Title

PATALIPUTRA- THE SEAT OF SOME

MAJOR STATES IN ANCIENT INDIA

Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3
Research Methodology ................................................................................................. 4

Aims and Objectives: ................................................................................................ 4

Scope and Limitations: ............................................................................................. 4

Method of Writing: ................................................................................................... 4

Research Questions: ................................................................................................. 4

Sources of data: ........................................................................................................ 4

Mode of Citation: ...................................................................................................... 4

Journey of Pataliputra as the Seat of Some Major States in Ancient India ........... 5
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 16
Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 17

Books ....................................................................................................................... 17

Articles ..................................................................................................................... 17

Introduction
In the history of the Indian sub-continent many cities emerged and have destroyed, but none
of these could attain the important position in history and significance that Pataliputra
attained in the history of ancient India. Pataliputra originated as a small village constructed
by Ajatshatru of the Haryanka dynasty in 490 BC in Magadha. It was originally named
Pataligrama. Over time, its name was subject to plenty of changes, finally coming to be
known as Pataliputra.
Pataliputra emerged as the most beautiful and powerful city of its times. It was perpetually
considered to be the heart of every state which chose it as their capital. It was completely
fortified by a circumventing layer of timber wood in Maurya period. Pataliputra was at the
pinnacle of its glory during the rule of Mauryan king Ashoka the Great. He beautified the city
and it was during this period that Pataliputra became the home of renowned scholars like
Chanakya. It was also visited by some foreign scholars such as Megasthenes during this
period. Gupta period also produced scholars like Aryabhatta and Vatsyayana who made great
advantages in the academic field.

Research Methodology
Aims and Objectives:
The researcher aims to study the significance of Pataliputra from its emergence as a small
village in 6th century BC to the great city of world till 6th century AD. The objective of this
paper is to study the reasons about the selection of Pataliputra as the seat by some major
states in ancient India and also the study of reasons behind its decline.

Scope and Limitations:

The scope of this paper is to study the reasons and important aspects of Pataliputra but mainly
focussed on geographic and economic reasons because the selection of a site completely
depends upon its position in certain region and availability of trade and commerce to raise the
state treasury.

Method of Writing:
A descriptive and analytical style of writing has been employed.

Research Questions:
The researcher has answered four questions in the course of this project:
1. Which were the major states in ancient India who did choose pataliputra as their seat?
2. Why did these major states choose Pataliputra as their seat or capital?
3. What were the geographic and economic reasons surrounding Pataliputra which had
persuaded these major states to choose it as their seat?
4. What were the reasons behind its decline after emerging as most powerful city of the
world?

Sources of data:
The researcher has depended entirely on secondary sources such as books and journal
articles.

Mode of Citation:
A uniform mode of citation has been followed throughout the project.

Journey of Pataliputra as the Seat of Some Major States in Ancient India

In this research paper, researcher is discussing about those kingdoms which made Pataliputra
as their seat i.e. capital. They were also called as Sapta-Anga Rajya because they were
fulfilling all the conditions mentioned by Kautilya of a state.1
In this research paper, researchers concern is Pataliputra which was the capital of these
ancient states. It was built by the Ajatshatru, king of Magadha, in 490 BC as a small village
named Pataligrama.2 There is a legend also about the construction of Pataliputra. In that
legend it was created by the king Putraka and he named it after his wife Patali. The village
had developed so much and became the most powerful city of India and world also. Its name
was changed several times from Kusumpura to Kusumdhwaja and then Padmavati,
Azhimabad and finally Pataliputra.3
Pataliputra was chosen as capital by Magadha, Nanda, Maurya, Shunga, Gupta and Pala
dynasties, but here researchers main concern is that why did they all choose Pataliputra as
their seat and not any other city when other big cities were also emerging at same time like
Ujjain, Kanauj, Kaushambi, and Vaishali. There were so many reasons but mainly, according
to the researcher, were geographic and economic reasons behind the selection of Pataliputra
as their capital. Since, selection of any site by the king was depended upon these two most
important conditions. Geographical reasons were climate, soil, water availability etc. and
economic reasons were trade, commerce, tax collection, easy revenue etc.4
The struggle for Pataliputra started from the 6th BC at the time of emergence of 16
Mahajanapadas as states. They were Gandhara, Kamboja, Assaka, Vatsa, Avanti, Shurasena,
Chedi, Malla, Kuru, Panchala, Matsya, Vajji (Vrijji), Anga, Kashi, Koshala, and Magadha.5
In these 16 Mahajanapadas, they had different qualities which made them unique from each
other. Kashi emerged as the economic power as it was leading textile manufacturer in the
time of Buddha. Koshala, Anga and Vatsa had abundance of water due to rivers around them
and which provided them an opportunity for using water for trade and commerce. Shurasena
1

Upinder Singh et al, A HISTORY OF ANCIENT AND EARLY MEDIEVAL INDIA: FROM THE STONE AGE TO THE 12TH
CENTURY, 267 (2008).
2
D. N. Jha, EARLY INDIA: A CONCISE HISTORY FROM BEGINNING TO 12TH CENTURY, 89 (2010).
3
Id, at 98.
4
R. S. Sharma, ASPECTS OF POLITICAL IDEAS AND INSTITUTIONS IN ANCIENT INDIA, 290 (1999).
5
Id, at 331.

was considered as underdeveloped due to bad conditions of road and lack of basic facilities.
Kuru, Panchala, and Matsya were tribal polities. Similarly others also had their important
features but Magadha emerged as most powerful. Here the main concern of researcher is that
what were the reasons behind its emergence as most powerful?6
The answer was that it had all the qualities which were most important for becoming the
powerful state. It was surrounded on all the sides by rivers and Vindhya outcrop to stop the
attack of an enemy. It had Ganga on its north and Son on west side. Champa River was on its
east side and Vindhya outcrop was there in the south. The first capital of Magadha was
Rajgriha (Girivraj). It had thick forests and had heavy rainfall. Iron was found for the first
time in Rajgriha but it did not help Magadha as much it could due to the distance from Ganga
for exporting the metals.7
Rajgriha remained the capital of Magadha up to the time of Ajatshatru. It was surrounded by
an easily defended perimeter of hills fortified with cyclopean walls of 40 km. It had an
exceptional supply of water from hot and cold streams and could oppose enemy attacks for an
indefinite period. After the death of Ajatshatru in 461 BC, his son Udayin had transferred the
capital from Rajgriha to Pataliputra.8 Here the question is why did he transfer the capital from
Rajgriha to Pataliputra? Was it not helping them in administering their state or was it more
prone to enemy attack?
The most important reason was the direct control over the river traffic of Ganga and easy to
manage the trade from there. Now they could supply and receive any material directly to their
capital. Otherwise, in case of Rajgriha they had to receive the import material at Pataliputra
then transport it to Rajgriha for storage and distribution. But now there was no such problem
of transport from one place to other which was expensive. By shifting the capital, they saved
their unnecessary expenditure. The other reason was that they had bad relations with
Lichchhavis and both were trying to beat each other. Both were using Ganga as their trade
route. The position of Pataliputra was strategic. It was situated at the meeting point of three
rivers and fourth river i.e. Ghaghara also joins the Ganga not far from Pataliputra. When

Sharma, supra note 7, at 333.

Jha, supra note 5, at 110.
8
D. D. Kosambi, THE CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION OF ANCIENT INDIA, 238 (2007).
7

Udayin found that he could control this trade by fortifying the Gangetic region of Pataliputra,
he fortified it completely and stopped the trade of Lichchhavis.9
There were copper and iron in abundance at Rajgriha, Gaya, Dhalbhum and Singhbhum but
due to transport problem they were not able to make much profit. Iron was also found in
Pataliputra. Consequently, here their transport problem of iron and copper decreased and
helped to raise the revenue. The position of Pataliputra at the lower bank of Ganga also
helped Pataliputra in becoming the seat of Major states. In the lower bank due to the
formation of delta, the speed of Ganga was slower down and it left the most fertile soil i.e.
alluvial soil. Other states were at the foot hills of the Himalaya and they were less fertile as
compared to those who were near the Gangetic plain.10
Kings of Magadha such as Ajatshatru, Bimbisara and Udayin used it very correctly and raised
the revenue of state by putting tax over rich peasants near the Gangetic plains and valley. It
was not exploitative because they were capable of paying the tax. For poor farmers, it was
according to their financial conditions. River trade also increased in spite of toll tax because
now due to transfer of capital they were in better position to supply the commodities in
capital directly i.e. Pataliputra. At the time of Rajgriha, they were facing certain financial
constraint due to transport problem.11
There were thick forests in and around Pataliputra which were helping it in providing timber
for building houses and fortifying it with wood. Timber was also used as fuel. It was found in
the archaeological survey that Pataliputra had huge buildings made up of timber. There was
large number of elephants in forests. Consequently, Magadha became the first state of India
to use elephant in war. They were considered as most important weapon of war due to huge
size and power. Elephants could be used to destroy fortresses and to marching across muddy
and other areas lacking roads and other means of transport. They were also used for building
friendly relationship and trade because Chandragupta Maurya had supplied 500 elephants to
Greeks. 12
Iron proved as the magical power for Magadha because they had large amount of iron in
Pataliputra, Gaya, Rajgriha and other places. They used the weapons made up of iron such as
arrows, axes, knives etc. in war with technical superiority against Vaishali and defeated them
9

Romila Thapar, THE PENGUIN HISTORY OF EARLY INDIA FROM THE ORIGINS TO AD 1300, 255 (2008).
Id, at 251.
11
Kosambi, supra note 11, at 257.
12
Sharma, supra note 7, at 358.
10

rigorously. They also used iron in making chariots wheels stronger, so that it could sustain
for the long time and proved worthy in wars. They also used it to make agricultural tools such
as ploughshare, sickle and shaft etc. it improved their revenue power because now they were
able to grow good crops with technical advancement.13
Later kings, who were of Haryanka dynasty, Nandas came to power in 362 BC after defeating
the last ruler of Shishunaga dynasty. Nandivardhana or Mahanandin was probably the last
ruler of this dynasty, his empire was inherited by his illegitimate son Mahapadma Nanda, and
he found the Nanda dynasty. They were the second who chose Pataliputra as their capital or
seat. The reason behind their selection was mostly the same as of Udayin.14
They used the money which came from various types of taxes like toll tax, agriculture tax,
etc. and invested that in strengthening their army. They had maintained the powerful and
large standing army of their time. They extended the territory of Magadha and also expanded
their army with 20,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 2,000 chariots, and 3,000 elephants. They
used the timber which was in large amount in forests to make boats to increase the river
transport and trade because in ancient times it was not easy to build roads. In pre-industrial
days, when communications were difficult, the army could move north, west, south and east
by following the courses of the rivers. Rivers served as transport routes like the roads and
railways of today. They also used the boats to expand their empire on east and west side.15
They gave importance mainly to horse riding for travelling from one place to other for an
individual person because it was the fastest mean of travelling at that time and one more
reason was that they had large number of horses in forests of Bengal region. There was no
need for them to buy them from outside. They also used the horses and elephants to export
them to several other kingdoms through river trade.16
Due to Alexanders invasion, several tribes were destroyed by him. Chandragupta Maurya
took benefit of this situation and promised to provide security to all tribes. He gained their
support and he defeated Nandas with the help of his mentor Chanakya. Chandragupta Maurya
established Maurya Empire and chose Pataliputra as his capital.17

13

R. C. Majumdar, ANCIENT INDIA, 198 (2003).

Id, at 206.
15
Roger Boesche, Kautilya's "Arthastra" on War and Diplomacy in Ancient India, Vol. 67 (1) THE JOURNAL
OF MILITARY HISTORY 1, 13 (2003).
16
Id, at 21.
17
Boesche, supra note 18, at 30.
14

The first important work done by Chandragupta was that he fortified the whole exchange
centre at Pataliputra, this shown that how much the revenue was important for them from
river trade. During the time of Chandragupta and Ashoka, Pataliputra was at the stage of
highest prosperity.18
Mauryans made many improvements to Pataliputra and they made it the most beautiful city.
Mauryans conquered almost whole Indian sub-continent except south beyond Mysore. They
maintained friendly political relationships with foreign rulers to promote commerce and
communication with outside world because they were aware of the importance of revenue
which they could gain through the trades with these foreign states. Consequently, they
connected Pataliputra with Nepal via Vaishali and from there the road passed through
Champaran to Kapilvastu, Kalsi and Hazra, it went up to Peshawar. Megasthenes also
described that there was another road which connected north-west with Pataliputra. One more
road was there which connected Pataliputra with Kalinga, Andhra and Karnataka. One more
highway was built by Mauryas to connect Pataliputra to Taxila to connect Indian trade with
western world. Tamralipti was also connected with Pataliputra in the Gangetic delta which
was the chief port for sailing the ships to Sri Lanka and Myanmar.19
The rivers were used for internal trade because there were so many rivers which passed
through or near Pataliputra. River trade also improved the communication with other
contemporary states. River trade was mainly used for increasing the revenue through toll tax
which helped in maintaining army. Mauryas had the three times larger army than that of
Nandas. They had 600,000 soldiers in their army but according to Megasthenes, there were
400,000 soldiers in their army.20
Megasthenes visited Pataliputra as the ambassador of Selucus Nikator to the court of
Chandragupta Maurya. The Maurya Empire was divided into many provinces and there were
so many cities but Megasthenes considered Pataliputra as most important, he called it as
Palibothra. This was the Greek term means a city with gates. According to him, Pataliputra
was surrounded by a deep ditch and a wooden wall crowned with 570 towers and 64 gates,
which were made up of timber found in their own forest. Towers were mainly used for

18

Majumdar, supra note 16, at 279.

Kosambi, supra note 11, at 138.
20
Balbir S. Sihag, Kautilya on The Scope and Methodology of Accounting, Organizational Design and The Role
of Ethics in Ancient India, Vol. 31 (2) THE ACCOUNTING HISTORIANS JOURNAL 125, 128 (2004).
19

shooting the arrows to stop the enemy and a moat (Ditch dug as a fortification and usually
filled with water) was used as secret weapon.21
Pataliputra has been described as the great city, by Megasthenes, of the world in his time. He
also told that Greeks also could not able to build such a beautiful city. According to him,
Maurya Empire was the empire which stood on such a power without a single slave, which
impressed the western observers as they declared it as most fantastic characteristic of Indian
society. Its whole credit went to Pataliputra and its natural conditions which had been used
brilliantly by Mauryas. Megasthenes made a mistake of comparing Greek slavery with Indian
sub-continent because Indian sub-continent had the domestic slavery since Vedic period.
There was negligible sale of slaves in Indian subcontinent. They had also certain rights in the
society and they were also allowed to work out their ransom.22
The orders issued by the king from Pataliputra were hard to implement but due to well
organised bureaucracy, it became possible. They could not able to do it without revenue
which they earned by using resources provided by Pataliputra, Gaya, Rajgriha and other
south-east districts of their empire. The salary for bureaucrats came from the revenue which
has been collected with the help of several types of taxes. They gave high salaries to their
administrators because it was found that there was the ratio of 1:96 between the salary of
highest and lowest position of officers.23
During Mauryan period Pataliputra was the biggest city of the world and its inhabitants
ranged from hunter-gatherers in rural areas to the iron using people who were considered as
developed people of that time. They were exporting metals and raising their treasury and
consequently investing that money in their army. There was also called metal money.
Arthashastra provided the information that water tax was also imposed on farmers for
irrigation because state was providing water through canals and lakes. According to the
researcher these were unnecessary burden over poor famers because during Maurya period
water was in abundant quantity.24
Forests were transformed into agricultural fields to grow more crops and collect revenue
through taxes. Pataliputra had very fertile soil and north Indian economy was completely
transformed into agrarian economy. They wanted to transport the grains into other parts
21

Id, at 131.
Sihag, supra note 23, at 135.
23
D. D. Kosambi, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF INDIAN HISTORY, 228 (2002).
24
Id, at 246.
22

10

which were less fertile and had no adequate means of producing food for all people of their
state. It helped them in increasing their trade and commerce but deforestation became one of
the main reasons for decline of Pataliputra in long term. Rice became the most important and
revenue yielding crop of Maurya kingdom due to most fertile soil of Gangetic plain.25
At the same time in south India, coconut was becoming the most important revenue yielding
crop. It was being used by south Indian rulers for exporting at high price or for importing
most essential needs such as clothes, metals and sometimes grains also. It was also sold to
north India but due to different climatic conditions, this plan could not succeed. It was proved
worthy only up to certain parts of south bank of Ganga which included Pataliputra also.26
As the soil of lower Gangetic plains was most fertile, Mauryas were growing two and
sometimes three types of crops to maintain surplus. This surplus was used for those people
who did not have any land for growing grains for their family. It was because Chandragupta
Maurya himself declared that in the happiness of his people lay his happiness and in their
troubles lay his troubles.27
The surplus was also used for export after fulfilling the needs of their own people. But this
step of producing more than two crops in a year on the same land proved devastating in the
long term. By producing more crops fertility level of land decreased sharply. Deforestation
affected yearly rainfall and consequently agrarian support of rulers weakened which declined
the growth of urbanisation in post-Maurya period. Pataliputra was considered as the heart of
the Mauryan Dynasty, because of this the third Buddhist council was organised at Pataliputra
in 250 BC under the chairmanship of Mogalliputta Tissa.28
There was a near monopoly of Mauryas over the main sources of power i.e. the metals. The
great Chanakya was fully aware of the importance of mining for the development of state.
Due to this he told that, The treasure depends upon mining, the army upon treasure and he
also told that The mine is the womb of war materials.

29

By these statements, they pointed

out that they would able to export the metal and would increase the revenue which was the

25

R. S. Sharma, The Economic History of India up to AD 1200: Trends and Prospects, Vol. 17 (1) JOURNAL OF
48, 55 (1974).
26
Id, at 62.
27
Sharma, supra note 28, at 66.
28
Kosambi, supra note 26, at 289.
29
George Erdosy, The Origin of Cities in the Ganges Valley, Vol. 28 (1) JOURNAL OF THE ECONOMIC AND
SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE ORIENT 81, 88 (1985).
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE ORIENT

11

most important aspect to maintain a huge army. He also told that by mining, they could
become most powerful by using weapons of metal.30
In Arthashastra, one more statement of Kautilya was that the treasury comes from the mining
and army has its dependence over treasury for maintenance, which means army is ultimately
depended over the mining. He also told that if any state wanted to be the most powerful then
he had to conquer the earth full of treasures i.e. metals.31
After Ashoka, Maurya period declined sharply and it was finally destroyed by Pushyamitra
Shunga in 185 BC. Although he was a Brahman, he was a general of the last Maurya ruler
called Brihadratha. He usurped the throne of Pataliputra and ruled there after killing him.
They were the fourth who chose Pataliputra as their capital. They also faced lack of suitable
transport over considerable distance which remained the great obstacle to Indian subcontinent development.32
After the 200 years of death of Mahavira in 477 BC (some scholars claimed 527 BC), a
famine for 12 years occurred in north India. So many states lost their control over their
kingdoms due to unavailability of food and money. In spite of this Pataliputra was
progressing because of rivers which surrounded it from all four sides. They were Ganga,
Gandak, Punpun and Ghaghara. They made the Pataliputra as the real water fort. There was
no deterrent effect of famine on trade and commerce in Pataliputra.33
People of other states started migrating to Pataliputra from distant places who were most
affected due to famine. They could not be stopped because they were the people of their own
Empire like Kashi, Ujjain, Tamluk, Vidisha etc. Favourably rainy zones with rivers, lakes,
forests, hills, minerals, and fertile soils attracted many settlers. The Gangetic plains formed
an attractive environmental zone. They migrated because they were assured of getting food
and other facilities of life in Pataliputra. But it resulted in decline of per capita production in
Pataliputra. Due to this deforestation took place rapidly to settle those people. But now, there
was not room enough for both food producers and food gatherers in northern plains. The

30

Id, at 91.
Sharma, supra note 28, at 74.
32
Erdosy, supra note 32, at 91.
33
K A Nilakanta Sastri, A COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF INDIA, VOLUME II: THE MAURYAS AND SATAVAHANAS
325 B C-A D 300 ed., , 348 (1957).
31

12

population of Pataliputra was reached up to 270,000 whereas Rajgriha population was only
40,000.34
Guptas came to the throne in 319-20 BC, founded by Chandragupta I. They were
significantly different from the Mauryan administration. In Maurya, Ashoka emphasised on
being kept informed of what was happening in the kingdom, whereas Guptas were not much
interested in this and they left it on their ministers (kumarmatyas). The evidence from the
inscriptions and seals suggests that the Gupta administration was more decentralised, with
officials holding more than one office. Pataliputra was the capital of Gupta Empire till 6th
century AD.35
From here, Pataliputra started losing its importance slowly. Under the rule of Guptas, the
trade and commerce was not given much important as it was given in Maurya and Shunga
period. As a result production of commodities for export decreased. 36 Trading activities were
ignored and as a result their relationships with foreign rulers established by Mauryas on the
basis of trade were also destroyed. The movement of traders and important scholars such as
Megasthenes, Diodorus, Strabo, and Arrian etc. was also became redundant.37
Guptas were not much interested in the welfare of people because they were emphasising on
Varna system and higher caste-lower caste discrimination was at its height during the Gupta
period. It shows that they were aware of their attitude towards citizens and as a result they
were applying these measures to prevent citizens from uniting and revolting against them.38
Huna invasion also took place because they were not maintaining their army and territory
well. Huna destroyed the Gupta dynasty due to their excellence in horse riding and archery.
They were fast and had better control over their horses due to metal stirrup (Support
consisting of metal loops into which rider's feet go). They got the success not only in Iran but
also in Indian sub-continent. They could not be able to defeat Guptas if Guptas would not
ignore the importance of trade and environment of Pataliputra to strengthen their army.39
After the decline of Guptas, Pataliputra had also almost completely lost its importance due
disconnection with foreign traders which were the most important aspect of its identity. It
34

Id, at 355.
Sastri, supra note 36, at 393.
36
Radha Kumud Mookerji, THE GUPTA EMPIRE, 114 (2003).
37
Id, at 129.
38
Romila Thapar, ASHOKA AND THE DECLINE OF MAURYA, 176 (1998).
39
Id, at 180.
35

13

was completely proved when Pala dynasty chose Pataliputra as their capital in 770 AD but
involved in the tripartite struggle for Kanauj with Rashtrakuta and Pratihars.40
This was showing that they were also trying to make Kanauj as their capital because at that
time Pataliputra was completely going towards its ends and Kanauj was emerging as the most
powerful political base due to increasing trade and commerce. It was emerging as the
agrarian economy base. It was hard to fortify the areas in plains but as it was somewhat
situated on an elevated area, it could be fortified easily. After the journey of approximately
900-1000 years as most successful city in the world Pataliputra lost its name in the pages of
History.41 But, the immediate concern of the researcher is that, why did it happen? How did
the most powerful and beautiful city lost its importance in such a way?
There were so many reasons behind it but the most important was the decline in its trade
which provided it importance during pre-Gupta period. Pataliputras economy was
completely depended upon the revenue through trade and when trade was destroyed by the
Guptas because they were not much interested in increasing trade as Maurya were,
Pataliputra also lost its importance. However, once trade declined, money became scarce, and
officers and soldiers were paid through land grants, the city lost its importance. There was
another reason also that Indian traders were started concentrating over the trade in Asia and
south-east Asia, they ignored Indian sub-continent trade. One more reason behind the decline
of trade was that in Gupta and post-Gupta period merchants were also granted lands to look
after those grants as the mangers or trustees. They concentrated on the lands and taxes
collected from the farmers and they continuously neglected the trade, consequently trade and
commerce was declined because of their greed.42
Other reasons were geographic which were also related to economy. When the migration had
increased to Pataliputra, the most important challenge was to settle them and arranging food
and basic necessities for their lives. Consequently, forests were cut down without thinking
about future consequences during Maurya, Shunga and Gupta period. It leads to deforestation
and rainfall decreased due to this. As a result production of crop decreased and there was
nothing for fulfilling the basic needs of citizens and exporting to earn some revenue. At the
same time new cities came into picture on the eastern Ganges plain. In north India, Kanauj
40

Mookerji, supra note 39, at 160.

Thapar, supra note 41, at 187.
42
R. S. Sharma, SUDRAS IN ANCIENT INDIA: A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE LOWER ORDER DOWN TO CIRCA A D
600, 378 (2002).
41

14

emerged as the important political power base. In south in the Deccan, Paunar flourished
during the Vakataka period. Similarly in west Valabhi emerged as an important commercial
base which was monopolizing the trade of the Arabian Sea.43
One more reason was the construction of buildings by the help of wood. They were not so
strong and during floods they were easily destroyed. Though Pataliputra was located at the
junction of Ganges and Son, later the Son shifted westward. The deforestation took place
rapidly and rivers shifted away from it. Now, Pataliputra was also facing the same problems
which had been faced by Rajgriha of difficulty in transport of commodities up to the river.44
These signs show that Pataliputra was at its last stage and the same incident happened with
Pataliputra as it was happened with Rajgriha. Now Kanauj was the place for which everyone
was struggling to gain power over that but finally Harsha established kingdom in Kanauj.
Kanauj was the new most powerful city but it was not able to gain the importance and power
as Pataliputra had gained.45

43

Id, at 380.
Sharma, supra note 45, at 396.
45
Steven G. Darian, The Economic History of the Ganges to the End of Gupta Times, Vol. 13 (1) JOURNAL OF
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE ORIENT 62, 75 (1970).
44

15

Conclusion
Researcher found that there were so many reasons for selection of Pataliputra as the seat of
state. But, the main reasons were related to geographic and economic conditions. Those who
fought for Pataliputra to select it as their seat were aware of the importance of its strategic
position. Pataliputra was surrounded by four rivers, it had large amount of metals beneath its
lands and had thick forests which were helping it to gain timber and elephants.
It had the most fertile soil in Indian sub-continent i.e. alluvial soil. There was heavy rainfall
in Pataliputra due to thick forests. Those who were able to gain the power over Pataliputra
used it very well. Rivers were used for river trade and export-import of commodities, metals,
elephants, and horses. Timber was used to build the houses, fortification and boats. Boats
were used to transport the commodities and travelling from one place to other place because
in ancient time roads were not easy to construct.
Iron and copper was used for technical development and raising the revenue through
exporting them. It was also considered as metal money. They used the metals in making their
army and agriculture more advanced by providing weapons such as arrows, axes, knives etc.
and agricultural tools such as ploughshare, sickle, shaft etc. Iron plumb bobs were used for
alignment of walls of buildings. Iron weapons suggested the importance of hunting and
warfare. Blacksmiths and carpenters tools indicated the importance of the crafts.
Due to fertile soil and closeness to the Ganga, crops were grown two or three times in one
year and exported to less fertile area to make money. Ultimately, the selection of Pataliputra
was due to economic conditions.
Due to its complete dominance in economic activities of trade and commerce, it lost its
importance when the trade was ignored and its significance was completely came to an end in
6th century AD during post-Gupta period. The steps which had been taken by the rulers to
improve their treasury turned against Pataliputra. Due to deforestation, rivers shifted away
from it and fertility of soil was also reduced. Its economy was completely destroyed and it
had turned into a small village.

16

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