Bihar Mixed Quiz: Set 3

Bihar, together with Odisha, was separated from the Bengal Presidency and constituted as a new province on 22 March 1912, with Patna as its capital.

The Gandak rises in Nepal, where it is called the Narayani or the Sapt Gandaki, enters Bihar at Valmikinagar in West Champaran and flows south-east to meet the Ganga at Sonpur, across the river from Patna.

The Kosi is called the Sapt Kosi because seven head streams gather in the Nepal Himalaya to make it, and of these the three main ones are the Sun Kosi from the west, the Arun from the north and the Tamur from the east.

This branch of the south-west monsoon strikes the Bengal coast, is deflected west by the Himalaya and moves up the Ganga plain, reaching Bihar in the second week of June.

The gaur is the state animal of Bihar, the house sparrow is the state bird, the peepal is the state tree and the kachnar is the state flower.

The Ganga enters Bihar near Chausa in Buxar district, flows from west to east for about 445 kilometres and leaves the state near Rajmahal.

Valmiki in West Champaran district is the only national park of Bihar and also its only tiger reserve: the sanctuary was notified in 1978, the national park declared in 1989 and the tiger reserve in 1990.

The Son rises at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, the same plateau that gives birth to the Narmada, flows north-east through Rohtas and joins the Ganga near Maner, a little west of Patna.

Makhana is the seed of Euryale ferox, a thorny aquatic plant of still shallow water whose large round leaves cover the surface of ponds and chaurs; the seeds are gathered from the pond bed, dried, roasted and popped into the white kernels sold as makhana or phool makhana.

For agricultural planning Bihar is divided into Zone I, the north-west alluvial plain, Zone II, the north-east alluvial plain, and Zone III, the South Bihar alluvial plain, which is further subdivided into III A and III B. The division follows the two things that actually differ across the state: the…

West Champaran lies at the foot of the Shivaliks along the Nepal border and receives heavy rain, and its forest, in which sal is the dominant tree, is classed as tropical moist deciduous.

The Someshwar hills form the narrow Shivalik belt in the extreme north-west of Bihar, with flat valleys called duns lying between the ridges, and Someshwar peak, about 880 metres, is the highest point of the state.

The reserve occupies the north-western corner of Bihar in West Champaran, where the Himalayan foothills of the Someshwar and Dun ranges meet the Gandak, and its northern boundary is the international border with Nepal.

Kabartal, also called Kanwar Jheel, lies in Begusarai district and is an ox-bow lake left behind by the Burhi Gandak.

Mithila Makhana was registered as a geographical indication in 2022, the tag going to a producers body of the Mithila region so that growers of Darbhanga, Madhubani and the neighbouring districts, rather than traders elsewhere, gain from the name.

The rivers of North Bihar come down from the young Himalaya and spread fresh silt over the plain at every flood, and that silt carries a high proportion of lime.

The Kaimur wildlife sanctuary runs along the Kaimur plateau in Kaimur and Rohtas districts in the south-west of the state and is the largest sanctuary of Bihar, a dry deciduous forest of sal, khair and bamboo with gorges, waterfalls and rock paintings in its hills.

The makhana research centre is at Darbhanga, in the heart of the Mithila makhana belt, and work there covers pond management, the harvesting and popping process and improved varieties such as Swarna Vaidehi.

The sanctuary was notified in 1991 on about fifty kilometres of the Ganga between Sultanganj and Kahalgaon in Bhagalpur district, and it takes its name from the ancient university of Vikramshila nearby.

Cotton is a kharif crop, sown with the onset of the monsoon in June and July and picked from October onwards, because it needs warmth and rainfall during growth and dry weather at picking.