Since its origin in 600 BCE, the city of Patnapronunciationⓘ (Hindi: पटना) has gone through many name changes.[1] The article lists various names of Patna used throughout its history. The article could also be taken as the Toponymy of Patna.
Pataligram
One legend ascribes the origin of the city to a mythological king, Putraka, who created Patna by a magic stroke for his queen Patali, literally trumpet flower, which gives it its ancient name Pataligram. Gram is the Sanskrit word for a village.[2]
The name Patliputra (Devanagari: पाटलिपुत्र ) is composed (sandhi) of two words, Patali and Putraka (king).[3]
The name Patliputra was given by Ajatashatru, a king of the ancient Indian state of Magadh, who created a fort in Pataligrama near the River Ganga in 490 BCE and later, King Ajatashatru shifted his capital to Patliputra.[4]
The name Patliputra may also have been derived from Patli, a variety of tree that is found in the city.[5][6] Indeed, according to the Mahāparinibbāṇa Sutta (Sutta 16 of the Dīgha Nikāya), Pāṭaliputta was the place "where the seedpods of the Pāṭali plant break open".[7]
Palinfou
The Chinese called the place Palinfou. This name appears in books of Chinese travelers Fa Hien & Hsuan-tsang who visited Patliputra.[8][9]
Palibothra
This name was mentioned by Megasthenes (350 BCE-290 BCE), the Greek historian, (calling it 'Palibothra'(Devanagari: पलिबोथरा) or 'Palimbotra' (Devanagari: पलिम्बोत्र), in his writings during the 4th century.[10][11]
^"History of Patna". Patna: Agriculture Technology Management Agency. Archived from the original on 10 October 2007. Retrieved 26 February 2011. Adapted from an article in The Hindu by Shahid Akhter Makfi
^London Swaminatham (3 October 2014). "Plants in Mahavamsa". tamilandvedas.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
^Chaoudhoury, P. C. Roy. "Patan Devi". Hindu Books. Dharma Universe. Archived from the original on 15 February 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2011.
^Of the city PataliputraArchived 10 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine Indika, Book II, Frag. XXV, Strab. XV. i. 35-36,--p. 702. Frag XXVI.Arr. Ind. 10. Of Pataliputra..." the greatest city in India is that which is called Palimbothra, in the dominions of the Prasians, where the streams of the Erannoboas and the Ganges unite,--the Ganges being the greatest of all rivers, and the Erannoboas being perhaps the third largest of Indian rivers, though greater than the greatest rivers elsewhere; but it is smaller than the Ganges where it falls into it. Megasthenes informs us that this city stretched in the inhabited quarters to an extreme length on each side of eighty stadia, and that its breadth was fifteen stadia, and that a ditch encompassed it all round, which was six hundred feet in breadth and thirty cubits in depth, and that the wall was crowned with 570 towers and had four-and-sixty gates...."
