Allahabad University

Allahabad University, established in 1887, is one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in India, and its presence gives the city an intellectual character uncommon in pilgrimage towns. The campus, with its colonial-era sandstone buildings, neo-Gothic halls, and tree-shaded paths, is worth a wander even for visitors with no particular interest in higher education. The Muir College building — named for the Lieutenant-Governor who funded it — is a particularly handsome piece of late-Victorian architecture.

The university area, particularly the streets around the campus, has a density of bookshops, tea stalls, and inexpensive dhabas (roadside restaurants) that reflect the student presence. This is the Allahabad that residents know best — less photographed than the Sangam ghats, but equally characteristic of the city's identity.

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A story
Allahabad University, founded in 1887, was one of the four original universities of British India and for much of the early 20th century was considered the "Oxford of the East." Its alumni include Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Chandra Shekhar — three Prime Ministers of India — as well as a remarkable number of poets, scientists, and public figures who shaped modern India.