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Purnia district | |
|---|---|
 Saura river nearPurnia | |
 Location of Purnia district in Bihar | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  Bihar |
| Region | Mithila[1] |
| Division | Purnia |
| Established | 14 February 1770 |
| Headquarters | Purnia |
| Government | |
| • District Magistrate | Mr. Anshul Kumar, IAS[citation needed] |
| • Lok Sabha constituencies |
|
| • Vidhan Sabha constituencies | Amour,Baisi,Kasba,Banmankhi,Rupauli,Dhamdaha,Purnia, |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,229 km2 (1,247 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 3,264,619 |
| • Density | 1,011/km2 (2,619/sq mi) |
| Demographics | |
| • Literacy | 72.09 per cent |
| • Sex ratio | 921 |
| Language | |
| • Official | Hindi[2] |
| • Additional official | Urdu[2] |
| • Regional Languages | Maithili |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| Vehicle registration | BR-11 |
| Major highways | |
| Railway Lines | |
| Website | purnea |
Purnia district is one of the thirty-eightdistricts of the Indian state ofBihar. The district lies in theKosi-Seemanchal subregion of the greaterMithila region of the state. The city ofPurnia is the administrative headquarters of this district. Purnia city has continued its tradition of hoisting the national flag at 12:07 am on every Independence Day since 1947.[3] Purnia district is a part ofPurnia Division. The district extends northwards from theGanga river.
Purnia district occupies 3,229 square kilometres (1,247 sq mi),[4] comparable to theSolomon Islands'Makira Island.[5] It is a depressed tract, consisting for the most part of a rich,loamyalluvial soil. It is traversed by several rivers flowing from theHimalayas, which afford great advantages of irrigation and water-carriage. Its major rivers are theKosi, theMahananda, the Suwara Kali, theKari kosi, theSaura and the Koli. In the west, the soil is thickly covered with sand deposited by changes in the course of the Kosi. Among other rivers are the Mahananda and the Panar. Its major agricultural products arejute,maize andbanana.
Purnia is part of theMithila region.[6] Mithila first gained prominence after it was settled byIndo-Aryan peoples who established theMithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas).[7]
During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Videha became one of the major political and cultural centers of Ancient India, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Videha Kingdom were calledJanakas.[8] The Videha Kingdom was later incorporated into theVajji confederacy, which had its capital in the city ofVaishali, which is also in Mithila.[9] The eastern part of Purnia formed part of the region of Pundravardhana, part of ancient Bengal. It must have been part of Shashanka's kingdom, and eventually became part of the kingdom of Magadha in the 11th century.[10]
In the 13th century Bakhtiyar Khilji devastated Bihar and Bengal and conquered both for the Delhi Sultanate. However the northern part of the district still seems to have been held by the Kirat peoples as the Muslim rulers kept having to protect the district from their incursions. However not much is known of its rule during the period from 13th to 17th centuries other than it was a military frontier. It is known that it formed the border of the Bengal Sultanate and eventually supplied levies to Humayun during his war with the Suri dynasty.[10]
During the Mughal period, what is now Purnia district was part of the sarkars of Purania and Tajpur in the Bengal Subah, which were separated by the Mahananda River. The northern strip of the district along the Nepal border was part of the Kingdom of Morang, part of Limbuwan. During the late Mughal period five mahals from Munger Sarkar were annexed to Purania Sarkar, prior to this the border between Bihar Subah and Bengal Subah was the Kosi River. During the Mughal rule, Purnea was an outlying military province, and its revenue was mostly spent on protecting its borders against tribes from the north and east.[11][10]
In the beginning of the 18th century, the Faujdar of Purnia was Saif Khan, a descendant of Afghan nobles. At the time the Kosi flowed close to Purnia town and the western part of the present district formed part of the kingdom of Bir Shah, Raja of Birnagar, who had a force of 15,000 men and did not acknowledge Mughal authority. Saif Khan conquered Birnagar from Bir Shah's son, Drujan Singh. The territory was annexed to Purnia in 1732. He also subjugated other zamindars and expanded the Nawab's control around 30 km into the Terai. His son Fakhruddin Hussain Khan was known as an incompetent governor who was quickly replaced with the Nawab's nephew Sayyid Ahmed Khan. Fakhruddin was forced to move to Murshidabad. During one of the Maratha incursions he hoped to again throw off Nawab domination and raised another army in Purnia, but was soon cowed again.[10]
After the capture ofCalcutta 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.[12] On 14 February 1770 the district of Purnia in modern history was formed by theEast India Company.[13]
Purnia is known for its uniquely designed organisation,Ramakrishna Mission, where the festivalDurga Puja is celebrated in October. Another attraction in the city of Purnia is the oldest temple of Mata Puran Devi which is 5 km away from the main city. It is theorised that Purnia received its name from this temple. Other theories also describe how Purnia received its name; which is, that in the past Purnia was named Purna– Aranya, which stands for "complete jungle."
Three districts were partitioned off from Purnia district:Katihar in 1976,[14]Araria andKishanganj in 1990.[14]
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Purnia district has four subdivisions:Purnea Sadar,Banmankhi,Baisi andDhamdaha.
They are further divided into fourteenblocks:
| Tehsil (Sub-division) | CD Blocks |
|---|---|
| Purnia Sadar | Purnia East,Kasba,Jalalgarh,Krityanand Nagar,Srinagar |
| Banmankhi | Banmankhi |
| Dhamdaha | Dhamdaha,Barhara Kothi,Bhawanipur,Rupauli |
| Baisi | Baisi,Baisa,Amour,Dagarua |
These contain 246 panchayats with 1,450 villages.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 478,222 | — |
| 1911 | 513,879 | +0.72% |
| 1921 | 548,740 | +0.66% |
| 1931 | 593,534 | +0.79% |
| 1941 | 646,133 | +0.85% |
| 1951 | 685,744 | +0.60% |
| 1961 | 938,810 | +3.19% |
| 1971 | 1,191,510 | +2.41% |
| 1981 | 1,518,223 | +2.45% |
| 1991 | 1,878,885 | +2.15% |
| 2001 | 2,543,942 | +3.08% |
| 2011 | 3,264,619 | +2.53% |
| source:[15] | ||
According to the2011 census Purnia district has apopulation of 3,264,619,[16] roughly equal to the nation ofMauritania[17] or the US state ofIowa.[18] This gives it a ranking of 105th in India (out of a total of640).[16] The district has a population density of 1,014 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,630/sq mi).[16] Itspopulation growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 28.66%.[16] Purnia has asex ratio of 930females for every 1000 males,[16] and aliteracy rate of 58.23%. 10.51% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 11.98% and 4.27% of the population respectively.[16]
| Religion | Percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | 60.94% | |||
| Islam | 38.46% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.60% | |||
Hindus are the majority community in the district, but Muslims are majority in the eastern blocks.[19]
| Block | Hindu % | Muslim % | Other % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banmankhi | 86.19 | 13.33 | 0.48 |
| Barhara | 90.37 | 9.11 | 0.52 |
| Bhawanipur | 75.48 | 24.07 | 0.45 |
| Rupauli | 89.20 | 10.57 | 0.23 |
| Dhamdaha | 84.32 | 14.55 | 1.13 |
| Krityanand Nagar | 67.07 | 32.03 | 0.9 |
| Purnia East | 68.52 | 30.26 | 1.22 |
| Kasba | 41.63 | 58.08 | 0.29 |
| Srinagar | 65.91 | 33.69 | 0.4 |
| Jalalgarh | 53.41 | 46.28 | 0.31 |
| Amour | 22.58 | 76.93 | 0.49 |
| Baisa | 27.76 | 71.94 | 0.3 |
| Baisi | 22.37 | 77.32 | 0.31 |
| Dagarua | 37.17 | 62.55 | 0.28 |
At the time of the2011 Census of India, 33.68% of the population in the district spokeHindi, 18.62%Urdu, 10.72%Maithili (includingThethi andPurbi), 8.73%Surjapuri, 4.51%Bengali and 2.50%Santali as their first language. 18.53% spoke languages recorded as 'Others' under Hindi group of languages on the census.[20]
| District | No. | Constituency | Name | Party | Alliance | Remarks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purnia | 56 | Amour | Akhtarul Iman | AIMIM | None | |||
| 57 | Baisi | Ghulam Sarwar | ||||||
| 58 | Kasba | Nitesh Kumar Singh | LJP(RV) | NDA | ||||
| 59 | Banmankhi (SC) | Krishna Kumar Rishi | BJP | |||||
| 60 | Rupauli | Kaladhar Mandal | JD(U) | |||||
| 61 | Dhamdaha | Leshi Singh | ||||||
| 62 | Purnia | Vijay Kumar Khemka | BJP | |||||
It is basically an Agro Based Economy having few Small and Medium scale factories particularly situated in Maranga and Infact purnea is the largest town with consumer economy.In Bihar,Purnea district is ranked second poorest in Multidimensional Poverty Ranking struggling with High Population growth,Low urbanisation and sparse to low number of industry.One of the most backward and aspirational district but continously striving to move higher.
Some major Hindu temples of Purnea are Puran Devi temple; which is sometimes credited for the name of the city, the Kali Mandir of old Purnia city on the bank ofSaura river, the Maata Asthan inChunapur, Panchmukhi Temple in line bazaar, the Rani Sati Mandir in Kasba,Prahlad Stambh inBanmankhi, and Dhima Shiv Mandir in Dhima, Banmankhi. The city also has the Darghah of Hazrat Mustafa Jamalul Haque Bandagi, Chimni Bazar. An "Urs" in the form of Mela (village fair) is organised on the 7th day after Eid-Ul-Azha and continues up to 3 days every year. The 'Dargah and Khanquah Alia Mustafia' is located 7 km away from the main city. It is famous for spirituality, communal harmony andSufism. Its history extends for 400 years, when Hazrat Bandagi came fromJaunpur, Uttar Pradesh visiting several Khanqahs and Dargahs across India such as the Pandawa Sharif, the Bihar Sharif, etc. The Darghah is playing a major role to spread culture, education, kindness, secularism and spiritual spirits in Northeast Bihar since its establishment. Deorhi at Garbanili (Purnea) hosts the ruins of Kala Bhawan the ancient Darbar (Palace) of Raja Kalanand Singh, where his successor still lives.
TheJalalgadh Fort is a place of historical importance situated in Jalalgadh division.
Purnia District in the Indian state of Bihar is primarily drained by three major rivers:
These rivers play a crucial role in theagricultural and ecological dynamics of Purnia District and are essential water sources for the localpopulation.
{{cite book}}:|last1= has generic name (help)Makira 3,190km2
Mauritania 3,681,634 July 2011 est.
Iowa 3,046,355
Places adjacent to Purnia district | |
|---|---|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
List of Freedom Fighters of Purnea District
1. Shri Jibatsh Sharma 'Himanshu' native of Kajha Village, Block Krityanand Nagar, District Purnea
2. Fuleshwar Prasad Yadav, Native of Rikabganj Village Block Krityanand Nagar District Purnia
