ălˌəhəbădˈ, –bädˈ, city (1991 pop. 844,546), Uttar Pradesh state, N central India. On the site of Prayag, an ancient Indo-Aryan holy city, Allahabad is at the junction of two sacred rivers, the Yamuna and the Ganges. The confluence is known as Sangam and is visited by thousands of Hindu pilgrims every 12 years. The oldest monument is a pillar (c.242 b.c.) with inscriptions from the reign of Asoka. The city was the scene of much fighting in the Indian Mutiny (1857). Allahabad was the capital of the United Provinces from 1901 to 1949 and the center of the Indian independence movement. It is a district administrative headquarters and trading center and has an airport and a university. There is also a museum, built on the estate of the Nehru family.

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