Bihar GK: History, Geography and Static Facts

Bihar sits in the eastern Gangetic plain, landlocked, with Nepal to its north, West Bengal to its east, Jharkhand to its south and Uttar Pradesh to its west. The Ganga crosses it from west to east and splits it into a northern half fed by Himalayan rivers and a southern half drained by rivers from the plateau. The name comes from vihara, the Buddhist monastery, and the state holds the ground on which Magadha rose, the Buddha found enlightenment and Mahavira was born, so its questions come as much from history as from geography.

Formation and administration

The province of Bihar and Orissa was separated from the Bengal Presidency on 22 March 1912, and that day is kept every year as Bihar Diwas. Orissa was separated as a province of its own in 1936, and Bihar became a state of the Indian Union after independence. On 15 November 2000 its southern plateau districts were carved out as the new state of Jharkhand, which took with them most of the state's mineral wealth and heavy industry. The capital is Patna, which stands on the southern bank of the Ganga and is the ancient Pataliputra. Shri Krishna Sinha, called Shri Babu, was the first Chief Minister of Bihar, and Jairamdas Daulatram its first Governor. The Patna High Court was established in 1916 and is among the older High Courts of the country.

Rivers and physical features

The Ganga is the master stream. Its northern tributaries, the Gandak, the Burhi Gandak, the Bagmati and the Kosi, rise in Nepal and the Himalaya, carry heavy silt and change course often. The Kosi is called the Sorrow of Bihar because it has shifted its bed far to the west over the last two centuries and floods a wide belt of the north. From the south come the Sone, the largest southern tributary of the Ganga in the state, along with the Punpun, the Falgu and the Karmanasa. The land is almost entirely alluvial plain, which makes the state fertile and at the same time exposed to flood in the north and to drought in the south.

Wildlife

Valmiki National Park in the West Champaran district, on the Nepal border in the Gandak basin, is the only national park of Bihar and the core of the Valmiki Tiger Reserve. The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary at Bhagalpur, on a stretch of the Ganga, is the country's protected area set aside for the Gangetic dolphin, which is the national aquatic animal. Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary in the south is the largest sanctuary of the state, and Kanwar Lake in Begusarai is a large freshwater wetland of the Gangetic plain.

Ancient Bihar: Magadha and the two faiths

Magadha grew here into the first great empire of India, and Pataliputra was the capital of the Haryanka, Shishunaga, Nanda, Maurya and later Gupta rulers. Vaishali was the seat of the Licchavis of the Vajji confederacy and is remembered as one of the earliest republics in the world. Mahavira, the twenty fourth Tirthankara of the Jains, was born at Kundagrama near Vaishali and attained nirvana at Pawapuri in Nalanda district. The Buddha attained enlightenment under the bodhi tree at Bodh Gaya on the bank of the Falgu, and the Mahabodhi Temple there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The first Buddhist Council met at Rajgir, the second at Vaishali and the third at Pataliputra under Ashoka. Nalanda Mahavihara, the great monastic university, is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and Vikramshila near Bhagalpur was founded by the Pala king Dharmapala.

Medieval and modern Bihar

• Sher Shah Suri was born at Sasaram, built the Grand Trunk Road and the rupiya, and his tomb stands in a tank at Sasaram.
• Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, was born at Patna; Takht Sri Harmandir Ji at Patna Sahib marks the place.
• Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur in Bhojpur led the revolt of 1857 in the region in his eightieth year.
• The Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, against the tinkathia system forced on indigo growers, was Mahatma Gandhi's first satyagraha in India.
• Dr Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India, was born at Ziradei in Siwan district.
• Jayaprakash Narayan led the movement of 1974 that he called Sampoorna Kranti, total revolution.

Culture, fairs and crafts

Chhath, the four day worship of the setting and the rising Sun on the river bank, is the great festival of the state. The Sonepur fair at Harihar Kshetra, where the Gandak joins the Ganga, is held after Kartik Purnima and is described as the largest cattle fair of Asia. Gaya holds the Pitrapaksha Mela, and Rajgir the Malmas Mela. Madhubani or Mithila painting comes from the Mithila region in the north, Manjusha art from Bhagalpur, Tikuli art from Patna and sikki grass craft from the north east of the state. Bhagalpur is called the Silk City for its tussar weaving. Among the products with a Geographical Indication are the Shahi litchi of Muzaffarpur, the Jardalu mango and Katarni rice of Bhagalpur, Magahi paan and Silao khaja.

People and economy

At the Census of 2011 Bihar was the third most populous state of India, with the highest population density of any state and the lowest literacy rate, and a sex ratio of 918 women to a thousand men. Hindi is the official language and Urdu the second official language; Maithili is in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, and Bhojpuri, Magahi, Angika and Bajjika are widely spoken. The economy rests on agriculture, with paddy, wheat, maize, sugarcane, litchi and makhana, the fox nut of which the state is the leading producer. Industry is lighter since the separation of Jharkhand, the Barauni refinery in Begusarai being the best known plant.