Patna is one of the oldest cities in India. Very few cities in India have had so many names as this hoary city. The well-known ancient names of Patna were Pataliputra, Kusumapura and Pushpapura. The Greeks called it Palibothra. The Chinese called the place as Pa-lin-fou. During the later Muslim period it came to be known Azimabad. Pataliputra was referred to in Emperor Asoka's Girnar Rock Edict No. V and in his Sarnath Pillar Edict. The name is spelt in the Rock Edict as Pataliputa, undoubtedly the Prakrit form of Pataliputra.

The capital of Magadha was at first at Giribrajpur or Rajagriha (the modern Rajgir) and then it was transferred to Pataliputra during the reign of Udayin, son of Darsaka. Pataliputra or Patna has been sanctified by the glories around Gautama Buddha and Mahavira Vardhamana. The city has been referred to in Patanjali's Mahabhashya, Chanakya's Artha Shastra, and memoirs of Fahien anti Hiuen Tsang.