History of Bihar

The History of Bihar is one of the most varied in India.^[1]Chirand, on the northern bank of the Ganga River, in Saran district, has an archaeological record dating from the Neolithic age (c. 2500 – 1345 BC).^[2]^[3] Regions of Bihar—such as Magadha, Mithila and Anga—are mentioned in religious texts and epics of ancient India. Mithila is believed to be the centre of Indian power in the Later Vedic period (c. 1100 – 500 BC). Mithila first gained prominence after the establishment of the ancient Videha Kingdom.^[4] The kings of the Videha were called Janakas. A daughter of one of the Janaks of Mithila, Sita, is mentioned as consort of Lord Rama in the Hindu epic Ramayana.^[5] The kingdom later became incorporated into the Vajjika League which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.^[6]

Magadha was the centre of Indian power, learning and culture for about a thousand years. One of India's greatest empires, the Maurya Empire, as well as two major pacifist religions, Buddhism and Jainism, arose from the region that is now Bihar.^[7] Empires of the Magadha region, most notably the Maurya and Gupta Empire, unified large parts of the Indian subcontinent under their rule.^[8] Their capital Pataliputra, adjacent to modern-day Patna, was an important political, military and economic centre of Indian civilisation during the ancient and classical periods of Indian history. Many ancient Indian texts, aside from religious epics, were written in ancient Bihar. The play Abhijñānaśākuntala being the most prominent.

The present-day region of Bihar overlaps with several pre-Mauryan kingdoms and republics, including Magadha, Anga and the Vajjika League of Mithila. The latter was one of the world's earliest known republics and had existed in the region since before the birth of Mahavira (c. 599 BC).^[9]^[10] The classical Gupta dynasty of Bihar presided over a period of cultural flourishing and learning, known today as the Golden Age of India.

The Pala Empire also made their capital at Pataliputra once during Devapala's rule. After the Pala period, Bihar came under the control of various kingdoms. The Karnat dynasty came into power in the Mithila region in the 11th century and they were succeeded by the Oiniwar dynasty in the 14th century. Aside from Mithila, there were other small kingdoms in medieval Bihar. The area around Bodh Gaya and much of Magadha came under the Buddhist Pithipatis of Bodh Gaya. The Khayaravala dynasty were present in the southwestern portions of the state until the 13th century.^[11] For much of the 13th and 14th centuries, parts of Western Bihar were under the control of the Jaunpur Sultanate. These kingdoms were eventually supplanted by the Delhi Sultanate who in turn were replaced by the Sur Empire. After the fall of the Suri dynasty in 1556, Bihar came under the Mughal Empire and later was the staging post for the British colonial Bengal Presidency from the 1750s and up to the war of 1857–58.^{[clarification needed]} On 22 March 1912, Bihar was carved out as a separate province in the British Indian Empire. Since 1947 independence, Bihar has been an original state of the Indian Union.

^ Roy, Ramashray; Wallace, Paul (6 February 2007). India's 2004 Elections: Grass-Roots and National Perspectives. SAGE Publications. p. 212. ISBN 9788132101109. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.
^ "BIHAR: A QUICK GUIDE TO SARAN". Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.
^ "Oldest hamlet faces extinction threat". Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.
^ Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 17 116-124, 141-143
^ Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 141-143
^ Raychaudhuri Hemchandra (1972), Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.85-6
^ Mishra Pankaj, The broblem, Seminar 450 - February 1997
^ "The History of Bihar". Bihar Government website. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014.
^ "Licchavi", Encyclopædia Britannica Online Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ "", Encyclopædia Britannica Online Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ Chakrabarty, Dilip (2010). The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties. Oxford University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-19-908832-4.

[1] Roy, Ramashray; Wallace, Paul (6 February 2007). India's 2004 Elections: Grass-Roots and National Perspectives. SAGE Publications. p. 212. ISBN 9788132101109. Archived from the original on 14 April 2017. Retrieved 13 April 2017.

[2] "BIHAR: A QUICK GUIDE TO SARAN". Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.

[3] "Oldest hamlet faces extinction threat". Archived from the original on 23 March 2017.

[4] Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 17 116-124, 141-143

[5] Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 141-143

[6] Raychaudhuri Hemchandra (1972), Political History of Ancient India, Calcutta: University of Calcutta, pp.85-6

[7] Mishra Pankaj, The broblem, Seminar 450 - February 1997

[8] "The History of Bihar". Bihar Government website. Archived from the original on 31 March 2014.

[p2.www.britannica.com-9] "Licchavi", Encyclopædia Britannica Online Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[eb-vaisali-10] "", Encyclopædia Britannica Online Archived 23 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[Chakrabarty10-11] Chakrabarty, Dilip (2010). The Geopolitical Orbits of Ancient India: The Geographical Frames of the Ancient Indian Dynasties. Oxford University Press. pp. 47–48. ISBN 978-0-19-908832-4.

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