Patna is one of the oldest continuously living cities in India and is now considered the most important city in Bihar state and its capital. It is located in the Middle East of India on the south bank of the Ganga River. As the site of several strip rivers, including the Sone, Gandak and Punpun Rivers, Patna is known as the largest river city in the world. The Mahatma Gandhi Bridge over the Ganges, about 5575 meters long, is the longest river bridge in India. According to the 2011 census report, it has about 1,684 million inhabitants, making the city the most densely populated in Bihar. Patna has a great religious history where different types of religions including Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh and Jains lived together and therefore many pilgrimage centers from different communities can still be found here. Some important of these religious sites in Patna are Vaishali, Rajgir, Nalanda, Bodhgaya, Pawapuri and the holy birthplace of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh.
Patna took its name from Pataliputra, the former capital of the kingdom of Magadha. The city has a history of about 3000 years from the ancient Vedic times. Different dynasties respectively the Haryanka, Nanda, Mauryan, Sunga, Gupta, Pala dynasty and the Muslim ruler controlled their kingdoms administrative system from here as the capital. After the end of the Nanda Dynasty, Maurya ruler Chandragupta conquered it in the 4th century AD and created its capital. When the Mauryan Dynasty lost its power many undersized powers came under control, but expect the Gupta Dynasty to be less vital and the city to lose its importance until Sherkhan Suri came to power in the early 16th century after Christ. mighty king of Patna who reigned in the mid-16th century. He built a fortress and founded a city on the banks of the Ganges. Although the fort does not survive now, the Sher Shah Suri Masjid Mosque is still alive.
