‘There is no proposal before government to rename Bakhtiyarpur’: Samrat Choudhary

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Wednesday clarified that there was no proposal before the State government to rename Bakhtiyarpur in Patna district. He, however, said he favoured renaming the town, which is the birthplace of former Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Santosh Kumar Suman, son of Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and a Cabinet Minister in the Samrat Choudhary government, had demanded that the sub-divisional town be named after Nitish Kumar in recognition of his contribution to the State’s development.

“Nitish Kumar’s birthplace should be honoured by renaming it,” Suman had said.

Choudhary’s reaction came in the wake of Suman’s fresh demand that Bakhtiyarpur be renamed ‘Nitishpur’.

The Chief Minister said political activists had been raising the demand to rename the town from time to time. “But as of now, there is no proposal before the government to change the name of the sub-divisional town in Patna rural,” he told the media.

Bakhtiyarpur is widely believed to have been named after the medieval military commander Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji. Choudhary said historical accounts suggested that the invader had set the ancient Nalanda University on fire to destroy the seat of learning. He, however, indicated that the town could be renamed in the future.

Earlier, the Bakhtiyarpur Municipal Council had submitted a proposal to Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary seeking the renaming of the town as “Magadh Dwar”.

The municipal council argued that the existing name honoured the invader Bakhtiyar Khilji. A similar demand had been made during Nitish Kumar’s tenure as Chief Minister, but it was not implemented. Kumar’s residence is located in Bakhtiyarpur.

In 2021, when asked by the media whether the town’s name should be changed, Kumar, who was Chief Minister at the time, dismissed the suggestion, saying, “What rubbish!” He added, “Why should the name be changed? It is my birthplace. Some people keep talking about Bakhtiyarpur without any reason.”

At the time, then BJP MLA Haribhushan Thakur Bechol had called for the renaming of Bakhtiyarpur. In July 2019, then BJP Rajya Sabha MP Gopal Narayan Singh raised the issue in Parliament, demanding that Bakhtiyarpur railway station be renamed after Buddhist heritage sites such as Nalanda and Rajgir.

He argued that the station, which was named after Bakhtiyar Khilji, commemorated an “oppressor” who destroyed the ancient Nalanda University and killed between 2,000 and 3,000 Buddhist monks. In 2018, Union Minister Giriraj Singh had also raised the issue.

In 2006, then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad wrote to the then Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, forwarding requests from former Bihar Governor Buta Singh and then Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to rename Bakhtiyarpur railway station after freedom fighter Sheelbhadra Yajee.

Historians, however, remain divided over whether Bakhtiyarpur was actually named after Bakhtiyar Khilji. While various claims exist, there is no conclusive historical evidence to substantiate the connection. Despite this, a strong public perception persists that the town is linked to the historical figure.

Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji was a Turko-Afghan military commander who conquered several regions across Bihar and Bengal between 1200 and 1205 AD.

According to historical accounts, Khilji invaded Bihar around 1203 AD and subsequently captured Nadia, then the capital of Bengal. He is best known for his attack on Nalanda University. Several accounts suggest that he damaged major Buddhist centres of learning, including Nalanda and Odantapuri.

During this period, a large number of Buddhist monks were reportedly killed, while many others fled the region. Although some historians argue that Nalanda University had already declined by that time, Bakhtiyar Khilji is widely associated with its eventual destruction.

On April 29, the Samrat Choudhary-led government renamed the Sanjay Gandhi Botanical Garden as Patna Zoo.