IRJMST Vol 9 Issue 5 [Year 2018] ISSN 2250 – 1959 (0nline) 2348 – 9367 (Print) International Research Journal of Management Science & Technology http://www.irjmst.com Page 87 Patna: A city in the Sixteenth, the Seventeenth and early Eighteenth Century Tabish Hashmi Ph.D. Scholar, Patna University, Patna. "The city is more beautiful than the face of the beloved; the inhabitants of the city are more charming than the city” - Mirza Muhammed Sadiq The arrival of the Great Mughals in India witnessed the creation and stabilization of provincial administration that continues till today more or less on same pattern. They clearly demarcated the boundaries of different subah and settled their capitals and ensured effective administrative systems for these subahs. In 1576 Bihar became a subah of the erstwhile Mughal Empire and from there it remained an integral part of the Mughal empire till the battle of Plassey in 1757, when the influence of the British was felt and acknowledged in the region. During the Mughal period Subah i Bihar was an important subah because of its strategic location and the plenty of resources which have been noticed and mentioned by various foreign travellers in their lengthy description. Walter Hamilton noted in the East India Gazetteer that "Bihar is one of the most fertile, highly cultivated and populous of Hindustan, in proportion to its extent of plain arable ground, which may be computed at 26,000 square miles, divided naturally into two equal portion, north and south of the Ganges." 1 The Subah of Bihar with its prominent cities witnessed hectic political, commercial and cultural activities in which the indigenous as well as foreign groups contributed to a larger extent. In the referred period Bihar witnessed many political events and conspiracies, viz. Battle of Chausa, revolt of Salim, revolt of Farukhsiyar, Battle of Buxar, etc, besides the various economic activities like the setting of many karkhanas, Europeans factories, rise of the house of Jagat Seth, large scale trade in ssaltpeter and opium, etc. Important towns and cities that flourished in Subah-i-Bihar during this period included Patna, Maner, Monghyr, Rajmahal, Bhagalpur, Chapra, Singhiya, Hajipur, Dariapur, Gaya, Muzzafarpur, Bihar Sharif etc. Almost every traveller traversing through Bihar had visited these cities and had narrated the various facets of urban life of the period. Besides Patna the capital seat of the subah, Monghyr was an important town of the period. It was located halfway between Rajmahal and Patna. John Marshal, an English official, describing this town noted: " this town stands upon an ascent, the river bank by it being 8 or 10 yards high ... a wall made of bricks by the river side about 5 yards high and 20 long, with a little tower at each end, which wall is a fortification to put guns in Important commodities produced at Monghyr included textiles, Opium, Saltpeter, fruits etc,’’ 2 but John Marshal was of the view that "best Opium comes from near Patna, and that from Monghyr, is not so good. Rajmahal was another important Mughal city in the subah. It was a mint town and the different nationalities frequently visited here for financial purposes. Located along the river