ALLAHABAD, a large province of Hindostan, which is situated between the 24th and 26th degrees of N. lat. It is bounded on the north by the provinces of Oude and Agra, on the south by the Hindoo province of Gundwana, on the east by the provinces of Bahar and Gundwana, and on the west by the provinces of Malwah and Agra. It may be estimated in length at 270 miles, by 129 the average breadth. The principal geographical and political subdivisions of Allahabad are the following: 1st, The District of Allahabad; 2d, Benares; 3d, District of Mirzapoor; 4th, District of Juanpoor; 5th, The Rewah Territory; 6th, District of Bundelcund; 7th, District of Cawnpoor; 8th, Manicpoor Territory.
The surface of this province is unequal. Along the shores of the Ganges and Jumna the country is flat and extremely fertile; but to the south-west, in the Bundelcund territory, the land rises, and is diversified with high hills, which abound in strongholds. This mountainous region contains the famous diamond mines of Pannah. Its climate is also more temperate than that of the lower plains, which are extremely sultry, and subject to hot winds. The province is in many parts well watered. The principal rivers in the north are the Ganges, the Jumna, the Geomty, and the Caramnassa, besides other streams of inferior note, which, supplying abundant moisture, diffuse fertility over several of the subdivisions, especially those of Benares and Allahabad. In the high country water is scarce, and the principal rivers are the Kena and Goggra. The husbandman consequently depends for supplies of moisture on the periodical rains, or on wells, which are often sunk to a great depth. On the whole, however, Allahabad may be classed among the most productive provinces of India. The exports are, diamonds, saltpetre, opium, sugar, indigo, cotton, cotton-cloths, &c. The imports are various, consisting of European manufactures, salt from the maritime ports of Bengal being one of the staple articles in regular demand. The principal towns within this province are, Benares, Allahabad, Callinjer, Chatterpoor, Juanpoor, Mirzapoor, Chunar, and Ghazapoor. The inhabitants are estimated at 7,000,000, the proportion being one Mahometan to eight Hindoos. In remote times this province held a high rank, as it contained Allahabad and Benares, two of the most venerated places of Brahminical pilgrimage. The province is now comprehended within the British jurisdiction, with the exception of a small portion of the Bundelcund division, which is held by petty chiefs under British protection.
It is mentioned by Abul Fazel, that the territory which Allahabad now forms the province of Allahabad was invaded in the year 1020 by Sultan Mahmood of Ghizni. He returned in 1023, but made no permanent establishment. It was afterwards subdued by the Patan emperors of Delhi, and swallowed up in the Mogul empire, of which it was formed into a distinct province by the emperor Acbar, under the name of Allahabad, which it still retains. On the dissolution of the Mogul dynasty, the northern quarter was taken possession of by the nabobs of Oude. But in 1764, through the interference of Lord Clive with the nabob of Oude, Korah and Allahabad were ceded to Shah Allum, the nominal though fugitive sovereign of Delhi. In 1772 they reverted to the nabob of Oude; and in 1775 the Bengal government acquired the Benares districts by treaty with Azoph-ud-Dowlah, and Allahabad and the adjacent districts in 1801 by cession, from his successor on the throne of Oude. The south-eastern districts were received from the Mahratta peshwa in 1803, in exchange for a tract of equal value in the Carnatic, above the Ghauts and Gujerat. (Hamilton's Geographical, Statistical, and Historical Description of Hindostan.) (x.)