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Bihar ( of the India n union situated in north India. Its Capital is Patna . ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME The name ''Bihar'' is derived from the Sanskrit ''vihāra'' (Dev. विहार), means "abode". The region roughly encompassing the present state was dotted with Buddhist Vihara , which were the abodes of Buddhist monks in the ancient and medieval periods. HISTORY See Also: History of Bihar Ancient Bihar was called Magadha in ancient times. Its capital Patna, then known as Pataliputra , was the center of the first empire built in India, that was by Nanda Dynasty , followed by Mauryan empire, which dominated the Indian Subcontinent from 325 BC to 185 BC . Emperor Ashoka was the most famous ruler of this Dynasty . Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education during the next one thousand years. The Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities , were among the oldest and best centres of education in ancient India. Religions Originating in Bihar Bihar is the birthplace of several religions, including Buddhism and Jainism . Buddha attained Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya , a town located in the modern day district of Gaya . Mahavira , the 24th and the last Tirthankara of Jainism , was born in Vaishali . Indeed Jain monks & nuns wandered in the towns and forests of then Magadha. They called it Vihara and thus Bihar got its name from the vihara of Jain Sages .The tenth guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh was born in Patna, the capital of Bihar. Medieval Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji , a Pashtun and general of Muhammad Ghori , captured Bihar in 12th century. This started the decline of the intellectual and spiritual legacy of Bihar. Many of the Viharas and the famed universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed in this period. Bihar saw a brief period of glory for six years during the rule of another Pashtun Sher Shah Suri , who was from Sasaram and built the longest road of the Indian Subcontinent , the Grand Trunk Road , which starts from Sonargaon in Bangladesh and ends at Peshawar in Pakistan . During 1557-1576, Akbar , the Mughal emperor, annexed Bihar and Bengal to his empire. With the decline of Mughals, Bihar passed under the control of the Nawab s of Bengal. Thus, the medieval period was mostly one of anonymous provincial existence. 10th and the last "guru" of "Sikhism" Guru Gobind Singh was born in Patna. Modern After the Battle of Buxar (1765), the British East India Company obtained the diwani rights (rights to administer and collect revenue, or tax administration / collection) for Bihar, Bengal and Orissa . From this point onwards, Bihar remained a part the Bengal Presidency of the British Raj until 1912, when Bihar was carved out as a separate Province . In 1935, certain portions of Bihar were reorganised into the separate province of Orissa. Again, in 2000, 18 administrative districts of Bihar were separated to form the state of Jharkhand. Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and his army, as well as countless other persons from Bihar, contributed to the India's First War Of Independence (1857), also called the Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. Anugrah Narayan Sinha , ''Loknayak'' Jayaprakash Narayan , Satyendra Narayan Sinha (Singh) Basawon Singh (Sinha) , Yogendra Shukla , Sheel Bhadra Yajee and many others who worked for India 's freedom relentlessly and helped in the upliftment of the underprivileged masses. Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki were also active in revolutionary movement in Bihar. Baikuntha Shukla , another great nationalist from Bihar who was hanged for murdering Phanindrananth Ghosh who had become a government approver which led to hanging of Bhagat Singh , Sukhdev and Rajguru . Phanindra Nath Ghosh hitherto a key member of the Revolutionary Party had treacherously betrayed the cause by turning an approver, giving evidence, which led to the execution. Baikunth was commissioned to plan the execution of Ghosh as an act of ideological vendetta which he carried out successfully on 9 November 1932 . He was arrested and tried for the killing. Baikunth was convicted and hanged in Gaya Central Jail on May 14 , 1934 . He was only 28 years old. After his return from South Africa , Mahatma Gandhi started the freedom movement in India by his Satyagraha in the Champaran District of Bihar at the request of Raj Kumar Shukla -- against the British, who were forcing the local Farmer s to plant Indigo which was very harmful to the local soil. In India’s struggle for Independence the "Champaran Satyagraha" , marks a very important stage.Raj Kumar Shukla drew the attention of Mahatma Gandhi , who had just returned from South Africa , to the plight of the peasants suffering under an oppressive system established by European indigo planters. Besides other excesses they were forced to cultivate indigo on 3/20 part of their holding and sell it to the planters at prices fixed by the planters. This marked Gandhiji ’s entry into the India’s Struggle for Freedom. On his arrival at Motihari , the district headquarters, Gandhiji along with his team of eminent lawyers comprising of Dr. Rajendra Prasad , Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha , Brajkishore Prasad and Ram Navami Prasad which he handpicked tp participate in the satyagraha were ordered to leave by the next available train which hthey refused to do and Gandhiji was arrested. He was released and the ban order was withdrawn in the face of a, "Satyagraha" threat. Gandhiji conducted an open enquiry into the peasant’s grievances. The Government had to appoint an enquiry committee with Gandhiji as a member. This led to the abolition of the system. Raj Kumar Shukla has been described by Gandhiji in his "Atmakatha", as a man whose suffering gave him the strength to rise against the odds. In his letter to Gandhiji he wrote "Respected Mahatma, You hear the stories of others everyday. Today please listen to my story….. I want to draw your attention to the promise made by you in the Lucknow Congress that you would come to Champaran. The time has come for you to fulfil your promise. 19 lakhs suffering people of Champaran are waiting to see you." Gandhiji reached Patna on 10 April 1917 and on 16 April he reached Motihari accompanied by Raj Kumar Shukla . Under Gandhiji’s leadership the historic "Champaran Satyagraha" began. The contribution of Raj Kumar Shukla is reflected in the writings of Dr. Rajendra Prasad , first President of India, Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Acharya Kriplani and of course, Mahatma Gandhi himself. Raj Kumar Shukla maintained a diary in which he has given an account of struggle against the atrocities of the indigo planters, atrocities so movingly depicted by Dinabandhu Mitra in Nil Darpan , a play that was translated by Michael Madhusudan Dutt . This movement by Mahatma Gandhi received the spontaneous support of a cross section of people, including Dr. Rajendra Prasad , who ultimately became the first President Of India , Bihar Kesari Sri Krishna Sinha who became the first Chief Minister of Bihar, Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha , who ultimately became the first finance minister of Bihar and Brajkishore Prasad . Timeline
GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE Geography Bihar is mainly a vast stretch of very fertile flat land. It has several major rivers: Ganga , Son , Bagmati , Kosi , Budhi Gandak , and Falgu . Central parts of Bihar have some small hills, for example the Rajgir Hills . The Himalayan Mountains are to the north, in Nepal. To the south is the Chota Nagpur plateau, which was part of Bihar until 2000 but now is part of a separate state called jharkhand. Climate: Bihar is mildly cold in the winter (the lowest temperatures being around 5 to 10 degrees Celsius; 41 to 50 degrees Fahrenheit). Winter months are December and January. It is hot in the summer (40 to 45 degrees Celsius; 104 to 114 degrees Fahrenheit). April to mid June are the hot months. The monsoon months of June, July, August, and September see good rainfall. October & November and February & March have pleasant climate. ECONOMY Bihar is one of the slow growing states of India and has a -dominated politics and rampant corruption by politicians & bureaucrats have been the cause of the lack of development of the state. Saibal Gupta of Asian Development Research Institute has blamed the absence of a sub-national identity which has allowed the Central Government to get away with its neglect. Mohan Guruswamy of Centre of Policy Alternatives has done a detailed study of the continued neglect of Bihar by the central government and how it has resulted in its downslide. [http://www.blonnet.com/2004/02/07/stories/2004020700100800.htm The economy is mainly based on Agricultural and trading activities. The vast swath of extremely fertile land makes it ideal for agriculture. Despite a number of rivers and good fertile soil, investment in Irrigation and other agriculture facilities has been grossly inadequate. Agriculture is mainly dependent upon the vagaries of the nature. Previously, there were a few half hearted attempts to industrialize the state: an Oil Refinery in Barauni , a Motor Scooter plant at Fatuha, and a power plant at Muzaffarpur . However, no sustained effort had been made in this direction, and there was little success in its industrialization. Historically, Sugar and vegetable oil were flourishing industries of Bihar. Until the mid fifties, 25% of India's sugar output was from Bihar. Dalmianagar was a large agro - industrial town. However, these were forced to shut down due to faulty central policy which neutralized the strategic advantages of Bihar. Recently the dairy industry has picked up very well in Bihar. Sugar industry is another one which has started to show up with 25 new sugar factories committed in Bihar between 2006 and 2007. Bihar's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $19 billion in current prices. There was a division of Bihar in 2000, when the industrially advanced and mineral-rich southern-half of the state was carved out to form the separate state of Jharkhand . Since then, the main economic activity of Bihar has been agriculture. The new Bihar state produces about 60% of the output of the old Bihar state. Macro-economic trend This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Bihar at market prices estimated by ''Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation'' with figures in millions of Indian Rupees. |
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