Bihar

For other uses, see Bihar (disambiguation).

Bihar (/bhr/; Hindi: Hindustani pronunciation:[bar]) is a state in East India.[4][5] It is the 13th largeststate in terms of geographical size of 38,202 sq mi(98,940 km2) and 3rd largest by population and fastestgrowing state. It is bounded by Uttar Pradesh to its west,Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal tothe east, and by Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plainis divided into two parts by the river Ganges which owsfrom west to east.[6] Bihar has forest area of 6,764.14km2,[7] which is 7.2% of its geographical area. In 2000,southern Bihar was separated from Bihar to form the newstate of Jharkhand.[8] Close to 85% of the populationlives in villages. Almost 58% of Biharis are below theage of 25,[9] which is the highest proportion in India.Bihar was a centre of power, learning and culture in an-cient and classical India.[10] From Magadha arose In-dias rst and greatest empire, the Maurya empire, aswell as one of the worlds most widely adhered-to reli-gions, Buddhism.[11] Magadha empires, notably under theMaurya and Gupta dynasties, unied large parts of SouthAsia under a central rule.[12] Its capital Patna, earlierknown as Pataliputra, was an important centre of Indiancivilisation. Close to Patna, Nalanda and Vikramshilawere centres of learning which were established in the 5thand 8th century respectively in Bihar, and are counted asamongst the oldest international universities of the time.Since the late 1970s, Bihar has lagged behind otherIndian states in terms of its social and economicdevelopment.[13][14][15] Economists and social scientistsclaimed that this is a direct result of the policies of thecentral government, such as the Freight equalization pol-icy,[16][17] its apathy towards Bihar,[9][18][19] lack of Bi-hari sub-nationalism (resulting in no spokesperson for thestate),[17][20][21] and the Permanent Settlement of 1793by the British East India Company.[17] The state govern-ment has however made signicant strides in develop-ing the state.[22] The improved governance has led to aneconomic revival[23] in the state through increased invest-ment in infrastructure, better health care facilities, greateremphasis on education, and a diminution in crime andcorruption.[24][25]

The Mahabodhi Temple, among the four holy sites related to thelife of the Lord Buddha and UNESCO World Heritage Site

1 EtymologyThe name Bihar is derived from the Sanskrit andPali word, Vihara (Devanagari: ), which meansabode. The region roughly encompassing the presentstate was dotted with Buddhist vihara, the abodes ofBuddhist monks in the ancient and medieval periods.Medieval writer Minhaj al-Siraj Juzjani records in theTabakat-i-Nasiri that in 1198 AD, Bakhtiyar Khalji com-mitted a massacre in a town now known as Bihar Sharif,about 70 km away from Bodh Gaya.[26][27] Later, Bakhti-yar learned that the town was a college, and the word forcollege is bihar.

2 HistoryMain article: History of BiharSee also: Timeline for Bihar, Magadha, History ofBuddhism in India and Decline of Buddhism in India

1

2 2 HISTORY

2.1 AncientDierent regions of Bihar like Magadha, Mithila, Anga,Vaishali are mentioned in dierent religious texts andepics of ancient India. The power centre of ancient Bi-har was around the region of South-West Bihar calledMagadha, which remained the centre of power, learning,and culture in India for 1000 years.The Haryanka dynasty founded in 684 BC ruledMagadhafrom the city of Rajgriha (modern Rajgir), two wellknown kings were Bimbisara and his son Ajatashatru whoimprisoned his own father to get the throne. Ajatashatrufounded the city of Pataliputra which later became thecapital of Magadha. He declared war and conqueredVajji another powerful Mahajanapada north of Gangeswith their capital at Vaishali. Vaishali was ruled byLicchvi who had a republic form of government whereking was elected from the number of rajas. HaryankaDynasty was followed by Shishunaga dynasty and laterNanda Dynasty replaced them with a vast empire fromBengal to Punjab.The Nanda Empire was replaced by Maurya Empire.India's rst empire, the Maurya empire as well asBuddhism arose from the region that now makes upmodern Bihar. The Mauryan empire, which originatedfrom Magadha in 325 BC, was started by ChandraguptaMaurya who was born in Magadha, and had its capitalat Pataliputra (modern Patna). The Mauryan Emperor,Ashoka, who was born in Pataliputra (Patna) is believedto be one of the greatest rulers in the history of India andthe world.[28][29]

Bihar remained an important place of culture and educa-tion during the next 1000 years. The Gupta Empire thatoriginated from Magadha in 240 AD is referred as theGolden Age of India in science, mathematics, astronomy,commerce, religion and Indian philosophy.[30] Bihar andBengal was invaded by Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dy-nasty in the 11th century.[31][32]

2.2 MedievalThe Buddhism in Magadha declined completely withthe invasion of Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, duringwhich many of the viharas and the famed universitiesof Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed, and thou-sands of Buddhist monks were massacred during 12thcentury.[33][34][35] D. N. Jha suggests, instead, that theseincidents were the result of Buddhist-Brahmin skirmishesin a ght for supremacy.[36] In 1540 the great Pathan ofBihar, Sher Shah Suri, from Sasaram, Bihar, took thereins of North-India. He was the rst person who de-feated the Mughals and army of Humayun, making Delhias his capital. The Mughals had to leave India during hisrule.The tenth and the last Guru of Sikhism, Guru GobindSingh was born in Patna. After the downfall of Mughal

alt= It is one of the legacies of the Gupta Empire

Empire, Bihar came under Nawabs of Bengal.

2.3 Colonial Era

After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the British East IndiaCompany obtained the diwani rights (rights to admin-ister, and collect revenue or tax) for Bihar, Bengal andOdisha. The rich resources of fertile land, water andskilled labour had attracted the foreign imperialists, par-ticularly the Dutch and British, in the 18th century. Anumber of Agrio based industries had been started in Bi-har by the foreign entrepreneurs. Bihar remained a part ofthe Bengal Presidency of British India until 1912, whenthe province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out as aseparate province. Since 2010, Bihar has celebrated itsbirthday as Bihar Diwas on 22 March.[37] In 1935, cer-tain portions of Bihar were reorganised into the separateprovince of Orissa. According to Bihar Vibhuti Vol 111published by Bihar govt. archives, South Asian History& culture published from London & Vision & MissionManohar Delhi Veteran Freedom Fighter Dr. MaghfoorAhmad Ajazi vehemently opposed Two Nation theory ofJinnah & creation of Pakistan. All India Jamhur MuslimLeague was formed parallel to Muslim league to opposeJinnah, with Raja of Mahmoodabad as president & Dr.Ajazi as general secretary.

3(Sitting left to right) Rajendra Prasad and Anugrah NarayanSinha during Mahatma Gandhi's 1917 Champaran Satyagraha

2.4 Pre and post IndependenceFarmers in Champaran had revolted against indigo culti-vation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia). In April1917, Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaran, where RajKumar Shukla had drawn his attention to the exploita-tion of the peasants by European indigo planters. TheChamparan Satyagraha that followed received supportfrom many Bihari nationalists, such as Rajendra Prasadand Anugrah Narayan Sinha.[38][39]

In the northern and central regions of Bihar, the KisanSabha (peasant movement) was an important conse-quence of the Freedom Movement. It began in 1929 un-der the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati whoformed the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS), to mo-bilize peasant grievances against the zamindari attackson their occupancy rights. The movement intensiedand spread from Bihar across the rest of India, culmi-nating in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha(AIKS) at the Lucknow session of the Indian NationalCongress in April 1936, where Saraswati was elected asits rst president.[40] This movement aimed at overthrow-ing the feudal zamindari system instituted by the British.It was led by Saraswati and his followers Pandit YamunaKarjee, Rahul Sankrityayan, Pandit Karyanand Sharma,Baba Nagarjun and others. Pandit Yamuna Karjee alongwith Rahul Sankritayan and a few others started publish-

ing a Hindi weekly Hunkar from Bihar, in 1940. Hunkarlater became the mouthpiece of the peasant movementand the agrarian movement in Bihar and was instrumen-tal in spreading it.Bihar played a very important and vital role in theIndependence of India. Much revolutionary activity tookplace in Bihar during the movement for Indian indepen-dence, and Champaran, especially, gured largely in thatmovement. MKGandhi andmany other leaders of the in-dependence movement held marches and rallies in Bihar.Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur is the most famous in-dependence activist of Bihar.Bihari migrant workers have faced violence and prejudicein many parts of India, such as Maharashtra, Punjab andAssam after independence.[41][42]

See also: 2008 attacks on North Indians in Maharashtra

3 Geography and climateMain articles: Geography of Bihar and Climate of BiharBihar has a diverse climate. Its temperature is subtrop-

River Map of Bihar

Mountain of Ashrams, near Sena Village, at Buddha Gaya

ical in general, with hot summers and cool winters. Bi-har is a vast stretch of fertile plain. It is drained by theGanges River, including its northern tributaries Gandak

4 4 DEMOGRAPHICS

Flooded farmlands in northern Bihar during the 2008 Biharood

and Koshi, originating in the Nepal Himalayas and theBagmati originating in the Kathmandu Valley that reg-ularly ood parts of the Bihar plains. The total areacovered by the state of Bihar is 94,163 km2 (36,357sq mi). the state is located between 2420'10 N ~2731'15 N latitude and between 8319'50 E ~8817'40 E longitude. Its average elevation abovesea level is 173 feet (53 m).The Ganges divides Bihar into two unequal halves andows through the middle fromwest to east. Other Gangestributaries are the Son, Budhi Gandak, Chandan, Orhaniand Phalgu. Though the Himalayas begin at the foothills,a short distance inside Nepal and to the north of Bihar,the mountains inuence Bihars landforms, climate, hy-drology and culture. Central parts of Bihar have somesmall hills, for example the Rajgir hills. To the south isthe Chota Nagpur plateau, which was part of Bihar until2000 but now is part of a separate state called Jharkhand.Bihar is very cold in the winter, with the lowest tempera-tures being in the range from 010 C (3250 F).Wintermonths are December and January. It is hot in the sum-mer, with average highs around 3540 C (95104 F).

3.1 Flora and fauna

Main articles: Flora of Bihar and Fauna of BiharSee also: Protected areas of Bihar

Bihar has notied forest area of 6,764.14 km2 (2,612 sqmi), which is 7.2% of its geographical area.[7] The subHimalayan foothill of Someshwar and the Dun rangesin the Champaran district are another belt of moist de-ciduous forests. These also consist of scrub, grass andreeds. Here the rainfall is above 1,600 millimetres (63in) and thus promotes luxuriant Sal forests in the area.The most important trees are Shorea Robusta, Sal Ce-drela Toona, Khair, and Semal. Deciduous forests alsooccur in the Saharsa and Purnia districts.[43] Shorea Ro-

Bauhinia acuminata, locally known as Kachnaar

busta (sal), Diospyros melanoxylon (kendu), Boswelliaserrata (salai), Terminalia tomentose (Asan), Termina-lia bellayoica (Bahera), Terminalia Arjuna (Arjun), Pte-rocarpus Marsupium (Paisar), Madhuca indica (Mahua)are the common ora across the forest of Bihar.The Ganges River dolphins, or sois are found in theGanges and Brahmaputra. This river dolphin is the na-tional aquatic animal of India. It is now consideredamongst the most endangered mammals of the region.The dolphins range from 2.3 to 2.6meters in length. Theyhave impaired vision due to the muddy river water but usesonar signals to navigate. Vikramshila Gangetic DolphinSanctuary, near Bhagalpur is set up to ensure the protec-tion of this species.Valmiki National Park, West Champaran district, cover-ing about 800 km2 (309 sq mi) of forest, is the 18th TigerReserve of India and is ranked fourth in terms of densityof tiger population.[44] It has a diverse landscape, shelter-ing rich wildlife habitats and oral and faunal composi-tion, along with the prime protected carnivores.

4 DemographicsMain article: Demographics of BiharSee also: Bihari people

After the 2001 Census, Bihar was the third most popu-lated state of India with total population of 82,998,509(43,243,795 male and 39,754,714 female).[1][46] Nearly85% of Bihars population lived in rural areas. Almost58% of Biharis were below 25 years age, which is thehighest in India. The density was 881. The sex ratiowas 919 females per 1000 males. Mostly, Biharis be-long to Indo-Aryan-speaking ethnic groups along withfew Dravidian-speaking and Austroasiatic-speaking peo-ple mostly in Chhotanagpur Plateau (now part of Jhark-hand). Since ancient times, Bihar has attracted migrantsand settlers including Bengalis, Turks from Central Asia,Persians, Afghans and Punjabi Hindu refugees during the

5.1 Politics 5

Partition of British India in 1947.[47] Bihar has a totalliteracy rate of 63.82% (75.7% for males and 55.1% forfemales), recording a growth of 20% in female literacyover the period of a decade.[48][49]At the 2011 census, the density has surpassed 1,000per square kilometre, making Bihar Indias densest-populated state, but is still lower thanWest Java or Bantenof Indonesia.

5 Government and administrationMain articles: Government of Bihar and Administrationin BiharSee also: Divisions of Bihar and Districts of BiharThe constitutional head of the Government of Bihar is

Vidhansabha Building, Patna

the Governor, who is appointed by the President of In-dia. The real executive power rests with the Chief Min-ister and the cabinet. The political party or the coalitionof political parties having a majority in the LegislativeAssembly forms the Government.The head of the bureaucracy of the State is the ChiefSecretary. Under this position, is a hierarchy of ocialsdrawn from the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Po-lice Service, and dierent wings of the State Civil Ser-vices. The judiciary is headed by the Chief Justice. Bi-har has a High Court which has been functioning since1916. All the branches of the government are located inthe state capital, Patna.The state is divided into nine divisions and 38 districts,for administrative purposes.

5.1 PoliticsMain article: Politics of Bihar

See also: Political parties in Bihar, Elections in

Bihar and List of politicians from Bihar

Krishna Sinha (right) with Anugrah Narayan Sinha duringswearing-in ceremony of independent Bihars rst governmenton 15 August 1947

The rst Bihar ministry during British regime from1 April 1937 to 19 July 1937 was led by PremierMohammad Yunus. The second Bihar ministry in 1937and the rst, second Bihar governments after Inde-pendence were led by Sri Krishna Sinha and AnugrahNarayan Sinha. Subsequently, Bihar gained an anti-establishment image and it was often projected as proneto low discipline and anarchy. Caste-based politics cameto the fore, with power initially being in the hands ofthe Yadavs, Bhumihar Brahmin, Rajput, Kayastha andBrahmin communities. For two decades, the Indian Na-tional Congress governed the state hand-in-glove withthe central government of Indira Gandhi. It was at thistime that Chandrashekhar Singh became chief ministerand politicians such as Satyendra Narain Sinha desertedCongress for the Janata Party due to ideological dier-ences. There were occasional breaks in Congress gover-nance, as in 1977. In between, the socialist movementtried to break the stranglehold of the status quo underthe leadership of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha and KarpooriThakur. This did not ourish, partly due to the impracti-cal idealism of these leaders and partly due to the machi-nations of the central leaders of the Congress Party whofelt threatened by a large politically aware state.Janata Dal came to power in the state in 1990 on the backof its victory at the national stage in 1989. Lalu PrasadYadav became Chief Minister after defeating Ram Sun-dar Das, a former chief minister from the Janata Partyand a protege of upper caste Janata stalwarts. Yadavgained support among the masses through a series of pop-ular and populist measures. Socialists such as Nitish Ku-

6 6 ECONOMY

mar disassociated themselves from Yadav, who by 1995was both chief minister and president of his party, theRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). Yadav was later subject tovarious charges of corruption leading him to quit the postof chief minister. Soon after his wife Rabri Devi waselected in his place. The administration is believed tohave deteriorated during this period.By 2004, 14 years after Yadavs victory, The Economistmagazine said that Bihar [had] become a bywordfor the worst of India, of widespread and inescapablepoverty, of corrupt politicians indistinguishable frommaa-dons they patronize, caste-ridden social order thathas retained the worst feudal cruelties.[51] In 2005, theWorld Bank believed that issues faced by the state wereenormous because of persistent poverty, complex so-cial stratication, unsatisfactory infrastructure and weakgovernance.[52]

In 2005, as disaection mounted, the RJD was voted outof power and replaced by a coalition headed by his formerally, Nitish Kumar.Currently, there are two main political formations:the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) which com-prises Bharatiya Janata Party, Lok Janashakti Party,andthe Rashtriya Lok Samatha Party. RJD-led coalitionwhich includes Janata Dal United and Indian NationalCongress. There are many other political formations.The Communist Party of India had a strong presence inBihar at one time, but is weakened now. The CPM andForward Bloc have a minor presence, along with the otherextreme Left.In the 2010 state elections Bihars current Chief MinisterNitish Kumar-led government won 206 seats out of 243seats. In contrast to prior governments, which empha-sised divisions of caste and religion, Kumars manifestowas based on economic development, curbs on crime andcorruption and greater social equality for all sections ofsociety. This was the at the time of election and imme-diately afterwards. Since 2010, the government has con-scated the properties of corrupt ocials and redeployedthem as schools buildings.[53] Simultaneously they intro-duced Bihar Special Court Act to curb crime.[54] It hasalso legislated for a two-hour break on Fridays, includinglunch, to enable Muslim employees to pray and thus cutdown on post-lunch absenteeism by them.[55]

6 EconomyMain article: Economy of Bihar

Gross state domestic product of Bihar for the year2013/2014 has been around 3683.37 billion INR. By sec-tors, its composition is:

Agriculture = 22%

Bihar accounts for 71% of Indias annual litchi production.[57]

A village market

Industry = 5%Services = 73%.

The economy of Bihar is largely service-oriented, but ithas a signicant agricultural base. The state also has asmall industrial sector. More recently, Bihars state GDPrecorded a very high growth (in the excess of 10%), mak-ing Bihar the fastest growing major state of India.

6.1 AgricultureMain article: Agriculture of Bihar

Bihar lies in the riverine plain of the Ganga basin areaand is endowed with fertile Gangetic alluvial soil withabundant water resources, particularly ground water re-sources. This makes Bihars agriculture rich and diverse,although it has never reached its full potential. Rice,wheat, and maize are the major cereal crops of Bihar,while arhar urad, moong, gram, peas, lentils, and khesariaare some of the pulses crop cultivated in Bihar. Biharis the largest producer of vegetables, especially potatoes,onions, brinzle, and cauliower. In fruit cultivation, it isthe largest producer of litchi, the third largest producer ofpineapples and a major producer of mangoes, bananas,and guava. Sugarcane and jute are the other two majorcash crops of Bihar.

6.3 Income distribution: north-south divide 7

6.2 Industry

Bihar has a very small industrial base compared to theother Indian states including neighbouring Jharkhand.The state of Bihar accounts for nearly about 8.5% of In-dias population and about 3% of its landmass. In per-centage terms of industrial units, Bihar holds only around1% of factories installed in India. In terms of outputvalue, less than 1% of Indias industrial output comesfrom Bihar. The industrial sector contributes about 5%to the GDP of Bihar, while the share of industrial sectorin Indias GDP is around 20%. Bihars industrial sectoris dominated by small household and cottage industries.Agro-based industries are major constituents of industrialsector in Bihar.Bihar has emerged as brewery hub with major domes-tic and foreign rms setting up production units in thestate. Three major rms United Breweries Group,Danish Brewery Company Carlsberg Group and CobraBeer are to set up new units in Patna and Muzaarpurin 2012.[58]

Bihar has signicant levels of production of mango,guava, litchi, pineapple, brinjal, cauliower, bhindi, andcabbage.[59] Despite the states leading role in food pro-duction, investment in irrigation and other agriculture fa-cilities has been inadequate. Historically, the sugar andvegetable oil industries were ourishing sectors of Bi-har. Until the mid-1950s, 25% of Indias sugar outputwas from Bihar. Dalmianagar was a large agro-industrialtown. There were attempts to industrialise the state be-tween 1950 and 1980: an oil renery in Barauni, a motorscooter plant at Fatuha, and a power plant at Muzaarpur.However, these were forced to shut down due to certaincentral government policies (like the Freight SettlementPolicy) which neutralised the strategic advantages of Bi-har. Barauni is still one of the few old industrialised townsin the state. Hajipur, near Patna, remains a major indus-trial town in the Bihar, linked to the capital city throughthe Ganges bridge and good road infrastructure.The states debt was estimated at 77% of GDP by2007.[60] The Finance Ministry has given top priority tocreate investment opportunities for big industrial houseslike Reliance Industries. Further developments havetaken place in the growth of small industries, improve-ments in IT infrastructure, the new software park inPatna, and the completion of the expressway from thePurvanchal border through Bihar to Jharkhand. In Au-gust 2008, a Patna registered company called the Se-curity and Intelligence Services (SIS) India Limited[61]took over the Australian guard and mobile patrol servicesbusiness of American conglomerate, United Technolo-gies Corporation (UTC). SIS is registered and taxed inBihar.[62] The capital city, Patna, is one of the better-ocities in India when measured by per capita income.[63]^The State Government is setting up an Information Tech-nology (IT) City at Rajgir in Nalanda district.[64] Addi-tionally, Indias rst Media Hub is also proposed to be set

up in Bihar.[65]

6.3 Income distribution: north-south di-vide

In terms of income, the districts of Patna, Munger andBegusarai were the three best-o out of a total of 38 dis-tricts in the state, recording the highest per capita grossdistrict domestic product of 31,441, 10,087 and 9,312,respectively in 200405.ref name="patna_prosperity"/>

7 CultureMain article: Culture of Bihar

7.1 Language and literatureMain articles: Languages in Bihar and Literature inBiharSee also: Angika, Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili language,Magadhi Prakrit, Hindi in Bihar and Urdu Language inBihar

Hindithe co-ocial national language, with Englishand Urdu are constitutionally recognized languages of thestate.[66] Urduwhich is the mother tongue of Muslims,who form about 17% of the states populationis verymuch secondary to Hindi in ocial use, although nearly25% people in Bihar read and write Urdu. It was onlyrecently that Maithili was also included as one of thestates ocial languages, although such use of it is negli-gible. Maithili is one of the Bihari languagesAngika,Bhojpuri, Magadhi, and Maithiliwhich a majority ofthe people speak. Presently, the Bihari languages areconsidered one of the ve subgroups of Hindi, althoughMaithili was declared a separate language. Bihari lan-guages are considered to be derived from the languageof the erstwhile Magadha state, Magadhi Prakrit, alongwith Assamese, Bengali, and Oriya. Bhojpuri, a languagerelated to Standard Hindi, is used as a lingua franca;and many throughout the state speak it as their rst lan-guage. Surajpuri is spoken in northeastern districts suchas Kishanganj.

7.2 Arts and craftsMithila painting is a style of Indian painting practised inthe Mithila region of Bihar - especially Darbhanga andMadhubani districts - where powdered rice is colouredand used as a pigment. Tradition states that this styleof painting originated, according to the Ramayana, whenKing Janak commissioned paintings to celebrate the mar-riage of his daughter, Sita, to Lord Ram. The painting

8 7 CULTURE

Madhubani painting by Bharti Dayal

was traditionally done on freshly plastered mud walls ofhuts, but now it is also done on cloth, handmade paper andcanvas. Mithila painting mostly depicts men and their as-sociation with nature. There are scenes and deities fromancient epics, including Krishna, Ram, Shiva, Durga,Lakshmi, and Saraswati. Natural objects like the sun, themoon, and religious plants like tulsi are much painted.Finally, there are scenes of royal courts and social events,such as weddings. Generally no space is left empty inthe composition. Traditionally, painting was one of theskills that was passed down from generation to gener-ation in the families of the Mithila region, mainly bywomen. The painting was usually done on walls duringfestivals, religious events, and other milestones in peo-ples lives, such as birth, Upanayanam (sacred thread cer-emony), andmarriage. There are many renownedMithilaartists, such as Smt. Bharti Dayal, Mahasundari Devi,the late Ganga Devi, the late Sita Devi, and others, whohave brought an intellectual element to their paintings.Bharti Dayal is considered one of the greatest Madhubanipainters, as her art is a unique amalgamation of heritageand modernity.Not less in importance or expressiveness is the ancientand historically signicant Manjusha Art, or ManjushaKala, or Angika Art, an art form of the Anga region ofBihar, originating in the old Anga kingdom, which en-compassed present-day Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal,and the Terai area of Nepal. Manjushas - temple-shapedboxes, with eight pillars (but see referenced video); madeof bamboo, jute-straw and paper; and containing, or dec-

orated with (again, see video), paintings of gods, god-desses, snakes and other characters (dubbed snake paint-ings by foreigners) - are used in the Bihula-BishahariPuja, celebrated in Bhagalpur, usually in August, in re-membrance of Bihulas tale of love and sacrice, and toappease the snake goddess (Manasa or Bishahari) andgods (Ngas).[67][68] A notable Manjusha artist is JaharDasgupta, born in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand (formerly Bi-har).

A painting of the city of Patna, on the River Ganges, Patna Schoolof Painting

The Patna School of Painting or Patna Qalaam, sometimes also called Company Painting, is an oshoot of thewell-known Mughal Miniature school of painting, whichourished in Bihar during the early 18th to the mid-20thcenturies. The practitioners of this art form were descen-dants of Hindu artisans of Mughal painting who facingpersecution under the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb andwho found refuge, via Murshidabad, in Patna during thelate 18th century. The Patna painters diered from theMughal painters, whose subjects included only royaltyand court scenes, in that they included as subjects bazaarscenes, scenes of Indian daily life, local dignitaries, fes-tivals and ceremonies, and nature scenes. The paintingswere executed in watercolours on paper and on mica, butthe style was generally of a hybrid and undistinguishedquality. It is this school of painting that inspired the for-mation of the College of Arts and Crafts, Patna, under theleadership of Shri Radha Mohan, which is an importantcentre of ne arts in Bihar.In caning and weaving, artisans of Bihar are skilful in cre-ating articles using local materials. Baskets, cups, andsaucers made from bamboo-strips or cane reed paintedin vivid colours are commonly found in Bihari homes. Aspecial container woven out of Sikki Grass in the north,the pauti, is a sentimental gift that accompanies a bridewhen she leaves her home after her wedding. Theweaversof Bihar have been practising their trade for centuries.Among their products in common use are cotton dhurriesand curtains. These are produced by artisans in centralBihar, particularly in the Patna and Biharsharif areas.These colourful sheets, with motifs of Buddhist artefacts,pictures of birds, animals, and/or owers, gently wafting

7.3 Performing arts 9

Artisans selling their work near GPO Patna.

in the air through doors and windows, blown by a coolsummer breeze, used to be one of themost soothing sightsas one approached a home or an oce. Bhagalpur is wellknown for its sericulture, manufacture of tussar silk yarn,and weaving it into lovely products.

7.3 Performing arts

See also: Music of BiharBihar has contributed to Indian (Hindustani) classical

Magahi folk singers

music and has produced musicians such as Bharat RatnaUstad Bismillah Khan, who, however, left Bihar at anearly age. Dhrupad singers like the Malliks (of theDarbhanga Gharana), and the Mishras (of the BettiahGharana), who were patronised by the Zamindars ofDarbhanga and Bettiah respectively, have produced mas-ters like Ram Chatur Mallik, Abhay Narayan Mallik, andIndra Kishore Mishra. While perhaps not as well-knownand commercially successful as those of the Dagar schoolof Dhrupad, these masters have kept the Dhrupad tradi-tion in perhaps the purest form.Gaya is another centre of excellence in classical music,particularly of the Tappa and Thumri varieties. Pandit

Bharat Ratna Ustad Bismillah Khan, from Dumraon, Bihar

Govardhan Mishra - son of the Ram Prasad Mishra, him-self an accomplished singer - is perhaps the nest liv-ing exponent of Tappa singing in India today, accordingto Padma Shri Gajendra Narayan Singh, founding secre-tary of the Sangeet Natak Academi of Bihar. GajendraNarayan Singh also writes, in his memoir, that Cham-panagar, Banaili, was another major centre of classicalmusic. Rajkumar Shyamanand Sinha of Champanagar,Banaili princely state, was a great patron of music andwas himself one of the nest exponents of classical vo-cal music in Bihar in his time.[69] Singh, in another bookon Indian classical music, has written that Kumar Shya-manand Singh of Banaili estate had such expertise insinging that many great singers including Kesarbai Kerkaracknowledged his ability. After listening to bandishesfrom Kumar Sahib, Pandit Jasraj was moved to tears andlamented that, alas!, he did not have such ability himself.[free translation of Hindi text].[70][71]

Bihar has a very old tradition of folk singing, sung dur-ing important family occasions, such as marriage, birthceremonies, festivals, etc. The songs are usually sungby groups without the accompaniment of musical instru-ments, although Dholak, Bansuri and, occasionally, Tablaand Harmonium are sometimes used. The most famousfolk singer has been Padma Shri Sharda Sinha. Bihar alsohas a tradition of lively Holi songs known as Phaguwa,lled with fun rhythms.During the 19th century, when the condition of Biharworsened under the British misrule, many Biharis hadto emigrate as indentured labourers to the West Indies,Fiji, and Mauritius. During this time many sad plays andsongs called birha became popular, in the Bhojpur area,thus Bhojpuri Birha. Dramas incorporating this themecontinue to be popular in the theatres of Patna.[72]

Dance forms of Bihar are another expression of rich tra-ditions and ethnic identity. There are many folk danceforms that can keep one enthralled, such as Dhobi Nach(nach meaning dance), Jhumarnach, Manjhi, Gondnach,Jitiyanach, More Morni, Dom-Domin, Bhuiababa, Rah

10 7 CULTURE

Baba, Kathghorwa Nach, Jat Jatin, Launda Nach, BamarNach, Jharni, Jhijhia, Natua Nach, Nat-Natin, BidapadNach, Sohrai Nach, and Gond Nach.Theatre is another form in which the Bihari culture ex-presses itself. Some forms of theatre with rich tradi-tions are Bidesia, Reshma-Chuharmal, Bihula-Bisahari,Bahura-Gorin, Raja Salhesh, Sama Chakeva, and DomKach. These theatre forms originate in the Anga regionof Bihar.

7.4 Cinema

Main article: Cinema of BiharSee also: Bhojpuri Film Industry and List of Bhojpurilms

Bihar has a robust Bhojpuri-language lm industry.There is also a smaller production of Magadhi-, Maithili-, as well as Angika-language lms. The rst lmwith Bhojpuri dialog was Ganga Jamuna, released in1961.[73] Bhaiyaa, the rst Magadhi lm, was released in1961.[74] The rst Maithili movie was Kanyadan releasedin 1965,[75] of which a signicant portion was made in theMaithili language.The history of lms entirely in Bhojpuri begins in 1962with the well-received lm Ganga Maiyya Tohe PiyariChadhaibo (Mother Ganges, I will oer you a yel-low sari), which was directed by Kundan Kumar.[76]1963s Lagi nahin chute ramwas the all-time hit Bhojpurilm, and had higher attendance than Mughal-e-Azam inthe eastern and northern regions of India. Bollywood'sNadiya Ke Paar is another of the most famous Bhojpuri-language movies. However, in the following years, lmswere produced only in ts and starts. Films such asBidesiya (Foreigner, 1963, directed by S. N. Tripathi)andGanga (Ganges, 1965, directed by Kundan Kumar)were protable and popular, but in general Bhojpuri lmswere not commonly produced in the 1960s and 1970s.In the 1980s, enough Bhojpuri lms were produced totentatively support a dedicated industry. Films such asMai (Mom, 1989, directed by Rajkumar Sharma) andHamar Bhauji (My Brothers Wife, 1983, directed byKalpataru) continued to have at least sporadic success atthe box oce. However, this trend faded out by the endof the decade, and by 1990, the nascent industry seemedto be completely nished.[77]

The Bhojpuri lm industry took o again in 2001 withthe super hit Saiyyan Hamar (My Sweetheart, di-rected by Mohan Prasad), which vaulted the hero of thatlm, Ravi Kissan, to superstardom.[78] This success wasquickly followed by several other remarkably successfullms, including Panditji Batai Na Biyah Kab Hoi (Priest,tell me when I will marry, 2005, directed by MohanPrasad) and Sasura Bada Paisa Wala (My father-in-law, the rich guy, 2005). In a measure of the Bhojpuri

lm industrys rise, both of these did much better busi-ness in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar than main-stream Bollywood hits at the time, and both lms, madeon extremely tight budgets, earned back more than tentimes their production costs.[79] Sasura Bada Paisa Walaalso introduced Manoj Tiwari, formerly a well-loved folksinger, to the wider audiences of Bhojpuri cinema. In2008, he and Ravi Kissan are still the leading actors ofBhojpuri lms, and their fees increase with their fame.The success of their lms has led to a dramatic increasein Bhojpuri cinemas visibility, and the industry now sup-ports an awards show[80] and a trade magazine, BhojpuriCity,[81] which chronicles the production and release ofwhat are now over one hundred lms per year. Manyof the major stars of mainstream Bollywood cinema, in-cluding Amitabh Bachchan, have also recently worked inBhojpuri lms.

7.5 Religion

Main article: Religion in BiharGautam Buddha attained Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, a

Buddha's statue at Bodh Gaya's temple

town located in the modern day district of Gaya in Bihar.Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th and the last Tirthankaraof Jainism, was born in Vaishali around the 6th centuryBC.[82]

A typical Hindu Brahmin household would begin the daywith the blowing of a conch shell at dawn.In rural Bihar, religion is the main component of popularculture. Shrines are located everywhere at the foot oftrees, at roadsides, etc. Religious symbols or images ofdeities can be found in the most obscure or the most pub-lic places. From the dashboard of a dilapidated taxi tothe plush oce of a top executive, holy symbols or idolshave their place. There are also a minority of villages alsopractising Islam in various districts.There is a wide variety of religious festivals. While someare celebrated all over the state, others are observed onlyin certain areas. Bihar is so diverse that dierent regions

7.6 Festivals 11

Vishnupadh Temple, Gaya, Bihar

and religions have something to celebrate at some time orother during the year. So festivals take place round theyear. Many of these are ocially recognised by the dayson which they take place being proclaimed as governmentholidays.

7.6 FestivalsSee also: ChhathChhath, also called Dala Chhath, is an ancient and major

The Morning Worship Dala Chhath.

festival in Bihar. It is celebrated twice a year: once in thesummer, called the Chaiti Chhath, and once about a weekafter Deepawali, called the Kartik Chhath. The latter is

more popular because winters are the usual festive sea-son in North India, and Chhath, being an arduous obser-vance requiring the worshippers to fast without water formore than 24 hours, is easier to do in the Indian winters.Chhath is the worship of the Sun God. Wherever peoplefrom Bihar have migrated, they have taken with them thetradition of Chhath. This is a ritual bathing festival thatfollows a period of abstinence and ritual segregation ofthe worshiper from the main household for two days. Onthe eve of Chhath, houses are scrupulously cleaned andso are the surroundings. The ritual bathing and worshipof the Sun God takes place, performed twice: once inthe evening and once at the crack of dawn, usually on thebanks of a owing river, or a common large body of wa-ter. The occasion is almost a carnival, and besides everyworshipper, usually women, who are mostly the seniorladies of the household, there are numerous participantsand onlookers, all willing to help and receive the bless-ings of the worshiper. Ritual rendition of regional folksongs, carried on through oral transmission from moth-ers and mothers-in-law to daughters and daughters-in-law, are sung on this occasion for several days running.These songs are a great mirror of the culture, social struc-ture, mythology and history of Bihar and eastern UttarPradesh. Chhath being celebrated at the crack of dawnis a beautiful, elating spiritual experience connecting themodern Indian to his ancient cultural roots. Chhath is be-lieved to have been initiated by Karna, the king of AngaDesh (modern Bhagalpur region of Bihar).Among ritual observances, the month-long ShravaniMela, held along a 108-kilometre route linking the townsof Sultanganj and Deoghar (now in Jharkhand state), isof great signicance. Shravani Mela is organised everyyear in the Hindu month of Shravan, that is the lunarmonth of JulyAugust. Pilgrims, known as Kanwarias,wear saron coloured clothes and collect water from asacred Ghat (river bank) at Sultanganj, then walk bare-footed 108 km (67 mi) to the town of Deoghar, thereto bathe a sacred ShivaLingam. The observance drawsthousands of people to Deoghar from all over India.Teej and Chitragupta Puja are other local festivals cele-brated with fervor in Bihar. Bihula-Bishari Puja is cele-brated in the Anga region of Bihar. The Sonepur cattlefair is a month-long event starting approximately half amonth after Deepawali and is considered the largest cat-tle fair in Asia. It is held on the banks of theGandakRiverin the town of Sonepur. The constraints of the changingtimes, and new laws governing the sale of animals andprohibiting the tracking in exotic birds and beasts, haveeroded the once-upon-a-time magic of the fair.Besides Chhath(mostly celebrated in Bihar), all ma-jor festivals of India are celebrated in Bihar, suchas Makar Sankranti, Saraswati Puja, Holi, Eid-ul-Fitr,Eid-ul-Adha (often called Eid-ul-Zuha in the IndianSubcontinent), Muharram, Ram Navami, Rath yatra,Rakshabandhan, Maha Shivaratri, Durga Puja (cele-brated with a grandeur akin to the neighbouring state of

12 9 TRANSPORTATION

Bengal), Diwali, Kali Puja/Shyama Puja/Nisha Puja (cel-ebrated in the Mithilanchal region of the north), Koja-gra (also celebrated in the Mithilanchal region), LaxmiPuja, Christmas, Mahavir Jayanti, Buddha Purnima,Jivitputrika, Chitragupta Puja, Gurpurab, Bhai Dooj, andseveral other local festivals, as well.

7.7 Cuisine

Main article: Cuisine of Bihar

Bihari cuisine (Hindi: , Urdu: )is eaten in Bihar, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh,Bangladesh, and Nepal, as well as Mauritius, Fiji, somecities of Pakistan, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, asthese last are destinations of large Bihari emigration. Bi-hari cuisine is predominantly vegetarian because tradi-tional Bihar society - inuenced by Buddhist and Hinduvalues of non-violence - did not eat eggs, chicken, shand other animal products. However, meat and sea foodare also common, the latter due to the number of riversin Bihar.Dairy products are consumed frequently throughout theyear, including yogurt (dahi), buttermilk (mattha), lassi,ghee, chanch and butter. The cuisine of Bihar is similar inlarge extent to North Indian cuisine but is inuenced byother East Indian cuisines, such as Bengali. Bihari cui-sine is seasonal; with watery foods such as watermelon,and sherbet made of the pulp of the wood-apple fruit,being consumed mainly in the summer months; and dryfoods, prepared with sesame and poppy seeds, in the win-ter months.Some dishes which Bihar is famous for include SattuParatha, which are parathas stued with fried chickpeaour, chokha (spicy mashed potatoes and/or brinjal ), shcurry, Bihari kebab, and Posta-dana ka Halwa (or Khas-khas ka Halwa [ ], a sweet poppy seedpudding). Litti chokha is a is a year-round food preparedby cooking the litti (sattu stued in atta [a mixture of ourand water]) over an open re. When prepared, the litti isdipped in ghee and eaten with chokha. The food is besteaten while hot.

8 MediaMain article: Media in Bihar

Biharbandhu was the rst Hindi newspaper publishedfrom Bihar. It was started in 1872 by MadanMohan Bhatta, a Maharashtrian Brahman settled inBiharsharif.[83] Hindi journalism in Bihar, and speciallyPatna, could make little headway initially. It was mainlydue to lack of respect for Hindi among the people atlarge. Many Hindi journals took birth and after a lapse

of time vanished. Many journals were shelved even in theembryo.[84] But once Hindi enlisted the ocial support,it started making a dent into the remote areas in Bihar.Hindi journalism also acquired wisdom and maturity andits longevity was prolonged. Hindi was introduced in thelaw courts in Bihar in 1880.[83][85]

Urdu journalism and poetry has a glorious past in Bihar.Many poets belong to Bihar such as Shaad Azimabadi,Kaif Azimabadi, Kalim Ajiz and many more. Shanu-rahman, a world famous radio announcer, is from Bihar.Many Urdu dailies such as Qomi Tanzim and Sahara pub-lish from Bihar at this time. There is a monthly Urdumagazine called VOICE OF BIHAR which is the rstof its kind and becoming popular among the Urdu speak-ing people.The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a num-ber of notable new publications. A monthly magazinenamed Bharat Ratna was started from Patna in 1901. Itwas followed byKsahtriya Hitaishi,Aryavarta fromDina-pure, Patna, Udyoga and Chaitanya Chandrika.[86] Udyogwas edited by Vijyaanand Tripathy, a famous poet ofthe time and Chaitanya Chandrika by Krishna ChaitanyaGoswami, a literary gures of that time. The literary ac-tivity was not conned to Patna alone but tomany districtsof Bihar.[83][87]

Magahi Parishad, established in Patna in 1952, pioneeredMagadhi journalism in Bihar. It started the monthly jour-nal, Magadhi, which was later renamed Bihan.Hindustan, Dainik Jagran, Aaj, Nayee Baat and PrabhatKhabar are some of the popular Hindi news papers ofBihar. National English dailies like The Times of India,Hindustan Times, Navbharat Times, The Telegraph andThe Economic Times "(Mithila Today)" have readers inthe urban regions.

9 TransportationMain article: Transport in Bihar

Map showing national inland waterways-1 and various riverports or terminals along its stretch.

9.3 Roadways 13

Patna river port on national inland waterways-1 at Gai Ghat

Steamers and dredgers at Gai Ghat, Patna

9.1 Railways

Bihar is very well-connected by railway lines to the restof India. Most of the towns are interconnected, and theyare also connected directly to Kolkata, Delhi and Mum-bai (as well as most other major cities in India). Daily orweekly trains connect major cities in India. Nepal Rail-ways operates two railway lines: a 6 km broad gauge linefrom Raxaul in India to Sirsiya Inland Container Depotor Dry Port near Birganj in Nepal and a 53 km 2 ft 6 in(762 mm) narrow gauge line from Jaynagar in India toBijalpura in Nepal. The latter line is composed of twosections: 32 km between Jaynagar and Janakpur and 21km from Janakpur to Bijalpura. The Janakpur line is usedlargely for passengers and the Sirsiya (Birganj) line onlyfor cargo freight.

9.2 Airways

Bihar has three operational airports at Patna, Gaya Air-port, and Purnea Airport. The Patna airport is cate-gorised as a restricted international airport, with cus-toms facilities to receive international chartered ights.The Gaya Airport is an international airport connected toColombo, Singapore, Bangkok, Paro and more.

9.3 RoadwaysThe state has a vast network of National and State high-ways. East-West corridor goes through the cities of Bi-har (Muzaarpur-Darbhanga-Purnia NH57) 46 lanes.There are tourist buses operates for few places fromPatna under Bihar State Tourism Corporations, there iswell known and trusted Car Rental Services from www.eazeecab.com which operates majorly in Bihar, Includ-ing Gaya, Bodhgaya and Patna.

9.4 Inland WaterwaysThe Ganges navigable throughout the year wasthe principal river highway across the vast north Indo-Gangetic Plain. Vessels capable of accommodating vehundred merchants were known to ply this river in theancient period; it served as a conduit for overseas trade,as goods were carried from Pataliputra (later Patna) andChampa (later Bhagalpur) out to the seas and to ports inSri Lanka and Southeast Asia. The role of the Ganges asa channel for trade was enhanced by its natural links itembraces all the major rivers and streams in both northand south Bihar.[88]

In recent times, Inland Waterways Authority of India hasdeclared the Ganges between Allahabad and Haldia to bea national inland waterway and has taken steps to restoreits navigability.

10 Tourism

Trolley ride in Rajgir

Main article: Tourism in Bihar

Bihar is one of the oldest inhabited places in the world,with a history spanning 3,000 years. The historically richculture and heritage of Bihar can be observed from thelarge number of ancient monuments spread throughoutthe state. Bihar is visited by many tourists from aroundthe world,[89] with about 24,000,000 (24 million) touristsvisiting the state each year.[89]

14 11 EDUCATION

Remains of the ancient city of Vaishali

In earlier days, tourism in the region was purely basedon educational tourism, as Bihar was home of someprominent ancient universities like Nalanda University &Vikramala University.[90][91]

Bihar is one of the most sacred place for various religionslike Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Islam.Mahabodhi Temple, a Buddhist shrine and UNESCOWorld Heritage Site is also situated in Bihar. MahatmaGandhi Setu, Patna, was one of the longest river bridgesin the world in early 80s.Main article: Tourism in SASARAM, Rohtas, Bihar

The Sasaram is a part of Rohtas District. The languagespoken in this area is [Bhojpuri,Hindi and English] It isone of the Indias leading tourist destinations, and the cityis home to an array of famous tourist attractions.

The tomb of Sher Shah Suri is in the Sasaram town of Bihar state,India.

11 EducationMain articles: Education in Bihar and Literacy in BiharSee also: List of educational institutions in BiharHistorically, Bihar has been a major centre of learn-ing, home to the ancient universities of Nalanda (estab-

IIT Patna Students carrying the Institute Flag at the annual InterIIT Sports Meet

lished in 450 CE), Odantapur (established in 550CE) andVikramshila (established in 783 AD).[92] This tradition oflearning may have been had stultied by the period ofTurkic invasions c. 1000 CE at which point it is be-lieved major education centres (now maintained by reclu-sive communities of Buddhist monks removed from thelocal populace) were put out of operation during the Tur-kic raids originating from central Asia .[93] The currentstate of education and research is not satisfactory thoughthe current state government claims big achievements inschool education.Bihar saw a revival of its education system during the laterpart of the British rule when they established Patna Uni-versity (established in 1917) which is the seventh oldestuniversity of the Indian subcontinent.[94] Some other cen-tres of high learning established by the British rule arePatna College (established in 1839), Bihar School of En-gineering (established in 1900; now known as NationalInstitute of Technology, Patna), Prince of Wales MedicalCollege (1925; now PatnaMedical College and Hospital),Science College, Patna (1928) among others.After independence Bihar lost the pace in terms of es-tablishing a centre of education. Modern Bihar has agrossly inadequate educational infrastructure creating ahuge mismatch between demand and supply. This prob-lem further gets compounded by the growing aspirationsof the people and an increase in population. The crav-ing for higher education among the general population ofBihar has led to a massive migration of the student com-munity from the state.Bihar, with female literacy at 53.3%, is striving to climbas the government has established educational institu-tions. At the time of independence, womens literacy inBihar was 4.22%. Bihar has a National Institute of Tech-nology (NIT) in Patna and an Indian Institute of Tech-nology (IIT) in Patna. A recent survey by Pratham[96]rated the absorption of their teaching by the Bihar chil-dren better than those in other states.The best talent poolof engineers is in Delhi, Bihar and Jharkhand says the Na-

15

tional Employability Report of Engineering Graduates,2014 [97] by Aspiring Minds, which makes Bihar one ofthe top three states producing best Engineering Graduatesin terms of Quality and Employability [98]

Loknayak Jai Prakash Institute Of Technology

As of December 2013, there are 7 government engineer-ing colleges in public sector and 12 engineering collegesin the private sector in Bihar,besides government aidedBIT Patna and Womens Institute of Technology, Darb-hanga. The overall annual intake of these technical insti-tutes oering engineering education to students in Biharis merely 6,200.[99][100] [101] In Bihar, the government col-leges are located at Muzaarpur, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Darb-hanga, Motihari, Nalanda and Saran (Chhapra). All in-stitutes are recognized by All India Council for TechnicalEducation (AICTE) aliated with Aryabhatta Knowl-edge University (AKU). As it is, the foundation stone ofeighth engineering college of the state government,namedRamdhari Singh Dinkar Engineering College was laid on22 December 2013 at Begusarai,[102][103] while the pro-cess to create infrastructure for two new engineering col-leges one each at Madhepura and Sitamarhi hasstarted.[104][105]

NIT Patna Main building

NIT Patna is the sixth oldest engineering college of India.Its origin can be traced to 1886 with the establishment ofa survey training school and subsequent renaming it toBihar college of Engineering in 1900. A graduate levelcurriculum was introduced in 1924. It was renamed Bi-

har College of Engineering in 1932. In 2004 the govern-ment of India upgraded the college to National Instituteof Technology (NIT) status, as the state of Bihar had lostits only Regional Engineering College (REC), located atJamshedpur, when Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in2000. By 2002, the Indian government decided to up-grade all RECs to NITs, with the aim of having at leastone NIT per state. Bihar College of Engineering was therst institute to be directly upgraded to NIT status. In2007, it was granted Institute of National Importance sta-tus in accordance with the National Institutes of Technol-ogy Act, 2007. Bihar established several new educationinstitutes between 2006 and 2008. BIT Mesra started itsPatna extension center in September 2006. On 8 August2008, IIT was inaugurated in Patna with students fromall over India these are also prominent engineering col-leges in Bihar.[106] NSIT opened its new college in Bihta,which is now emerging as a new education hub in Bihar,in 2008.[107][108] BCE, Bhagalpur and MIT, MuzaarpurNational Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Re-search (NIPER)[109] is being set up in Hajipur. On 4August 2008, National Institute of Fashion TechnologyPatna was established as ninth such institute in India.[110]Chanakya National Law University a law university andChandragupt Institute of Management was established inlater half of 2008. Steps to revive the ancient NalandaUniversity as Nalanda International University is beingtaken; countries like Japan, Korea and China have alsotaken initiatives. The Aryabhatt Knowledge Universityin Patna is framed to which all the engineering as wellmedical colleges are aliated in Bihar. The A.N. SinhaInstitute[111] of Social Studies is a premier research insti-tute in the state.Bihar is pioneer in the eld of yoga with its internationallyrenowned institute Bihar School of Yoga in Munger.Bihar e-Governance Services&Technologies (BeST) andthe Government of Bihar have initiated a unique programto establish a center of excellence called Bihar Knowl-edge Center, a nishing school to equip students with thelatest skills and customised short-term training programsat an aordable cost. The center aims to attract everyyouth of the state to hone up their technical, professionaland soft skills and prepare them for the present industryrequirement/job market.[112]

Bihar also has Central Institute of Plastic Engineering &Technology (CIPET) and Institute of Hotel Management(a Central govt Unit) in Hajipur.Bihar also has Munshi Singh College in Moti-hari, East Champaran, Bihar. Website ishttp://munshisinghcollege.org.in and KhemchandTarachand College (KCTC) College in Raxaul, itswebsite is http://www.kctcraxaul.org.in/The Central University of Bihar (CUB) is one of the six-teen newly established Central Universities by the Gov-ernment of India under the Central Universities Act, 2009(Section 25 of 2009).[1] The university is located at the

16 13 REFERENCES

premises of Birla Institute of Technology, Patna (BITCampus, P.O.- B.V. College, Patna 800 014).[2] Theuniversity is likely to be relocated to Panchanpur, approx-imately 10 km from Gaya on Defence land to be trans-ferred soon. Keeping in view of the permanent locationof the university at Gaya, it has been decided to launchnew academic programmes at Gaya. It operates froma temporary campus on the grounds of Birla Instituteof Technology, Patna. The university will now have itsown campus in Gaya. On 28 February 2014, Lok SabhaSpeaker Meira Kumar laid the foundation stone of theCentral University of Bihar at Gaya.[3] It will be spreadin 300 acre campus One of Indias premier medical insti-tute AIIMS Patna started functioning in Patna. It is inline with AIIMS, New Delhi.Nalanda University was re-established in 2014.

12 See also

13 References[1] census of india. Census of India 2001. Government of

India. 27 May 2002. Archived from the original on 3April 2007. Retrieved 14 April 2007.

[2] HDI in India rises by 21%: Kerala leads, Gujarat far be-hind. Firstpost. 2011-10-21. Retrieved 2013-11-19.

[3] Bihar Land, People, Festival, Arts, Tourism, Economy

[4] State Prole. Bihar Government website.

[5] Food riots, anger as oods swamp South Asia. ReutersIndia. 22 August 2008.

[6] State Prole.

[7] State Prole. Gov. of India.

[8] Jharkhand, Encyclopdia Britannica on-line

[9] Guruswamy, Mohan; Kaul, Abhishek (15 December2003). The Economic Strangulation of Bihar. Centrefor Policy Alternatives, New Delhi, India.

[10] Bihar, Past & Present: souvenir, 13th Annual Congress ofEpigraphica by P. N. Ojha, Kashi Prasad Jayaswal Re-search Institute

[11] Mishra Pankaj, The Problem, Seminar 450 February1997

[12] The History of Bihar. Bihar Government.

[13] Bihars 'rst' Economic Survey Report tabled. TheTimes of India. 7 March 2007. Retrieved 22 August2008.

[14] Bal Thackeray (5 March 2008). Biharis an unwantedlot. The Times of India. Retrieved 5 March 2008.

[15] Wajihuddin, Mohammed (10 August 2008). "'Bihari' hasbecome an abuse. The Times of India. Retrieved 10 Au-gust 2008.

[16] Das, Arvind N. (1992). The Republic of Bihar. NewDelhi: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-012351-2.

[17] Goswami, Urmi A (16 February 2005). "'Bihar Needsan Icon, a person who stands above his caste' (Dr ShaibalGupta Redi Interview)". Redi. Archived from theoriginal on 20 February 2005. Retrieved 16 February2005.

[18] Guruswamy, Mohan; Baitha Ramnis Attar; Mohanty Jee-van Prakash (15 June 2004). Centrally Planned Inequal-ity, the Tale of Two States Punjab and Bihar. NewDelhi, India: Centre for Policy Alternatives.

[19] Guruswamy, Mohan; Mohanty Jeevan Prakash (15 Febru-ary 2004). The De-urbanisation of Bihar. Centre forPolicy Alternatives, New Delhi, India.

[20] Ahmed Farzand and Mishra Subhash, Leaders of Biharunite to counter Raj Thackeray, India Today, 31 October2008

[21] Gupta, Shaibal. Bihar: Identity and Development.Asian Development Research Institute, Patna. Archivedfrom the original on 30 March 2005. Retrieved 30 April2006.

[22] Phadnis, Aditi (2008). Lalu in the red. Business Stan-dard. Retrieved 10 August 2008.

[23] Goswami, Urmi A (17 June 2008). Biharis get work athome, bashers realise their worth. The Economic Times(India). Retrieved 17 June 2008.

[24] Dharma, Supriya; Jha, Abhay Mohan (15 July 2008).Bihar witnesses a quiet transformation. NDTV. Re-trieved 15 July 2008.

[25] Jha, Abhay Mohan (8 March 2008). English makes in-roads in Bihar villages. NDTV. Retrieved 8March 2008.

[26] Minhaj writes that the inhabitants were 100,000Brahmins.--Bodh Gaya; by Frederick M. Asher; p. 14

[27] Kartar Singh Duggal The Sikh Gurus: their lives and teach-ings; p. 4; with shaven heads.

[28] P. 61 Indias perception through Chinese travellers by Ra-bindra Panth, Nava Nland Mahvihra

[29] ARecord of Buddhistic Kingdoms, by Fa-hsien (chapter27)

[30] The Gupta Period of India. Ushistory.org. Retrieved2013-11-19.

[31] The Making of India by A. Yusuf Ali p.60

[32] The Cambridge Shorter History of India p.145

[33] The Maha-Bodhi By Maha Bodhi Society, Calcutta (page8)

[34] Smith V. A., Early history of India

[35] Elliot, History of India, Vol 4

[36] Jha, D. N. (9 July 2014). Grist to the reactionary mill.The Indian Express. Retrieved 3 February 2015.

[37] Welcome to Bihar!! | Bihar Diwas 2012

17

[38] Brown, Judith Margaret (1972). Gandhis Rise to Power,Indian Politics 19151922: Indian Politics 19151922.New Delhi: Cambridge University Press Archive. p. 384.ISBN 978-0-521-09873-1.

[39] Eminent Gandhian Dr A N Sinha, First Bihar DeputyCM cum Finance Minister. Indian Post. Retrieved 20May 2008.

[40] Bandyopdhyya, ekhara (2004). From Plassey to Par-tition: A History of Modern India. Orient Longman. pp.406407. ISBN 978-81-250-2596-2.

[41] Kumod Verma (14 February 2008). Scared Biharis ar-rive from Mumbai. The Times of India. Retrieved 14February 2008.

[42] Hussain, Wasbir. 30 Killed in Northeast Violence in In-dia. Washington Post. Retrieved 25 February 2006.

[43] Forest in Bihar. Forest Ministry of Bihar.

[44] Valmiki Tiger Reserve

[45] Census Population (PDF). Census of India. Ministry ofFinance India. Archived from the original on 19 Decem-ber 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2008.

[46] Total population of Bihar. Censusindia.gov.in.Archived from the original on 13 November 2009.Retrieved 15 October 2009.

[47] Census GIS HouseHold. Censusindiamaps.net. Re-trieved 15 October 2009.

[48] Bihar CM public address

[49] Literacy rate. Censusindia.gov.in. Archived from theoriginal on 13 November 2009. Retrieved 15 October2009.

[50] (2011 Census of India estimate)India: Bihar. City Pop-ulation. Thomas Brinkho. 25 January 2014. Retrieved23 February 2015 via Population Census India.

[51] Bihar a byword for worst of India: The Economist.

[52] Bihar Towards a Development Strategy. World Bank.

[53] Nitish Kumar government orders corrupt ocials hometo be made into school

[54] Court upholds Bihar Special Court Act [newKerala.comNews # 154170]

[55] Bihar xes time for Friday prayers by its employees. 25July 2012.

[56] Bihars economy climbs to $12b by 2005. Spe-cials.redi.com. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 15 October2009.

[57] Das, Anand ST (5 July 2008). Distressed Delicacy.Tehelka 5 (26). Retrieved 14 February 2015.

[58] Bihar emerging as brewery hub. Economic Times. 16January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.

[59] Industries Department. Industries.bih.nic.in. Archivedfrom the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 15 Octo-ber 2009.

[60] Bihars debt soars to 77% of GDP. Specials.redi.com.31 March 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.

[61] History. Sisindia.com. 29 July 1993. Retrieved 15 Oc-tober 2009.

[62] Ahmad, Faizan (25 August 2008). Bihar security rmsets foot in Australia. The Times of India. Retrieved 14February 2015.

[63] Nigam, Aditi (27 April 2008). For Bihar, P stands forPatna and prosperity. The Financial Express. Retrieved14 February 2015.

[64] Bihars rst IT City to come up at Nalanda : Nitish Ku-mar. IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 24 Febru-ary 2014.

[65] Bihar prepares to be Indias 1st Multimedia Hub within3 Years. IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 24February 2014.

[66] http://www.diehardindian.com/demogrph/moredemo/histlang.htm History of Indian languages

[67] Team Bihardays (19 December 2011). Manjusha artfrom Bhagalpur: and the festival and the story of Bihula!".Bihar Days. Retrieved 23 July 2014.

[68] Kumar, Siddhant (13 May 2012). An Insight View ofMANJUSHA ART . YouTube (Rakesh Ranjan). Re-trieved 23 July 2014.

[69] Singh, Gajendra Narayan (2008) [2002]. Surile Logon KiSangat. New Delhi: Kanishka Publishers & Distributors.ISBN 9788184570724.

[70] Singh, Gajendra Narayan (1999). Swargangh.

[71] Collections. Padma Shri Gajendra Narayan Singh.

[72] Jugnu, Haidar Ali. Sati Sulochana - Bhojpuri Birha ByHaidar Ali- Jugnu. YouTube (hamaarbhojpuri). Retrieved25 July 2014.

[73] Ganga Maiyya Tohe Piyari Charaihbo First Bhojpurilanguage lm

[74] Bhaiyaa First Magadhi language lm

[75] Kanyadan First Maithili language lm

[76] IMDB

[77] Tripathy, Ratnakar (2007) 'BHOJPURI CINEMA', SouthAsian Popular Culture, 5:2, 145165

[78] For my female audiences, I'll wear a really imsy dhoti.The Telegraph (Kolkota, India). 14 April 2006. Retrieved15 October 2009.

[79] Move over Bollywood, Heres Bhojpuri, BBC News

[80] Home. Bhojpuri Film Award. Archived from the orig-inal on 2 November 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.

18 14 FURTHER READING

[81] bhojpuricity.com. bhojpuricity.com. Retrieved 15 Oc-tober 2009.

[82] Pathak Prabhu Nath,Society and Culture in Early Bihar,Commonwealth Publishers, 1988, p. 140

[83] Ahmad Qeyamuddin, Patna Through the ages: Glimpsesof History, Society and Economy, Commonwealth Publish-ers, New Delhi, 1988

[84] Rajendra Abhinandan Granth, Nagri Pracharini Sabha,Arrah, 3 March 1950, pp. 353

[85] Kumar N., Journalism in Bihar, A Supplement to BiharState Gazette pp. 28

[86] Bihar ki Sahityik Pragati, Bihar Hindi Sahitya Sammelan,Patna 1956, p. 73

[87] Jayanti Smarak Granth, pp. 583585

[88] Yang, Anand A (1998). Bazaar India: Markets,Society, and the Colonial State in Gangetic Bihar.Books.google.co.in. ISBN 978-0-520-21100-1. Re-trieved 15 October 2009.

[89] Statics Tourism in Bihar on Indian Government's website

[90] Wriggins, Sally Hovey. Xuanzang: A Buddhist Pilgrim onthe Silk Road. Westview Press, 1996. Revised and up-dated as The Silk Road JourneyWith Xuanzang. WestviewPress, 2003. ISBN 0-8133-6599-6.

[91] A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account bythe Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Cey-lon (A.D. 399414) in search of the Buddhist Books ofDiscipline. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York,Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965. ISBN 0-486-21344-7

[92] Altekar, Anant Sadashiv (1965). Education in Ancient In-dia, Sixth, Varanasi: Nand Kishore & Bros.

[93] Scott, David (May 1995). Buddhism and Islam: Past toPresent Encounters and Interfaith Lessons. Numen 42(2): 141. doi:10.1163/1568527952598657.

[94] Patna University. Patna University. Retrieved 15 Octo-ber 2009.

[95] Census Statistics for Bihar. Gov.bih.nic.in. Retrieved15 October 2009.

[96] Pratham.org | Pratham A Network of Societal Missionsto Achieve Universal Primary Education in India

[97] National Employability Report of Engineering Graduates,2014

[98] Delhi, Bihar produce top engineers in India: Report -The Times of India. The Times Of India.

[99] Parents want wards to go for tech education outside Bi-har. Times of India. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 11December 2013.

[100] CM inaugurates new engineering college at Chhapra.The Times Of India. 26 December 2012. Retrieved 26December 2012.

[101] 7th engineering college of state to open in July. Timesof India. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 11 November2011.

[102] CM lays foundation of engineering college. Times ofIndia. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.

[103] Nitish lists special tag cry as LS poll plank. Calcutta,India: The Telegraph. 23 December 2013. Retrieved 23December 2013.

[104] Shortage of engineering colleges in Bihar. Times of In-dia. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.

[105] New engineering colleges, polytechs to get impetussoon. Times of India. 26 December 2011. Retrieved26 December 2011.

[106] Jha, Abhay Mohan (4 August 2008). Brand new IIT inPatna impresses all. NDTV. Retrieved 4 August 2008.

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[110] NIFT starts classes in Patna

[111] Premier Research Institute: ANSISS. Ocial website.

[112] http://www.biharonline.gov.in/Site/BKC/Default.aspx

14 Further reading Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Rachnawali (Selectedworks of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati), PrakashanSansthan, Delhi, 2003.

Christopher Alan Bayly, Rulers, Townsmen, andBazaars: North Indian Society in the Age ofBritish Expansion, 17701870, Cambridge Univer-sity Press, 1983.

AnandA. Yang, Bazaar India: Markets, Society, andthe Colonial State in Bihar, University of CaliforniaPress, 1999.

Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi Rachnawali,Rajkamal Prakashan, Delhi.

Swami Sahajanand and the Peasants of Jhark-hand: A View from 1941 translated and edited byWalter Hauser along with the unedited Hindi origi-nal (Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005).

Sahajanand on Agricultural Labour and the Ru-ral Poor translated and edited by Walter Hauser(Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005).

19

Religion, Politics, and the Peasants: A Memoir ofIndias Freedom Movement translated and editedby Walter Hauser (Manohar Publishers, hardbound,2003).

Pandit Yadunandan (Jadunandan) Sharma, 1947,Bakasht Mahamari Aur Uska Achook Ilaaz (BakashtEpidemic and its Infalliable Remedy) in Hindi, Al-lahabad.

Jagannath Sarkar, Many Streams Selected Essaysby Jagannath Sarkar and Reminiscing SketchesCompiled by Gautam Sarkar Edited by MitaliSarkar, First Published May 2010, NavakarnatakaPublications Private Limited, Bangalore.

Indradeep Sinha, 1969, Sathi ke Kisanon ka AitihasicSangharsha (Historic Struggle of Sathi Peasants), inHindi, Patna.

Indradeep Sinha, Real face of JPs total revolution,Communist Party of India (1974).

Indradeep Sinha, Some features of current agrariansituation in India, All India Kisan Sabha, (1987).

Indradeep Sinha, The changing agrarian scene:Problems and tasks, Peoples Publishing House(1980).

Indradeep Sinha, Some questions concerning Marx-ism and the peasantry, Communist Party of India(1982).

Nand Kishore Shukla, The Trial of Baikunth Sukul:A Revolutionary Patriot, Har-Anand, 1999, 403pages, ISBN 81-241-0143-4.

Shramikon Ke Hitaishi Neta, Itihas Purush: BasawonSingh published by the Bihar Hindi GranthAcademy(1st Edition, April 2000).

Ramchandra Prasad, Ashok Kumar Sinha, Sri Kr-ishna Singh in Adhunik Bharat ke Nirmata Series,Publications Division, Ministry of Information andBroadcasting, Government of India.

Walter Hauser, 1961, Peasant Organisation in India:A Case Study of the Bihar Kisan Sabha, 19291942,PhD Thesis, University of Chicago, (Forthcomingpublication).

Rai, Algu, 1946, A Move for the Formation of anAll-Indian Organisation for the Kisans, Azamgrah.

N. G. Ranga, 1949, Revolutionary Peasants, NewDelhi.

N. G. Ranga, 1968, Fight For Freedom, New Delhi. Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan, 1943, Naye Bharetke Naye Neta (New Leaders of New India), in Hindi,Allahabad.

Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan, 1957, Dimagi Gu-lami (Mental Slavery), in Hindi, Allahabad.

Manmath Nath Gupta, Apane samaya ka suryaDinkar, Alekha Prakasana (1981).

Khagendra Thakur, Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar':Vyaktitva aur Krititva, Publications Division,2008 Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,Government of India.

Vijendra Narayan Singh, Bharatiya Sahitya ke Nir-mata: Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar, Sahitya Akademi,New Delhi, 2005, ISBN 81-260-2142-X.

Kumar Vimal, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar Rachna Sanchayan, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, 2008,ISBN 978-81-260-2627-2.

Mishra Shree Govind,History Of Bihar 17401772,Munshiram Manoharlal, 1970

Verma B S, Socio-religious Economic And LiteraryCondition Of Bihar (From ca. 319 A.D. to 1000A.D.), Munshiram Manoharlal, 1962

Maitra A,Magahi Culture, Cosmo Publications, NewDelhi, 1983

Naipaul V S, India: A Wounded Civilization, Pi-cador, 1977

TrevithickAlan, The Revival Of Buddhist PilgrimageAt Bodh Gaya (18111949): Anagarika Dharma-pala And The Mahabodhi Temple

Jannuzi F. Tomasson, Agrarian Crisis In India: TheCase Of Bihar, University of Texas Press, 1974,ISBN 0-292-76414-6, ISBN 978-0-292-76414-9

Omalley L S S, History of Magadh, Veena Publica-tion, 2005, ISBN 81-89224-01-8

Shukla Prabhat Kumar, Indigo And The Raj: Peas-ant Protests In Bihar 17801917, Pragati Publica-tions, 1993, ISBN 81-7307-004-0

Ahmad Qeyamuddin, Patna Through The Ages:Glimpses of History, Society & Economy, Common-wealth Publishers, 1988

Jain B D, Ardha Magadhi Reader, Sri Satguru Pub-lications, Lahore, 1923

Patra C, Life in Ancient India: As Depicted InThe Digha Nikaya, Punthi Pustak, 1996, ISBN 81-85094-93-4

Hazra Kanai Lal, Buddhism In India As DescribedBy The Chinese Pilgrims AD 399689, MunshiramManoharlal, 1983, ISBN 81-215-0132-6

McCrindle John W., Ancient India As Described ByMegasthenes And Arrian, Munshiram Manoharlal

20 15 EXTERNAL LINKS

McCrindle John W., Ancient India As Described ByPtolemy, Munshiram Manoharlal, 1927, ISBN 81-215-0945-9

Sastry Harprasad,Magadhan Literature, Sri SatguruPublications, Calcutta, 1923

Rai Alok, Hindi Nationalism, Orient Longman,2000, ISBN 81-250-1979-0

Waddell Austine L., Report On The Excavations AtPataliputra (Patna) The Palibothra Of The Greeks,Asian Publicational Services, Calcutta, 1903

Das Arvind N., The State of Bihar: an economic his-tory without footnotes, Amsterdam: VU UniversityPress, 1992

Brass Paul R., The politics of India since Indepen-dence, Cambridge University Press, 1990

Askari S. H.,Mediaeval Bihar: Sultante and MughalPeriod, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library,Patna, 1990

Tayler William, Three Months at Patna during theInsurrection of 1857, Khuda Bakhsh Oriental PublicLibrary, Patna, 2007

Taylor P.J.O., What really happened during theMutiny: A day by day account of the major eventsof 18571859 in India, Oxford University Press,1997, ISBN 0-19-564182-5

Pathak PrabhuNath, Society and Culture in Early Bi-har (C.A.D. 200 600), Commonwealth Publishers,1988

Basham A. L., The Wonder that was India, Picador,1954, ISBN 0-330-43909-X

Nambisan Vijay, Bihar in the eye of the beholder,Penguin Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0-14-029449-1

Pathak Mohan, Flood plains and Agricultural occu-pance, Deep & Deep Publication, 1991, ISBN 81-7100-289-7

D'Souza Rohan, Drowned and Dammed:ColonialCapitalism and Flood Control in Eastern India, Ox-ford University Press, 2006,

Radhakanta Barik - Land & Caste Politics in Bihar(Shipra Publications, Delhi, 2006)

15 External links Ocial website Bihar at DMOZ

21

16 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses16.1 Text

Bihar Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bihar?oldid=648513476 Contributors: Novalis, Edward, Ixfd64, Stw, Mkweise, Ahoerste-meier, Jpatokal, TUF-KAT, Tobias Conradi, Hike395, Charles Matthews, Dysprosia, WhisperToMe, Wik, Maximus Rex, Imc, Morwen,Taxman, Floydian, Joy, Cncs wikipedia, Phil Boswell, Jishacj, Robbot, Chrism, Naddy, Academic Challenger, Hemanshu, Auric, Sun-ray, Jeroen, Hadal, Clockwork, Neelvk, Carnildo, Daniel Nagy, Rudolf 1922, Nichalp, Monedula, Tom Radulovich, Rick Block, Sukh,RScheiber, Per Honor et Gloria, Jason Quinn, Sundar, Dagestan, Gzornenplatz, Bobblewik, Gugganij, Utcursch, Antandrus, Soman, Ac-senray, Portum, Pasquale, AnjaliSinha, Rich Farmbrough, Fungus Guy, LindsayH, Mani1, Byrial, Ashwatham, Kbh3rd, *drew, MBisanz,El C, Shrike, Dhoom, Kwamikagami, Aaronbrick, Smalljim, Elipongo, Apyule, Piyyadassi, Irrawaddy, Chirag, Obradovic Goran, Nsaa,Ogress, HasharBot, OneGuy, Skud, Buaidh, Kessler, Wiki-uk, Cdc, Santosh singh linux, Wtmitchell, Velella, Green slash, Tony Sidaway,RainbowOfLight, Parihav, Jguk, Gene Nygaard, Jakes18, Japanese Searobin, Woohookitty, RHaworth, Brhaspati, BernardM, LrdChaos,Ganeshk, Bokpasa, Piyadassi, SDC, SqueakBox, BD2412, NoPuzzleStranger, V95micfa, DePiep, Rjwilmsi, Koavf, Kinu, ShayanAn-wer, TheRingess, Durin, KirkEN, Bhadani, Ravik, Tbone, FlaBot, Swami Vimokshananda, Hottentot, RexNL, Airunp, King of Hearts,DaGizza, Spasemunki, Bgwhite, Shomat, YurikBot, Wavelength, Vuvar1, Al Silonov, RussBot, Red Slash, David Woodward, Gaius Cor-nelius, Vincej, Rsrikanth05, Kimchi.sg, Wimt, Aeusoes1, Grafen, Welsh, Stallions2010, Thiseye, Zwobot, Supten, Mieciu K, Rayc, Tvs-inha, Doldrums, Closedmouth, Chanheigeorge, Kumarrupesh, Gppande, Viveksinha in, Mukesh xing, Tyronen, JLaTondre, Curpsbot-unicodify, Katieh5584, RG2, NeilN, NickelShoe, Wai Hong, Planemad, Veinor, Obnoxious, SmackBot, YellowMonkey, Classiclms,Saravask, Ccreitz, Jagged 85, Verne Equinox, Paxse, Kintetsubualo, Tommstein, Magicalsaumy, Gilliam, Ohnoitsjamie, Hmains, Os-carthecat, Anwar saadat, Chris the speller, Bluebot, Alistair9210, AndrewRT, MK8, Mihirlochan, Thumperward, Jon513, Raja Hussain,MalafayaBot, Dunedan, Je5102, Colonies Chris, Citterio, Sgt Pinback, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Chlewbot, OrphanBot, Actionist,Alexmcre, New World Man, SundarBot, Khoikhoi, Pissant, Horses In The Sky, RandomP, Derek R Bullamore, Bejnar, Ohconfucius,Amartyabag, Srikeit, Khazar, Arunsingh77, Twocs, Writtenonsand, Foodisforeating, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, Green Giant,Tlesher, Bilby, Voceditenore, CPAScott, Tarikur, Beetstra, Ajitchouhan, Deepak D'Souza, Ambuj.Saxena, MTSbot, Skinsmoke, Caiaa,DabMachine, Iridescent, Xensyria, Kabuli, Joseph Solis in Australia, Shoeofdeath, Sikis, DogsBreakfast, 10 000 thundering typhoons,Namiba, FairuseBot, Tawkerbot2, RaviC, Vgadityanit, MightyWarrior, Eastlaw, Neeraj0401, CmdrObot, AshLin, WeggeBot, Rajubanka,Peripitus, Future Perfect at Sunrise, Naveenbm, Ramitmahajan, Luckyherb, Tkynerd, Acs4b, Kotiwalo, Dougweller, DumbBOT, Optimiston the run, Pirus, Lo2u, ThevikasIN, Mattisse, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Biruitorul, Qwyrxian, GentlemanGhost, Anshuk, N5iln, Mereda, Anu-pam, Marek69, Ufwuct, Mr pand, Singhman, Pataniyababu, Nick Number, DavidCBrannan, Escarbot, Naveenksharma, BlackOcelot, Dr.Blofeld, Sidsahu, Ramnkr, Mutt Lunker, Storkk, MikeLynch, JAnDbot, Ekabhishek, DuncanHill, MER-C, QuantumEngineer, KuwarOn-line, Battlekow, PhilKnight, Magioladitis, VoABot II, AtticusX, U.shravan, Faizhaider, Arisofalaska, Shiva338, Drabs, India Gate, Sod-abottle, Nyttend, TGGP, Indu Singh, Hekerui, Dayaanjali, Tuncrypt, Jeroje, Spellmaster, Dharmadhyaksha, Rif Wineld, JaGa, Jahangard,Sikkimkrishna, Jackson Peebles, Pallavijha, Ebizur, KarBOT, Saleemnooruddin, R'n'B, CommonsDelinker, AlexiusHoratius, Johnpack-lambert, Pdeitiker, Fconaway, Wiki Raja, J.delanoy, Abecedare, Filmymairta, Ginsengbomb, Eliz81, Athaenara, Anchitk, Gman124, Nani-wako, Skier Dude, Sumitcs, AntiSpamBot, Inscrutable male, Peter I. 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22 16 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

mejai, Singhkumarraju, Godkingxerces, DPL bot, Vin09, Ritusinha17, Aaron-Tripel, Alfatah.nesab, Chini.sachin, Dlituiev, Splashthe-brand, Shashwatpkumar, Gautamdk899, Ghajinidetails, Justincheng12345-bot, Sonunitian, N.sinha.p, Kamran1988, Amit5msg, Shivam-setu, Gulshan9, Holysocrate, Akashish004, Drddsharma, TheJJJunk, Khazar2, Cpt.a.haddock, BrightStarSky, Ajha Bakshi, Uday9852,Prashantway, Mogism, Aakash.Arjuna, Cerabot, Saurbce, Lugia2453, Domasingh, Svpnikhil, Www.amit213, Ajaz68, ComfyKem, Yup-pie15, Girijeshincha, Anand0408ib, Ashumech527, Mywikieditbh, Darth Sitges, Rajesh934, Arjun055, Pincrete, Mca.sbg, Faizan, Aman-dawart, Sriram943, Noman2677, Wise Droid, Snigdhasinghsweet, Tentinator, T M Zeyaul haque, Shikku27316, Evano1van, Amit Ku-mar Bhatta, Haresh1991, Kalpatru, Wikiuser13, Ugog Nizdast, Rguru.k, Shahzark, Ginsuloft, Rumikhawar, Showstyle, RameshJain9,Rowangsd, Baigmirzawaqar, Rohitdav97, Varun.fowl, Appetime, Shanu006, Kumar.bs4, 121000abc, Jeevan King, Ishanpce15, Elizabethsunny, Gauty kumar, Bladesmulti, Ashishkumar19952501, Quartzd, Malik Samudra, Nitishkumartn, JaiveerG, Deepakkumarsbg, Pcm-ster92, Dasdeepakkumar, Chiks30, Nehapant19, Udayank, Kritesk865, Manish2542, Aol.meee, Amalshaji27, Naver.np, Monkbot, Aab-hashKr, Sauravkumar212, NEKHILL, Munazir AhmedMohammed, Rahulbaba1111, Rakeshranjanmadhepurabihar, Vkdevil, Lifelessboy,Mdnt, Johnsoniensis, Siddanta.Bastola, Sbcooltombie, Lloyddsouza, Windsor prince, Cowper2, Tanmay Tarun, Rahul Bhagi, Prasun41992,GAUTAMYASHWARDHAN, HackedBotato, FuerteVentures, MOHD RIZWAN AHMAD, Rraza97, Teja srinivas, Manimayank920,Rosemine007, Sk2257682, Aksinha007, Nk28670, Tejas1234arya, Mukulsukul, Priyanshuluv and Anonymous: 1090

16.2 Images File:Asia_(orthographic_projection).svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Asia_%28orthographic_

projection%29.svg License: ? Contributors: Map by SsolbergjAquarius.geomar.deOriginal artist:Koyos + Ssolbergj (talk)

File:Bauhinia_Acuminata.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/17/Bauhinia_Acuminata.jpg License: PD Contribu-tors:Own workOriginal artist:Sugatabanerji (talk) (Uploads)

File:Bihar_Kesari_Sri_Babu_&_Bihar_Vibhuti_Anugrah_Babu.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b6/Bihar_Kesari_Sri_Babu_%26_Bihar_Vibhuti_Anugrah_Babu.jpg License: Public domain Contributors:PTIOriginal artist:SSingh

File:Bihar_Village_Bazaar.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Bihar_Village_Bazaar.JPG License:Public domain Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Liftarn using CommonsHelper.Original artist: Manoj nav (talk). Original uploader was Manoj nav at en.wikipedia

File:Bihar_locator_map.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/83/Bihar_locator_map.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Biharimap.png Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Biharimap.png License: Public domain Contributors:Self-made; base map from demis.nl. Original artist: Zakuragi

File:Biskoman_Bhawan_,patna.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Biskoman_Bhawan_%2Cpatna.jpgLicense: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.117393241688343.23442.109933995767601&type=1 Original artist: Sauravanuraj

File:Bismillah_at_Concert1_(edited).jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Bismillah_at_Concert1_%28edited%29.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Edited version of Bismillah at Concert1.jpg; cropped, adjusted exposure andcontrast Original artist: Robert Garas

File:Buddha_Mahabodhi_temple.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Buddha_Mahabodhi_temple.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: (WT-shared) Manoj nav at wts wikivoyage

File:City_of_Patna_19th_century.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/28/City_of_Patna_19th_century.jpg Li-cense: PD-US Contributors:Victoria and Albert Museum [1] Original artist:Thomas Daniell

File:Commons-logo.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Originalartist: ?

File:Compass_rose_pale.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Compass_rose_pale.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: svg version of Image:Compass-rose-pale.png, made to look similar to Image:Reinel compass rose.svg. Original artist:Fibonacci

File:Dr_Rajendra_Pd._DR.Anugrah_Narayan_Sinha.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Dr_Rajendra_Pd._DR.Anugrah_Narayan_Sinha.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own workPicture of the eminent public gurestaken during 1917 MK Gandhis Satyagraha movement in Bihar Original artist: Bn bt ec01

File:East.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Boxed_East_arrow.svg License: Public domainContributors:DarkEvil. Original artist: DarkEvil

File:Emblem_of_India.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Emblem_of_India.svg License: Public do-main Contributors: www.supremecourtofindia.nic.in Original artist: Dened by the Indian government as national emblem

File:Flag_of_India.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/41/Flag_of_India.svg License: Public domain Contributors:? Original artist: ?

16.2 Images 23

File:Flag_of_Nepal.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Flag_of_Nepal.svg License: Public domain Con-tributors: Constitution of The Kingdom of Nepal, Article 5, Schedule 1 [1] Original artist: Drawn by User:Pumbaa80, User:Achim1999

File:Flooded_Bihar.JPG Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Flooded_Bihar.JPG License: CC BY 3.0 Con-