With the rise of the Mauryan empire (321 BC-185 BCE), Patna, then called Pataliputra became the seat of power and nerve center of the Indian subcontinent. From Pataliputra, the famed emperor Chandragupta ruled a vast empire, stretching from the Bay of Bengal to Afghanistan.

River Port on National Waterway 1 at Gai Ghat, Patna . The Ganges – navigable throughout the year – was the principal river highway across the vast Indo-Gangetic Plain.

The origin of this city can be traced during the first cycle of urbanisation and aftermath, the city passes through many semesters of ups and down, by which I mean rise and fall. Patna city had a unique geographical location, having surrounded by the three different rivers (Son, Ganges and Ghandak) in three corners of the city.

Patna has the unique distinction of being the capital of early Indian empires for more than a thousand years. The ancient city of Pataliputra has been described in Greek accounts as rivalling the splendors of Persian cities.

The complex, which was handed over to the British by the Dutch following the 1824 Anglo-Dutch Treaty, is one of the last surviving links the city has to its past as a major river port with trade across the world.