Bihar Yearbook 2022: Latest and Current Affairs

Modern History

During most of British India, Bihar was a part of the Presidency of Bengal, and was governed from Calcutta. A prominent figure that emerged from Bihar during India’s struggle of Independence was Dr. Rajendra Prasad who later became the first President of free India. Dr. Prasad was native of Jiradei in the district of Saran.

Bihar and Orissa separated from Bengal Presidency in 1912 as a single province and later Orissa became a separate province under the Government of India Act of 1935 and thus Bihar became an administrative unit of British India.

At the time of Independence in 1947, the State of Bihar, with the same geographic boundary, formed a part of the Republic of India, until 1956. At that time,In 1956, an area in the south-east, predominantly the district of Purulia, was separated and incorporated into West Bengal as part of the Linguistic Reorganization of Indian States.

Role of Bihar in India’s struggle of Independence

Veer Kunwar Singh

Bihar’s contribution in the struggle of freedom dates back to 1857. Babu Kunwar Singh led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 in Bihar. He was nearly eighty and in failing health when he was called upon to take up arms. He gave a good fight and harried British forces for nearly a year and remained invincible until the end.

He was an expert in the art of guerilla warfare. His tactics left the British puzzled. Singh assumed command of the soldiers who had revolted at Danapur on 25 July. Two days later he occupied Arrah, the district headquarters. Major Vincent Eyre relieved the town on 3 August, defeated Singh’s force and destroyed Jagdishpur. During the rebellion, his army had to cross the Ganges river.

Douglas’ army began to shoot at their boat. One of the bullets shattered Singh’s left wrist. Singh felt that his hand had become useless and that there was the additional risk of infection due to the bullet-shot. He drew his sword and cut off his left hand near the elbow and offered it to the Ganges In his last battle, fought on 23 April 1858, near Jagdispur, the troops under the control of the East India Company were completely routed.

On 22 and 23 April, being injured he fought bravely against the British Army and with the help of his army drove away the British Army, brought down the Union Jack from Jagdishpur Fort and hoisted his flag. He returned to his palace on 23 April 1858 and soon died on 26 April 1858.

Resurgence in the history of Bihar came during the struggle for India’s independence. It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his civil-disobedience movement, which ultimately led to India’s independence. In 1917, at the persistent request of a farmer named Raj Kumar Shukla from the district of Champaran, Gandhiji took a train ride to Motihari.

Here he got to know the plight of the indigo farmers suffering under the oppressive rule of the British. Alarmed at the tumultuous reception of Gandhiji in Champaran, the British authorities served notice on him to leave the Province of Bihar. Gandhiji refused to comply, stating the right of an Indian to freely travel anywhere in his own country. For this act of defiance he was detained in the district jail at Motihari.

From his jail cell, with the help of his friend from South Africa days, C. F. Andrews, Gandhiji managed to send letters to journalists and the Viceroy of India describing what he saw in Champaran, and made formal demands for the emancipation of these people. When produced in court, the Magistrate ordered his release on the condition of furnishing bail bond.

Gandhiji refused to furnish the bail. Instead, he indicated his preference to remain in jail. Alarmed at the huge response he was receiving from the people of Champaran, the magistrate set him free, without any precondition. This was the first instance of the success of civil-disobedience as a tool to win freedom.

After this incident, British for the first time, noticed Gandhiji as a national leader and realized the power of civil-disobedience. What Raj Kumar Shukla had started and the massive response people of Champaran gave to Gandhiji, catapulted India’s struggle for free India. Therefore, in 1917, a series of events ignited in a remote corner of Bihar led to the massive movement for independence across the country till India gained freedom in 1947. Therefore, many people from Bihar became leading participants in India’s struggle for independence.

Another personality from Bihar that rose to leadership was Jay Prakash Narayan, affectionately called JP. JP’s substantial contribution to modern Indian history continued until his death in 1979. It was he who led a movement that led to massive win of a non-Congress government, The Janata Party, at Delhi, for the first time.

In the year 2005 the people of Bihar handed over the reins of power to Nitish Government with full hope and confidence. Shri Kumar is known for his endeavor to establish the rule of law and to move on the path of justice with development. By including all segments of the society together, he laid the foundation of the programme of Good Governance, transparency and all inclusive growth.

He formulated programmes of Good Governance first for the period 2005-2010 and then for 2010-2015. Within a period of only a few years Shri Kumar has revamped many public organisations and systems. On one hand he succeeded in establishing effective law and order and rule of law while on the other hand he achieved greater height in the development of Human Resource along with good infrastructure.

Reservation to women in PRIs and ULBs, steps towards women empowerment, Right to Public Servic Act, Bihar Public Grievance Redressal System, Campaign against Child Marriage and Dowry System, enforcement of Prohibition, Agriculture Road Map, Start up Policy, Seven Resolves, unprecedented progress in Power and Road sector are some of the initiatives which have brought paramount change in socio-economic and administrative scenario.

Districts of Bihar

The clickable map shown below allows you to find out the basic information about any specific district of Bihar. Alternatively, you can also make use of the links of individual districts.

Districts Name
ArariaArwalAurangabad
BankaBegusaraiBhagalpur
BhojpurBuxarDarbhanga
East ChamparanGayaGopalganj
JamuiJehanabadKhagaria
KishanganjKaimurKatihar
LakhisaraiMadhubaniMunger
MadhepuraMuzaffarpurNalanda
NawadaPatnaPurnia
RohtasSaharsaSamastipur
SheoharSheikhpuraSaran
SitamarhiSupaulSiwan
VaishaliWest Champaran 

Important City of Bihar

After the 2011 Census, Bihar was the third most populous state of India with total population of 104,099,452 (54,278,157 male and 49,821,295 female). Nearly 89% of Bihar’s population lived in rural areas. The density was 1,106. The sex ratio was 918 females per 1000 males. Almost 58% of Bihar’s population was below 25 years age, which is the highest in India.

Most of Bihar’s population belongs to Indo-Aryan-speaking ethnic groups along with few Dravidian-speaking and Austroasiatic-speaking people mostly in Chhotanagpur Plateau (now part of Jharkhand).Bihar has a total literacy rate of 61.80% (71.20% for males and 51.50% for females), recording a growth of 20% in female literacy over the period of a decade.

At 11.29%, Bihar has the second lowest urbanisation rate in India. As per of the 2011 census, Bihar is India’s most densely-populated state.

Largest cities in Bihar

 CityDistrictPopulationPatna CityDistrictPopulation
1PatnaPatna20,46,6528ArrahBhojpur2,61,430
2GayaGaya4,70,8399BegusaraiBegusarai2,52,008
3BhagalpurBhagalpur4,10,21010KatiharKatihar2,40,565
4MuzaffarpurMuzaffarpur3,93,72411MungerMunger2,13,303
5PurneaPurnea3,10,81712ChhapraSaran2,12,955
6DarbhangaDarbhanga3,06,08913SaharsaSaharsa1,56,540
7BiharsharifNalanda2,97,26814HajipurVaishali1,47,688
Source: Census of India 2011

Bihar Population Census data 2011

As per details from Census 2011, Bihar has population of 10.41 Crores, an increase from figure of 8.30 Crore in 2001 census. Total population of Bihar as per 2011 census is 10,40,99,452 of which male and female are 5,42,78,157 and 4,98,21,295 respectively. In 2001, total population was 8,29,98,509 in which males were 4,32,43,795 while females were 3,97,54,714.

The total population growth in this decade was 25.42 percent while in previous decade it was 28.43 percent. The population of Bihar forms 8.60 percent of India in 2011. In 2001, the figure was 8.07 percent.

Census Statistics:

Description20112001
Actual Population10,40,99,4528,29,98,509
Male5,42,78,1574,32,43,795
Female4,98,21,2953,97,54,714
Population Growth25.42%28.43%
Percantage of total Population8.60%8.07%
Sex Ratio918919
Child Sex Ratio935942
Density/Km21,106881
Density/mi22,8632,283
Area(Km2)94,16394,163
Area mi236,35736,357
Total Child Population (0-6 Age)1,91,33,9641,68,06,063
Male Population (0-6 Age)98,87,23986,52,705
Female Population (0-6 Age)92,46,72581,53,358
Literacy61.80 %47.00 %
Male Literacy71.20 %59.68 %
Female Literacy51.50 %33.12 %
Total Literate5,25,04,5533,11,09,577
Male Literate3,16,08,0232,06,44,376
Female Literate2,08,96,5301,04,65,201
Source: Census of India 2011

Bihar Sex Ratio & Density 2011

Sex Ratio in Bihar is 918 i.e. for each 1000 male, which is below national average of 940 as per census 2011. In 2001, the sex ratio of female was 919 per 1000 males in Bihar.

Total area of Bihar is 94,163 sq. km. Density of Bihar is 1,106 per sq km which is higher than national average 382 per sq km. In 2001, density of Bihar was 881 per sq km, while nation average in 2001 was 324 per sq km.

Sex Ratio & Density

State/DistrictPersonsMaleFemaleSex ratio (female per 1000 male)Density (Per sq.km)Decadal growth rate)
Bihar10,40,99,4525,42,78,1574,98,21,295918110625.42
Araria28,11,56914,63,33313,48,23692199330.25
Arwal7,00,8433,63,4973,37,346928109818.89
Aurangabad25,40,07313,18,68412,21,38992676926.18
Banka20,34,76310,67,1409,67,62390767426.48
Begusarai29,70,54115,67,66014,02,881895154926.44
Bhagalpur30,37,76616,15,66314,22,103880118225.36
Bhojpur27,28,40714,30,38012,98,027907113921.63
Buxar17,06,3528,87,9778,18,375922100221.67
Darbhanga39,37,38520,59,94918,77,436911172819.47
Purvi Champaran50,99,37126,81,20924,18,162902128529.43
Gaya43,91,41822,66,56621,24,85293788326.43
Gopalganj25,62,01212,67,66612,94,3461,021126019.02
Jamui17,60,4059,16,0648,44,34192256825.85
Jehanabad11,25,3135,85,5825,39,731922120921.68
Khagaria16,66,8868,83,7867,83,100886112230.19
Kishanganj16,90,4008,66,9708,23,43095089730.40
Kaimur (Bhabua)16,26,3848,47,0067,79,37892048826.17
Katihar30,71,02916,00,43014,70,599919100528.35
Lakhisarai10,00,9125,26,3454,74,56790281524.77
Madhubani44,87,37923,29,31321,58,066926128225.51
Munger13,67,7657,29,0416,38,72487696420.21
Madhepura20,01,76210,47,5599,54,203911112031.12
Muzaffarpur48,01,06225,27,49722,73,565900151428.14
Nalanda28,77,65314,97,06013,80,593922122221.39
Nawada22,19,14611,44,66810,74,47893989022.63
Patna58,38,46530,78,51227,59,953897182323.73
Purnia32,64,61916,99,37015,65,249921101128.33
Rohtas29,59,91815,43,54614,16,37291876320.78
Saharsa19,00,6619,97,1749,03,487906112726.02
Samastipur42,61,56622,30,00320,31,563911146725.53
Sheohar6,56,2463,46,6733,09,573893188027.19
Sheikhpura6,36,3423,29,7433,06,59993092421.09
Saran39,51,86220,22,82119,29,041954149621.64
Sitamarhi34,23,57418,03,25216,20,322899149227.62
Supaul22,29,07611,55,28310,73,79392991928.66
Siwan33,30,46416,75,09016,55,374988150122.70
Vaishali34,95,02118,44,53516,50,486895171728.57
Pashchim Champaran39,35,04220,61,11018,73,93290975329.29
Source: Census of India 2011

Bihar Literacy Rate 2011

Literacy rate in Bihar has seen upward trend and is 61.80 percent as per 2011 population census. Of that, male literacy stands at 71.20 percent while female literacy is at 51.50 percent. In 2001, literacy rate in Bihar stood at 47.00 percent of which male and female were 59.68 percent and 33.12 percent literate respectively.

In actual numbers, total literates in Bihar stands at 5,25,04,553 of which males were 3,16,08,023 and females were 2,08,96,530.

Literacy Rate

 LiteratesLiteracy rate(%)
State/DistrictPersonsMaleFemalePersonsMaleFemale
Bihar5,25,04,5533,16,08,0232,08,96,53061.8071.2051.50
Araria11,95,7687,27,6434,68,12553.5362.3043.93
Arwal3,86,3512,35,2791,51,07267.4379.0654.85
Aurangabad14,66,0028,68,7335,97,26970.3280.1159.71
Banka9,65,3215,90,9613,74,36058.1767.6247.66
Begusarai15,48,6739,18,5076,30,16663.8771.5855.21
Bhagalpur15,73,0669,37,6696,35,39763.1470.3054.89
Bhojpur15,99,1519,73,4866,25,66570.4781.7458.03
Buxar9,89,8075,93,5443,96,26370.1480.7258.63
Darbhanga18,16,63411,25,5666,91,06856.5666.8345.24
East Champaran22,76,95714,07,6038,69,35455.7965.3445.12
Gaya22,97,61313,68,8039,28,81063.6773.3153.34
Gopalganj13,82,9987,93,9055,89,09365.4776.5154.81
Jamui8,58,5885,34,3853,24,20359.7971.2447.28
Jehanabad6,18,8813,74,4122,44,46966.8077.6655.01
Khagaria7,68,0284,61,1533,06,87557.9265.2549.56
Kishanganj7,45,0564,39,9213,05,13555.4663.6646.76
Kaimur (Bhabua)9,20,2765,49,9233,70,35369.3479.3758.40
Katihar12,80,1907,62,2565,17,93452.2459.3644.39
Lakhisarai5,07,2703,05,1822,02,08862.4271.2652.57
Madhubani21,55,33813,40,0858,15,25358.6270.1446.16
Munger8,01,8174,73,7413,28,07670.4677.7462.08
Madhepura8,34,5775,17,6663,16,91152.2561.7741.74
Muzaffarpur25,09,23214,87,11710,22,11563.4371.2854.67
Nalanda15,19,9339,19,5586,00,37564.4374.8653.10
Nawada10,91,0126,59,4744,31,53859.7669.9848.86
Patna34,59,67920,28,04714,31,63270.6878.4861.96
Purnia13,32,3268,05,2615,27,06551.0859.0642.34
Rohtas17,99,83210,61,7837,38,04973.3782.8862.97
Saharsa8,04,9965,06,3742,98,62253.2063.5641.68
Samastipur21,42,88012,93,5758,49,30561.8671.2551.51
Sheohar2,83,6981,71,6451,12,05353.7861.3145.26
Sheikhpura3,28,6761,96,4311,32,24563.8673.5653.40
Saran21,57,45412,85,7678,71,68765.9677.0354.42
Sitamarhi14,36,7948,85,1885,51,60652.0560.6442.41
Supaul10,33,2836,47,6723,85,61157.6769.6244.77
Siwan19,30,17511,15,9068,14,26969.4580.2358.66
Vaishali19,26,74011,52,5767,74,16466.6075.4156.73
West Champaran17,59,48110,91,2266,68,25555.7065.5944.69
Source: Census of India 2011

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