Patna has been ruled by many different dynasties. The earliest evidence found are copper plates of 758 A.D. and 768 A.D. which shows that the Rashtrakootas ruled the region at that time. Patna was known as Punaka Vishaya or Punya Vishaya. The copper plates of 960 A.D. refer Patna as Punaka Desha and Punaka Wadi. Vishaya in these names means region. Later in the history of Patna the city came to be known as Kasabe Patna.
Patna’s history explains the term Patna as Punya or a holy place. According to the Hindu tradition, the meeting of two rivers is sacred. That is why the city where there is a union of two rivers is Punyanagari. The Yadava dynasty followed the rule of this region after Rashtrakootas. Later on, this dynasty fell as it came under the Muslim dominance until the middle 17th century.
Chhatrapati Shivaji emerged and founded the Maratha Empire and hence Patna came to the Delhi Sultanate’s attention. Shivaji spent his childhood in Lal Mahal in Patna, a place built by his father. Patna city was developed by Dadaji Konddev, Shivaji’s mentor. He built a temple called Kasba Ganapati dedicated to Ganesha.
It was in Lal Mahal that Shivaji attacked the Moghuls and defeated the uncle of Aurangazeb, Shahistekhan. In the 1680, after the death of Shivaji, Aurangazeb named Patna as Muhiyabad. In the early 17th century, Patna started gaining importance through the second Peshwa Thorala Bajirao. He expanded the Maratha Empire towards the north provinces. After Bajirao, Nanasaheb Peshwa ruled this region from 1740 to 1761. He encouraged setting up the Peths in Patna.
Family fights led to the end of the Maratha Empire in 1818. At this time in the history of Patna the British rule was established. Patna and Delhi were the center powers throughout this century. Patna was recognized later on in 1851 as a city of learning and the Deccan College started the educational movement in Patna.
The first literary movement was started by organizing a Marathi Conference in 1878. Tilak, Agarkar, Nam Joshi and Principal Apte started the Deccan Education Society and Fergussan College in 1885. Later on, a high school for girls was established in the later 18th century. Lokmanya Tilak started two newspapers, the Mahratta in English and the Kesri in Marathi. These newspapers were used as a tool to arouse the interest in national education, national language, swadeshi and swarajya; the four main aims for independence. Tilak gave India the freedom slogan, ‘Swaraj is my birthright’.
Another builder of Moden India, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, established the Servants of India Society which represented the Indian interest in the imperial legislative council. Mahatma considered Gokhale as his guru. Hence, we can find the origin of various path breaking movements- social, educational, political, literary and religious, in the history of Patna.
