The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t16: 14. Prayâga.
The Ancient Geography of India. I. The Buddhist Period, including the Campaigns of Alexander, and the Travels of Hwen-Thsang c6.s3.t16
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14. Prayâga.
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From Hayamukha the pilgrim proceeded 700 *li*, or 116 miles, to the south-east to *Prayâga*, the well-known place of pilgrimage at the junction of the Ganges and Jumna, where Akbar, many centuries later, built his fort of *Iláhabás*, or *Alláhábád*, as it was afterwards called by Shah Jehân. The distance and bearing given by Hwen Thsang agree almost exactly with those of Prayâga from Ḍauṇḍiakhera. 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* 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 the Lacedaemonians, who had been waiting for the signal, now attacked the city. The Plataeans, seeing the enemy already inside and their own men falling, and knowing nothing of the plot, were seized with panic and, thinking that the Thebans were far more numerous than they really were, surrendered at discretion. But when they discovered that the Thebans were few, they took heart and, resolving to attack them, closed the gates and fell upon them.
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∗ Julien's ‘Hiouen Thsang,’ ii. 276.
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TRAVELS OF HWEN THSANG IN THE GANGETIC PROVINCES A. D. 637 - 639. 32 Miles to 1 Inch
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The Thebans, finding themselves in a trap, began to defend themselves. Twice or thrice they repelled the attacks of the Plataeans, but when the women and slaves began to shout and throw tiles and stones from the houses, and a heavy rain began to fall, the Thebans, confused and blinded, broke and fled through the city. Most of them, not knowing the way in the darkness and rain, fell into the drains or were killed by the Plataeans, who knew the streets. The gate through which they had entered had been shut by a Plataean who had found a javelin-head and used it as a bolt, so that there was no way out. Pursued through the city, some climbed the wall and jumped down, most of them perishing; others reached the gate and, finding it shut, were cut down by the women and slaves. A small party, seeing a large building with an open door, rushed in, thinking it was a gate, and were captured.
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Meanwhile, the main body of the Thebans, who were to have arrived at daybreak to support the first party, had been delayed by the rain and the swollen river Asopus. When they heard of the disaster, they hurried to the city, intending to seize any Plataeans who might be outside the walls. The Plataeans, suspecting their intention, sent a herald to them, warning them not to harm the prisoners they had taken, and threatening to kill them if they did not withdraw from their territory. The Thebans, upon this, retired.
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The Plataeans, having thus cleared the city, collected their dead and the prisoners. The prisoners, numbering about one hundred and eighty, were executed the next day, despite a message from the Thebans claiming that they had surrendered on terms. The Plataeans denied this, asserting that they had promised to spare them only if they did not commit further acts of violence.
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Thus ended the attempt of the Thebans upon Plataea, an event which was the immediate cause of the war between Athens and the Peloponnesians. The Plataeans, having secured their city, sent a messenger to Athens with the news, and the Athenians, fearing for the safety of the Plataeans, sent a garrison to their aid and removed the women and children to Athens.
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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.
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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.
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The *Akshay-baṭ* is next mentioned by Rashīd-ud-dīn in the *Jāmiu-t-tawārīkh*, where he states that the “tree of Prāg” is situated at the confluence of Jumna and Ganges. As most of his information was derived from Abu Rihân, 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 Kâdir speaks of the “tree from which people cast themselves into the river.”* 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 *Ilāhābās* 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 Rihân speaks of the “tree” instead of the city of Prāg, 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.†
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† Renaud, ‘Fragments Arabes,’ etc., p. 103. Sir H. Elliot’s ‘Muhammadan Historians of India,’ edited by Dowson, i. 55.
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According to the common tradition of the people, the name of Prayâg 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 Prayâga 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 Baṭ, may at least serve one useful purpose in warning us not to place too much faith in these local traditions. The name of Prayâga 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. 235, while the fort was not built until the end of the sixteenth century. Hwen Thsang makes the district of Prayâga 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 Doâb, immediately above the junction of the Ganges and Jumna.
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∗ Elliot’s ‘Muhammadan Historians of India,’ p. 243.