Map of India. Position of Allahabad highlighted.

Surroundings of Allahabad, India.

Allahabad is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh

It is located in the southern part of the state, at 25.26 N. lat. and 81.50' E, and stands at the confluence of the Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna rivers.

The modern city is on the site of the ancient holy city of Prayaaga, and is one of the sites of the Kumbha Mela. It has a position of importance in the Hindu religion and mythology as the confluence point of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati.

The present name was given to the city, as al-Ilhahabad, by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in 1583.

Under British rule, Allahabad was the capital of the United Provinces till the 1920s. It was well-known as an educational centre, and in the first few decades of the 20th century, the Allahabad University had earned for itself the epithet of 'Oxford of the East'. It was also a major literary centre for Hindi, and numerous litterateurs were connected to it in some way or the other.

Allahabad was the birthplace of Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Nehru family estate in the city is now a museum. It has produced more prime ministers than any other city in India.

Because solar events in Allahabad occur exactly 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of Greenwich, the city is the reference point for Indian Standard Time, maintained by the city's observatory.