Patna

“ The civilians of those districts sent urgent applications to Patna for military aid. But how could this be furnished? Troops and artillery were so imperatively demanded at Cawnpore, to aid the operations at Lucknow, that none could be detained on their passage up the river; the Dinapoor garrison, reduced by the mutiny and its consequences, could only spare a few troops for Patna itself; the troops going up the main trunk-road from Calcutta to Upper India could barely afford time and strength to encounter the Ramgurh insurgents, without attempting anything north of the Ganges. ”

“ Patna is a large and important city, the centre of an industrious region; while Dinapoor, in the immediate vicinity, is the largest military station between Barrackpore and Allahabad. Mr Tayler, civil commissioner, was the chief authority at the one place; Major-general Lloyd was military commandant at the other; and it was essentially necessary, for the preservation of peace in all that region, that these two officials should act in harmony. We have already seen (pp. 151-154) that, about the middle of June, the Patna district became much agitated by the news of disturbances in other quarters ”

“ It is in this part of Patna alone that stone, rubble and dressed, are to be met with in any quantity, and this, as before noticed, tends to show that the old capital of Magadha with its numerous stone towers and buildings existed on this side, the stone used in the river revetments being the last remnants of the old city which the river had not swallowed up when modern Patna was founded by Shir Shah. ”

“ Bakhtiâr Khilji could not possibly have left the great fort of Pâṭaliputra in his rear while advancing on Bihâr, and he certainly did not besiege or take it. What then had become of it? No mention occurs of any fort, great or small, at or near Patna till Shir Shah’s period, when he is recorded to have erected the fort of Patna at a small village of that name; and this detailed account (noticed below) does not even allude to a fort or the ruins of one as existing at the village of Patna. ”

“ The town is very prosperous and populous. Taking the population of the city of Benares at something above 183,000, Patna can scarcely have more than 130,000 souls. Among the inhabitants are several Nawabs and native noblemen, whose income is as low as from 1,000 to 500 rupees a month. Many of them have been thus reduced in their worldly circumstances, in [Pg 393] consequence of the British having gained the ascendancy over the former Mahomedan governments. Poor nobility are, however, by no means confined to Patna or to any part of India, but may be found in Poland and Germany ”

“ Patna is a long and large town, being formerly a separate kingdom, but is now under subjection to the great Mogor. The men are tall and slender, and have many old people among them. The houses are very simple, being made of earth and covered with straw, and the streets are very large. There is here a great trade in cotton and cotton cloth, likewise great quantities of sugar, which is carried to Bengal and India, much opium, and other commodities. He that is chief here under the king is called Tipperdas, and is held in much estimation by the people. ”

“ Now it is very certain that the Sone, lacking this sacred character, could not have been reckoned as the third river in India; superior to many streams which take their rise from the Himalaya, and inferior only to the Ganges and the Indus, both of which are regarded with the deepest reverence.
Thus, with regard to Patna, we are led to the conclusion, that, while there is great evidence to prove that it is a most ancient city, and to identify it with the former Pataliputra, the capital of the Gupta dynasty; yet it is quite as clear that it is not the site of Palibothra. ”

“ PATNA, one of the Orissa tributary states in Bengal, with an area of 2399 sq. m. It lies in the basin of the Mahanadi river, and is divided by a forest-clad hilly tract into a northern and a southern portion, both of which are undulating and well cultivated. Pop. (1901) , 277,748, showing a decrease of 16% in the decade, mainly due to the effects of famine in 1900. Nearly the whole population consists of Oriyas. ”

“ The present great road from Gaya to Bânkipur necessarily follows a different line; the shifting of the head-quarters of the district from Patna to Bânkipur made it a necessity to select a new line; but with Patna for the capital, the old great road, though not very pleasant for the portion between Patna and Telâda, was no worse than any other that could have been chosen, while beyond Telâda, following closely as it does the high banks of the Nairanjana or Phalgu river, is the line marked out by Nature herself. ”

“ Trees are few on the banks, except near villages, and there is hardly a palm to be seen above Patna. Towns are unfrequent, such as there are being mere collections of huts, with the ghat and boats at the bottom of the bank; and at a respectful distance from the bazaar, stand the neat bungalows of the European residents, with their smiling gardens, hedgings and fencings, and loitering servants at the door. ”

“ The District of Patna has an area of 2075 sq. m.; pop. (1901) , 1,624,985. Throughout the greater part of its extent the district is a level plain; but towards the south the ground rises into hills. The soil is for the most part alluvial, and the country along the bank of the Ganges is peculiarly fertile. The general line of drainage is from west to east; and high ground along the south of the Ganges forces back the rivers flowing from Gaya district. The result is that during the rains nearly the whole interior of the district south of a line drawn parallel to the Ganges, and 4 or 5 m. ”

“ It is hardly possible that all traces of the grandeur of the city should have so completely disappeared, if the city stood where modern Patna now stands; but if the Ganges has swallowed it, the complete disappearance is accounted for.
Greek writers mention that the walls of Palibothra were of wood. It most probably was so then, but the clear evidence of Fa Hian and of the Mudra Râkshasa shows that Pâṭaliputra was not a wooden city in their time. ”

“ Now, though the ancient kingdom of Maghada included Patna, it is not probable that there was a capital so low down. Heeren [Pg 313] declares that the empire of the Prasii extended beyond the junction of the Jumna with the Ganges, and we may infer from this that the said junction was not much short of the limits of the empire. And, speaking of particular towns, he names Ayodhya, Kanoge, and others. Also mentioning Pataliputra (Patna) the same author says: "The scene of these fables (Hitopadesah, or Pilpay) is laid in the city of Pataliputra, by no means the most ancient in India." ”

“ The modern city of Patna, the civil station of Bankipore, and adjoining villages have been proved by partial excavations to occupy the site of the ancient capital, the remains of which now lie buried at a depth of from ten to twenty feet below the existing surface. ”

“ So much of the river is thus diverted that only a small portion of its water ever reaches the Ganges at Fatwa. The chief crops are rice, wheat, barley, maize and pulse; poppy and potatoes are also of importance. Apart from the Sone canal, irrigation is largely practised from private channels and also from wells. The district is traversed by the main line of the East Indian railway, with two branches south to Gaya and Bihar.
The Division of Patna extended across both sides of the Ganges. It comprised the seven districts of Patna, Gaya, Shahabad, Saran, Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. ”

“ We anchored on a sandbank in the middle of the river, nearly opposite the Golā or Gol-ghar. The “Directory” says, Patna, the Civil station of Bankipūr, extends about ten miles along the right bank, fourteen miles below Dinapūr. It is noted for opium, gram, and wax candles, and is a very large mart. Seventeen hundred boats of burden have been counted lying here at one time. It is the residence of a Nawāb, and a Sadr and Civil station. ”

“ Nowhere, in British India as it was in 1807, could Henry Martyn have found a better training field, at once as chaplain to the troops and missionary to the Mohammedans, than the Patna centre of the great province of Bihar. For fourteen miles, Patna, the Mohammedan city, Bankipore, the British civil station, and Dinapore, the British military station, line the right bank of the Ganges, which is there two miles broad. ”

“ On his arrival at Allahabad, Shah Alum was with his vizier, and the three Indian rulers marched with a large army to Benares, and encamped not many miles from the English. Major Carnac, who had by this time arrived to take the command, thought it prudent to retreat to Patna; the more so, because a mutiny had broken out in his own camp. The major was attacked under the walls of Patna by the confederated Indians; but after a severe contest, he defeated his assailants with great loss. ”

“ The old province, stretching widely across the valley of the Ganges from the frontier of Nepal to the hills of Chota Nagpur, corresponds to the two administrative divisions of Patna and Bhagalpur, with a total area of 44,197 sq. m. and a population of 24,241,305. It is the most densely populated tract in India, and therefore always liable to famine; but it is now well protected almost everywhere by railways. It is a country of large landholders and formerly of indigo planters. The vernacular language is not Bengali, but a dialect of Hindu; and the people likewise resemble those of Upper India. ”

“ BEHAR, or Bihar, a town of British India, in the Patna district of Bengal, which gives its name to an old province, situated on the right bank of the river Panchana. Pop. (1901) 45,063. There are still some manufactures of silk and muslin, but trade has deserted Behar in favour of Patna and other places more favourably situated on the river Ganges and the railway, while the indigo industry has been ruined by the synthetic products of the German chemist, and the English colony of indigo planters has been scattered abroad. ”

“ This citadel or kila is now the highest spot within modern Patna, and is a confused mass of ruined houses and brickbat heaps, presenting an aspect of desolation which, far from being relieved, is only aggravated by the existing houses yet inhabited, but mostly in a ruinous condition. No friendly vegetation hides the naked rawness of the ruins there. ”

“ Patna is a place of great importance, from the trade in opium, by which many of the natives acquire large fortunes. As a general rule, they make no display of their riches, either as regards their clothes, or in any other public kind of luxury. There are only two sorts of dress—one for those in easy circumstances, which is like that of the Orientals, and one for the poorest classes, which consists of a piece of cloth bound round the loins. ”

“ He has gone full of years, wisdom and honour, not long surviving the son to whom he was so deeply attached. It will be many years before his place will be filled and we see the like of him again. The Muhammadan nobles of Patna have lost a recognised leader and the Government and the cause of law and order a prominent supporter. ”

“ At the same time that the Nabob heard of the surrender of Chandernagore, he received more positive, but still false, intelligence from Patna, that the army, of Pitans, against whom he had asked the assistance of the English troops, were in full march to invade the province of Behar, and that they had engaged Balagerow, the general of the Morattoes, to invade Bengal. ”

“ The number of boats off Patna is quite surprising. There is a boat-builder’s on the opposite sandbank, and a great number of vessels with large timber-trees are off the place. Passing Hadjipūr, we were not tempted to go on shore, although the fair was being held there, not requiring elephants, horses, or shawls. The bungalow and race-course are on the left bank of the Gunduk that runs from the Nepaul Hills; the large native town is on the right bank. People flock from all parts of India to its annual fair, which will last this month as long as the moon shines. ”

“ In Patna State a pregnant woman must not cross a river nor eat any fruit or vegetables of red colour, nor wear any black cloth. These taboos preserve her health and that of her unborn child. After the birth of a child a woman is impure for seven or nine days in Chhattīsgarh, and is then permitted to cook. The dead are either buried or burnt, cremation being an honour reserved for the old. ”

“ Mr Tayler, as commissioner for the whole of the Patna division, ordered such of them as were under his control to abandon their stations and come into Patna for shelter; many were quite willing to do so; but others, resolute and determined men, did not like this appearance of shrinking from their duty in time of trouble. Mr Money, the magistrate of Gayah, called a meeting of the Europeans at that station, and read Mr Tayler’s order to them; it was decided by vote to abandon the place and its treasure, and retreat to Patna. ”

“ Farquharson, in October, 1857.
"I may perhaps be allowed to state" he wrote, "that Amir Ali's appointment was, in the opinion of those best able to judge and appreciate the tone of Patna native society, a healthy, politic, popular and useful measure. The better classes of natives in the city have throughout these evil times displayed nothing but loyalty and good will to the British Government. ”

“ Râmâ therefore crossed the Ganges at Patna. A glance at the map will show that if the Son flowed then in the course it follows now, Râmâ could not only not have seen the Râjgir hills from its banks, but could have got to Patna (then not in existence) without crossing the Son, for, as he with Viswamitra journeyed northwards to Vaisâli, they must have started from a point south or nearly south of Patna, and consequently on the eastern banks of the Son, and their route to Vaisâli would not have crossed the Son at all; and even if we adopt Mr. ”