Interesting Facts about Bihar

This article is all about historical, geographical, social, religious, cultural, amazing, rare, unknown interesting facts about Bihar.

Quick Basic Facts about Bihar

• Capital – Patna
• Official Language – Hindi, Urdu
• Main spoken languages -Hindi, Magahi, Bhojpuri, Maithili
• Area – 94,163 Sq Km
• Area Rank – 13th
• Population – 10,38,04,637
• Population Rank – 3rd
• Sex Ratio – 918 females per 1000 male
• Literacy Rate – 63.82 %
• Literacy Rank – 29th (Last)
• No. of Districts – 38
• Assembly and Council Seats – 243 + 75 (Bicameral)
• Lok Sabha Seats – 40
• Rajya Sabha Seats – 16
• Date of Creation – 1 April, 1936
• First Chief Minister – Krishna Singh
• First Governor – James Sifton

State Symbols of Bihar

• State Tree – Peepal
• State Flower – Marigold
• State Animal – Ox
• State Bird – Sparrow

Historical Facts about Bihar

• The name Bihar is derived from Sanskrit word “Vihara” (Buddhist Monastery)
• It was once the capital state of Mauryan emperors. It was known as Magadh in Mauryan empire and its capital was Patliputra.
• The flow of power in ancient times along the region of Magadh is : Haryank dynasty -> Shishunag dynasty -> Nanda dynasty -> Maurya Dynasty.
• During medieval times Buddhism in Magadh declined due to invasion of Muhammad Bin Bakhtiyar Khilji who destroyed universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila and massacred thousands of monks in 12th century.
• Sher Shah of Sasaram, founded the city of Patna on the ancient site of capital Patliputra. He was the first person who defeated the mighty Mughal army of Humayun making Delhi as his capital. Humayn and mughals lived in exile out of India during his rule. Later his tomb was built in Sasaram which is famous place of interest in Bihar.
• After the battle of Buxar (1764) the East India company got the rights of collection of tax from Bihar, Begal and Orrisa.
• Champaran satyagrah uunder Gandhi ji was done against the forced cultivation of indigo in Bihar.
• Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur played important role in independence struggle.
• Orissa state was separated from Bihar on April 1, 1936, and then it was partitioned again to form Jharkhand in Nov 2000.
• Nalanda and Vikramshila were popular centres of learning in medieval India which were established in 5th and 8th century respectively. These are known among the oldest universities of the time.

Geographic Facts about Bihar

• Bihar is bordered with 3 states – Uttar Pradesh in west, West Bengal in east and Jharkhand in south. It also shares international border with Nepal.
• Bihar is the 13th largest state by area and 3rd largest by population.
• Ganga is the main river which flows from west to east and divides the state in two parts. The main tributaries of Ganga are Son, Gandak, Phalgu.
• Most of the region is plain while some hills in central part are – Rajgir Hills, Mandargiri Hills and Kaimur plateau.
• West Champaran district of Bihar is largest in terms of area. Patna is largest by population.

Social and Cultural Facts about Bihar

• Bodh Gaya , near Gaya city is a Buddhist centre of Pilgrimage. It contains the famous ancient temple near the Bodhi Tree under which Buddha attained enlightenment.
• Seraikella Chhau is the main folk dance.

• Chhath is the main festival of bihar which is being celebrated from ancient vedic times. It is devoted to Surya Dev and Chhathi Maiya. Chhath has become the iconic symbol of Bihar Culture.

• Sonpur Animal Fair is internationally famous from ancient times. It is held on Kartik Purnima in November month at Sonpur. The legend says that Chandragupta Maurya used to purchase War elephants and horses from this mela.
• Madhubani railway station recently got a face-lift with paintings on its walls depicting Mithila cultural heritage. Around 225 artists  most of them women worked with their hands using twigs, matchstick, nib-pens and natural dyes to create beautiful paintings on the walls of railway station. About 14,000 sq feet of wall area had been painted in a period of 2 months.
• Bihar is the least literate state of India. Its literacy rate is 61.8 % which is well below national average of 74.04 %.

Economic Facts about Bihar

• The economy of the Bihar is not good and it is considered poorest state of India. If GDP per capita is taken as benchmark for measuring economy, Bihar stands at the bottom among all Indian states. (as per 2014 GDP per capita data).
• Mineral resources are – Limonite, Kaolin, Limestone, Mica, Fuller’s earth.
• Main Industries – Cotton spinning mills, Sugar mills, Jute mills and Leather industry
• Agricultural Products – Rice, wheat, maize, pulses, oilseeds, tobacco, jute, onions, chillies and potato.

Famous Persons from Bihar

• Raja Kunwar Singh – was the King of the then Jagdishpiur (presently part of Bhojpur district) who participated and fought during 1857 revolt.
• Rajendra Prasad – was the first President of India who was born in Ziradei, Siwan district of Bihar.
• Anugrah Narayan Singh – was better known as Bihar Vibhuti.  He was famous Gandhian-leader. He was born in Gaya district of Bihar.
• Jagjeevan Ram – was better known as Babuji. He was a great freedom fighter and born in Arrah district of Bihar.
• Jai Prakash Narayan -his nick-name was JP and Lok Nayak. He was instrumental in creating mass uprising against Indira Gandhi government. His agitation was called as Sampurna Kranti (Total Revolution). He was conferred Bharat Ratna posthumously in year 1999. He was born in Saran district of Bihar.
• Ramdhari Singh Dinkar – was the most famous modern Hindi poets. The themes of his poetry is mostly Veer Ras (freedom struggle). He was called as Rashtra Kavi. He was born in Munger district of Bihar.
• Bismillah Khan – the famous Shahnai maestro and Bharat Ratna awardee in year 2001 was born in Dumraon district of Bihar. In the very childhood he shifted to Varanasi.
• Girija Prasad Koirala– was the eminent Nepali politician who was elected four times as Prime Minister of Nepal. He was born in Saharsa district of Bihar.
• Karpoori Thakur – was better known as Jan Nayak. He was born in Samastipur district in 1924. His contribution is remembered for Quit India Movement. He also served as Chief Minister of Bihar.