Begusarai

Begusarai Begusarai
city
Government
• Chief Minister	Nitish Kumar
Population  (2001)
• Total	2,342,989
Website	http://begusarai.bih.nic.in/

Begusarai (Hindi बेगूसराय ) is a city and a municipality in Begusarai district in the state of Bihar, India. Begusarai was earlier also referred to as the Leningrad of Bihar.

History

It was established in 1870 as a subdivision of Munger District. In 1972, it was given district status. The name of the district apparently comes from "Begum" (queen)+ "Sarai" (inn). "Begum" of Bhagalpur used to come to the "Simaria Ghat" (holy place at Ganges bank) for a month of pilgrimage which later took slang form of Begusarai.

NAULA GARH (86° 04’ 00”/25° 33’ 15”) Naula Birpur Begusarai 20 Km. North, North – East from Begusarai district head quarters. Mound The mound is almost intact. The expansion and landscape is remarkable. The road interscts the mound in two parts. The remains of fortifications had been explored several times by A.I.H.Culture and Archaeology department of G. D. College, Begusarai. The Northern mound is remarkable for its landscape with natural and man – made water channels. Pottery – N.B.P., Black slipped, Burnt (Plain & Polished), Red ware (Plain & Polished), Internal Black & External Red type. Vessels – Heavy type storage vessel, water jar, Dish, cookware, small and large Plate, bowl, Deep Pan, Flat pan etc. It is situated only 3½ Kms. westward of the block headquarters Birpur. This enormous mound expands in almost 1½ Km. long area, right from Bhit in the East to Fansiari Tola in Makhwa panchayat in the west. Balan in the East and Bainti in the south creates a remarkable topology for the mound. Both the rivers join in the east almost 1 Km. from the centre. In fact, the mound is divided in different parts – The central fortified area of 360 acres, 1400 acres and 800 acres. Sodhri mound measuring 400m x 100m to the north of the Gudh (fort) and The mound of Dih and Bhit to the east of the fortified area. The A.I.H. culture and Archaeology Dept. Of G. D. College, Begusarai under supervision of prof. R. K. chowdhary had explored and surveyed this huge area in 1950-52. A local resident Shri Arvind Prasad Singh,who own the lands (main part of the Mound) donated the antique collections and coins from this mound to the museum of G. D. College, Begusarai. A black stone broken sculptures with inscription of Vigraha Pala III has been displayed in the K.P.J.A. Museum of the A.I.H. Archaeology Deptt., G. D. College, Begusarai. The concerned inscription is narrated in G. D. College, Buletin – 2. Naulagarh is remarkable for its multi-cultural sequence. A number of coins have been reported to be explored by local people during agricultural practices. The expansion and some evidence of dockyard strongly suggests this place to be the Apan Nigam mentioned in the Buddhist literature. The 200m x 100m old tank which is connected by river Bainti in the west with a 50m. wide deep chanel, seems to be made for transportation purpose. It is possible that the eastern side of the tank would have been a platform for loading – unloading of goods. According to the local traditions, this particular tank used to be a secret path of the royal family to go out side but the topology and the findings till now does not supports this hypothesis

Geography

Begusarai is located at 25.42°N 86.13°E / 25.42; 86.13. It has an average elevation of 41 metres (134 feet). It has an area of 1879 square km.

The district of Begusarai lies in the middle part of the mid Ganga plain. In general, it is a low-lying flat terrain(MSL45m-32m)having a southerly to southeasterly slope. This factor governs the flow of streams. Geomorphologically it is a part of the Gandak- Kosi inerfluve. The southern part of the district, except those of low-lying flood plains of Ganga, appears to be an elevated landmass when compared to the adjoining districts of Khagaria and Samastipur. Hence, being a safer destination amidst the flood drained region, it supports the human activities in a better way.

The district is drained by a no of rivers viz. Ganga, Burhi Gandak, Bagmati and Balan rivers and in addition, small rivulets, dhars, nalas which are originated locally and preserve rain water, mark the landscape. Among the rivers, Ganga, Burhi Gandak, Kosi, Kareha and Bagmati are perennial, whereas Channa River, Bainti nadi, Kachna nadi, Monrya nadi and Malti nadi are seasonal.

Climate

Being part of the Gangetic plains of the Indian subcontinent, the district experiences three climatic seasons – the summer season from March to mid June, the monsoon season from mid June to October and the winter season from November to February. The month of February & March fall in the transitional season from winter to summer described as spring or “Basant”. Similarly the months of September & October falls in the transitional season from the monsoon season to the winter season and described as “Shishir”.

Demographics

The 2001 census count placed the Begusarai population at 23,42,989 as on the first of March. The population has grown at an annual average rate of 2.9%. There are many stages in the demographic transition beginning with a declining mortality and continuing fertility to a stage where both mortality and fertility rates decline more or less at the same rate and keep the population stable over a period of time.
Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Begusarai has an average literacy rate of 65%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 59% of the males and 41% of females literate. 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Culture

Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar' (रामधारी सिंह 'दिनकर') (September 23, 1908– April 24, 1974) was an Indian Hindi poet, essayist and academician, who is considered as one of the most important modern Hindi poets. Dinkar emerged as a rebellious poet with his nationalist poetry in pre-Independence days. His poetry exuded veer rasa, and he has been hailed as a Rashtrakavi ("National poet") evoking the spirit of nationalism on account of his inspiring patriotic composition. Dinkar was born in a poor Bhumihar Brahmin family in Simariya village of Begusarai district in Bihar. Eminent Historian Professor Ram Sharan Sharma was born on 26 November, 1919 in Barauni, Begusarai, Bihar in a poor family. The present Honourable Governor of Sikkim , India, Shri Balmiki Prasad Singh belongs to this Place. People mainly speak Hindi and a local variant of Angika.

Civic Administration

Administrative Division
No. of Sub-Division	5
No. of Blocks	18
No. of Panchayats	257
*No. of Revenue Villages	1229
*No. of Habitations	1198

Sub Divisions: Begusarai, Manjhaul, Ballia, Bakhari, Teghara

Economy

Begusarai is known as the Industrial Town of Bihar. There are many Ancillary Industries here. The three main Industries are Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Barauni Thermal Power Station (BTPS),Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL).

Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy. 88.33% people depend upon agriculture. Main cash crops of the district are oilseeds, tobacco, jute, potato, red chilies, tomato and andi.

Type	Area (Hectare)
Total irrigated land	74,225.57
Forest	Nil
Orch. etc.	5,000
Kharif Paddy	22,000
Garma Paddy	10,000
Wheat	61,000
Irrigated	Permanent : 6,384.29 Seasonal : 4,866.37
Wasteland and non arable	2,118

Natural water sources : Begusarai district is located in the middle Ganga plain. Main rivers are Burhi Gandak, Balan, Bainty, Baya and Chandrabhaga.

Kaver Jheel: Kaver Jheel one of Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, also famous for bird’s sanctuary.

Minerals : No minerals of economic importance

Irrigation : Mostly by Tubwells

Transport

Begusarai is well connected to other parts of Bihar and India through railways as well as roads. New Delhi - Guwahati railway line passes through Begusarai. There is a small aerodrome in Ulao, five kms from the district headquarters, which is used for the arrival of very important persons. Railways have a route length of 119 km of broad gauge line and 67 km middle gauge line. Barauni Railway Junction holds major importance in east-central Bihar. A number of important trains originate from this station for major cities like Delhi, Guwahati, Amritsar, Varanasi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Chennai etc. Rajendra Setu on the Ganga is connected to Mokama and Howrah. There are 18 railway stations in this district. Interior parts of the district are well connected to the main roads. The National Highways 28 and 31 link this district to the other parts of the country. Their total length is 95 km. State roads have a total length of 262 km. 95% of the all the villages are linked to the rural and urban road facilities.

Educational Institution

All colleges are affiliated to L.N.Mithila University, Darbhanga. Most famous colleges are Ganesh Dutt College, Cooperative College, Mahila College. Some of the renowned schools are BP HIGH SCHOOL,BSS Inter Collegiate High School, St. Paul's School, B R DAV (IOC), KV IOC, DAV Itwa Nagar, Cyberschool,Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya etc.

Flora and Fauna

Forest : Begusarai does not have any forest area. In contrast to the eastern portions of the old district of Munger, this district lying south to the Ganga does not comprise any forest of sal and other large trees. At most of the places, there are gardens of mango and litchi. Chakmuzaffar a village of Naokothi block is famous for banana. Apart from these, Babul, Neem, Guava, Lemon, Gamahar, Peepal, Bamboo, shirish are also found. Shisham is one of the most important ones of them.

Wild animals are scarcely found in this district. However, birds are seen in large numbers in various colours, particularly in the bird sanctuary of Kaver Lake. As of now 59 species of birds from abroad and 107 species of birds from home have been recognized.

External Links

http://begusarai.bih.nic.in/ http://books.google.com/books?id=8qvY8pxVxcwC&lpg=PA304&ots=nOM9_71wn_&dq=naulagarh&pg=PA304 http://books.google.com/books?id=OEZe-wAIiKIC&lpg=PA279&ots=TZDLPD6W7k&dq=naulagarh&pg=PA279 http://books.google.com/books?id=YEWMG_8yi9oC&lpg=PA137&ots=Wwd8iWD6El&dq=naulagarh&pg=PA137 http://wikimapia.org/13309715/hi/Naulagarh http://begusaraiheritage.com/history.html