Bihar

« Go Back

Map of Bihar (Source: India-WRIS)

Bihar has a very old and rich history. The name of this state has been mentioned even the old epics, Vedas, Purans. It was the main scene of activities of Buddha and 24 Tirthankars of Jains. Bihar's capital Patna, in that period known as Patliputra was the capital of famous rulers of ancient India like Maurya emperors, Imperial Guptas. Great rulers of the State before the Christian era were Bimbisar, Udayin, Chandragupta Maurya, Emperor Ashoka, Kanishka, Chandragupta, Samudragupta, Vikramaditya etc. The famous poet Kalidas lived in the reign of Gupta emperors. During the medieval period Muslim conquer this state. First Muslim ruler was Mohammed-bin-Bakhtiar Khalji. The Khaljis are followed by Tughlaks and then by Mughals. In the Mughal reign famous ruler Sher Shah Suri conquer this state and rules this state for a little period about 4 years. The tenth Guru of the Sikh community Gobind Singh, who created Khalsa and defended the people of North from Muslim rulers of Delhi was born here. After Battle of Palasey in 1757 the British ruled over the state and consolidated their position through successive battles and annexations. Bihar remained in the forefront of the struggle for India's freedom. In 1917 there was a struggle for freedom between indigo farmers and British government in north Bihar. In 1942 many of the young students of this state took part in Quit India Movement. Bihar was formed part of the Bengal Presidency till 1911. In 12th December 1911 a separate province of Bihar and Orissa was created. Bihar was made as a separate province in 1936.

Bihar is the 12th largest state in terms of area in Indian union.The state is squeezed in between West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, reaches upto the foothills of Himalaya in the north and is completely landlocked. It is bounded in the north by the sovereign of Nepal, on south by Odisha, on east by West Bengal and to its west by the state of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The river Ganga cuts the state into two unequal halves, flowing from west to east. Physiographically, north Bihar is almost entirely a level tract while south Bihar is hilly and undulating. Bihar has a number of rivers, the most important of which is the Ganga. The other rivers are the Sone, Poonpoon, Falgu, Karmanasa, Durgawati, Kori, Gandak, Ghaghara etc. The monsoon reigns supreme here and carries great weight in the overall human occupance pattern and economic development. The state generally has three seasons, hot from March to May, the rainy season from June to September and the cold season from November to February.

Bihar is situated in the Eastern part of India. It is land-locked state with Nepal in the North, West Bengal in East, Uttar Pradesh in West and Jharkhand in the South.Patna is the state capital.Bihar is the third most populous state in the country after Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

The climate of Bihar comes under tropical to sub tropical region. The Himalayan Mountains in the north have a significant bearing on the distribution of monsoon rainfall in Bihar. The rainiest months are July and August. The rains are the gifts of the southwest monsoon. In two distinct areas, rainfall exceeds 1800 mm. They lie on northern and northwestern fringes of the state. The southwest monsoon normally withdraws from Bihar in the first week of October. An important feature of the retreating monsoon season in Bihar is the invasion of tropical cyclones originating in the Bay of Bengal at about 12°N latitude. Bihar is also influenced by the typhoons originating in the South China Sea. Normal rainfall for Bihar state is 1255 mm. Minimum temperature goes as low as 12°C in the month of January.

Bihar is richly endowed with water resources, both the ground water resources and the surface water resources. It has considerable water supply from the rivers, which flow outside the territory of the state. Ganges is the main river, which is joined by tributaries with their sources in the Himalayas. The important rivers that join the Ganges from the north are, from west to east, Ghaghra, the Gandak, the Burhi Gandak, the Kosi, the Mahananda and its tributaries. The Karmanasa, the Sone, the Punpun, the Phalgu, the Sakri and the Kiul are the principal streams that join the Ganges from the south. There are several rivers in Bihar, which contribute a lot to the people of Bihar. These rivers make the water available for irrigation purpose and also help in generating the hydrothermal energy for the state. Apart from this, they provide a medium for water transport, provide fishes for fishery industry and enrich the natural resources of state in many other ways. All the above rivers have their impact on the Bihar plain. State also has non-exhaustible source of ground water, which is in use for drinking purposes, irrigation and industries. Rivers are major source of irrigation in Bihar.

• Agriculture
• Industry
• Mines & Minerals

Principal food crops are paddy, wheat, maize and pulses. Main cash crops are sugarcane, potato, tobacco, oilseeds, onion, chilies, jute and mesta.

Bihar plays a very important role in Indian industry sector. After independence various large and heavy industries were set up in Bihar because of its tremendous natural resources and huge manpower base. In the core sector there are two integrated steel plants, namely Bokaro Steel Plant and Tata Iron and Steel. Apart from above two there are a number of secondary steel making units. The largest coal based sponge iron plant is located at Chandil. The largest rope making complex of Usha Martin Industries is also located at Ranchi. Ranchi is also famous for heavy engineering plant. Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company is located at Jamshedpur. India's largest diesel engine manufacturing plant located at Jamshedpur. There are fertilizer plant at Sindhri, Aluminium factory at Muri, copper complex at Ghatsils, Caustic Soda plant at Garhwa Road, oil refinery at Barauni, three fertilizer factories at Barauni, Cement plants at Banjari, Chaibasa, Jamshedpurand Mokama, wax factory, ceramic capacitors, smokeless coal, bulk drug and formulation, mineral processing at Hazipur, micronised mica papers at Koderma, Uranium complex at Jadugora, and zinc smeltor of Hindustan Zinc Limited.

The mineral base of this state is very rich. Particularly the Chotanagpur plateau is very mineral rich field. It has an extensive and high quality coal deposits. Iron ore and copper ore are also produced in Bihar. Bauxite, ore for aluminium is also found here. This state has a reserve of pyrites and mica. The other important mineral resources found in Bihar are - limestone, graphite, chromite, manganese, nickel, barytes, kyanite and sillimanite, bentonite etc.

• Power
• Transport
• Health
• Education
• Telecommunication

Major thermal power stations are at Pataratu Thermal Power Station, Barauni Thermal Power Station, Muzaffarpur Thermal Power Station, and hydel power stations at Subarnarekha Hydel Power Project, Kosi Hydel Power Project, under the Bihar State Electricity Board and Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Project under National Thermal Power Corporation(NTPC). Apart from these, Bihar receives its power share from Farakka Super Thermal Power Station and Talcher Super Thermal Power Station under NTPC, and Durgapur Thermal Power Station under DVC and Chukka Hydel Power Station under National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation.

Bihar is very well connected with railway network. Communication in the north Bihar through railway is slightly difficult as there is only one rail bridge on Mokamah. A few railway routes connecting important places like Muzaffarnagar- Samastipur- Barauni-Katihar and Muzaffarnagar-Chapra-Siwan have been converted into broad gauge. The important railway junctions are at Patna, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Katihar, Samastipur etc. The river bridges one at Bhagalpur on river Ganga another one is at Rewaghat on Buri Gandak river is under construction.

There is an international airport at Patna, besides there is landing ground in all major districts of the state.

Bihar is famous for pilgrimages of various Indian major communities like Hindu, Buddha, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, etc. Important tourist places are Nalanda (was the seat of ancient learning where a great university flourished in the early years of Christian era), Rajgir (is a wholly place equally revered by the Buddhists and Jains), Gaya (is the centre of pilgrimage for Hindus, they perform Sharaddha ceremony for their departed dear or near sons), Bihar Shariff (64 km from Patna, famous religious devotion of thousand of Muslims every year at Shah Sharifuddin tomb), Pawapuri (Lord Mahavir breathed his last), Vaishali (the seat of the first Republic of the world in the sixth century BC), Patna Sahib (famous for Sikh pilgrimage, tenth Guru Gobind Singh's birth place), Vikramshila (ruins of another Buddhist University), Patna (ancient Patliputra) and Sasaram (tomb of Sher Shah Suri).