Seat of mighty empires.Beneath the din and bustle of Patna, the capital of Bihar
state, has a fascinating past. And in each chapter of its history, it has been
crowned by a new name- Kusumpur, Pushpapur, Pataliputra and Azeemabad.
Turning over the pages of early Indian history one comes across the name of
the pre-eminent city of Pataliputra. Located at the site where Patna is today,
this city saw the rise and fall of India's first major kingdoms. Its Period
of glory spanned a thousand years, from 6th century B.C. to 5th century A.D.
Ajastshatru, second in the line of Magadh Kings, built a fort at Pataligram
on the bank of river Ganga.
This later became famous mauryan metropolis of Pataliputra and was ruled by
Chandragupta Maurya (a contemporary of Alexander) and his grandson Ashok, acclaimed
for the spread of Buddism. Other emperors who ruled from Pataliputra were the
Gupta and Pala Kings, Shershah Suri (16th Century) and Azimush-Shan (18th Century)
grandson of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, who renamed it Azeemabad. Vestiges of
this ancient city can be seen at Kumhrar, Bhikhnapahari, Agamkuan, Bulandi Bag
etc.
Today Patna, the capital of the State of Bihar, is an important business centre
of eastern India. More significantly, it is a gateway to the Buddhist and Jain
pilgrim centres of Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodhgaya and Pawapuri.
