A stone image of the Buddha.Bihar is also the birthplace
of many religions, including Buddhism and Jainism. Buddha
attained Enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, a town located in the
modern day district of Gaya. Mahavira, the founder of Jainism,
was born in Vaishali. The word "Bihar" has its
origin in the Sanskrit word Vihara meaning Buddhist Monasteries.
At one time these "viharas" were strewn all over
the landscape of Bihar, around villages and cities.
With the advent of foreign aggression and the eventual
foreign subjugation of India, the position of Bihar also
was adversely affected. Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, a
General of Muhammad Ghori captured Bihar in 12th century.
Bihar saw a brief period of glory for six years during the
rule of Sher Shah Suri, who was from Sasaram and built the
longest road of the Indian subcontinent, the Grand Trunk
Road, which starts from Calcutta and ends at Peshawar in
Pakistan. During 1557-1576, Akbar, the Mughal emperor, annexed
Bihar and Bengal to his empire and made Bihar a part of
Bengal. With the decline of Mughals, Bihar passed under
the control of the Nawabs of Bengal.
Modern
After the Battle of Buxar (1765), the British East India
Company obtained the diwani rights (rights to administer
and collect revenue, or tax administration / collection)
for Bihar, Bengal and Orissa. From this point onwards, Bihar
remained a part the Bengal Presidency of the British Raj
until 1912, when Bihar was carved out as a separate province.
In 1935, certain portions of Bihar were reorganised into
the separate province of Orissa. Again, in 2000, 18 administrative
districts of Bihar were separated to form the state of Jharkhand.
Babu Kunwar Singh of Sasaram and his army, as well as countless
other persons from Bihar, contributed to the India's First
War of Independence (1857), also called the Sepoy Mutiny
by some historians.
After his return from South Africa, Mahatma Gandhi started
the freedom movement in India by his satyagraha in the Champaran
district of Bihar -- against the British, who were forcing
the local farmers to plant indigo which was very harmful
to the local soil. This movement by Mahatma Gandhi received
the spontaneous support of a cross section of people, including
Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who ultimately became the first President
of India.
