HistoryAncient India: Kings, Farmers and Towns

What did the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang find when he visited Pataliput…

What did the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang find when he visited Pataliputra in the seventh century CE?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 3

The correct answer is Option (3) → It was in ruins, with a very small population

By the time Xuan Zang came in the seventh century CE, the importance of Pataliputra had declined, and he found the city in ruins with a very small population.

NCERT (2026-27): “6.2 Urban populations: Elites and craftspersons …
Each city had a history of its own. Pataliputra, for instance, began as a village known as Pataligrama. Then, in the fifth century BCE, the Magadhan rulers decided to shift their capital from Rajagaha to this settlement and renamed it. By the fourth century BCE, it was the capital of the Mauryan Empire and one of the largest cities in Asia. Subsequently, its importance apparently declined. When the Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang visited the city in the seventh century CE, he found it in ruins, and with a very small population.”