Allah á b á d District lies between 24° 49' and 25° 44' N. lat., and between 81° 14' and 82° 26' E. long. In shape the district is that of an irregular oblong; and it is difficult accurately to describe its boundaries, as at one extremity it wanders into Oudh, while on the south the villages of the state of Rewah and those of this district are hopelessly intermingled. Roughly speaking, however, the boundaries may be described as follows:—On the north by the district of Jaunpur and by the Ganges; on the west by the districts of Fathipur and Bándá; on the south by the independent state of Rewah; and on the east by the districts of Mirzápur and Jaunpur. The settlement of the district is at present undergoing revision; and as the measurements are still incomplete, it is impossible to state the exact area. For practical purposes, it may be estimated at 2802 square miles, or 1,793,906 acres, of which 1,065,990 acres are cultivated, and 727,916 acres are uncultivated; of this latter, however, there are about 250,000 acres capable of being brought under tillage, although not actually cultivated. The census of 1872 returned the population of the district at 1,394,245 souls, of whom 1,211,778 are Hindus, 181,574 Mussulmans, and 893 Christians. There is, however, a manifest error in these figures, as the European and Eurasian population of Allahábád city alone cannot be set at a lower figure than 3500. The census returns are in consequence undergoing revision. Of the Hindu population, 173,916 are returned as Bráhmans.

The Jamná and the Ganges meet at Allahabad city, and enclose within their angle a fertile tract, well irrigated by means of tanks and wells. The East Indian Railway and the Grand Trunk road afford the principal means of land communication. The former enters the district from the east, crosses the Jamná at Allahábád city, and travels westward, leaving the district near Khágá station. The Grand Trunk road enters Allahábád from the north-east, meets the railway at Allahábád city, and thence runs almost parallel with it till it leaves the district. Only three towns are returned as containing a population of over 5000 souls—viz., Allahábád, population 144,464; Manaimá, population 6146; and Chizwá, population 5791. Rice is the principal crop, the area under it being returned at 139,000 acres, and the average produce at 5⅛ cwt. per acre. A little more than half of the total rice crop is retained for local consumption, and the remainder exported. The average price of common rice in February 1873 was 6s. 9d. per cwt. Pulses are also grown in large quantities, the area under the various sorts being about the same as rice, and the yield also about the same. Joár and bajrá cover as large an area as either rice or pulses, but the yield is neither so large nor of such value. About half the crop is said to be annually exported. Wheat is cultivated to the extent of about 150,000 cwt. per annum, of which about one-half is exported; the average yield is said to be about 6½ cwt. per acre, and the average price from 6s. 2d. to 6s. 9d. per cwt. Mustard, tobacco, opium, linseed, and indigo are also cultivated largely, with cotton and sugar-cane in small quantities. Indigo stands first among the manufactures of the district, and large factories exist at Alam-chánd, Sarái Salem, Gadúpur, Kansaridh, Thardai, and Dum-duma. These are generally under the supervision of European managers, and the produce is forwarded direct to the Calcutta market. Next to indigo, the most important industry is stone-cutting. The stone is chiefly quarried from a low range of hills near Shiorájpur, whence it is carried in country carts to the Jamná river; and after crossing it in flat-bottomed boats, it is finally landed at Balwá Ghát. Here the stone-masons take it in hand. The gross income of the Balwá Ghát stone traders is estimated at £2000 per annum. A brisk trade is also carried on in hides, the principal mart being the village of Karwá, in Aráil fiscal division, where it is estimated that the sale of skins amounts to upwards of £10,000 per annum for the Mirzápur and Calcutta hide markets. Paper is manufactured in the fiscal division of Karrá, and a considerable quantity exported to Oudh. Several villages in the fiscal divisions of Karrá and Chail are noted for the manufacture of brass and copper vessels; and iron vessels are largely manufactured in Khairágarh, Karrá, and Phulpur. The East India Railway Company have a large castor-oil manufactory at the village of Manaurí. The total net revenue of the district in 1871 -72 is returned at £244,537, and the total net civil expenditure at £51,770. The district passed into the hands of the English in 1801, by a treaty between the Vazír of Oudh and the East India Company.

Allah á b á d City, the capital of the North-Western Provinces, is also the administrative headquarters of the Allahábád division and of the district of the same name. It is situated at the confluence of the Ganges and Jamná rivers, in 25° 26' N. lat., and 81° 55' E. long. Its most conspicuous feature is the fort, which rises directly from the banks of the confluent rivers, and completely commands the navigation of both streams. Within the fort are the remains of a splendid palace, erected by the Emperor Akbar, and once a favourite residence of his. A great portion of it has been destroyed, and its hall is converted into an arsenal. Outside the fort, the places most of importance are the Sarái and garden of Khasrú, the son of the Emperor Jahángír, and the Jumá Masjid, or great mosque. When the town first came into the hands of the English this mosque was used as a residence by the military officer commanding the station, and afterwards as an assembly-room. Ultimately it was returned to its former owners, but the Mahometans considered it desecrated, and it has never since been used as a place of worship. Allahábád is one of the most noted resorts of Hindu pilgrimage. It owes its sanctity to its being the reputed confluence of three sacred streams—the Ganges, the Jamná, and the Saraswatí. This last stream, however, is not visible. It leaves the Himálayas to the west of the Jamná, passes close to Tháneswar in the Panjáb, and loses itself in the sands of Sirhind, 400 miles north-west of Allahábád. The Hindus, however, assert that the stream joins the other two rivers under ground, and in a subterraneous temple below the fort a little moisture trickling from the rocky walls is pointed out as the waters of the Saraswatí An annual fair is held at Allahábád, at the confluence of the streams, on the occasion of the great bathing festival, at the full moon of the Hindu month of Mágh. Allahábád was taken by the British, in the year 1765, from the Vazír of Oudh, and assigned as a residence for Sháh Alam, the titular Emperor of Dehli. Upon that prince throwing himself into the hands of the Marhattás, the place was resumed by us in 1771, and again transferred to the Nawáb of Oudh, by whom it was finally ceded, together with the district, to the British in 1801, in commutation of the subsidy which the Vazír had agreed to pay for British protection. The population and trade of Allahábád city have rapidly increased of late years. According to the census of 1853, the city and suburbs contained 72,098 inhabitants. Before 1872 the population had exactly doubled, the census returns for that year exhibiting a total population of 144,464. The municipal income and expenditure of Allahábád city in 1871-72 were as follows:—Income—Octroi duties, £13,676, 14s.; tax on professions, £220,10s.; carriage tax, £1264, 4s.; proceeds of the Hindu fair and ground rents, £5364: total municipal income, £20,525, 8s.; incidence of taxation, 2s. 11d. per head of the population. Expenditure—Establishment, including cost of collection, police, conservancy, and lighting, £9906,4s.; street watering, £1002,12s.; new works,£7677, 16s.; repairs, £1088, 2s.; vaccination, £20; dispensary, £330; charities, £250; Alfred Park, £800; other items, £223, 2s.: total, £21,297, 16s. Allahábád forms the junction of the great railway system which unites Bengal with Central India and Bombay, and it is rapidly developing, into a great centre of inland and export trade.