Abstract

Pataliputra, adjacent to modern day Patna was originally built by Magadhan ruler Ajatshatru. The strategic location and commercial advantages gave it the status of an imperial capital. The glimpses and glories of Pataliputra are well documented in Indian literature, the Greek and Chinese travellers who visited India. The ancient city was known by different names, e.g., Kusumpura, Pushpa-pura, Kusumadhvaja,Padmavati,Mahendrapura and Patligram. But the name Pataliputra became more common from the 4th century B.C. onwards. The Greek ambassador to India, Megasthenes calls it Palimbothra. Pataliputra as an imperial capital also finds place in the Girnar Rock-Edict V of Asoka. Thus Pataligama of the early Pali literature had become Pataliputra, the nerve-centre of Indian politics, by the time of the Mauryas. Though the place lost its earlier grandeur with the fall of the Mauryan Empire, still it was the centre of political activities and served as the capital of the Magadhan Empire

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