Memorialising and Forgetting in the City: Recovering Azimabad from the Many Pasts of Patna

Abstract

This article interrogates the conventional idea of urban by historicising Patna, a provincial town neglected in urban studies. We argue that behind this neglect is the perception of urbanity as a project of modernity, development and infrastructure. The article foregrounds the role of culture in terms of literary productions and activities as significant yet ignored markers to define and reconceptualise urbanity. By studying the cultural activities of Patna from the eighteenth to the twentieth century, we not only redefine the urban but also the view of Patna as a provincial region. The article uses two occasions in the history of Patna, the formation of the New Capital and the construction of the Patna Museum, to underline the state’s desire for ‘monumental’ representation in the urban sphere and reveals how these instances were used to overwrite a certain kind of past for the city and create a formidable ancient identity for Patna.