Purnia district

Purnia district occupies 3,229 square kilometres (1,247 sq mi),^[4] comparable to the Solomon Islands' Makira Island.^[5] It is a depressed tract, consisting for the most part of a rich, loamy alluvial soil. It is traversed by several rivers flowing from the Himalayas, which afford great advantages of irrigation and water-carriage. Its major rivers are the Kosi, the Mahananda, the Suwara Kali, the Kari kosi, the Saura and the Koli. In the west, the soil is thickly covered with sand deposited by changes in the course of the Kosi. Among other rivers are the Mahananda and the Panar. Its major agricultural products are jute, maize and banana.

Purnia is part of the Mithila region.^[6] Mithila first gained prominence after it was 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), Videha became one of the major political and cultural centers of Ancient India, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Videha Kingdom were called Janakas.^[8] The Videha Kingdom was later incorporated into the Vajji confederacy, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.^[9] The eastern part of Purnia formed part of the region of Pundravardhana, part of ancient Bengal. It must have been part of Shashanka's kingdom, and eventually became part of the kingdom of Magadha in the 11th century.^[10]

In the 13th century Bakhtiyar Khilji devastated Bihar and Bengal and conquered both for the Delhi Sultanate. However the northern part of the district still seems to have been held by the Kirat peoples as the Muslim rulers kept having to protect the district from their incursions. However, not much is known of its rule during the period from 13th to 17th centuries other than it was a military frontier. It is known that it formed the border of the Bengal Sultanate and eventually supplied levies to Humayun during his war with the Suri dynasty.^[10]

During the Mughal period, what is now Purnia district was part of the sarkars of Purania and Tajpur in the Bengal Subah, which were separated by the Mahananda River. The northern strip of the district along the Nepal border was part of the Kingdom of Morang, part of Limbuwan. During the late Mughal period five mahals from Munger Sarkar were annexed to Purania Sarkar, prior to this the border between Bihar Subah and Bengal Subah was the Kosi River. During the Mughal rule, Purnea was an outlying military province, and its revenue was mostly spent on protecting its borders against tribes from the north and east.^[11][10]

In the beginning of the 18th century, the Faujdar of Purnia was Saif Khan, a descendant of Afghan nobles. At the time the Kosi flowed close to Purnia town and the western part of the present district formed part of the kingdom of Bir Shah, Raja of Birnagar, who had a force of 15,000 men and did not acknowledge Mughal authority. Saif Khan conquered Birnagar from Bir Shah's son, Drujan Singh. The territory was annexed to Purnia in 1732. He also subjugated other zamindars and expanded the Nawab's control around 30 km into the Terai. His son Fakhruddin Hussain Khan was known as an incompetent governor who was quickly replaced with the Nawab's nephew Sayyid Ahmed Khan. Fakhruddin was forced to move to Murshidabad. During one of the Maratha incursions he hoped to again throw off Nawab domination and raised another army in Purnia, but was soon cowed again.^[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.^[12] On 14 February 1770 the district of Purnia in modern history was formed by the East India Company.^[13]

Purnia is known for its uniquely designed organisation, Ramakrishna Mission, where the festival Durga Puja is celebrated in October. Another attraction in the city of Purnia is the oldest temple of Mata Puran Devi which is 5 km away from the main city. It is theorised that Purnia received its name from this temple. Other theories also describe how Purnia received its name; which is, that in the past Purnia was named Purna– Aranya, which stands for "complete jungle."

Three districts were partitioned off from Purnia district: Katihar in 1976,^[14] Araria and Kishanganj in 1990.^[14]

Purnia district has four subdivisions: Purnea Sadar, Banmankhi, Baisi and Dhamdaha.

According to the 2011 census Purnia district has a population of 3,264,619,^[16] roughly equal to the nation of Mauritania^[17] or the US state of Iowa.^[18] This gives it a ranking of 105th in India (out of a total of 640).^[16] The district has a population density of 1,014 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,630/sq mi).^[16] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 28.66%.^[16] Purnia has a sex ratio of 930 females for every 1000 males,^[16] and a literacy rate of 58.23%. 10.51% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 11.98% and 4.27% of the population respectively.^[16]

Hindus are the majority community in the district, but Muslims are majority in the eastern blocks.^[19]

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 33.68% of the population in the district spoke Hindi, 18.62% Urdu, 10.72% Maithili (including Thethi and Purbi), 8.73% Surjapuri, 4.51% Bengali and 2.50% Santali as their first language. 18.53% spoke languages recorded as 'Others' under Hindi group of languages on the census.^[20]

Purnia district has a mostly agrarian economy with few factories, most of which are situated in Maranga. Out of Bihar's districts, Purnea district is ranked the second poorest in multidimensional poverty, struggling with high population growth, low urbanisation and sparse to low number of industry.^{[citation needed]}

Purnia district is primarily drained by three major rivers:

• Kari Kosi River: The Kari Kosi River, an old abandoned channel of the Kosi River, flows through Purnia District. It is an important river in the region and has a significant impact on the local landscape and livelihoods.
• Mahananda River: The Mahananda River is another prominent river in Purnia District. It is a tributary of the Ganges and contributes to the overall drainage system of the area.
• Saura River: The Saura river is one of the two rivers flowing through Purnia (city). It flows east of main city separating Gulabbagh and Khushkibagh from the main town.