A New Dawn: Patna Reincarnated

by Sudhir Kumar Jha

This book is about Patna as the capital of modern Bihar. The thrust is on Patna in the 20th century but the 19th and earlier centuries have been covered, where necessary, to give a sense of continuity. The book tries to portray the transition of Patna from tradition to modernity, under the colonial rule and after. Having tasted glory as the seat of imperial power and the headquarters of Mughal Subedars, Patna lost its preeminence first to Murshidabad and then to Calcutta for a century and a half. It was thus honour redeemed when Patna was reincarnated as the capital of the newly created province of Bihar and Orissa. The excitement was palpable as officials and non-officials strove their hardest to equip the new capital with the paraphernalia of a vigorous and progressive administration. Renaissance was in the air. It was as if Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, had herself descended on Patna.

416 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 4, 2016