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Muslims have left a remarkable heritage in Bihar. It was Azimush, grandson of Aurangazeb who named Patna as Azimabad.
Patna, the provincial capital of Bihar dates back in the Indian history when the town was called Patliputra and later on it was also called Kusumpura. The King, Sher Shah Suri (1488 - 1545), put a boundary around Patna. Later the Mughals acknowledged the importance of Patna when Humayun (1508 - 1556), the eldest son of Emperor Babar, who succeeded his father to the throne in 1530, defeated the Suri dynasty and became the emperor of Hindustan. Subsequently, Akbar (1542 - 1605) the Mughal emperor of India who established a tolerant policy of co-operation with the Hindu population, and whose reign saw the zenith of Mughal power brought Patna into his own kingdom.
Azimush Shan, the grandson of Aurangzeb (1618 - 1707) named Patna, in 1704, as Azimabad. Several areas or Mohallas namely Moghalpura, Shahganj, Diwan were established at the time. Azimabad, in 1811 was a very small town having Purab-darwaza on the east and Pachim darwaza on the west of the town. In 1857, these were removed for the expansion of the town.
Sher Shah Suri had established, in 1541, a building for his administrative work just by the side of the river Ganges. The same building, very near to the newly established Mohalla, Jhauganj is now owned by Jalan Saheb Marwari. When Jahangir (1569 - 1627), Akbar’s son was in power, his servant Shahzada Perwez built ‘Pathar ki Masjid’ which still stands today.
Patna has limited land to develop beyond its reasonable boundaries. In the north of Patna, the river Ganges flows in a serpentine surge while on the south side, the land was full of water on which today stands Rajindranagar. Further south of Rajindranagar, the place called Kankarbagh was famous for perennial stream of water all through the year. All the drained water from mainland Patna had its route of escape through Rajindranagar and finally Kankarbagh to ‘Julia’ the great big reservoir of dirty water. The present Kankarbagh was almost a big lake where boats used to ply throughout the year.
Those were the days when Patna’s big land owners or Zamindars squandered their valuable and spare time indulging in gossiping and gaming around pigeons and parrots. The status of high class and rich families was commonly judged by the sheer number of pigeons and parrots paraded and owned by them.
The ancestors of Hazrat Yahya Maneri Rahmatullah, a celebrated saint of India who died in 1379, put up a Khanquah in Biharsharif. Subsequently, Phulwarisharif came into prominence. Several Imambaras were established such as Chamardoria, Lodikatra, Gulzarbagh, Diwan Mohalla and others.
The British with their nose in trade came to Azimabad which was famous for indigo, gun powder and opium. They changed the name of Azimabad to Patna. They started a campaign to improve and modernise Patna with the co-operation of its citizens. Since 1824, Britishers started residing in the posh parts of Patna. Metcalfe, the Commissioner of Patna, constru-cted the Lawn in the town, which is now known as Gandhi Maidan. Patna Lawn was originally laid out for playing golf for the English gentries.
Collectariat was constructed, followed by official quarters near the Lawn to facilitate official administration of the East India Company. The building, housing High Court of Patna was constructed in 1917. The Bankipore Club came into existence in 1913. This portion of Patna was called Bankipore.
Patna had no facilities for better and higher education. People of Bihar used to go to Calcutta, which was considered to be the nucleus of education.
The physical presence and other influences of Bengalis percolated into Bihar. Several roads in Patna have Bengali names - Makhanian Kuan Road, Bhatta-charya Road, B N Das Road and Govind Mitra Road.
Bengalis administered schools such as T K Ghosh Academy that was first established in 1883 followed by Ram Mohan Roy Seminary, P.N Anglo Sanskrit School and Bankipore Girls School between 1895 and 1897. Today the school’s building of T K Ghosh Academy is falling to pieces and no one is even there in Patna to shed tears at the wretched condition of the school that had seen its glory in the past. Patna College, a government establis-hment came into being in the late 19th century. This was followed by B. N. College that was established by Bisheshwar Singh, a famous zamindar of the district of Bhojpore, formerly known as Shahabad. When it was realised that Bengal was an impediment for the prospect of the future generation of Biharis, then the area was separated into Bengal and Bihar in 1912.
The official and court language of Azimabad and indeed most part of India was Persian. In 1835, English as a common language was introduced replacing Persian as a court language. Its purpose, as Lord Macaulay put it in 1835, was to create “a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinion, in morals and intellect.” Macaulay had little respect for Oriental scholarship.
Urdu, the language that commanded acceptability, remained the common lingua franca of the people of Bihar and became widely popular elsewhere. Bihar was fortunate to have Syed A.H Muhammad Azimabadi (1846 -1927), a famous and renowned poet who virtually revolutionised Urdu literature. The poet’s popularity extended far beyond Bihar.
Bihar produced Khuda Baksh Khan (1842 - 1908) a notable bibliophile of India. He acquired a passion of collecting rare Arabic and Persian manuscripts and established the first public library, in 1891, in Patna.
Sher Shah (1540 - 1550) who built the Grand Trunk Road linking Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta), through Bihar, with Peshawar (now in Pakistan) also introduced the silver coin rupayya. Bankipore that comprised a small place that was once called Muharrampur, a small thinly populated village and commonly known for growing vegetables, became known as Sabzibagh.
Darya Khan once the governor of Patna developed an area and called it Dariyapur after his name. Langar Baba, an old priest who lived adjacent to Dariyapur, left his mark as a legacy after his death and the place became Langertolli. The Nawab of Bengal ruled over Bihar and the cultural influence of the Nawab and the entourage lingered on even during the British Raj that followed.
The Muslims in Patna were in search of a suitable place for holding meetings and other social functions. After deliberations, they managed to construct a premise in central Bankipore in 1885, called Anjuman Islamia Hall. The land for the hall was donated by a Muslim zamindar and money for the construction of the premise was collected by donations from the Muslims and non-Muslims. Anjuman Islamia Hall is still being used for multi-purpose occasions.
Patna’s total population, when I was a child, was not even half of one per cent compared with the total number now. Then, the major portion of the population was concentrated in and around Patna city.
Patna city has lost its charm and glory as its residents have deserted the place over a period of time and large houses and big havelies of Nawabs and princes have fallen into pieces. The people from the old part of Patna city have moved to the west and that now forms the central part of the town - Subzibagh, Daryapore, Muradpore and Gandhi Maidan.
The Patna railway junction started functioning from 1914. Transportation in Patna was very basic. The ‘Tamtum’ drawn by horses was ubiquitous along with rudimentary bus services. The terminus of the ‘Tamtum’ services was located just south of Pirbahore Police Thana Station which is now clustered by fruit sellers. The ‘Tamtum’ used to ply between Subzibagh and Patna Junction and charged 2 to 4 paisa, per head for its services. Small buses plied between Subzibagh which had a Bus Stand located just to the south of Bankipore Post Office, to Patna city and charged the same prices as that of ‘Tamtum’. Bankipore Post Office was housed in a tiny building unlike today.
Patna used to have no form of public entertainment, or radio and television. There was however, a roving mini-theatre called ‘Nautanki’ that attracted youngsters. Football and hockey were the main games played in the Lawn almost daily. Cricket then was almost unknown in those days in Patna. Vendors made brisk business in convenient eatables like peanut ‘bhuna’, ‘bhutta’ and other snacks. The noticeable display of the legacy of princely pomp was the daily appearance of the two sons of Hajjan Nawab of Patna city around the Lawn. in a well decorated ‘fitin’ or horse drawn carriage and accompanied with two ‘Sais’ or foot soldiers in uniform at the back of the ‘fitin’. This was an extra excitement to the citizens of Patna who converged in the Lawn.
People in Patna those days were simple and happy with what they had. They were sincere and fearless in their pursuit of economic activities.
(Article source:Adil Ahmed)
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