Buxar

Buxar was a place whose glorious history traces back to many eras and aeons. A place which was the abode of celestial sages and rishis, it was a forest full of beautiful flowers, fruit-laden trees, priceless medicinal herbs, ponds, lakes, hermitages & monasteries besides a huge variety of animals in its forests. It's detailed description can be found in numerous Hindu scriptures such as the Vedas, the Puranas, the YogVashishtha (a treatise by Sage Vashishtha), the Ramayana and the Mahabharata,and countless other sources. It is said that approximately 80000 sages lived here, in their ashrams where they regularly performed vedic rituals, yagnas and scientific experiments . This place known as Siddhashram in former times was blessed by those sages. The great celestial sage Vishvamitra had also resided in this pious land to perform his rituals to complete his spiritual practice; that's why Buxar was the centre of India's sage culture, spirituality, occult practices as well as profound ancient sciences as well as being famous as the "tapobhumi"(site of ritual) of sage Vishvamitra.

Long time back Lord Vaman, who was the 5th and first human incarnation of the supreme Lord Vishnu took birth on the pious banks of the of River Ganga in Siddhashram (present day Buxar) and later went on to vanquish the asura king Mahabali as the asuras had started terrorizing the world and crimes & sins were being committed by them on a mass scale.

In the Ramayan period, Siddhashram was the site of rituals for Sage Vishvamitra who along with many other sages use to perform vedic yagnas and scientific research. Their experiments were regularly disturbed by asuras and demons living in the jungle. So Sage Vishvamitra decided to take the help of Prince Ram (who was yet an another incarnation of Vishnu) and his brother Lakshman, the Princes of Kosal, the sage gave the princes his knowledge of divine and celestial weapons besides giving them much important knowledge. These weapons were later on used by Ram to defeat the asura Ravan and achieve the purpose of his life (Lord Vishnu had incarnated as Prince Ram to kill that demon king) Thus it was Buxar, where an enlightened Ram's magnificent personality erupted, the sage's grace awakened their immeasurable power and the world came to know that he was indeed an incarnation of god. Ram also used this knowledge to fight and kill the dreaded asuras viz Tadaka and her sons Mareech and Subahu who used to disturb the rishis in their rituals.

The Buxar Fort situated in Charitravan, Buxar is a medieval fortress on the banks of river Ganga, built by King Rudradev of the Parmar Dynasty in A.D. 1054 on the same spot where Sage Vishvamitra's ashram was located and the place where Ram slayed Tadaka. The Fort was abandoned but later on it was repaired by King Bhojdev and was used by subsequent rulers of the Parmar Dynasty.

The historic Battle of Chausa fought on the battlefield of Chausa, situated 10 miles southwest of Buxar city was a notable military engagement on 26 June 1539 between the forces of the Afghan king Sher Shah Suri and Mughal Emperor Humayun in which the latter was badly defeated by the Afghan king .

Battle of Buxar was fought on 22 October 1764, between the forces under the command of the British East India Company, led by Hector Munro, and the combined armies of Mir Qasim, the Nawab of Bengal, Nawab of Awadh Shuja-ud-Daulah and Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II . It was a decisive victory for the British East India Company as the combined forces of the Indian kings were ultimately routed by the British forces eventually leading to the beginning of the East India Company's consolidation and stronghold over Indian politics and conquest of the Indian subcontinent.

As of 2011 India census,[4] Buxar had a population of 102,861. Males constitute 52.65% of the population and females 47.35%. Buxar has an average literacy rate of 79.77%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 87% and female literacy of 65%. 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Buxar district occupies an area of 1,703 square kilometres.

• Harihar Singh, Former Chief Minister of Bihar and Bhojpuri Poet.
• Bismillah Khan

• Buxar district
• List of cities in Bihar
• George William Ziemann's missionary work in Buxar