Muzaffarpur district
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Muzaffarpur District is one of the thirty-seven districts of Bihar state, India, and Muzaffarpur town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Muzaffarpur district is a part of Tirhut Division.
Muzaffarpur is one of the largest commercial and educational centres of North Bihar. It is famous for litchis which is a fruit famous for its juicy taste.
Muzaffarpur is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India. The district headquarters are located at Muzaffarpur. The district occupies an area of 3173 km² and has a population of 3,743,836 (as of 2001).Mark Twain, while on way to Kathmandu, stayed in the local Muzaffarpur Club and relished this beautiful East Indian town.
[edit] History
According to the mythological epic 'Ramayan' King Janak, the father of Sita ruled Videha, which is a traditional name for the entire region including eastern Nepal and northern Bihar.
Sitamarhi, a town in this region, ascribes to the Hindu mythological belief where, Sita (other name Vaidehi: The Princes of Videha) sprang to life out of an earthen pot while Rajarshi Janak was tilling the land. Sita was to become the wife of Lord Rama, the central figure in he Ramayan.
As per recorded history the Vrijjan Republic was a confederation of eight clans of which the Licchavis were the most powerful and influential. Even the powerful kingdom of Magadh had to conclude matrimonial alliances in 519 B.C. with the neighboring estates of the Licchavis.
Ajatashatru invaded Vaishali and extended his sway over Tirhut. It was at this time that Patliputra (the modern Patna) was founded at the village Patali on the banks of the sacred river Ganga and Ajatashatru built an invincible fortress to keep vigil over the Licchavis on the other side of the river.
Ambarati, 40 km from Muzaffarpur is believed to be the village home of Amrapali, the famous Royal court dancer of Vaishali. Vaishali, a center of religious renaissance, Baso Kund, the birth place of Mahavir, the 24th Jain Tirthankar and a contemporary of Lord Buddha continue to attract visitors from across the international boarders.
From the visit of the Chinese traveller Hieuen Tsang’s till the rise of the Pala dynasty, Muzaffarpur was under the control of King Harsha Vardhan. After 647 A.D. The district passed on to the local chiefs. In the 8th century A.D. the Pala kings continued to have their hold over Tirhut until 1019 A.D. Later Chedi kings of Central India ruled till they were replaced by the Sena dynasty in 11th century.
Between 1210 & 1226, Ghais-u-ddin Iwaz, the ruler of Bengal, was the first Muslim invader of Tirhut. He, however, could not succeed in conquering the kingdom but extorted tributes. It was in 1323 that Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq established his control over the district.
The history of Muzaffarpur will remain incomplete without a reference to the Simraon dynasty (in the north-east part of Champaran) and its founder Nanyupa Deva who extended his power over the whole of Mithila and Nepal.
During the regime of Harasimha Deva, the last king of the dynasty, Tughlaq Shah invaded Tirhut in 1323 and gained control over the territory. Tughlaq Shah handed over the management of Tirhut to one Kameshwar Thakur. Thus, the sovereign power of Tirhut passed from the Hindu chiefs to the Muslims but the Hindu chief continued to enjoy complete autonomy .
By the end of the 14th century, the whole of North Bihar including Tirhut passed on to the Rajahs of Jaunpur and remained under their control for nearly a century until defeated by Sikandar Lodi of Delhi. Meanwhile, Hussain Shah, the Nawab of Bengal, had become so powerful that he exercised his control over large tracts including Tirhut.
The emperor of Delhi advanced against Hussain Shah in 1499 and got control over Tirhut after defeating its Raja. The power of the Nawabs of Bengal began to wane and with the decline and fall of Mahood Shah, north Bihar including Tirhut formed a part of the mighty Mughal Empire. Though Muzaffarpur with the entire north Bihar had been annexed yet the petty powerful chieftains continued to exercise effective control over this area till the days of Daud Khan, the Nawab of Bengal. Daud Khan had his stronghold at Patna and Hajipur and after his fall a separate Subah of Bihar was constituted under the Mughal dynasty and Tirhut formed a part of it.
The East India Company, after the battle of Buxar in 1764, controlled over whole of Bihar. The success of the insurgents at Delhi in 1857 caused grave concern to the English inhabitants in this district and revolutionary fervor began to permeate the entire district.
In 1908 the young Bengali revolutionary, Khudi Ram Bose, an 18 year-old, was hanged for throwing the bomb at the carriage of Pringle Kennedy who was actually mistaken for Kingsford, the District Judge of Muzaffarpur. After Indian independence in 1947 , a memorial to this Bose was constructed at Muzaffrapur.
The visit of Mahatma Gandhi to Muzaffarpur district in December 1920 and again in January 1927 had political effect in arousing the people and the district continued to play a prominent role in the country’s freedom struggle.
The significance of Muzaffarpur in Indian civilization arises out of its position on the frontier line between two most spiritual influences and is a meeting place of Hindu and Islamic culture and thoughts. Muzaffarpur fostered political leaders and statesmen alike among whom were Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, George Fernandis and Acharya Kriplani etc.
The language of the region is Vajjika,-a close mix of Maithili and Bhojpuri.
[edit] See also
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