A major announcement has come regarding Bihar's capital, Patna. CM Samrat Choudhary has declared that the city will now be renamed Pataliputra. In other words, there is a move to hand the city back the very same ancient and historic identity by which it was known centuries ago.
Alongside this, he also laid out a vision for the state's growth. According to him, Bihar will truly change only when townships are built in the state. He further gave an assurance that no one will be caused any kind of harm during the construction of these townships.
A City That Is Three Thousand Years Old
Patna is no ordinary city. Its history stretches back roughly three thousand years. In ancient times it was the foremost centre of education, culture and politics. There was an era when this very city served as the capital of the Magadh empire. It was from this soil that great rulers such as Chandragupta Maurya and Samrat Ashok ran their reigns.
From Pataligram to Pataliputra
The city's beginnings were extremely humble. Earlier it was just a small village, where the trees of a medicinal plant called Patali grew in large numbers. It was because of the abundance of these very trees that it came to be called ‘Pataligram’. As development took place here, the village transformed into a town and acquired the name ‘Pataliputra’.
A Trade Hub on the Banks of the Ganga
Being settled along the river Ganga proved to be a great advantage for the city. It grew into a major centre of commerce, where goods were transported by ships. There was also a man-made port here, which is why it began to be referred to as ‘pattan’, giving the city the name ‘Patalipattan’. Experts believe that as time passed, the word ‘pattan’ gradually got distorted and eventually became ‘Patna’.
How Sher Shah Suri Changed the Name
The story of the name change reaches all the way into the medieval period. In the 16th century, that is between 1538 and 1545 AD, the ruler Sher Shah Suri officially changed the city's name from Pataliputra to ‘Patna’. From that point right up to today, the city has been identified by this very name. But now, once again, the demand to restore this historic city's old identity of ‘Pataliputra’ has begun to gather strength.
