganges. As most of his information was derived from Abu Rihan, the date of this notice may with great probability be referred to the time of Mahmud of Ghazni. In the seventh century a great sandy plain, 2 miles in circuit, lay between the city and the confluence of the rivers, and as the tree was in the midst of the city, it must have been at least one mile from the confluence. But nine centuries later, in the beginning of Akbar's reign, Abdul Kadir speaks of the " tree from which people cast themselves into the river."[1] From this statement I infer that during the long period that intervened between the time of Hwen Thsang and that of Akbar, the two rivers had gradually carried away the whole of the great sandy plain, and had so far encroached upon the city, as to place the holy tree on the very brink of the water. Long before this time the old city had no doubt been deserted, for we know that the fort of Ilahabas was founded on its site in the twenty-first year of Akbar's reign, that is, in a.h. 982, or A.D. 1572. Indeed the way in which Abu Rihan speaks of the "tree" instead of the city of Prag, leads me to believe that the city itself had already been deserted before his time. As far as I am aware, it is not once mentioned in any Muhammadan history until it was refounded by Akbar.[2]
According to the common tradition of the people,
- ↑ Elliot's ' Muhammadan Historians of India,' p. 243.
- ↑ Reinaud, ' Fragments Arabes,' etc., p. 103. Sir H. Elliot's ' Muhammadan Historians of India,' edited by Dowson, i. 55.
[p.391]: the name of Prayag was derived from a Brahman who lived during the reign of Akbar. The story is, that when the emperor was building the fort, the walls on the river face repeatedly fell down, in spite of all the precautions taken by the architect. On consulting some wise men, Akbar was informed that the foundations could only be secured by being laid in human blood. A proclamation was then made, when a Brahman named Prayaga voluntarily offered his life, on the condition that the fort should bear his name. This idle story, which is diligently related to the pilgrims who now visit the Akshay Bat, may at least serve one useful purpose in warning us not to place too much faith in these local traditions. The name of Prayaga is recorded by Hwen Thsang in the seventh century, and is in all probability as old as the reign of Asoka, who set up the stone pillar about B.C. 236, while the fort was not built until the end of the sixteenth century. Hwen Thsang makes the district of Prayaga about 5000 li, or 833 miles, in circuit; but as it was closely surrounded on all sides by other districts, I am satisfied that we should read 500 li, or 83 miles, and limit the district to the small tract in the fork of the Doab, immediately above the junction of the Ganges and Jumna.