Situated on the banks of the river
Ganges, the city of Patna is the capital of the state of Bihar dates back in the Indian history
when the town was called Patliputra and later on it was also called Kusumpura and has a
history which spans three millennia. The city is mentioned in accounts
of the Greek scholar Megasthenes and in later accounts by Fa-Hien and
Hieun-Tsang. Also known as Patliputra, the city has been associated
with the mighty empires of the Mauryas and the Guptas.
The city was visited by Lord Buddha in the 6th century B.C.
Patliputra, in the time of Ashoka became the centre from where messengers of
peace and international understanding were sent to all over India and beyond.
The glories of the city revived with the rise of the Gupta Empire in the early 4th
century A.D. and Chandragupta I, who was the first emperor of the Gupta dynasty,
had his capital here. Fahian, Chinese pilgrim, who visited this city in early 5th
century A.D, has left a very rich description of the place.
Home to the earliest democracy in
Vaishali, the city of Patna has been associated with various religions,
like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It has been graced by Lord Buddha,
Lord Mahavira and also by the birth of tenth guru of the Sikhs, Guru
Govind Singh at Takht Shri Patna Sahib.
Close to the city of Patna
is the ruins of the famous Nalanda University which was considered to
be the fountainhead of the spring of knowledge and wisdom in the
ancient times and attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan,
China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. Another university which
was a centre of Buddhist learning was developed at Vikramshila.
The ancient city of Patna was home to
some of the greatest minds of that time. One of them was Aryabhata who
wrote the treatise ‘Aryabhatiya’, which contains
several works on astronomy, algebra and trigonometry. He is remembered
as giving the place-value system to the world and introducing the
concept of zero to the world. Chanakya, the writer of ‘Arthashashtra’ and ‘Neetishashtra’ treatises
on economics and politics, played an important role in the
establishment of the Mauryan Empire and is also known as the ‘Indian
Machiavelli’ though his ideas predate Machiavelli’s.
The city came into prominence in the early years of the 5th century when
Ajatshatru, the second king of the Maurya dynasty shifted the capital
of the Magadha Empire to Patliputra. Over the next 1000 years, the city
grew in stature as one of the foremost cities of the Indian
Subcontinent. It had a strategic importance in the expansion plans of
the various empires that ruled over India, whether Mauryan, Mughal or
British. Modern day Patna is more infamous than famous, thanks in part
to the general mayhem that prevails. The city has lost its prestige as a
centre of culture and education and gained disrepute for the antics of
its politician.
Patna has many buildings which showcase
elements of Afghani, Mughal and British architecture. While the
Padre-ki-Haveli is the highest watershed of European architecture in
Patna, Golghar is one of the most outstanding buildings of British
India which makes use of the design of the stupas. It is a massive
granary constructed for the British army after the famine of 1770.
There are tombs and mosques which showcase Mughal architecture. The
Patna Museum highlights the Indo-Saracenic architecture.
In short, Patna is a city with great
historical importance and this has a deep impact on culture and
education in present times.
AZIMABAD:
Azimush Shah, the
grandson son of Aurangzeb (1618 – 1707) named Patna, in 1704, as Azimabad.
Several areas or Mohallas namely Moghalpura, Shahganj, Diwan were established at
the time.
Azimabad, in 1811, was a
very small town having Purab-darwaza on the east and Pachim darwaza on the west
of the town. In the year 1857 these were removed for the expansion of the town.
More and more Mohallas sprang up with the rising population such as Manssorganj
and Marufganj that was popularly frequented by traders and business community.
Sher Shah Suri had
established, in 1541, a building for his administrative work just by the side of
the river Ganges, which came to be known as the capital of Patna. The same
building, very near to the newly established Mohalla, Jhauganj is now owned by
Jalan Saheb Marwari.
When Jahangir (1569 –
1627), Akbar’s son, was in power, his servant Shahzada Perwez Shah built
‘Pathar ki Masjid’ which still stands today. Nunmuhyan was established by
Munne Mian whose existing grave is still there to remind him.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF PATNA :
Patna has had limited
land to develop beyond its reasonable boundaries. In the north of Patna the
river Ganges flowed in a serpentine surge while on the south side the land was
full of water where sprawling Rajindranagar is. Further south of Rajindranagar
the place called Kankarbagh was famous for yet again perennial stream of water
all through the year. All the refuge and drained water from mainland Patna had
its route of escape through Rajindranagar and finally Kankarbagh to ‘Julla’
the great big reservoir of dirty water.
The present Kankarbagh
was almost a big lake where boats used to ply almost throughout the year. The
Nala Road near Kadamkuan had a big and clumsy canal carrying surplus and refuge
water from mainland Patna. The Nala Road was full of palm trees and wild
vegetation unsuitable for human consumption.
Patna’s roads in those
days were in a dilapidated condition, dusty and debris scattered all over the
place particularly in summer and repairing those ramshackle roads and paths were
normally reserved for prisoners of jails.
EDUCATION AT PATNA:
Patna had no facilities
for a better and higher education. People of Bihar used to go to Calcutta, which
was considered to be the nucleus of education.
Bengal was the epicentre
of reform movements, of a renaissance in literature and the arts and of the
growth of political consciousness. The spread of English schools in 1855 was
welcomed in Bengal. The English school were enthusiastically patronised by the
prosperous families keen for their sons to move on in the world. English was the
language of the colonial masters. Five universities had been founded in 1857 and
Calcutta led the way.
No wonder the physical
presence and other influences of Bengalis percolated in neighbouring Bihar.
Bengalis occupied important position in administration, profession and other
pursuit of human activities. Several roads in Patna bear Bengali names –
Makhanian Kuan Road, Bhattacharya Road, B N Das Road and Govind Mitra Road.
Bengalis named and
administered schools such as T K Ghosh Academy that was first established in
1883 followed by Ram Mohan Roy Seminary, P N Anglo Sanskrit School, and
Bankipore Girls Schools between 1895 and 1897. T K Ghosh Academy produced
distinguished personalities of Bihar such as Dr Rajinder Prasad, Hassan Imam,
Sir Ali Imam, Sir Sultan Ahmad and others. Today the school’s building of T K
Ghosh Academy is falling to pieces and no one is even there in Patna to shed
crocodile tears at the wretched condition of the school that had seen its glory
in the past.
On the back of school
education came higher education in the form of colleges. Patna College, a
government establishment, came into being in the late 19th century.
This was followed by B N College that was established by Bisheshwar Singh, a
famous zamindar of the district of Bhojpore, formerly known as Shahabad.
When it was realised that
Bengal was an impediment for the prospect of the future generation of Biharis,
then the area, after great altercation, was separated into Bengal and Bihar in
1912
MONEY:
Sher Shah Suri (1540 –
1550) who built the Grand Trunk Road linking Kolkata (formerly known as
Calcutta), through Bihar, with Peshawar (now in Pakistan) also introduced the
silver coin rupayya, from which we get the word rupee. The silver coins
since Shah Alam (1728 – 1806) the King of Delhi who was also a poet and had a
Divan in Urdu and Persian, was replaced by the British, in 1858, with coins
bearing Queen Victoria of England.
Those were the days when
prices of commodities of daily usage were very cheap compared with today. The
value of even one paisa was good enough to buy 2 seers of vegetable. Even so
called ‘adhani’ had some value and bought many merchandise.
BANKIPUR:
Patna’s population, now
Bankipore the central part, kept increasing with the passage of time
particularly when people from Patna City started trekking towards the hub of
administration, legal affairs and court cases, education and healthcare.
Bankipore that comprised a small place that was once called Muharrampur, a small
thinly populated village and commonly known for growing vegetables became known
as Sabzibagh.
Darya Khan once the
governor of Patna developed an area and called it Dariyapur after his name.
Langar Baba, an old priest who lived adjacent to Dariyapur, left his mark as a
legacy after his death and the place became Langertolli.
Pir Murad or Pir Baba was
a great saint who dwelled in premises now occupied by Patna Medical College and
who commanded reverence from many people of different communities. The area of
Pir Murad became Muradpur, with shops on both side of the narrow road, in
Bankipore. In the late 1940s the shops on the north side of the road were
demolished to broaden the narrow street of Muradpur. Many shops having lost
their sites moved to a nearby new shopping area called Patna Market, established
in 1947, on a land adjacent to a large housing complex owned by Syed Haider
Imam. Patna Market offered a modern concept of shopping and it also became a
rendezvous for town’s dandies.
Pir Bahore another saint
who died is the place that is now called Pirbahore.
Patna’s total
population, when I was a child, was not even half of one percent compared with
the total number now 1,285,470. Then the major portion of the population was
concentrated in and around Patna City.
POPULATION:
Patna City has lost its
charm and glory by its residents who have deserted the place over a period of
time and large houses and big ‘havelies’ of Nawabs and princes have fallen
into pieces or some premises converted into shopping centres and whole area has
become a dilapidated and dump. The people from the old part of Patna City have
moved to the west and that now form the central part of the town – Subzibagh,
Daryapore, Muradpore and right up to Gandhi Maidan.
The Lower Road had also
big drains along both sides and it was inhabited up to Nayatola and beyond that
there were few scattered houses and shops up to Musallahpur Hat. Younger people
were advised not to proceed towards Musallahpur side in the afternoon for the
sake of safety.
Exhibition Road and
Fraser Road, to the south of Gandhi Maidan, and now a thriving part residential
and part commercial and business centres were resided by the rich and the famous
people of Patna and the roads were rather narrow because of big drains on both
side of the streets.
On the west side of the
Lawn, Golghar, an egg-shaped gigantic structure that rises over the skyline of
Patna, was built by Captain John Garstin, in 1786, a huge granary to store
137,000 tons of grain following severe draught that resulted in the acute famine
of 1770. This Easter egg structure, 29m high and 3.6m wide at the base, with
two-sided spiral stairway winding around, offers breathtaking view of the town
and the river Ganges from atop.
TRANSPORTATION:
The transportation in
Patna was very basic, sometime on foot, in view of the absence of any proper
means of conveyance. ‘Tamtum’ – horses drawn, was ubiquitous along with
rudimentary bus services. The terminus of the ‘Tamtum’ services was located
just south of Pirbahore Police Thana (station), which is now clustered by fruit
sellers.
‘Tamtum’ used to ply
between Subzibagh and Patna Junction and charged 2 to 4 paisa, per head of
passenger, for its services. Small buses plied between Subzibagh, which had a
Bus Stand located just to the south of Bankipore Post Offices, to Patna City and
charged the same prices that of ‘Tamtum’. Bankipore Post Offices were housed
in a tiny building unlike today.
PATNA RAILWAY JUNCTION:
Patna railway junction
started functioning from 1914, which attracted the people to purchase land then
at a very low price. The coming of railway and telegraph services was a landmark
in the history of the mobility and trade for the people of Patna. The railway
that altered concept of distance and the telegraph speeded the flow of
information eventually helped integrate the Indian nation and that led to a mass
political movement. The railway allowed the speedy, widespread circulation of
news and ideas all over India, in mail, books and newspapers.
The first train that
steamed out of Bombay, on 16 April 1853, was a revolution in terms of physical
mobility and social relations in India. A locomotive pulling 14 carriages and
400 people left what was then Bombay to a 21-gun salute and trundled to Thane,
34km (21 miles) away that took about 75 minutes.
Today, Indian Railways is
the largest organisation in the country, both in number of employees – more
than 1.5m – and in capital invested, some $10 billion. It has 63,000km of
routes, 7,700 locomotives and nearly 7,000 stations. It carries 1.4m tones of
freight and 14m passengers every day – equivalent to moving all of India more
than four times a year.
ENTERTAINMENT:
Patna used to have no
form of public entertainment nor radio and television. There was, however, a
roving mini-theatre called ‘Nautanki’ that attracted youngsters. The lung
that throbbed oxygen to activities to the people of the town was the open space
called the Lawn, now the Gandhi Maidan. The old and the young citizens thronged
in the open space for morning walk and sports and social extravaganza in
evening.
Football and hockey were
the main games played in the Lawn almost daily. Cricket then was almost unknown
in those days in Patna. Youngsters sat on the wooden fences and listened
film-songs blaring out from cinema halls across the road before the shows
started. Hawkers of street food plying their trade, in and around the Lawn, made
brisk business in convenient eatables like peanut ‘bhuna’, ‘bhutta’ and
other snacks. The Lawn was also a venue for industrial and agricultural
exhibitions and circuses. Now the Lawn or Gandhi Maidan that should have been an
oasis in the thickly populated and thoroughly polluted Patna is an open space
frequented by scoundrels.
The noticeable display of
the legacy of princely pomp was the daily appearance of the two sons of Hajjan
Nawab of Patna City around the Lawn. Their gorgeous visitation were their ride
in a well decorated ‘fitin’ or horse drawn carriage, respectfully and
ceremoniously dressed alike, with attractive horses drawing the carriage and
accompanied with two ‘Sais’ or foot soldiers in uniform on the back of the
‘fitin’. This was an extra excitement to the citizens of Patna who converged
in the Lawn.
EAST INDIA COMPANY:
Queen Elizabeth I (1533
– 1603) who spawned England’s empire granted the Royal Charter to East India
Company, formed on 31 December 1600. The Company brought coffee and tea, muslin,
ginghams and calicos, porcelain and curry from India into Britain.
Britain’s growing trade
with India and later wars of conquest and the creation of a British
administration was taking roots in India in the 18th and the early 19th
centuries. During the same period the pillars of Mughal rules in India started
crumbling leading to the end of an era in India. Gone were the days when mighty
Mughal Empire and its glory that exercised hypnotism all over the world for
centuries.
India’s Maharajas and
Nawabs were living on borrowed time, they were eager to see the downfall of
their rivals than forwarding their own interest. British expansion in India
coincided with the technological advances in the West, which were, in due
course, introduced in India. Indian administration, law and justice were
reformed and new outfits of the Civil Service and the judiciary set up.
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION:
Collectariat was
constructed followed by official quarters near the Lawn to facilitate official
administration of the East India Company. The building housing High Court of
Patna was constructed in 1917. The Bankipore Club came into existence in 1913.
This portion of Patna was called Bankipore. Patna gradually went through an all
round development. Further from Patna Dinapore Cantonment was set up in an open
land and was systematically developed for the training and housing the Army
Officers as well as for recreation and amusement primarily for British colonial
authority.
The colonial British
government’s administration appeared just and fair to all. The corruption and
defiance of laws appeared not to be tolerated by the administrators of those
days. People in general were simple and contended with what they had than what
they did not posses. They were sincere and fearless in their pursuit of
economic activities and government job and were suitably rewarded.
Kidnapping for ransom,
murder, and caste conflicts was more an exception than the general rule as in
the present environment. Politicians and police were not criminal but the
guardian of laws and believed in ideal and principle.
