All content of this website is available under the terms of Creative Common Attribution 2.0
|
||
| EASY DESTINATION |
||
All content of this website is available under the terms of Creative Common Attribution 2.0 |
||
| BIHAR TRAVEL GUIDE BODH PATNA Bihar is a state of the Indian union situated in north India. Its capital is Patna. It lies on the Gangetic plain, with Uttar Pradesh to its east, West Bengal to its west and Nepal to its north. Jharkhand, the mineral-rich tribal belt, was part of the state, but in 2001, it was split to form its own state. Bihar lies in the very fertile Indo-Gangetic Plain. Culturally, it is a part of the Hindi heartland of India. Bihar was called Magadha in ancient times. Its capital Patna, then known as Pataliputra, was the center of the first empire built in India, that was by Nanda Dynasty, followed by Mauryan empire, which dominated the Indian subcontinent from 325 BC to 185 BC. Emperor Ashoka was the most famous ruler of this dynasty. Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education during the next one thousand years. The Vikramshila and Nalanda Universities, were among the oldest and best centres of education in ancient India. Muhammad Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, a Pashtun and general of Muhammad Ghori, captured Bihar in 12th century. This started the decline of the intellectual and spiritual legacy of Bihar. Many of the viharas and the famed universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed in this period. Bihar saw a brief period of glory for six years during the rule of another Pashtun Sher Shah Suri, who was from Sasaram and built the longest road of the Indian subcontinent, the Grand Trunk Road, which starts from Sonargaon in Bangladesh and ends at Peshawar in Pakistan. GENERAL INFORMATION Time zone IST (UTC+5:30) Area 94,164 kmē (36,357 sq mi) Capital Patna Largest city Patna District(s) 38 Population 82,878,796 (3rd) Density 880/kmē (2,279/sq mi) Language(s) Hindi, Urdu, Angika, Bhojpuri, Magahi, Maithili |