Saharsa district

Coordinates: 25°53′N 86°36′E / 25.883°N 86.600°E / 25.883; 86.600
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Saharsa.

Saharsa district
Sonbarsha, Saharsa, Simri Bakhtiarpur, Mahishi
Area
 • Total1,702 km2 (657 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total1,900,661
 • Density1,100/km2 (2,900/sq mi)
Demographics
 • Literacy54.57 per cent
 • Sex ratio906
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Major highwaysNH 231 and NH 327
Websitesaharsa.nic.in

Saharsa is one of the thirty-eight

Kosi Division and it became a district on 1 April 1954 and has subsequently become smaller with other districts being carved from it, most notably Madhepura
in 1981.

Saharsa is located in the Mithila region, one of the earliest centers of Brahminical civilization in India.[1] Saharsa is considered as the heart of whole Mithila region. it is the place which gave birth to legends such as like Mandana Misra, Laxminath Gosain, Ubhai Bharti, etc. The region of Bangaon and Mahisi is known for producing a large number of civil servants.

History

Saharsa is part of the

Mithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas).[3]
During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Videha became one of the major political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Videha Kingdom were called Janakas.[4] The Videha Kingdom was later incorporated into the Vajjika League, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.[5]

Mandan Mishra whose conversation with the Shankaracharya was considered one of the most intellectual conversations in the world was done in Mahismati village, nowadays Mahisi village. During the Dharma Vijaya yatra of Adi Shankara, He visited Mahisi village (then called Mahishmati) to debate Mandana Misra. After winning in all discussions in all over the nation, He lost the Sastrartha there.[6]

Earlier, the Saharsa district was part of the Munger and Bhagalpur districts. On 1 April 1954 it was made a district of its own. It was also made headquarters of Kosi division on 2 October 1972, comprising Saharsa, Purnia and Katihar district, with its headquarters at Saharsa. Similarly a new Civil Sub-Division Birpur was created on 1 December 1972, consisting of 24 development blocks, including Raghopur, Chhatapur, Basantpur and Nirmali, which were previously under Supaul subdivision of the district. Two new districts, Madhepura and Supaul, were formed from Saharsa district on 30 April 1981 and 1991. Saharsa district now consists of two subdivisions, Saharsa Sadar and Simri Bakhtiarpur. The district consists of 10 development blocks and anchals each.

Geography

Saharsa district occupies an area of 1,687 square kilometres (651 sq mi),[7]

Saharsa district is surrounded on the west by the river

Kosi, which has an abundance of fish and Makhana
. Saharsa is famous for its varieties of mangoes and litchis.

Saharsa district comprises the following Sub-Divisions: Saharasa Sadar and Simri Bakhtiyarpur.

Politics

This section is transcluded from 17th Bihar Assembly. (edit | history)
District No. Constituency Name Party Alliance Remarks
Saharsa 74 Sonbarsha Ratnesh Sada JD(U) NDA
75 Saharsa Alok Ranjan Jha BJP NDA
76 Simri Bakhtiarpur Yusuf Salahuddin RJD MGB
77 Mahishi Gunjeshwar Sah JD(U) NDA

Administration

Saharsa consists of 10 blocks arranged in two subdivisions:[8]

Saharsa subdivision

Simri-Bakhtiyarpur subdivision

Economy

It is the major producer of best quality of

ber and sugarcane. Sagwan
or Tectona grandis) trees are now grown on a large scale.

Demographics

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901397,566—    
1911409,867+0.31%
1921395,756−0.35%
1931418,762+0.57%
1941422,038+0.08%
1951489,307+1.49%
1961582,156+1.75%
1971721,202+2.16%
1981902,008+2.26%
19911,132,413+2.30%
20011,508,182+2.91%
20111,900,661+2.34%
source:[9]
Religions in Saharsa district (2011)[10]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 85.72%
Islam
 
 14.03%
Other or not stated
 
 0.25%

According to the

640).[11] The district has a population density of 1,125 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,910/sq mi).[11] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 25.79%.[11] Saharsa has a sex ratio of 906 females for every 1000 males,[11] and a literacy rate of 54.57%. 8.24% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes make up 16.69% and 0.32% of the population respectively.[11]

Languages of Saharsa district (2011)[12]

  Maithili (68.87%)
  Hindi (21.15%)
  Urdu (9.62%)
  Others (0.36%)

At the time of the

2011 Census of India, 68.87% of the population in the district spoke Maithili, 21.15% Hindi and 9.62% Urdu as their first language.[12]

Notable people

See also

  • List of villages of Saharsa

References

  1. ISBN 9788171414161
    .
  2. ISBN 9788175330344
    .
  3. ^ Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 17 116–124, 141–143
  4. ^ Witzel, M. (1989). "Tracing the Vedic dialects". In Caillat, C. (ed.). Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes. Paris: Fondation Hugot. pp. 141–143.
  5. ^ Hemchandra, R. (1972). Political History of Ancient India. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
  6. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Bharatvarsh: Episode 4: Watch the glorious story of Adi Shankaracharya". YouTube.
  7. ISBN 978-81-230-1617-7. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help
    )
  8. ^ "Subdivision & Blocks | Saharsa District | India". Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Table A-02 Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901: Bihar" (PDF). census.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  10. ^ "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Bihar". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "District Census Handbook: Saharsa" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  12. ^ a b "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Bihar". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.

External links

25°53′N 86°36′E / 25.883°N 86.600°E / 25.883; 86.600

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