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Introduction
Bihar the ancient land of
Budha has witnessed golden period of Indian history. It is
the same land where the seeds of the first republic were sown
and which cultivated the first crop of democracy. Such fertile
is the soil that has given birth to inumerous intellectuals
which spread the light of knowledge and wisdom not only in
the country but in the whole world . the state has its capital
at Patna ,which is situated on the bank of the holy river
Ganga. The state as it is today has been shaped from its partition
from the province of Bengal and most recently after the seperation
of the tribal southern region now called Jharkhand.
Ancient
History
The history of the land mass currently known as Bihar is very
ancient. In fact, it extends to the very dawn of human civilization.
Earliest myths and legends of hinduism the Sanatana (Eternal)
Dharma - are associated with Bihar. Seeta, the consort of
Lord Rama, was a princess of Bihar. She was the daughter of
King Janak of Videha. The present districts of Muzaffarpur,
Sitamarhi, Samastipur, Madhubani, and Darbhanga, in north-central
Bihar, mark this ancient kingdom. The present small township
of Sitamarhi is located here. According to legend, the birthplace
of Seeta is Punaura, located on the westside of Sitamarhi,
the headquarters of the district. Janakpur, the capital of
King Janak, and the place where Lord Rama and Seeta were married,
lies just across the border in Nepal. It is reached via the
rail station of Janakapur Road located in the Sitamarhi district,
on the Narkatiyaganj - Darbhanga section of the North-Eastern
Railway. It is no accident, therefore, that the original author
of the Hindu epic - The Ramayana - Maharishi Valmiki - lived
in Ancient Bihar. Valmikinagar is a small town and a railroad
station in the district of West Champaran, close to the railhead
of Narkatiyaganj in northwest Bihar. The word Champaran is
derived from champa-arnya, or a forest of the fragrant Champa
(magnolia) tree.
.
It was here that Prince
Gautam attained enlightenment, became the Buddha- at the present
Bodh Gaya- a town in central Bihar; and the great religion
of buddhism was born. It is here also that Lord Mahavira,
the founder of another great religion, Jainism, was born and
attained nirvana (death). That site is located at the present
town of pawapuri, some miles to the south east of patna, the
Capital of Bihar., it is here that the tenth and last Guru
of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh was born and attained the
sainthood of sikhism, that is became a Guru. A lovely and
majestic Gurudwara (a temple for Sikhs) built to commemorate
his memory - the harmandir- is located in eastern Patna. Known
reverentially as the Patna Sahib, it is one of the five holiest
places of worhip (Takhat) for Sikhs.
The ancient kingdoms of Magadh
and of Licchavis, around about 7-8th century B.C., produced
rulers who devised a system of administration that truly is
progenitor of the modern art of statecraft, and of the linkage
of statecraft with economics. Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra,
the first treatise of the modern science of Economics, lived
here. Also known as Chanakya, he was the wily and canny adviser
to the Magadh king, Chandragupta Maurya. As an emissary of
Chandragupta Maurya, Chanakya traveled far and wide in pursuit
of promoting the interests of the State and dealing with the
Greek invaders settled in the northwest of India, along the
Indus valley. He succeded in preventing the further onslaught
of the Greeks. Indeed, he brought about amicable co-existence
between the Greeks and the Mauryan Empire. Megasthenes, an
emissary of Alexander's General, Seleucus Necator, lived in
Pataliputra (ancient name of Patna, the Mauryan capital) arond
302 B.C. He left behind a chronicle of life in and around
Pataliputra. This is the first recorded account by a foreign
traveler in India. It describes in vivid terms the grandeur
of life in Pataliputra, a city established by King Ajatshatru,
around 5th Century B.C., at the confluence of the rivers Sone
and Ganga.
Another Mauryan king, Ashok,
(also known as Priyadarshi or Priyadassi), around 270 B.C.,
was the first to formulate firm tenets for the governance
of a people. He had these tenets, the so called Edicts of
Ashok, inscribed on stone pillars which were planted across
his kingdom. The pillar were crowned with the statue of one
or more lions sitting on top of a pedestal which was inscribed
with symbols of wheels. As the lion denoted strength, the
wheel denoted the eternal (endless) nature of truth (dharma),
hence the name Dharma (or Dhamma) Chakra.
This figure of lions, atop
a pedestal, with inscription of a wheel, was adopted as the
Official Seal of the independent Republic of India (1947).
Also, Ashok's dharma chakra
was incorporated into the national flag of India, the Indian
tricolor. Remains of a few of these pillars are still extant,
for example at Lauriya-Nandan Garh in the district of West
Champaran and at vaishali , in the present district of the
same name. Ashok, a contemporary of Ptolemy and Euclid, was
a great conqueror. His empire extended from what is now the
the North West Frontier Province (in Pakistan) in the west,
to the eastern boundaries of present India in the north, and
certainly, up to the Vindhyan Range in the south. Ashok was
responsible also for the widespread proselytization of people
into Buddhism. He sent his son, Prince Mahendra, and daughter,
Sanghamitra, for this purpose to as far south as the present
country of Sri Lanka (Sinhal Dweep in ancient times, and Ceylon
during the British Empire. Some historians, particularly Sinhalese,
consider Mahindra and Sanghmitra as brother and siThe history
of the land mass currently known as Bihar is very ancient.
In fact, it extends to the very dawn of human civilization.
Earliest myths and legends of hinduism the Sanatana (Eternal)
Dharma - are associated with Bihar. Seeta, the consort of
Lord Rama, was a princess of Bihar. She was the daughter of
King Janak of Videha. The present districts of Muzaffarpur,
Sitamarhi, Samastipur, Madhubani, and Darbhanga, in north-central
Bihar, mark this ancient kingdom. The present small township
of Sitamarhi is located here. According to legend, the birthplace
of Seeta is Punaura, located on the westside of Sitamarhi,
the headquarters of the district. Janakpur, the capital of
King Janak, and the place where Lord Rama and Seeta were married,
lies just across the border in Nepal. It is reached via the
rail station of Janakapur Road located in the Sitamarhi district,
on the Narkatiyaganj - Darbhanga section of the North-Eastern
Railway. It is no accident, therefore, that the original author
of the Hindu epic - The Ramayana - Maharishi Valmiki - lived
in Ancient Bihar. Valmikinagar is a small town and a railroad
station in the district of West Champaran, close to the railhead
of Narkatiyaganj in northwest Bihar. The word Champaran is
derived from champa-arnya, or a forest of the fragrant Champa
(magnolia) tree.
It was here that Prince Gautam
attained enlightenment, became the Buddha- at the present
Bodh Gaya- a town in central Bihar; and the great religion
of buddhism was born. It is here also that Lord Mahavira,
the founder of another great religion, Jainism, was born and
attained nirvana (death). That site is located at the present
town of pawapuri, some miles to the south east of patna, the
Capital of Bihar., it is here that the tenth and last Guru
of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh was born and attained the
sainthood of sikhism, that is became a Guru. A lovely and
majestic Gurudwara (a temple for Sikhs) built to commemorate
his memory - the harmandir- is located in eastern Patna. Known
reverentially as the Patna Sahib, it is one of the five holiest
places of worhip (Takhat) for Sikhs.
The ancient kingdoms of Magadh
and of Licchavis, around about 7-8th century B.C., produced
rulers who devised a system of administration that truly is
progenitor of the modern art of statecraft, and of the linkage
of statecraft with economics. Kautilya, the author of Arthashastra,
the first treatise of the modern science of Economics, lived
here. Also known as Chanakya, he was the wily and canny adviser
to the Magadh king, Chandragupta Maurya. As an emissary of
Chandragupta Maurya, Chanakya traveled far and wide in pursuit
of promoting the interests of the State and dealing with the
Greek invaders settled in the northwest of India, along the
Indus valley. He succeded in preventing the further onslaught
of the Greeks. Indeed, he brought about amicable co-existence
between the Greeks and the Mauryan Empire. Megasthenes, an
emissary of Alexander's General, Seleucus Necator, lived in
Pataliputra (ancient name of Patna, the Mauryan capital) arond
302 B.C. He left behind a chronicle of life in and around
Pataliputra. This is the first recorded account by a foreign
traveler in India. It describes in vivid terms the grandeur
of life in Pataliputra, a city established by King Ajatshatru,
around 5th Century B.C., at the confluence of the rivers Sone
and Ganga.
Another Mauryan king, Ashok,
(also known as Priyadarshi or Priyadassi), around 270 B.C.,
was the first to formulate firm tenets for the governance
of a people. He had these tenets, the so called Edicts of
Ashok, inscribed on stone pillars which were planted across
his kingdom. The pillar were crowned with the statue of one
or more lions sitting on top of a pedestal which was inscribed
with symbols of wheels. As the lion denoted strength, the
wheel denoted the eternal (endless) nature of truth (dharma),
hence the name Dharma (or Dhamma) Chakra.
This figure of lions, atop
a pedestal, with inscription of a wheel, was adopted as the
Official Seal of the independent Republic of India (1947).
Also, Ashok's dharma chakra
was incorporated into the national flag of India, the Indian
tricolor. Remains of a few of these pillars are still extant,
for example at Lauriya-Nandan Garh in the district of West
Champaran and at vaishali , in the present district of the
same name. Ashok, a contemporary of Ptolemy and Euclid, was
a great conqueror. His empire extended from what is now the
the North West Frontier Province (in Pakistan) in the west,
to the eastern boundaries of present India in the north, and
certainly, up to the Vindhyan Range in the south. Ashok was
responsible also for the widespread proselytization of people
into Buddhism. He sent his son, Prince Mahendra, and daughter,
Sanghamitra, for this purpose to as far south as the present
country of Sri Lanka (Sinhal Dwster of King Ashok.) It is
no wonder that historians have called Ashok - Ashok, the Great!
Ancient Bihar also saw the
glorification of women in matters of state affairs. It was
here that Amrapali, a courtesan of vaishali(the present district
of the same name) in the kingdom of the Lichhavis, attained
and wielded enormous power. It is said that the Lord Buddha,
during his visit to Vaishali, refused the invitation of many
princes, and chose to have dinner with Amrapali instead. Such
was the status of women in the Bihari society of several centuries
B.C.!
A little-known, but historically
and archaeologically documented, event is worth mentioning
in this context. After his visit with Amrapali, Lord Buddha
continued with his journey towards Kushinagar (also called
Kusinara in Buddhist texts.) He travelled along the eastern
banks of the river Gandak (also called Narayani, which marks
the western border of Champaran, a district now administratively
split into two- West and East Champaran.) A band of his devoted
Licchavis accompanied Lord Buddha in this journey. At a spot
known as Kesariya, in the present Purbi (=East) Champaran
district, Lord Buddha took rest for the night. It was here
that he chose to announce to his disciples the news of his
impending niravana (=death); and implored them to return to
Vaishali. The wildly lamenting Licchavis would have none of
that. They steadfastly refused to leave. Whereupon, Lord Buddha,
by creating a 3,000 feet wide stream between them and himself
compelled them to leave. As a souvenir he gave them his alms-bowl.
The Licchavis, most reluctantly and expressing their sorrow
wildly, took leave and built a stupa there to commemorate
the event. Lord Buddha had chosen that spot to announce his
impending nirvana because, as he told his disciple Anand,
he knew that in a previous life he had ruled from that place,
namely, Kesariya, as a Chakravarti Raja, Raja Ben. (Again,
this is not just a mere legend, myth or folk-lore. Rather,
it is a historiclly documented fact supported by archaeological
findings. However, neither this part of Buddha's life, nor
the little town of Kesariya, is well-known even in India or
Bihar.
At nalanda, the world's first
seat of higher learning, an university, was established during
the Gupta period. It continued as a seat of learning till
the middle ages, when the muslim invaders burned it down.
The ruins are a protected monument and a popular tourist spot.
A museum and a learning center- The Nava Nalanda Mahavira
- are located here.
Nearby, Rajgeer, was capital
of the Muaryan Empire during the reign of Bimbisara. It was
frequently visited by Lord Buddha and Lord Mahavira. There
are many buddhist ruins here. It is also well-known for its
many hot-springs which, like similar hot-springs elsewhere
in the world, are reputed to have medicinal property.
Medival History
This glorious history of Bihar
lasted till around the middle of the 7th or 8th century A.D.
- the Gupta Period - when, with the conquest of almost all
of northern India by invaders from the middle-east, the Gupta
dynasty also fell a victim.
In medieval times Bihar lost
its prestige as the political and cultural center of India.
The Mughal period was a period of unremarkable provincial
administration from Delhi. The only remarkable person of these
times in Bihar was Sher Shah, or Sher Khan Sur, an Afghan.
Based at Sasaram which is now a town in the district of the
same name in central-western Bihar, this jagirdar of the Mughal
King Babur was successful in defeating Humayun, the son of
Babur, twice - once at Chausa and then, again, at Kannauj
(in the present state of Uttar Pradesh or U.P.) Through his
conquest Sher Shah became the ruler of a territory that, again,
extended all the way to the Punjab. He was noted as a ferocious
warrior but also a noble administrator - in the tradition
of Ashok and the Gupta kings. Several acts of land reform
are attributed to him. The remains of a grand mausoleum that
he built for himself can be seen in today's Sasaram (Sher
Shah's maqbara.)
Modern History
During most of British India,
Bihar was a part of the Presidency of Bengal, and was governed
from Calcutta. As such, this was a territory very much dominated
by the people of Bengal. All leading educational and medical
centers were in Bengal. In spite of the unfair advantage that
Bengalis possessed, some sons of Bihar rose to positions of
prominence, by dint of their intelligence and hard labor.
One such was Rajendra Prasad, native of Ziradei, in the district
of Saran. He became the first President of the Republic of
India.
When separated from the Bengal
Presidency in 1912, Bihar and Orissa comprised a single province.
Later, under the Government of India Act of 1935, the Division
of Orissa became a separate province; and the Province of
Bihar came into being as an administrative unit of British
India. At Independence in 1947, the State of Bihar, with the
same geographic boundary, formed a part of the Republic of
India, until 1956. At that time, an area in the south-east,
predominantly the district of Purulia, was separated and incorporated
into West Bengal as part of the Linguistic Reorganization
of Indian States.
Resurgence in the history
of Bihar came during the struggle for India's independence.
It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his civil-disobedience
movement, which ultimately led to India's independence. At
the persistent request of a farmer, Raj Kumar Shukla, from
the district of Champaran, in 1917 Gandhiji took a train ride
to Motihari, the district headquarters of Champaran. Here
he learned, first hand, the sad plight of the indigo farmers
suffering under the oppressive rule of the British. Alarmed
at the tumultuous reception Gandhiji received in Champaran,
the British authorities served notice on him to leave the
Province of Bihar. Gandhiji refused to comply, saying that
as an Indian he was free to travel anywhere in his own country.
For this act of defiance he was detained in the district jail
at Motihari. From his jail cell, with the help of his friend
from South Africa days, C. F. Andrews, Gandhiji managed to
send letters to journalists and the Viceroy of India describing
what he saw in Champaran, and made formal demands for the
emancipation of these people. When produced in court, the
Magistrate ordered him released, but on payment of bail. Gandhiji
refused to pay the bail. Instead, he indicated his preference
to remain in jail under arrest. Alarmed at the huge response
Gandhiji was receiving from the people of Champaran, and intimidated
by the knowledge that Gandhiji had already managed to inform
the Viceroy of the mistreatment of the farmers by the British
plantation owners, the magistrate set him free, without payment
of any bail. This was the first instance of the success of
civil-disobedience as a tool to win freedom. The British received,
their first "object lesson" of the power of civil-disobedience.
It also made the British authorities recognize, for the first
time, Gandhiji as a national leader of some consequence. What
Raj Kumar Shukla had started, and the massive response people
of Champaran gave to Gandhiji, catapulted his reputation throughout
India. Thus, in 1917, began a series of events in a remote
corner of Bihar, that ultimately led to the freedom of India
in 1947.
Sir Richard Attenborough's
award winning film, "Gandhi", authentically, and
at some length, depicts the above episode. (Raj Kumar Shukla
is not mentioned by his name in the film, however.) The two
images here are from that film. The bearded gentleman, just
behind Gandhiji, in the picture on the left, and on the elephant
at right, is Raj Kumar Shukla.
Gandhiji, in his usual joking
way, had commented that in Champaran he "found elephants
just as common as bullock carts in (his native) Gujarat"!!
It was natural, therefore,
that many people from Bihar became leading participants in
India's struggle for independence. Dr. Rajendra Prasad has
been mentioned above. Another was Jay Prakash Narayan, affectionately
called JP. JP's substantial contribution to modern Indian
history continued up until his death in 1979. It was he who
steadfastly and staunchly opposed the autocratic rule of Indira
Gandhi and her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi. Fearing people's
reaction to his opposition, Indira Gandhi had him arrested
on the eve of declaring National Emergency beginning June
26, 1975. He was put in the Tihar Jail, located near Delhi,
where notorious criminals are jailed. Thus, in Free India,
this septuagenerian, who had fought for India's freedom alongside
Indira Gandhi's father, Jawahar Lal Nehru, received a treatment
that was worse than what the British had meted out to Gandhiji
in Champaran in 1917, for his speaking out against oppression.
The movement started by JP, however, brought the Emergency
to an end, led to the massive defeat of Indira Gandhi and
her Congress Party at the polls, and, to the installation
of a non-Congress government -The Janata Party - at Delhi,
for the first time. With the blessings of JP, Morarji Desai
became the fourth Prime Minister of India. JP remained the
Conscience of the Janata Party and of post-Gandhi - post-Nehru
India. He gave a call to all Indians to work ceaselessly towrards
eliminating "dictatorship in favour of democracy"
and bringing about "freedom from slavery". Sadly,
soon after attaining power, bickerings began among the leaders
of the Janata Party which led to the resignation of Shri Desai
as the Prime Minister. JP continued with his call for "total
revolution" (sampporna kranti), but he succumbed to kidney
failure at a hospital in Bombay in 1979.
Subsequent bickerings in the
Janata Party led to the formation of a breakaway political
party - the Janata Dal. This political party is a constituent
unit of the current ruling coalition at Delhi, the so called,
United Front. It was also from this party that Laloo Prasad
Yadav, the Chief Minister of Bihar until very recently, was
elected. The bickerings continue. A new party led by Mr. Yadav
has been formed - the Rashtriya Janata Dal - which is the
present ruling party in Bihar.
This was also a period when
Hindi literature came to flourish in the state. Raja Radhika
Raman Singh, Shiva Pujan Sahay, Divakar Prasad Vidyarthy,
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Ram Briksha Benipuri, are some of the
luminaries who contributed to the flowering of Hindi literature,
which did not have much of a long history. The Hindi language,
certainly its literature, began around mid to late nineteenth
century. It is marked by the appearance of Bhartendu Babu
Harischandra's ( a resident of Varanasi in U.P.) drama "Harischandra".
Devaki Nandan Khatri began writing his mystery novels in Hindi
during this time(Chandrakanta, Chandrakanta Santati, Kajar
ki Kothari, Bhootnath, etc.) He was born at Muzaffarpur in
Bihar and had his earlier education there. He then moved to
Tekari Estate in Gaya in Bihar. He later became an employee
of the Raja of Benares (now Varanasi.) He started a printing
press called "Lahari" which began the publication
of a Hindi monthly, "Sudarshan", in 1898. One of
the first short stories in Hindi, if not the very first, was
"Indumati" (Pundit Kishorilal Goswami, author) which
was published in 1900. The collection of short stories "Rajani
aur Taare" (Anupam Prakashan, Patna, publishers) contains
an extended history of the oigin and evolution of the short
story as a distinct literary form in the Hindi literature.
Conclusive
For its geographical location,
natural beauty, mythological and historical importance, Bihar
feels proud of the assets it has been gifted by time. And
for its moral contributions in the fields of arts-literature
and religion and spiritualism, it knows no competitors centuries
old stories related to this land are told even today .The
state is the same kingdom , which once upon a time ruled the
country as well as the neighbouring countries . Many great
rulers have lived here and it fills us with a sense of pride
when we think of Bihar as the 'Karmabhumi' of Buddha &
Mahavir. Bihar ,to liven up the glorious tale of which land
, words fall short.
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