District and Divisions of Bihar part 3

Well connected to all the major Indian cities, Jamui is nearest to both JayaPrakash Narayan International Airport and Gaya International Airport. With 28 Commercial Banks and 35 Gramin Banks, the district has a Sub-divisional Hospital, 7 Primary Health Centers, 3 Referral Hospitals, 152 Health Sub-centers, 3 Gramin Aushadhalayas, and 24 Additional Primary Health Centers. It boasts of achieving the national target of 40 litres of drinking water per person per day.

Mining and agriculture are the two main source of revenue of Jamui. With 55,570 hectares of net cropped area, it has reserves of Stone Chips, Granite, Morram Sand, and Quartz among others.

The city of Jehanabad, which is the head quarter of the district, is situated at the confluence of the rivers Dardha & Yamuna. According to the provisional estimate, this district is situated in between 25-0’ to 25-15’ degree north latitude and 84-31’ to 85-15’ eastern north latitude. Its surrounding districts are the district of Patna in north, Gaya in south, Nalanda in east and the newly created district of Arwal in the west. Major part of the land in the district is plain. The rivers Sone, Phalgu, Dardha & Yamuna cris-cross the district. The river Sone that touches the western part of the district is the only perennial river. Rest of the rivers are seasonal. The river Phalgu has got religious importance where the Hindus offer “PIND DAN” to their fore fathers.

The climate of Jehanabad is of extreme nature, i.e. very hot in the summers and biting cold in the winters. The average rainfall of the district is 1074.5 mm. Out of the total rainfall 90 percent comes from monsoons. The economy of the district is agriculture based. The soil is very much fertile known as “KEWAL” in local terms. This soil is very suitable for the production of rice, wheat, cane, etc.

The district of Jehanabad has a certain place in the history of India. The description is found in the famous book “aine-e-akbari”. The book says that the place was badly affected by famine in the 17th century and people were dying of hunger. The Moghul Emperor Aurangzeb, in whose time the book was re-written, established a Mandi for relief of the people and named the “Mandi” as “JAHANARA”. The Mandi was under the direct control and supervision of Jahanara. It is believed that she spent a great deal of time here. In the course of time, the place came to be known as “JAHANARABAD” and later as “JEHANABAD”.

Today Jehanabad is known more for its minuses than for its pluses but that wasn’t always the case. Tradition and legends. Hindu as well as Buddhist, take down the history of Jehanabad to a period of hoary antiquity. The district abounds in ancient and medieval sites, mounds and ruins, some of which contain archaeological remains of considerable importance.
Of the various places in the district which have yielded archaeological remains, Barabar, Dharawat and Dabthu occupy notable positions. The earliest of the archaeological remains in the district are to be found in the Barabar and Nagarjuni hills. The credit for unraveling the charm and appeal of the Barabar hills goes to the celebrated British writer E.M. Forster. His A Passage to India is replete with references to the Barabar hills by simply changing the name of the hills and caves to Marabar.
The Barabar hills situated about 14 Kms. East of Makhdumpur railway station in Jehanabad district is famous for its rock cut caves which are supposed to be the earliest examples of cave Architecture in north India. During the reign of Ashoka, for caves were excavated in the Barabar hills for the ascetics of Ajivika sect. These are known as Sudama, Vishwajhopri, Karnchaupar and Lomas rishi and are excavated in the hardest granite with infinite care and the interior surface of all of them contains high polish and are burnished like glass. In the Nagarjuni range about 1 Km to the north east of Barabar hills there are three excavated caves containing the inscriptions of Ashoka’s grandson Dusratha. These are known as Gopi, Vahiyaka and Vedathika.
For sheer panoramic grandeur and rugged natural beuty very few places in the district can be compared to the northern portion of the Barabar hills. From a distance, the twin hills of Barabar and Nagarjuni look like a dragoon slithering slowly towards the horizon. The Archaeological survey of India (ASI) has also sent a proposal to the UNESCO for inclusion of Barabar hills in the world heritage list of monuments.

Dharaut about 10 Kms north west of Barabar hills, has been identified as the site of the Buddhist monantery of Gunamati. Not only does the position of Dharaut correspond with the account of itinerary given by the Chinese pilgrim Huen Tsang but the site of the ruins also agrees with his description. At the foot of the Kunwa hill which shut in Dharaut on the south stretches a large tank known as Chandrapokhar. The name of the tank perpetuates the legend that it was excavated by Raja Chandra Sen. Two modern temples at its north eastern corner once contained a large collection of ancient statues. The most remarkable was a colossal image of twelve armed Avalokiteswara Boddhisatva which has now been shifted to the Patna musiam.
Six Kms east of Hulasganj in Jehanabad, Dabthu is chiefly known for its finally carved images and ruins of temples.
A noted scholar and historian FH Hamilton visited Dabthu and adjoing villages in 1811-12. His travelogue contained descriptions of dilapidated structures of magnificent temples including a jain temple, a mausoleum of a sufi saint and numerous images of Hindu gods and goddesses around the temples. Buchanan also talks of a sprawing earthen mound which is still extant. Now little remains of those shrines and idols as described by hamilton and Buchanan. However, in the remains of ancient shrines one can still see images of deities mutilated and decayed by ravages of time.

About 25 Kms south-west of Jehanabad Ghejan is known for a number of ancient Buddhist and Brahminical statues. The most interesting of them being a large seated diadem. There was also a large statue of Avalokiteswara with an inscription on the pedestal stating that it was the gift of Sthavira Ratn, who came from Nalanda and dedicated it for the benefit of his two disciples. This piece of Bodhist sculpture has since being shifted to the Patna Musiam.

According to legend, Budha is said to have stayed in the village for a few days while on way to Gaya to attain enlightenment. He had also delivered sermons to a select group of disciples in the village. Later Bimbisar, emperor of Magadh setup a monastery in the village to commemorate Budha’s visit. The ruins of an ancient brick temple also exist in the village and there is also a temple containing a large standing figure of Tara, now worshiped as Bhagwati.

At a time when vested interest are working over time to spread frenzy in the country, a small, unobtrusive Dargah at Kako in Jehanabad stands as a beacon of social harmony and peace for thousands of devotees belonging to both communities, Muslium and Hindus. Bibi Kamal preached religious tolerance and love in opposition to orthodoxy. For her, there was but one God and the world the reflection of God who permeates every thing.
People irrespective of their faith visit the Dargah of Bibi Kamal. Bibi Kamal’s Urs takes place in November every year when cooked rice is distributed amoung devotees seeking her blessings

The language spoken here is “MAGAHI”, a dialect of Hindi.

Khagaria was created as a separate sub-division mainly because of the difficulties arising out of a lack of easy means of communications. Railways were a very old means of communication in this district. As per the Gazetteer of 1960,this Sub-division had three railway lines – the north Eastern Railway, passing west to East had four Stations – Khagaria, Mansi, Maheshkhunt and Pasraha . One branch Line shot off from Khagaria passing through Olapur and Imli, while another branch line shot off from Mansi, which went up to Saharsa. This Mansi- Saharsa branch line, during that period was however disturbed during rains between Katyani Asthan and Koparia, a distance of 6 miles, which had to be covered by boats. Apart from railways, the other means of communication was roads, which were in a very bad shape. The only metalled road at that time was 22 mile long Maheshkhunt- Aguawani ghat road, which was still under construction. During that period Khagaria- Parihara- bakhri Road was also under construction and National Highway linking Moakamaghat to Assam was under contemplation.

Recurrence of floods was an annual affair, as five major rivers – The Ganga, The Gandak, The Bagmati, The Kamala and The Koshi passed through the area of the subdivision of Khagaria. The recurrence of floods along with water logging made communication extremely difficult in the rainy season. Before the construction of South embankment of Baghmati and Gogari- Narayanpur embankment, the vast portion of land between the railway line and three streams, namely, the Bagmati, the Kamla and The Ghaghri ( the main stream of Koshi) and the various streams, as the Maria river and the Maitha river, used to abound in marshes.

It is said that the entire areas, now included in the district of khagaria, was “Dahnal”, affected by floods of the Ganga, the Gandak, the Kamla, the Bagmati and the Koshi and that because of its physical situation, any site of importance must have been washed away. That is why, it does not possess any historical site of importance. According to the history, commonly known in this part, it is said that during the time of Emperor Akbar, Raja Todarmal had been entrusted with the duty of making a survey of the entire area, but as he failed to do it, he advise that this area should be excluded, in other words, he adopted the policy of “Farak Kiya” and that is why the area is Known as “Pharkiya Pargana”.

Before the construction of embankments along the Ganga, the Bagmati, the Burhi Gandak and the Kosi, namely karachi badlaghat embankment, Badla- Nagarpara embankment, Burhi Gandak protection embankment and Gogri- Narayanpur embankment, the vast tract of present Khagaria district was flat alluvial plain and was abound in marshy and swampy land. The characteristics of this part, north of the Ganga has been described as follows by a former collector of Munger, Mr. E. Lockwood in “Natural History, Sports and Travel”- “The northern part is an extensive plain formed by the rich alluvial soil brought down by the ever changing river. In the north, nine tenths of the trees are cultivated mangoes, whilst wheat, Indian corn, various kinds of millet peas, masur, rahar, oats, indigo, mustard, linseed and castor oil, are the principal crops which the land holders find profitable to grow.” He further describes that in contrast, “the southern portion (south of the Ganga) consists of vast rice tracts and forests, which cover the metamorphic hills extending far away into central India from the town of Monghyr. In the forest of the south are found the ebony tree, the sal and the mahua. The south also yields vast quantities of rice,and a hundred and fifty tons of opium, grown on twenty five thousand acres of land, whilst, after crossing the Ganges, little rice and not a single poppy will be seen.”

The major part of the alluvial plain comprising this district, at present, is mainly a saucer- shaped depression, the center of which was innundated during the rains by the over flow of the rivers and for the rest of the year was full of marshy hollows. The inundation has decreased after construction of embankments but still a large part in the north eastern part of the district, contained in west by Gogari- Maheshkhunt – Saharsa Road, in the north by the Koshi and in the south by the Ganga is completely inundated during rainy season except for the National Highway and the New Delhi – Gauhati Railway line .

Lakhisarai

Lkhisarai is a beautiful and important place in the state of Bihar. This district was established on the 3^rd of July 1994. Before coming into existence as a new district, Lakhisarai was a sub-division within Munger District. Historians established on the basis of analysis of evidences, that this place was a reputed religious center for the Hindus in the period of Pal. The ruler of that time was fond of making Temples and other religious spots. It is one of the reasons that there are so many temples and other religious places within this region. Some significant temples and religious spots within the district are Ashokdham, Bhagwati Mandir of Barahiya, Sringi Rishi, Jalappa Asthan, Abhainath Asthan on Abhaipur Mountains, Maharani Asthan of Abhaipur, Govindbaba Asthan (Mandap) Rampur and Durga Asthan Lakhisarai etc.

The district covers an area of about 129397 Hectares, Geographically, lies between 25^o to 25^o 20’ north Latitude and 85^o 55’ to 86^o 25’ east longitude. Lakhisarai is bounded by Munger, Sheikhpura, Begusarai and Patna in the East, South, West and North respectively.

The district can be divided into three parts viz. (i) Hilly area (ii) Flood hit area and (ii) Plain area. The hilly area comprises of hill series and rocks like Kachhua hills, Kajra mountains up to Abhaipur and Jaynagar Mountains including forest area. Almost whole of Pipariya block and some part of Barahiya is considered as flood hit area. This area remains almost drowned in rainy season. But so far as cultivation and agriculture is concerned this area is called the stock of food Grains. Rest of the part except Hilly and flood hit area is plain area with full greenery and cultivable land.

Madhepura

Madhepura district occupies an area of 1787 km² and has a population of 1,524,596 (as of 2001). It is surrounded by Araria and Supaul district in the north, Khagaria and Bhagalpur district in the south, Purnia district in the east and Saharsa district in the West. It is situated in the Plains of River Koshi and located in the Northeastern part of Bihar at longitude between 25°. 34 to 26°.07′ and latitude between 86° .19′ to 87°.07′.

The history of Madhepura is traced back to the reign of Kushan Dynasty of Ancient India. The “Bhant Community” living in Basantpur and Raibhir village under Shankarpur block are the descendents of the Kushan Dynasty.Madhepura was a part of  Maurya Dynasty, this fact is asserted by the Mauryan pillar at Uda-kishunganj. Singheswar Sathan has the religious significance since ancient time as this land was the meditation place of the great Rishi ,Shringi. Hence this place is considered to be the most pious for the Hindus. Sikandar Sah had also visited the district, which is evident from the coins discovered from Sahugarh Village.