Bihar State Information

8/8/2019 Bihar State Information

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The legends of the courtesan Ambapali's exquisite beauty added to the glory and charmof Vaishali. By the fifth century BC, the focus of history shifted to Magadh with its capitalat Rajgriha (seen as the first recorded capital in Indian history), and later Pataliputra.Rajgriha witnessed the first Buddhist Council and the conversion of the Mauryan kingBimbisara to Buddhism. During the last days of the Buddha, the political masters

thought of shifting their capital from Rajgriha to Pataliputra, which gradually became thepride of Asia and subsequently the capital to the great empires of Nandas, Mauryas,Sungas and Guptas. It was here that Megasthenes spent most of his time as anAmbassador of his Syrian king Seleukos Nikator.

During the medieval period, except for the brief twinkle of Sher Shah's reign who rosefrom his base in Bihar to the sultanate of Delhi that ruled over the entire country, theprovince of Bihar rarely enjoyed the status of an independent state; rather it swayedwith the fortunes of Delhi, Jaunpur and Bengal.

Various sultans of Delhi and later the Mughals, as well as emperors and princes, criss-

crossed Bihar in order to crush the rebellions in distant Bengal. Much later, Babur, inpursuit of the Lodhis, came as far as Bihar. Babur's death brought Humayun to thethrone of Delhi and he had a hard time fighting his Afghan adversary from Bihar, Sher Shah. Most of their decisive battles were fought in and around Bihar. Sher Shah wasmore than a match for Humayun and gradually he paved his way to the throne of Delhi.During his brief reign of five years, Sher Shah proved himself to be one of the greatestrulers of medieval India.

After the coming of the British to India, Bihar again played an important role in decidingthe future course of the country and Buxar became the place where the final battle for supremacy in north India was fought between the East India Company and the

combined forces of the Mughals, and Nawabs of Bengal and Awadh in 1764.Bihar was part of the Bengal presidency till 1911, when a separate province comprisingBihar and Orissa was created. In 1936, Bihar was made an independent province. Apartfrom the documented history, Bihar finds mention in the legends and tales related to theRamayan.

It is believed that the Goddess Sita, the wife of Lord Ram, was born in Mithila to KingJanak, the ruler of the region.

Government of Bihar

Nitish Kumar is the Chief Minister of the Bihar. He is one of the leaders of Janata Dal(United) party. In November 2005, he led the National Democratic Alliance to a victoryin the Bihar Assembly elections bringing to an end the 15-year rule of the Lalu PrasadYadav led Rashtriya Janata Dal in the state.

Districts of Bihar
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Bihar is divided into 37 districts for administrative purposes - Aurangabad, Begusarai,Bhagalpur, Banka, Bhojpur, Buxar, Bhabhua (Kaimur), Darbhanga, East Champaran,Gaya, Goplaganj, Jahanabad Arwal, Jamui, Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Lakshisarai,Madhepura, Madhubani, Munger, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Nawada, Patna, Purnea,Rohtas, Saharsa, Samastipur, Saran, Shekhpura, Sheohar,

Sitamari,SiwanSupaul,Vaishali & West Champaran

Economy of Bihar

The State is well linked by road, state highways, national highways, rural and districtroads.

The State has fairly good railway network.

There are airports at Patna and Gaya besides landing grounds in all major districts of the State. After the division of state, most of the industries went off with mineral-rich

Jharkhand.Rest of the industries that the Bihar inherited from its earlier incarnation is mostly agrobased. North Bihar has many sugar factories relying on the traditionally good productionof sugarcane in the state.

Barauni is the only major industrial center in the state where one can find an oil refineryand many allied industries. Munger has a large cigarette factory of ITC group.Bhagalpur is known for its silk production while Patna is home to many small-scaleindustries, many of them dealing in scrap iron.

Other than Barauni, there are 2 more important industrial centres namely- Muzaffarpur and Mokama. Muzaffarpur is having industries like Rail Wagon factory, power stationand IDPL factory where as Mokama houses important units like Rail wagon factory,Bata leather factory and McDowell Distllary.

Agriculture is the main occupation the people of the State. Principal food grain crops arepaddy, wheat, maize, and pulses. Main cash crops are sugarcane, potato, tobacco,oilseeds, onion, chilies, and jute.

Bihar Travel Information

Most of the tourist places of Bihar have strong connections with the great religions of the world like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Witness to the gloriousteachings of the some of the most pious minds of the past, the state attracts peoplefrom all religions and faiths.

There are few pilgrimage destinations in India that are sacred to different religions andmost of them are in Bihar itself. Places like Patna, Rajgir, and Vaishali are sacred to allthe important faiths and that is a great achievement of Bihar. Famous destinations for
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tourism are Patna, Rajgir, Bodhgaya, Gaya, Nalanda and Vaishali.

Rivers of Bihar

One of the most striking feature of the river system of Bihar is the dominant role of

Ganga. The important rivers that join the Ganga from the north are Ghaghra, Gandak,Burhi Gandak, Kosi, Mahananda and its tributaries. Sonpur, which is situated alongGanga's bank is famous for the great bathing festival, which is the occasion for thegreatest cattle and elephant fair in the world. The principal streams, which join Gangafrom South, are Karmanasa, Sone, Punpun, Phalgu, Sakri and Kiul.

Education of Bihar

Historically, Bihar has been a major center of learning, home to the universities of Nalanda (one of the earliest universities of India dating back to the fifth century) andVikramshila. Unfortunately, that tradition of learning which had its origin from the time of

Buddha or perhaps earlier, was lost during the medieval period when marauding armiesof the invaders destroyed these centers of learning.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the state government took over management of most privately-run schools. This adversely affected school education in the state sincethe state government was ill equipped to manage the schools through its bureaucratswho were trained for law and order duties. Though the state accorded them governmentrecognition, the standard started to fall. Thankfully, the state did not take over theschools run by the Christian missionaries and these schools provided a fillip to qualityeducation in Bihar. As in other states, the central government runs a number of Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central Schools) and Jawahar Navodaya Schools for rural

students. Jawahar Navodaya Schools started by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhihave been particularly successful in providing quality education to the weaker sectionsof the society.

The number of Private schools, including school-chains and Missionary Schools run byChristian Missionaries as well as Madrasas, or schools run by Muslim clerics, hasincreased in the post liberalisation era. Most of the schools in Bihar are affiliated withthe Bihar School Examination Board, while the Kendriya Vidyalay and a few other eliteschools including the Christian Missionary Schools are affiliated to the ICSE and CBSEboards. Bihar has twelve universities recognised by the state.

Bihar is placed poorly with respect to the literacy rate as per 2001 census with overallliteracy of 47.53%. Although the male literacy rate is somewhat better at 60.32%, thefamale literacy is very poor at 33.57% and is a major deterrent for the developmenet of the state.

Food of Bihar

The cuisine of the state is an interesting mix of North and East Indian cuisine. Rice,
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pulses, and roti are the most common food consumed by the people of this state. Oneexclusive item of this state is Sattu (gram powder), commonly taken as a mixture withwater, salt, and limejuice. A favorite breakfast all over the state is Chura-Dahi (flattenedrice and curd) taken together with sugar or jaggery.

The influence of Bengal is evident in the way large quantities of fish are consumed inthe state. There are several specialty sweets that are made all over the state for specialoccasions. Khaja, tilkut, anarsa and thekuwa are some of the preparations that form apart of every sweet-toothed Bihari's dreams.

Arts & Culture of Bihar

People of the Bihar are Aryans who came from Central Asia and entered this provincein around 600 years before Christ after defeating the aboriginal people. According to thelegends, great sage Agastya was the first person who crossed the river Gandak andburnt down Dandakaranya (forest of this region as it was known in the Vedic times).

Patna Qalam and Mithila paintings are two of the most impressive and popular crafts of Bihar. With the decline of the Mughals, the Delhi artists migrated to Murshidabad (agreat center of commerce and a flourishing town of the Nawabs). When this Bengalhamlet did not hold the artists for long, they thought of Bihar. Some of them came over to Patna and practiced their craft following a style that gradually came to be known asthe Patna Qalam. The style is famous for its soft colors and the use of hand made paper or mica sheets. Most of these paintings depict the day-to-day life of the people of Bihar.

Madhubani, in the heart of the Mithila region, had a rich tradition of wall paintings doneby the village women. Hit by a severe drought in 1966, an artist encouraged them to trytheir wall paintings on paper. The idea was a great success and since then Mithila

paintings gained ground. These line paintings in primary colors normally depict villagescenes, human and animal forms, gods and goddesses. A kind of artistic emotion canbe observed in these paintings. Tulsidas gives an elaborate description of how theentire Mithila region was decorated for the wedding of Sita with Ram. Bhagalpur isfamous for its silk industry all over the world and is considered one of the best silkproducing centers in India. Other crafts of Bihar include Sujni embroidery, lac banglemaking, and creation of decorative and utility items of Seenki (a local dried grass).

Dance & Music of Bihar

Jat-Jatin Dance of the Mithila region is performed by the Harijans (name given to thelower castes by Mahatma Gandhi) where one person performs the role of Jat (thehusband) and Jatin (the wife) wearing masks and goes through the story of their life.Bidesia, a form of dance drama is extremely popular in the Bhojpuri-speaking region of Bihar. The region of Mithilanchal is famous for its cultural heritage and the songs of Vidyapati (famous poet of early medieval age) can be heard even now in the eveningsfrom several homes throughout the region. Bhojpuri folksongs are popular throughoutthe country and second to none when it comes to beats and rhythm.


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Costumes of Bihar

Sari is the most popular attire for women all over the state. The salwar-kameez is alsopopular especially with the younger and urban women. The traditional attire for menincludes dhoti, kurta, and kharaun (wooden sandal). However, men have taken to the

more convenient attire of shirts and pants, though western wear is not so commonamong women. In Mithila, a unique part of a man's dress is the Paag, a turban whosecolor is meant to symbolize the status of the man wearing it.

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Bihar State Information