Patna district

Patna district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in eastern India. Patna, the capital of Bihar, is the district headquarters. The Patna district is a part of Patna division. The Patna district is divided into 6 Sub-divisions (Tehsils) i.e. Patna Sadar, Patna City, Barh, Masaurhi, Danapur and Paliganj. As of 2011, it is the most populous district of Bihar and fifteenth most populous district in India. The revenue district of Patna comes under the jurisdiction of a District Collector (District Magistrate). The office of the Patna DM is in Patna Collectorate. Patna is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world. Patna was founded in 490 BCE by the king of Magadha. Ancient Patna, known as Pataliputra, was the capital of the Magadha Empire under the Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Shunga, Gupta and Pala empires. Pataliputra was a seat of learning and fine arts. Patliputra was home to many mathematicians, astronomers, astrologists and scholars including Gautam Buddha, Aryabhata, Panini, Vātsyāyana, Chanakya and Kālidāsa. Its population during the Maurya period (around 400 BCE) was about 400,000. Patna served as the seat of power, political and cultural centre of the Indian subcontinent. With the fall of Gupta Empire, Patna lost its glory. It was revived again in the 17th century by the British as a centre of international trade. The modern district of Patna was created in September 1770 as provincial council by the British, to supervise revenue matters of Bihar. In 1793, Patna became a separate judicial district. This led the foundation of modern district. The re-organization of the districts in the State took effect in 1972. On November 9, 1972 Nalanda district was constituted by carving out the Bihar Sharif sub-division of Patna district. Patna district occupies an area of , bounded by the Son River to the west, and the Ganges to the north. In the south, it is bordered by the Nalanda, Arwal, by Jehanabad districts, in the east by Begusarai district, and by Lakhisarai to the southeast.