2024-02-22 19:59:18
Krishna Pratap Singh: Allahabad (now Prayagraj) is not counted among the districts of Awadh, whereas without the districts of Fatehpur and Kaushambi formed separately from it, their count is not considered complete. In fact, since the rise and fall of the Mughals, the rise and fall of the Nawabs of Awadh, the tussle between the two courts and the increasing dominance of the East India Company, it has been Allahabad’s destiny to be sometimes inside Awadh and sometimes outside. The reason behind this was its very important geographical location, due to which all three parties were trying to capture it.
Movement between the two big power centers of those days – Delhi and Calcutta – was possible only through Allahabad. That is why, after the Company’s unexpected victory in the Battle of Buxar on 22-23 October, 1764, both the important treaties that redefined the future and boundaries of Awadh took place in Allahabad. Of these, the first treaty on August 12, 1765, was signed on behalf of the Company by Robert Clive, the first Governor of its Bengal Presidency, who is called by historians the ‘Founder of the British Empire in India’ and the ‘British Babar’. The two other signatories were the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II and the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula. Under this, the company had snatched a large area of Kada Pargana (which is now part of Fatehpur district) including the Allahabad fort from Awadh and given it to the Mughals.
The one who conquered the fort at the age of 15, how did that Shivaji become ‘Chhatrapati’?
A few days later, on August 12, 1765, Clive signed the second treaty of Allahabad with Shuja-ud-Daula. Under this, he not only got the freedom of uninterrupted trade for the company in the entire Awadh without paying any tax, but in the name of taking responsibility for the security of the state, he also got the right to keep a large army in Lucknow at its expense. However, only his Iqbal was taken away from Nawab Shuja-ud-Daula and he was allowed to remain as Nawabi. That too with the right to collect revenue from Raja Balwant Singh of Banaras as before. However, just as the Company had defeated the Nawab of Bengal and the Mughal Emperor along with Shuja’s considered invincible army in Buxar, it could have snatched the Nawabi from them.
Mughal emperor Akbar’s mother used to read Ramayana, that copy is still safe in the museum of Doha.
Later, worse days came for the Mughals and in 1773, the company not only gained access to the huge fort built by Akbar in Allahabad, but also acquired the status of ‘buying and selling’ it. Then she kept rolling it here and there like a football. In 1775, in exchange of fifty lakh rupees, he was given to the same Shuja-ud-Daula from whom he had snatched it and given it to the Mughals. It is said that Governor General Warren Hastings (1772-1785) did this as a strategy, but in 1797, under the treaty with the new Nawab of Awadh, Saadat Ali Khan, he ceded almost half of the area of Awadh including Chunar, Banaras and Ghazipur along with this fort. Grabbed.
Kucha Ghasiram of Old Delhi, who has a special connection with the Nehru family
But during the first war of independence in 1857, like Awadh, Allahabad also defeated the Company. Even though his commanders turned the tables, his apprehensions about Awadh could not be reduced for a long time. Then, feeling helpless, the Company, on behalf of the British Queen Victoria, got the announcement of snatching the power of India from her in Allahabad instead of Lucknow – by making it the capital of the country for a day and setting up the royal court there. The first Viceroy, Lord Canning, read the proclamation on behalf of Queen Victoria in this court, in which amnesty was given to all the rebels who took up arms against the Company and who had no hand in the murder of any Englishman.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj: The Diwan-e-Aam where Aurangzeb had insulted, will echo there Jai Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj
Later, Viceroy Lord Minto (II) built a memorial in its place in memory of this court, in which a park was also developed in his name. This park is now called Mahamana Madanmohan Malviya Park. In this connection, it is also interesting to know that even if for a short period, Allahabad also has the distinction of being the capital of North-West and United Provinces (Agra and Awadh).