Bankipur is a neighbourhood and residential area in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

, in the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. It is located on the bank of the river

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

. The prime attraction is the

Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Library is one of the national libraries of India, located in Patna, Bihar. It was opened to public on 29 October 1891 by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh with 4,000 manuscripts, of which he inherited 1,400 from his father Maulvi ...

built by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh in 1891 and Golghar granary that was built by Captain John Garstin in 1786. Patna Dental College and Hospital is also located here.

History

Until the early twentieth century, Bankipore (or Bankipur, or Banki Bazaar) was the administrative centre of the Patna Division of

, which came under the rule of the British

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

(EIC) following the

battle of Buxar The Battle of Buxar was fought between 22 and 23 October 1764, between the forces of the British East India Company, under the command of Major Hector Munro, against the combined armies of Balwant Singh, Maharaja of the Benaras State; Mir Qa ...

in 1764. Bankipore lies along an east–west axis on the south bank of the

, some four kilometers west from the medieval Patna City, or Azimabad. The site is almost certainly the location of the ancient Magadhan and

Maurya The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

capital of

Pataliputra Pataliputra (IAST: ), adjacent to modern-day Patna, Bihar, was a city in ancient India, originally built by Magadha ruler Ajatashatru in 490 BCE, as a small fort () near the Ganges river.. Udayin laid the foundation of the city of Pataliput ...

. Its identification with Pataliputra was first noticed by Sir William Jones who was informed that Bankipore lay on the former confluence of the River Sone with the

, a site that has shifted some distance upstream now-and one that matches Megasthenes' description. In 1774 the EIC ceded Banki Bazaar to the Austrian Ostend Company. Among the principal remains of the colonial period in Bankipore are the District Collectorate, the Civil Court, and mansions such as the impressive Darbhanga House (now the PG Deptt.Patna University, Patna), built in the late 19th century by the great philanthropist, the Maharaja of Darbhanga, Lachmaneshwar Singh. The Bankipore cemetery, which has the graves of minor Company officials and indigo planters, the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library, founded by Khan Bahadur Khuda Bakhsh in 1891, and the Catholic Mission, are among the other historic sites of Bankipore. Bankipore is also notable for its several ghats, which include the old Jahaz Ghat, from where plied the daily ferry across the river, and the Darbhanga Ghat. One of the earliest educational institutions of the erstwhile Bengal Presidency, Rammohun Roy Seminary, a High English School, was set up at Bankipur in 1892 under the charge of Satis Chandra Chakravarti, a worker of the Bankipur Ashram of the Sadharan Brahmo Samaj. In 1912, Indian National Congress held its 27th session at Bankipore under the Presidency of Rao Bahadur Raghunath Narasinha Mudholkar from

Amravati Amravati (/Marathi phonology, əmᵊɾɑʋᵊt̪iː/) is a city in Maharashtra located in the Vidarbha region. It is the ninth largest city in Maharashtra, India & second largest city in the Vidarbha region in terms of population. It is the ...

of Central Provinces and Berar. The name of this place goes to Islamic invader Mir Banki who attacked Bengal in 15th century and came to Patna in his campaign.

In fiction

The author E. M. Forster states"A Passage to India"E.M.Forster, Edited by Oliver Stallybrass 1978, Penguin Books Limited, Reprinted in Penguin Modern Classics 1982, p.338 that the city of Chandrapore, in his novel '' A Passage to India'' (1924), "was suggested geographically by the town of Bankipore". The Marabar Hills of the novel corresponds to the Rajgir hills, a few miles away from

and the site of ancient

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Mauryan The Maurya Empire was a geographically extensive Iron Age historical power in South Asia with its power base in Magadha. Founded by Chandragupta Maurya around c. 320 BCE, it existed in loose-knit fashion until 185 BCE. The primary sourc ...

remains.

References

{{Neighbourhoods of Patna Neighbourhoods in Patna