Seemanchal

Seemanchal
सीमाञ्चल
Subregion/Aspirant state
Country  India
State Bihar
Region Mithila
Proposed Capital Purnia
Languages
 • Official Maithili, Hindi, Urdu
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)

Seemanchal is a subregion of Mithila region [1] in the Northeastern part of Bihar consisting of four districts - Araria, Purnea, Kishanganj and Katihar.[2] It was one of the backward areas of India, but now it is in developing phase.[3] The dropout rate after high school is as high as 98 percent (but present data must be vary, will update later).[2] It comes under Purnia division.

As per 2011 census the population is around 10.8 million in an area of just around 11,000 km2.[4][5]

History

Purnia division, all of which was previously part of Purnia district, is part of the Mithila region.[6] Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Mithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas).[7] During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Kingdom of the Videhas became one of the major political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Kingdom of the Videhas were called Janakas.[8] The Mithila Kingdom was later incorporated into the Vajji confederacy, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.[9]During the Mughal rule, Purnia was an outlying military province, and its revenue was mostly spent on protecting its borders against tribes from the north and east.[10] After the capture of Calcutta in 1757, Purnia's local governor raised a rebellion against Siraj ud-Daulah. In 1765, the district became a British possession, along with the rest of Bengal. [11] On February tenth, 1770 The district of Purnia in modern history was formed by the East India Company.[12] Purnia district has seen the three districts partitioned off from its territory: Katihar in 1976,[13] and Araria and Kishanganj in 1990.[13] The districts of Araria, Katihar, Purnia and Katihar together from the Purnia division.

English rule and freedom struggle

The last of the Governors was Md. Ali Khan who was replaced in 1770 by Mr. Ducarrel, the first English supervisor or Collector. The early years of British rule were years of trouble for Purnia. The district suffered terribly during the great famine of 1770. From the old records, it appears that there were European settlers in Purnia almost immediately after the establishment of British rule in the district. By 1771, a number of Europeans had settled in the area known as Rambagh, the only building left in Rambagh was the church and the priests' houses. The Roman Catholic Church was dismantled and re-erected in the new station of Purnia where the Europeans had already set up their residences. The foundation of this new church was there until 1934, when it was badly affected by the Bihar earthquake. The church was dismantled again. The nuns of Loretto convent of Darjeeling had come to Purnia near about 1882 and had opened a day school as well as a boarding school for children in Purnia district. When the Jesuit Mission of Bengal took over the Purnia Mission from the Capuchin Mission, the school was closed and the nuns returned to Darjeeling. This house still stands and is known as the Coumblin. It is one of the oldest houses in Purnia town and is now occupied by the Allisons.

Kisan Sabha movement, which had been responsible for an acute agitation in Purnia district in the third decade in 20th century and figured prominently for about 20 years, had its roots in the very agricultural economy and the precious structure of permanent land-lordism in this state. The Kisan Sabha was formed at Munger near about 1922–23. After 1940–41, the kisan sabha movement slowly merged into the Congress Movement.

Purnia district, being so very contiguous to several districts of undivided Bengal, had been promptly affected by the swadeshi movement in the first decade of the 20th century. At that time there were no facilities for higher education in Purnia district and the students who sought higher education had to go to Calcutta or to Patna. The Bihar National College and TK Ghosh Academy were suspected as the two centers for a secret students organization, which indulged in sedition and both these institutions had a sprinkling of students from Purnia. A boy from Purnia, Atul Chandra Mazumdar, a student of the BN College, Patna was arrested under the Defence Act of India.

Since 1919, Purnia had closely followed the policy, aims and objectives of the Indian National Congress. Some of the delegates of Purnia attended the Nagpur session of Congress in 1920 and the moment Mahatma Gandhi gave the call for the Non-Cooperation, there were a number of volunteers in this district. Some of the early local leaders were Gokul Krishna Roy, Satyendra Narayan Roy and a few others who gave up their practice in the Bar and joined the movement.

In 1921, a national school was started in Katihar. Shri Rajendra Prasad toured Purnia district in 1921 and addressed meetings at Purnia and at other places. In 1942 Quit India Movement tactics were fully implemented by the people of Purnia. Mahatma Gandhi visited Purnia in 1929, during which time he met the Raja of Nazargunj and addressed crowded meetings at various places including Kisahnganj, Bishnupur, Araria and Purnia. The survey and settlement operations in Purnia district commenced in 1952 and settlement operations were concluded in 1960. During the 1911–20 period, Purnia suffered from epidemics of cholera every year from 1915 to 1919. A very serious outbreak of cholera occurred in 1925. Incidences of smallpox and malaria was very high during this period.

Religious organisations

Many religious conferences are organised in the region which include the islamic Ijtemas namely Dagarua Ijtema,rahmatpara Ijtema and Araria Ijtema and many Hindu conferences.

Languages

Maithili is the native language of most of the residents of this area.[14]Hindi, Urdu, Surjapuri and Kulhaiya boli are also spoken in this area.

Notable People

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Small States Syndrome in India". p. 146. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Bihar poll and the Muslim mind: In Seemanchal, Muslim youth yearn for education". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "Bihar polls: Why Owaisi, and everybody else, is wrong about calling Seemanchal backward". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  4. ↑ Sum of the populations and areas of the districts in Seemanchal region
  5. ↑ "Bihar's Seemanchal region: Latest News & Videos, Photos about Bihar's Seemanchal region | The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  6. ↑ https://books.google.co.in/books?id=A0i94Z5C8HMC&lpg=PA30&pg=PA27&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false Archived 20 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
  7. ↑ Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 17 116–124, 141–143
  8. ↑ Witzel, M. (1989). "Tracing the Vedic dialects". In Caillat, C. Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes. Paris: Fondation Hugot. pp. 141–143.
  9. ↑ Hemchandra, R. (1972). Political History of Ancient India. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
  10. ↑ Purnea District - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 20, p. 414 Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  11. ↑ Purnia District - Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 20, p. 415 Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ The Times of India, Patna Edition Feb 15, 2012 Archived 9 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  13. 1 2 Law, Gwillim (25 September 2011). "Districts of India". Statoids. Archived from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  14. ↑ https://books.google.co.in/books?id=Sq1aDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT111&dq=Purnia+division+maithili&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiSvaXx-NLcAhUHQY8KHakyBwQQ6AEIOzAE#v=onepage&q=Purnia%20division%20maithili&f=false

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