Pataliputra was the capital city of an ancient kingdom called Maurya that existed in what is now modern-day India. This kingdom was super important because it had a really really big army and was able to conquer a lot of other smaller kingdoms around it.
So, because it was such a powerful kingdom, lots of people wanted to live in Pataliputra. Imagine if you lived in a really cool tree house with all your friends and toys, and people knew it was the coolest tree house in the neighborhood. They might want to come over and play with you too!
Pataliputra was a big, bustling city with lots of buildings, temples, and markets. People came from all around the kingdom to buy and sell goods, and there were lots of things to do for fun too.
One of the coolest things about Pataliputra was that it was built on the bank of a huge river, which made it really easy for people to travel by boat. This meant that people could come from really far away to visit and trade with the city.
So, in summary, Pataliputra was the capital city of a really powerful ancient kingdom called Maurya. It was a big, bustling city with lots of cool things to see and do, and lots of people from all around the region came to visit and trade with it.