Modern Patna. Founded in the fifth century BC by Ajatashatru of Magadha, it became the capital both of the Mauryan and Gupta empires. The Greek Ambassador Megasthenes, who spent several years at the court of Chandragupta Maurya, said that ‘even Susa and Ecbatana could not rival the beauty and grandeur of Pataliputra. ‘The Chinese traveler Fa Hsien, visiting the city seven hundred years later in the reign of the Gupta emperor Chandra Gupta II, said: ‘the royal palace and the halls, the walls and the gates with the inlaid sculpture work seems to be the work of superhuman spirits. ‘The city was destroyed by fire in about AD 600.