| Temples & Legends Of Bihar |
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| Temples & Legends
Of India |
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PATAN DEVI |
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| Later,
fromTavernier's account, we find that in 1665 A.D. Patna was one o f the greatest centers
of trade in Northern India. Two Englishmen were sent from Agra to Patna in 1620 A.D. to
purchase cloth and to establish a business house. In 1632 A.D. a similar move was made
from Surat. Patna was selected as the best place for procuring saltpeter when the English
established them on the Bengal coast. The Portuguese, the Dutch and the French also
competed for increasing their trade with Patna as the centre. Some of the relies of the
East India Company are still preserved in Patna. Then came the 'Maharatta inroads and
the attempt of Ali Vardi Khan, the undisputed master of Bihar and Bengal, to fortify Patna
against the inroads of the Maharattas. The next event of importance is Siraj-ud-daula's
rebellion in 1750 A.D., the interference by the English and a number of skirmishes and
open battles. Shah Alam, on being defeated at Manpur near Gaya in 1767, was escorted to
Patna and entertained there.
Shah Alam was proclaimed the Emperor of India and Mir Kashim Ali was made the Nawab of
Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Patna next saw the differences between the English and Mir
Kashim and Mir Kashim's ruthless massacre of the English prisoners by the bands of a
Swiss, Walter Reinhardt, nicknamed Somru. The graves are still to be seen in Patina. After
this a British force under Major Adams laid siege to Patna and on the 6th November 1763
Patna was stormed and taken. With the decisive battle of Buxar on 23rd October, 1764, the
British became the undisputed masters of the lower provinces of Bengal. |
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