Official Name: | Civil Lines |
Other Name: | Cannington |
Settlement Type: | Neighborhood of Prayagraj |
Nickname: | White Town [1] |
Subdivision Type: | City |
Subdivision Name: | Prayagraj |
Subdivision Type1: | Country |
Subdivision Name1: | India |
Established Title: | Built in |
Established Date: | 1857 |
Founder: | Cuthbert Bensley Thornhill |
Government Type: | Mayor-council government |
Governing Body: | Prayagraj Municipal Corporation |
Civil Lines (formerly Cannington[2] also Canning Town[3]) is a Civil Lines neighborhood of Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the upper-class central business district of the city and is famous for its urban setting, gridiron plan roads[4] high rise buildings, offices, cafes, restaurants, hotels, malls, shopping complexes, theatres etc. Built in 1857, under the supervision of Cuthbert Bensley Thornhill, it was the largest town-planning project carried out in India before the establishment of New Delhi.[3] [4]
Civil Lines was built in 1858 a few months after the end of the Rebellion of 1857, when around 600 Meo people were massacred by the British people in India for their alliance with the Indian Independence Movement activists[5] and eight villages were seized to form a new township.[6] During the early period of its development it was referred to as the White Town of the city as it was predominated by the British people and a very few Indians were allowed.[6] [7]
A population of 923 was registered in Civil Lines during the 1951 Census.[8]