MPSC Knowledge Institute of Maharashtra

Composition of Niti Aayog

महाराष्ट्र राज्यातील धबधबे

Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the twelfth-largest Indian state, with an area of 94,163 km2 (36,357 sq mi).

The third-largest state by population, it is contiguous with Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Bengal to the east, with Jharkhand to the south. The Bihar plain is split by the river Ganges, which flows from west to east.

Three main regions converge in the state: Magadh, Mithila, and Bhojpur.

On 15 November 2000, southern Bihar was ceded to form the new state of Jharkhand.
Only 11.3% of the population of Bihar lives in urban areas, which is the lowest in India after Himachal Pradesh.Additionally, almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, giving Bihar the highest proportion of young people of any Indian state.

In ancient and classical India, the area that is now Bihar was considered a centre of power, learning, and culture.From Magadha arose India's first empire, the Maurya empire, as well as one of the world's most widely adhered-to religions, Buddhism.

Magadha empires, notably under the Maurya and Gupta dynasties, unified large parts of South Asia under a central rule.Another region of Bihar is Mithila which was an early centre of learning and the centre of the Videha kingdom.

Since the late 1970s, Bihar has lagged far behind other Indian states in terms of social and economic development.
Many economists and social scientists claim that this is a direct result of the policies of the central government, such as the freight equalisation policy, its apathy towards Bihar, lack of Bihari sub-nationalism,and the Permanent Settlement of 1793 by the British East India Company. The state government has, however, made significant strides in developing the state.

Improved governance has led to an economic revival in the state through increased investment in infrastructure, better health care facilities, greater emphasis on education, and a reduction in crime and corruption.

History
In earlier days, tourism in the region was purely based on educational tourism, as Bihar was home of some prominent ancient universities like Nalanda and Vikramashila.

After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the British East India Company obtained the diwani rights (rights to administer, and collect revenue or tax) for Bihar, Bengal and Odisha. The rich resources of fertile land, water and skilled labour had attracted the foreign imperialists, particularly the Dutch and British, in the 18th century. A number of agriculture-based industries had been started in Bihar by foreign entrepreneurs.

Bihar remained a part of the Bengal Presidency of British India until 1912, when the province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out as a separate province.

Farmers in Champaran had revolted against indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia). In April 1917, Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaran, where Raj Kumar Shukla had drawn his attention to the exploitation of the peasants by European indigo planters. The Champaran Satyagraha that followed received support from many Bihari nationalists, such as Rajendra Prasad and Anugrah Narayan Sinha.

In the northern and central regions of Bihar, the Kisan Sabha (peasant movement) was an important consequence of the independence movement.

It began in 1929 under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati who formed the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS), to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights.

The movement intensified and spread from Bihar across the rest of India, culminating in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936, where Saraswati was elected as its first president.

GEOGRAPHY.

Bihar has a diverse climate. Its temperature is subtropical in general, with hot summers and cold winters. Bihar is a vast stretch of fertile plain. It is drained by the Ganges River, including its northern tributaries Gandak and Koshi, originating in the Nepal Himalayas and the Bagmati originating in the Kathmandu Valley that regularly flood parts of the Bihar plains.

The Ganges divides Bihar into two unequal halves and flows through the middle from west to east. Other Ganges tributaries are the Son, Budhi Gandak, Chandan, Orhani and Phalgu. Though the Himalayas begin at the foothills, a short distance inside Nepal and to the north of Bihar, the mountains influence Bihar's landforms, climate, hydrology and culture.

Central parts of Bihar have some small hills, for example, the Rajgir hills. To the south is the Chota Nagpur plateau, which was part of Bihar until 2000 but now is part of a separate state called Jharkhand.

Valmiki National Park, West Champaran district, covering about 800 km2 (309 sq mi) of forest, is the 18th Tiger Reserve of India and is ranked fourth in terms of density of tiger population.

It has a diverse landscape, sheltering rich wildlife habitats and floral and faunal composition, along with the prime protected carnivores. Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary in Bhagalpur region is a sanctuary of the endangered Gangetic dolphin.

Other notable sanctuaries include Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhimbandh Wildlife Sanctuary and Gautam Buddha Wildlife Sanctuary.

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