Bihar

State Capital Patna
Governor: Devanand Konwar
Chief Minister : Nitish Kumar
Legislature: Bicameral
Lok Sabha seats : 40
Judicature : Patna HC
No. of districts 38
Language : Hindi
Dances : Bidesia, Chhau, Oraon
Boundaries : East: West Bengal; North:
Nepal; West: Uttar Pradesh, South: Jharkhand
Main crops : Rice, wheat, oilseeds, pulses, tobacco, sugarcane, jute
Rivers : Ganga, Sone, Kosi, Gandak, Sarayu
Industry: Oil refineries
Airports: Patna
State Overview
BOUNDARIES : East: West Bengal
PHYSICAL FEATURES
Bihar is one of the landlocked states. The river Ganga flows through the middle of the Bihar plain from west to east and divides it into two halves. The North Gangetic Plain consists of a flat alluvial region, and are prone to floods. The soil in the Bihar plain is composed mainly of new alluvium, which is mostly non-chalky and heavy-textured (clay and clay loam) towards the east, and chalky and light-textured (mostly sandy loam) towards the west of the Old Burhi Gandak river. In the south, the Gangetic Plain is more diversified than in the north. Many hills rise from the level alluvium that constitutes the Gangetic Plain. Except for Son, all the rivers are small, and their water is diverted into irrigation channels. The soil of the land is usually made up of older alluvium. The Kaimur Plateau lies in the extreme northwest.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Bihar is first mentioned in epics, the Vedas, Puranas, and was the main scene of activities of Buddha, and 24 Jain Tirthankars. Great rulers of the State before the Christian era were Bimbisar, Udayin, who founded the city of Pataliputra, other rular includes, Chandragupta Maurya, Emperor Ashoka and Maurya dynasty, the Sungs, and the Kanvas .

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS

 Kushan ruled after C h a n d r a g u p t a Vikramaditya of the Gupta dynasty.

 In the medieval period Muslim ruler Mohammed- bin- Bakhtiar Khalji arrived and conquerored Bihar

 Tughluqs and Mughals followed the Khaljis.

ECONOMY
AGRICULTURE

An area of 56.03 lakh hectare is net cultivated while gross cultivated area is 79.46 lakh hectares in the state. Bihar has notified forest area of 6,764.14 sq km, which is 7.1 per cent of its geographical area.

INDUSTRY
The state has large industrial development including Refinery, Fertilizer, Textile, Distilleries, Leather, Medicine and Food Processing units. Key industrial setups include, Railway Wagon Plants of Bharat Wagon Limited at Muzaffarpur and Mokamah; Oil Refinery of Indian Oil Corporation at Barauni; Fertilizer manufacturing plant of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HPCL) at Barauni and Pyrites Phosphates & Chemicals Limited (PPCL) at Amjhor; Cotton Spinning Mills at Siwan, Pandaul, Bhagalpur, Mokamah and Gaya;

EDUCATION
Prominent institutes of higher education include B.N. Mandal University (Madhepura), Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University (Muzaffarpur), Jai Prakash Vishwavidyalaya (Chapra), Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (Darbhanga), Lalit Narayan Mithila University (Darbhanga), Magadh University (Bodh Gaya), Nalanda Open University (Patna), Patna University, Rajendra Agricultural University (Samastipur), Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (Bhagalpur) and Veer Kunwar Singh University (Arrah).