Vaishali

• Part of Tirhut Divison (Modern)

• Capital city of Licchavi state. (Considered one of the 1^st example of a republic, in the Vajjian confederacy (Vrijji) Maheijanpad. 6^th century BCE)

• Birth place of Mahavir Jain (24^th trithankar) born and brought-up in Kundalgrama in Vaishali republic

• Gautam Buddha preached his last sermon (announced his parinirvana) before his death

• II Buddhist council was convened here by King Kalasoka

• Contains one of the best – preserved of the Pillars of Ashoka, topped by a single Asiatic lion.

• Renowned as the land of Amrapali, the great Indian courtesan, who appears in many folktales, as well as in Buddhist literature.

• Abhishek Pushkarini, (coronation tank) sacred waters of the anointed the elected representatives of Vaishali.

Buddhist sites in Vaishali

• Relica stupa
• Kutangarasala Vihara

           -On it ground Anand stupa can be found

           -With an Ashokan Pillars

• Coronation tank (Abhishek Pushkarini)
• World Peace Pagoda ( built by Japanese Nichiren Buddhist sect Nipponzan – Myohoji)

Rajgir (House of the king)/ Royal house

• Royal Mountain
• Located in Nalanda district of Bihar.
• 1^st capital of Magadha Kingdom.
• Well known ‘Atanatiya conference was held at Vulture’s Peak mountain
• Famous for Hot water springs (i.e. Brahamakund)
• Vishwa shanty stupa (Peace Pagoda)
• Rope-way
• Venu van is an artificial forest (Japanese temple inside)

Gaya

• A city of ancient historical and mythological significance
• II largest city of Bihar
• Situated on the banks of the Phalgu river (Niranjana, as mentioned in Ramayana)
• Derives its name from the mythological demon Gayasur (Literally means Gaya the demon)

Historical sites (Holy)

• Mangla Gauri is marked by two round stones that symbolizes the breasts of the mythological sati, wife of lord Shiva.
• Vishnupad temple is marked by a footprint of lord Shiva incised into a block of basalt.
• Important pilgrimage place because it was at Brahamayoni hill that Buddha preached the Fire Sermon (Adittapariya sutta)

Patna

• II largest city of eastern India.
• Founded in 490 CE by the king of Magadha (i.e. Pataliputra)
• Capital of Magadh Empire

        –Haryanka

        –Nanda

        –Mauryan

        –Sunga

        –Gupta

        –Pala

• Derived from Patan, the name of Hindu goddess, Patan Devi
• Place appears in Chinese travelogue (Fa Hien as Pa-lin fou)
• City’s various name

      -Pataligrama

      -Pataliputra

      -Kusumpura

      -Kusumdharwaja

      -Pushpapurum

      -Padmavathi

      -Azimabad 

• Birth place of tenth Sikh Guru (i.e Guru Govind Singh)
• In 1620, East India Company established a factory in Patna for trading in Calico and silk.

Chhapra

• Famous for its Bhojpuri heritage
• Birth place of:

          – Bhikhari Thakur(Shakespeare of Bhojpuri)

          – Rajendra Prasad

          – Chitragupta

          – Mazaharul Haq

Champaran

• Owes its origin to champa-aranya or champakatanys
• Champa/ Champaka means- Magnolia / Aranya means- Forest
• Champaran means- Forest of Magnolia (Champa) Trees.
• Constituted a part of the ancient kingdom of Videha

• Personality from Champaran Movement:

     – Mahatama Gandhi was invited by Raj Kumar Shukla.

      – Dr. Rajendra Prasad

      – Acharya Kriplani

      – Mahadeo Desai

      – C.F Andrews

      – H.S Pollock

      – Anurag Narayan Singh

      – Raj Kishore Prasad

      – Ram Nawami Prasad

      – Dharnidhar Prasad

      – Mazaharul Haq

• Place of 1^st Satyagarh Movement (Non- Cooperation Movement)

      – District Magistrate at the time of movement: W.B Heycock

      – Champaran Agrarian Act (Bihar & Orissa Act of 1918)

      -Under chairmanship of Sri Frank Shy

              -M.K Gandhi was also one of its members.

Muzaffarpur

• “Land of Leechi” was created in 1875 by splitting up the earlier district of Tirhut.
• Named after Muzaffar Khan, an Amil(Revenue Officer) under British rule.
• Site of the famous bomb case of 1908.
• Young Indian Revolutionary (Bengal), Khudi Ram Bose was hang for throwing bomb at the carriage of Pringle Kennedy, who was mistaken for Kingsford, the district judge of Muzaffarpur.

• Famous for:

– Exporting lychee

– Textile Mills(Famous Marwari Community ‘Sutta Patti’)

Notable Personality

• Maghfoor Ahmed Ajazi(Political Activist)
• Janki Ballabh Shastri (Hindi Poet, Writer& Critics)
• Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh(1^st Ambassador to Nepal)
• Devaki Nandan Katri (Writer of Chandrakanta)
• Jubba Sahni
• Aishwarya Nigam
• J.B Kriplani (Prof. L.S College & Freedom fighter)

• Has one of the oldest university of Bihar (i.e. B.R Ambedkar Bihar University)

Sitamarhi

• District was carved out of Muzaffarpur district on 11^th December, 1972.
• Birth place of Sita, wife of lord Rama(Mythological).
• A rock-cut sanctuary of the Mauryan period also exists here.