Patna the capital city of Bihar, and the seat of mighty Empires, turn¬ing over the pages of early Indian history, One comes across the name of the pre-eminent city of Pataliputra, located at the site were Patna is today, This city saw the rise and fall of India's first major Kingdom. Its period of glory spanned a thousand of years, from 6th century BC to 5th Century A.D. The empie ror, Ajatashatru had turned his attention to the rich lands north of the Ganga and had carried his victorious arms to the very foot of the holy Himalayas. In the course of this war he built a watch fort at a village called patali, on the baks of Ganga, where in later years he founded a city which under the name of patliputra.
The city in those days was more than forteen kilometers in length and about three kilometers in breadth. Protected by a ditch and by walls that had 570 towers and 64 gates. This later became the famous Mauryan me¬tropolis of Pataliputra and was ruled by Chandragupta Maurya (a contempo¬rary of Alxander) and his grandson Ashoka, acclaimed for the spread of Bud¬dhism, other Emeror who ruled Patna were the Gupta and Pala kingas.
In the 16th century, sher Shah Suri the Afghan ruler revolted against the second Mughal emperor Humayun, gave him chases and laid the founda¬tions of the present new Patna, where he built an exceptionally strong fort and his grand mosques the most majestic of all mosques in Bihar, still domi¬nates the city's skyline and is a splended example of the development of Af
Discovery Of India Tour Guide
glum architecture. Among the later rulers of Patna the name of the great Af¬uhrin administrator, sher Shah Suri's name cannot be forgotten who built a Iron mousoleum at Sasaram.
The city was extended and beautiful by different Mushal Governors who built a large number of buildings for religious as well as administrative orill public purposes. After 18th century Azimushshah grandson or Mughal naiporor Aurangzeb, who renamed as Azeemabad.
After the decline of the Mughals, the British took over Patna. They r muted Bankipore, on the out skirts of the old city with its busting Bazars nod narrow streets. Banki pore today remains the central part of Patna with Wills and shopping centres, built around the Gandhi Maidan, a vast open •plice where Mahatma Gandhi conducted Prayer meetings.
Patna also has the distinction of being the birth place of the tenth etklr Guru Govind singh who was born in this city in 26th December 1666 Al) 1 he State Capital of Patna has been named as Kusumpura, Pushpapura,
Azeemabad and Patna.
Share this with Friends
