Patna: history
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Mauryan era
Santosh Singh, Dec 5, 2024: The Indian Express
Experts say the pillars were part of an open-air assembly hall in the Mauryan capital of Pataliputra. It was here that Emperor Ashoka called a decisive meeting of the third Buddhist Council to unify the faction-ridden Buddhist sangha
Over the last few days, a rectangular patch of open ground at the Mauryan archaeological site of Kumhrar, a little over five km from the Patna railway station, has come alive with engineers and workers drawing circles on the ground with white powder. Under the green grass top, the earth hides an ancient architectural marvel – stumps and pits where 80 sandstone pillars once stood, holding up what was possibly a Buddhist assembly hall from the Mauryan era.
In 2004-2005, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had covered up the area with soil after the rising water table submerged the pillar stumps. Now, 20 years later, the ASI has decided to uncover the pillars that are a key part of the evidence linking Pataliputra, the seat of the Mauryan empire, to present-day Patna.
Historians believe that it was here, in this open-air hall, with its 80 pillars standing on a wooden floor and holding up a wooden ceiling, that Emperor Ashoka, who ruled between 268 and 280 BCE, called a decisive meeting of the third Buddhist Council to unify the faction-ridden Buddhist sangha.
On the reopening of the historical site that’s considered to be among the oldest structures in India, ASI’s Patna Circle Superintending Archaeologist Sujit Nayan, who has been leading the operation, said, “We plan to first open six-seven pillars over the next three months, during which time we will study the impact of humidity on the pillars and keep a tab on the water table with help from the Central Ground Water Board for a year. Once we get a favourable report on this, an expert committee will sit down to take a final call on reopening all 80 pillars.”
Bijoy Kumar Chaudhary, historian and former director of the Patna-based K P Jayaswal Research Institute that played a key role in excavating the pillars in the 1960s, said, “Though historians have not been conclusive about the exact time of construction of the 80-pillar hall, it surely belongs to the Mauryan period (321-185 BCE). King Ashoka is said to have called the third Buddhist Council here. Its reopening will surely evoke interest around the world and further establish and affirm the importance of Pataliputra as the seat of power of the great Mauryan empire.”
The pillared hall, 39 metres by 32 metres, said ASI’s Nayan, was accessed by boat through a canal. “Several historians conclude that the sandstone for the pillars and wooden logs were carried via the Sone-Ganga route for construction of the hall. Brick was still not used and the hall had a wooden roof and floor.”
The ASI had excavated the 80-pillar assembly hall in two phases. The first excavation, in 1912-15, was done by American archeologist David Brainard Spooner, who found one pillar, a number of stone fragments and 80 pits, which, he concluded, were spots where the other pillars stood. The second excavation, in 1961-55, was by the K P Jayaswal Research Institute in Patna, found four more pillars.
The biggest of these pillars, 4.6 metres long, was excavated during the first excavation by Spooner. The pillar has been kept for display near the site, along with broken fragments of other pillars. ASI sources say a few of the fragments disappeared over the years, possibly taken away by locals.
ASI’s Nayan says the pillars, separated from each other by about 15 feet, seemed to have been of varying size, possibly because they were damaged by fire during the Indo-Greek invasion by the army of King Demetrius in 2nd Century BCE. Many historians, however, believe that it was a later-day fire, during the Huna invasion in the late 5th or early 6th century, that burnt the hall. “The excavation in 1912-1915 found evidence of thick layers of ash at the site,” said an archaeological expert.
In 2004-2005, given the rising water levels that partly submerged the pillars, an ASI expert committee decided to cover the pillar stumps with soil as part of what Nayan calls is “a standard archaeological principle of ‘if you cannot conserve it, preserve it'”. An unfortunate incident in early 2000 – when a boy drowned at the submerged site – hastened the process to cover it up.
On what prompted the reopening of the site after two decades, Nayan said, “Since the water table at Patna has receded considerably in the last two decades, and given that there has been a lot of interest about the Mauryan-era site, we decided to reopen it.” The Kumhrar site draws about 500-700 visitors every day.
He added that while all efforts will be made to expose the pillars for the benefit of history lovers, researchers and tourists, the ASI “will go by our rulebook and not get carried away with the buzz” surrounding the re-opening of the assembly hall.
The buzz is beginning to pick up. Praveen Mishra, a teacher who is visiting the Kumhrar site on a Tuesday morning, says, “I heard the ASI is reopening the 80-pillar hall. It’s exciting and will turn this into a bigger tourist attraction. We are proud to belong to Pataliputra.”
Patna State, 1908
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Feudatory State of Bengal, lying between 20 9' and
21 4' N. and 82 41' and 83 40' E., with an area of 2,399 square
miles. Up to 1905 the State was included in the Central Provinces.
It lies in the valley of the MahanadI, bounded on the north by
Sambalpur, on the west by Raipur District, on the south by the
Kalahandl State, and on the east by the Baud State. The head-quar-
ters are at Bolangir, a village with 3,706 inhabitants (1901), 75 miles
from Sambalpur by road. The State consists of an undulating plain,
broken by numerous isolated peaks or small ranges, while a more
continuous chain of hills runs along the north-western border. The
northern and southern portions are open and well cultivated, and are
divided by a belt of hilly country covered with dense forest which
traverses the centre. The Tel river divides Patna frm Kalahandi on
the south, and the Ong from Sambalpur and Sonpur on the north.
The Suktei and Barabhailat traverse the centre of the State.
The Maharajas of Patna formerly dominated a large extent of territory to the east of the Ratanpur kingdom, and were the head of a cluster of States known as the Athara Garhjat or ' eighteen forts.' The present rulers are Chauhan Rajputs, and claim for their family an antiquity of 600 years in Patna, with a pedigree of twenty-eight genera- tions. According to their traditions, their ancestor was a Rajput prince who lived near Mainpurl and was expelled from his territories by the Muhammadans. He came with his family to Patna, where he was killed in battle ; but his wife, who was pregnant, was sheltered by a Binjhal, in whose hut she brought forth a son. At this time Patna was divided among eight chiefs called the Ath Malik, who took it in turn to reign for one day each over the whole territory. The Rajput boy Ramai Deo, on growing up, killed all the chiefs and constituted himself sole ruler. In succeeding reigns the family extended their in- fluence over surrounding territories, including the greater part of what is now Sambalpur District and the adjoining States, the chiefs of this area being made tributary. Chandarpur was conquered from the rulers of Ratanpur. The twelfth Raja, Narsingh Deo, ceded to his brother Balram Deo such portions of his territories as lay north of the river Ong. The latter founded a new State (Sambalpur), which very soon afterwards by acquisition of territory in every direction became the most powerful of all the Garhjat cluster, while from the same time the importance of Patna commenced to decline. In the eighteenth century, when the Marathas conquered Sambalpur, Patna had become a depen- dency of that State, and was also made tributary ; and its subsequent history is that of Sambalpur. It was made a Feudatory State in 1865. In 1869 the tyranny of Maharaja Sur Pratap Deo and of his brother Lai Bishnath Singh caused a rising among the Khonds of Patna.
They were speedily reduced, but not until Lai Bishnath Singh and his followers had committed many atrocities in cold blood. An inquiry into the causes of the outbreak led to the deposition of the chief, and the assumption of the management of the State by the British Govern- ment in 1871. The Maharaja died in 1878, and was succeeded by his nephew Ramchandra Singh, who was born in 1872 and educated at the Rajkumar College, then located at Jubbulpore. He was in- stalled in 1894, but had already then begun to show some signs of derangement of intellect, and in 1895 he shot his wife and himself in the palace, both dying instantaneously. As he left no male issue, his uncle Lai Dalganjan Singh was recognized as chief, on his undertaking that he would conduct his administration with the assistance of a Diwan appointed by Government. In 1900, in consequence of the unsatis- factory condition of the State and an outbreak of organized dacoity, the chief was called on to invest his Diwan with large judicial powers and control over the police. A Political Agent in subordination to the Commissioner of Orissa, as Superintendent of the Tributary Mahals, controls the relations of the State with the Bengal Governme
The population in 1901 was 277,748, having decreased by 16 per cent, during the preceding decade. The decrease is mainly to be attributed to the famine which visited the State in 1900. The number of in- habited villages is 1,850, and the density of population 116 persons per square mile. Nearly the whole population are Oriyas, and speak Oriya. Gahras or Ahirs, Gandas, Khonds, Gonds, and Savaras are the most numerous castes.
The soil is generally light and sandy, but some black soil is found in the north. About a third of the whole State is comprised in zamindari or other estates held on special tenures, of which no survey or measurement has been made. Of the remaining portion, 426 square miles were cultivated in 1904. The staple crops are rice, covering 243 square miles, til 86, pulses 41, and cotton n. The surveyed area contains 1,139 wells and 1,581 tanks, from which 48 square miles can be irrigated. The exact area under forest is not known, but it has been estimated at 1,400 square miles. The principal timber tree is sal (Shorea robusta), with which are associated saj (Terminalia tomen- tosa), bijasi (Ptcrocarpus Marsupium) and other common species. There is a very little teak in the extreme south. Owing to the distance of the State from a railway, the exports of forest produce are not important. The sale of the hides of animals forms, however, a not inconsiderable item of revenue. Iron ore is found, and is smelted by indigenous methods and made up into agricultural implements. The State contains 45 miles of gravelled and 58 of embanked roads. The principal routes are those leading from Sambalpur by Bargarh to Bolangir and on to Bhawani Patna, the Bolangir-Sonpur road, and the road leading from Raipur to Vizianagram, which passes for 13 miles through Patna. Exports of produce are sent principally to Sambalpur.
The total revenue in 1904 was Rs. 2,00,000, of which Rs. 77,000 was derived from land, Rs. 25,000 from forests, and Rs. 20,000 from excise. The land revenue is obtained by settlement with the headmen of villages, who are allowed a percentage of the assets.' In the area called the Kondhan, inhabited by the forest Khonds, the revenue is paid through the tribal chiefs, who receive remuneration in cash. The three tracts of Angar, Soranda, and Patnagarh are regularly surveyed and assessed on the ' soil-unit ' system of the Central Provinces, and the remaining area is summarily assessed. The total expenditure in 1904 was Rs. 1,70,000: the principal heads being the tribute, Rs. 8,500; expenses of the ruling family, Rs. 39,000 ; general administration, Rs. 14,000 ; police, Rs. 22,000 ; and public works, Rs. 33,000. The tribute is liable to revision. The public works of the State were managed by the Chhattisgarh States division from 1893 to 1904, and during this time Rs. 2,33,000 was expended. Besides the roads already mentioned, a palace for the Maharaja, a courthouse, and a dispensary have been constructed, in addition to minor works. The educational institutions comprise one English and one vernacular middle school, a girls' school, and 37 primary schools with a total of 3,819 pupils, including 672 girls. The expenditure on education in 1904 was Rs. 9,200. At the Census of 1901 only 5,142 persons were returned as literate, 1.9 per cent. (3.6 males and o-i females) being able to read and write. A dispensary has been established at Bolangir, at which 25,000 patients were treated in 1904.
