Purnia Division | |
|---|---|
 Location of Purnia division in Bihar | |
| Coordinates:25°47′N87°28′E / 25.78°N 87.47°E /25.78; 87.47 | |
| Country |  India |
| State | Bihar |
| Region | Mithila[1](Kosi—Seemanchal subregion) |
| Established | 1990[citation needed] |
| Headquarters | Purnia |
| Districts | Araria,Katihar,Kishanganj andPurnia |
| Area | |
• Total | 10,009 km2 (3,864 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 4th inBihar |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 10,837,617 |
| • Rank | 4th inBihar |
| • Density | 1,082.8/km2 (2,804.4/sq mi) |
Purnia division (also known as:Seemanchal[2]) is anadministrative geographical unit ofBiharstate ofIndia.Purnia is the administrative headquarters of the division. The division consists ofPurnia district,Katihar district,Araria district, andKishanganj district. It was established in 1990.[citation needed] It is a part of theKosi-Seemanchal subregion of the culturalMithila region.[3]
Purnia division, all of which was previously part ofPurnia district, is part of theMithila region.[4] Mithila first gained prominence after being settled byIndo-Aryan peoples who established theMithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas).[5]During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Kingdom of the Videhas became one of the major political and cultural centers of Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Kingdom of the Videhas were calledJanakas.[6]The Mithila Kingdom was later incorporated into theVajjika League, which had its capital in the city ofVaishali, which is also in Mithila.[7]
During the Mughal rule, Purnia was an outlying military province, and its revenue was mostly spent on protecting its borders against tribes from the north and east.[8] After the capture of Calcutta in 1757, Purnia's local governor raised a rebellion againstSiraj ud-Daulah. In 1765, the district became a British possession, along with the rest ofBengal.[9] On February tenth, 1770 The district of Purnia in modern history was formed by theEast India Company.[10]Purnia district has seen the three districts partitioned off from its territory:Katihar in 1976,[11] andAraria andKishanganj in 1990.[11] The districts of Araria, Katihar, Purnia and Kishanganj together from the Purnia division.
Seemanchal (border area) is a colloquial alternate term for Purnia division owing to its close proximity with theBangladesh–India border, although the state of Bihar itself does not share any international borders withBangladesh. The term gained popularity after the veteranRJD leaderMohammed Taslimuddin first proposed the creation of a separate Seemanchal state in 1992, during a period when he was aMember of Parliament representing Purnia on aJanata Dal ticket. The proposal included the districts of Kishanganj, Purnia, Araria, Katihar, and sometimesBhagalpur,Supaul, andKhagaria. The demand was based on Seemanchal’s distinct demography (high Muslim population) and overall socioeconomic backwardness of the region.[12]
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The last of theGovernors was Md. Ali Khan who was replaced in 1770 by Ducarrel, the first English supervisor or Collector. The early years of British rule were years of trouble for Purnia. The district suffered terribly during the greatfamine of 1770. From the old records, it appears that there wereEuropean settlers in Purnia almost immediately after the establishment of British rule in the district. By 1771, a number of Europeans had settled in the area known as Rambagh, the only building left in Rambagh was the church and thepriests' houses. TheRoman Catholic Church was dismantled and re-erected in the new station of Purnia where the Europeans had already set up their residences. The foundation of this new church was there until 1934, when it was badly affected by the Biharearthquake. The church was dismantled again. Thenuns ofLoretto convent ofDarjeeling had come to Purnia near about 1882 and had opened aday school as well as aboarding school for children in Purnia district. When theJesuit Mission of Bengal took over the Purnia Mission from theCapuchin Mission, the school was closed and the nuns returned to Darjeeling. This house still stands and is known as the Coumblin. It is one of the oldest houses in Purnia town and is now occupied by the Allisons.
Kisan Sabha movement, which had been responsible for an acute agitation in Purnia district in the third decade in 20th century and figured prominently for about 20 years, had its roots in the veryagriculturaleconomy and the precious structure of permanent land-lordism in this state. The Kisan Sabha was formed at Munger near about 1922–23. After 1940–41, the kisan sabha movement slowly merged into the Congress Movement.
Purnia district, being so very contiguous to several districts of undivided Bengal, had been promptly affected by the swadeshi movement in the first decade of the 20th century. At that time there were no facilities forhigher education in Purnia district and the students who sought higher education had to go toCalcutta or toPatna. The Bihar National College and TK Ghosh Academy were suspected as the two centers for a secret students organisation, which indulged insedition and both these institutions had a sprinkling of students from Purnia. A boy from Purnia, Atul Chandra Mazumdar, a student of the BN College, Patna was arrested under theDefence Act of India.
Since 1919, Purnia had closely followed the policy, aims and objectives of theIndian National Congress. Some of the delegates of Purnia attended the Nagpur session of Congress in 1920 and the momentMahatma Gandhi gave the call for the Non-Cooperation, there were a number of volunteers in this district. Some of the early local leaders were Gokul Krishna Roy, Satyendra Narayan Roy and a few others who gave up their practice in the Bar and joined the movement.
In 1921, a national school was started in Katihar.Rajendra Prasad toured Purnia district in 1921 and addressed meetings at Purnia and at other places. In 1942Quit India Movement tactics were fully implemented by the people of Purnia. Mahatma Gandhi visited Purnia in 1929, during which time he met the Raja ofNazargunj and addressed crowded meetings at various places including Kisahnganj, Bishnupur, Araria and Purnia. The survey and settlement operations in Purnia district commenced in 1952 and settlement operations were concluded in 1960. During the 1911–20 period, Purnia suffered from epidemics of cholera every year from 1915 to 1919. A very serious outbreak of cholera occurred in 1925. Incidences ofsmallpox andmalaria was very high during this period.
Since Independence, the region has suffered from significant neglect from successive governments.
According to the2011 census, Purnia division has a population of 1,08,37,617 which is 10.41% of the population of Bihar.[14]Maithili is the native language of this area.[15]Hindi is the language of the majority according to the 2011 census, followed byUrdu,Surjapuri,Maithili,Bengali,Santali andBhojpuri.[16]
The religious demographics of Purnia division are very different from the rest of Bihar.[citation needed] Although in Bihar the overall Muslim population is 16.86%, in Purnia division the Muslim population is 45.93% while the Hindu population is 53.51%.[16]
| Districts | Subdivisions |
|---|---|
| Araria | Araria |
| Forbesganj | |
| Katihar | Katihar |
| Barsoi | |
| Manihari | |
| Kishanganj | Kishanganj |
| Purnia | Purnia |
| Banmankhi | |
| Baisi | |
| Dhamdaha |
2017 Floods affected 19 districts of North Bihar causing death of 514 people,[17][18][19][20][21][22] in which four districts of Purnia division (Araria 87, Katihar 40, Kishanganj 24 and Purnia 9) accounted for 160 deaths alone.[23]
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