Etymology of the name
The name Bihar is derived from the Sanskrit and Pali word Vihara[30] (Devanagari: विहार), which means "abode". The region roughly encompassing the present state was dotted with Buddhist vihara, the abodes of Buddhist monks in the ancient and medieval period.
Medieval writer Minhaj al-Siraj records in the Tabakat-i-Nasiri that in 1198 AD Bakhtiyar Khalji committed a massacre in a town now known as Sharif (about 70 km away from Bodh Gaya).[31] Minhaj writes that the inhabitants were 100,000 Brahmins[32] with shaven heads and all of them were killed. Later, Bakhtiyar learned that the town was a college, and the word for 'college' is bihar.[31] Perhaps from this destruction came about the current usage of the word 'Vihar'.
According to the Rajopankhyana, the place is so called because Jalpeswara Siva made hisviharas, or wanderings, there.[33]
[edit]History
Main article: History of Bihar
See also: Timeline for Bihar, Magadha, History of Buddhism in India, and Decline of Buddhism in India
The greatest Indian empire, the Mauryan empire, originated from Magadha in 325 BC, it was started by Chandragupta Maurya who was born in Magadha, and had its capital at Patliputra (modern Patna). The MauryanEmperor, Ashoka, who was born in Patliputra (Patna) is believed to be one of the greatest rulers in the history of India and the world.[34][35] According to indologist A.L. Basham, the author of the book The Wonder that was India,
| “ | The age in which true history appeared in India was one of great intellectual and spiritual ferment. Mystics and sophists of all kinds roamed through the GangesValley, all advocating some form of mental discipline and asceticism as a means to salvation; but the age of theBuddha, when many of the best minds were abandoning their homes and professions for a life of asceticism, was also a time of advance in commerce and politics. It produced not only philosophers and ascetics, but also merchant princes and men of action.[36] | ” |
Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education during the next one thousand years. The Gupta Empire, which again originated from Magadha in 240 CE, is referred to as the Golden Age of India in science, mathematics, astronomy, religion and Indian philosophy. The peace and prosperity created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic endeavors. Historians place the Gupta dynasty alongside with the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilization. The capital of Gupta empire was Pataliputra, present day Patna. The Vikramshila and Nalanda universities were among the oldest and best centres of education in ancient India. Some writers believe the period between the 400 CE and 1000 CE saw gains byHinduism at the expense of Buddhism.[37][38][39][40] The Hindu kings gave much grants to the Buddhist monks for buildingBrahmaviharas. A National Geographic edition[41] reads, "The essential tenets of Buddhism and Hinduism arose from similar ideas best described in the Upanishads, a set of Hindu treatises set down in India largely between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C."
The Buddhism of Magadha was swept away by the Muslim invasion under Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, during which many of the viharas and the famed universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed, and thousands of Buddhist monks were massacred in 12th century CE.[42][43][44][45][46][47] In the years 1553–56 Pashtun dynasty ruler 'Adil Shah' took the reigns of North-India and made 'Chunar' his capital. He deputed 'Hemu' the Hindu General, also known as 'Hemu Vikramaditya' as his Prime Minister and Chief-of-Army. Hemu fought and won 22 battles continuously against Afghan rebels and Akbar's forces at Agra and Delhi and established 'Hindu Raj' in Delhi, after a foreign rule of 300 years. Hemu, who was bestowed the title of 'Samrat' at Purana Quila, Delhi was then known as 'Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya'. Hemu lost his life while fighting in the 'Second Battle of Panipat' against Akbar's forces on 7 Nov. 1556. During 1557–1576, Akbar, the Mughal emperor, annexed Bihar and Bengal to his empire.[48]Thus, the medieval period was mostly one of anonymous provincial existence.
The tenth and the last Guru of Sikhism, Guru Gobind Singh was born in Patna. 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 Orissa.The rich resources of fertile Land, water and skilled labour had attracted the foreign entrepreneurs,specially the Dutch and Britishers in eighteenth century. A number of Agrio based industries had been started in Bihar by the foreign entrepreneurs. From this point, Bihar remained a part the Bengal Presidency of the British Raj until 1912, when the province ofBihar and Orissa was carved out as a separate province. Bihar now celebrates its birthday as Bihar Diwas on 22 March from 2010. In 1935, certain portions of Bihar were reorganised into the separate province of Orissa.
Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and his army, as well as countless other persons from Bihar, contributed to the India's First War of Independence (1857), also called the Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. Resurgence in the history of Bihar came during the struggle for India's independence.
It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his pioneering civil-disobedience movement, Champaran Satyagraha.
Brahmins in Champaran had earlier revolted against indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916 (Turkaulia) and Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla took Mahatma Gandhi to Champaran and theChamparan Satyagraha began.[49] Raj Kumar Shukla drew the attention of Mahatma Gandhi to the exploitation of the peasants by European indigo planters. Champaran Satyagraha received the spontaneous support from many Bihari nationalists like Rajendra Prasad who became the firstPresident of India and Anugrah Narayan Sinha who ultimately became the first Deputy Chief Minister cum Finance Minister of Bihar.[50]
In the northern and central regions of Bihar, peasants movement was an important consequence of the Freedom Movement. The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership ofSwami Sahajanand Saraswati who had formed in 1929, the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS), in order to mobilize peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights.[51] Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936 with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as its first President.[52] This movement aimed at overthrowing the feudal (zamindari) system instituted by the British. It was led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswatiand his followers Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Rahul Sankrityayan, Pandit Karyanand Sharma, Baba Nagarjun and others. Pandit Yamuna Karjee along with Rahul Sankritayan and a few others started publishing a Hindi weekly Hunkar from Bihar, in 1940. Hunkar later became the mouthpiece of the peasant movement and the agrarian movement in Bihar and was instrumental in spreading it.
Bihar made an immense contribution to the Freedom Struggle, with outstanding leaders like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sri Krishna Sinha,Dr. Anugrah Narayan Sinha, K. B. Sahay, Brajkishore Prasad, Mulana Mazharul Haque, Jayaprakash Narayan, Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Ram Dulari Sinha, Basawon Singh, Rameshwar Prasad Sinha,Yogendra Shukla, Baikuntha Shukla, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, Pandit Yamuna Karjee and many others who worked for India's freedom relentlessly and helped in the upliftment of the underprivileged masses.[53] Khudiram Bose, Upendra Narayan Jha "Azad", Prafulla Chakiand Baikuntha Shukla were active in revolutionary movement in Bihar.
On 15 January 1934, Bihar was devastated by an earthquake of magnitude 8.4. Some 30,000 people were said to have died in the quake.
The state of Jharkhand was carved out of Bihar in the year 2000.[54] The 2005 Bihar assembly elections ended 15 years of continuousRJD rule in the state, giving way to NDA led by Nitish Kumar.
Bihari migrant workers have faced violence and prejudice in many parts of India, such as Maharashtra, Punjab and Assam, making an impression that India still carries tribal localized mindset despite of more than 50 years of Independence as a Republic.[55][56][57]
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