Introduction to the concept of formation & reorganisation of Bihar

Bihar, the birthplace of Buddha, has seen a golden era in Indian history. It is the same area that sowed the seeds of the first republic and grew the first crop of democracy. Today, the state owes its existence to the division of Bengal and, more recently, to the separation of the tribal southern region known as Jharkhand. Bihar has the distinction of being the birthplace of one of the world’s first democracies. But, what led to the formation of Bihar? In this article, we will discuss the concept behind the formation of Bihar.

Formation of Bihar

To understand the concept of the formation of Bihar, history needs to be split. 

History of the formation of Bihar 

• Bronze Age (3300-1300 BC)

During this parallel to the Indus Valley Civilisation, bricks from the Mature Harappan period were discovered in 2017 on the outskirts of Vaishali, the oldest city. There is yet to be any thorough investigation on the Indus Valley Civilization’s ties to Bihar.

• Rigvedic period

Since Kikata is used as a synonym for Magadha in later writings, some scholars have positioned the Kkaa kingdom, described in the Rigveda, in Bihar (Magadha). However, Michael Witzel believes Kkaa was located south of Kurukshetra in eastern Rajasthan or western Madhya Pradesh. Historical geologist Mithila Sharan Pandey (who says they must have been around Western Uttar Pradesh), O.P. Bharadwaj (who places them near the Sarasvati River), and historian Ram Sharan Sharma, think they were most likely in Haryana, all contest the Bihar location.

• Iron Age 

This period existed from 1500-200BC, when the Magadha kingdom and Mahajanapadas ruled India. First, the Magadha kingdom was founded by Jarasandha, a semi-mythical ruler from the Brihadratha dynasty and a descendant of King Puru. Jarasandha appears in the Mahabharata as the “Magadhan Emperor who controls all India,” but his reign is cut short. During the epic period, Jarasandha was the most powerful. Rajagriha or Rajgir, his capital in Bihar, is a modern hill resort. Jarasandha’s relentless attack on Surasena’s Yadava kingdom forced the Yadavas to flee central India for western India.

• Medieval Period (1206-1526)

Once Xuanzang, a famous Buddhist monk from China, came to Bihar in the 12th century. It was mostly in ruins, and Muslim invasions had severely damaged it. Bihar experienced a period of great uncertainty during the medieval period due to foreign aggressions and eventual foreign enslavement. Muhammad of Ghor repeatedly assaulted this region of the Indian subcontinent. Several Buddhist monuments, including the magnificent Nalanda university, were demolished by Muhammad of Ghor’s forces.

• During the early modern period (1526-1757), there were Zamindars of Bihar and the Mughals

A large portion of Bihar was ruled by local Zamindars who had their militaries and territory throughout the Islamic period. Until the introduction of the British East India Company, these rulers retained a significant amount of influence. In 1703, Aurangzeb’s grandson, Prince Azim-us-Shan, was named governor of Bihar. Pataliputra or Patna was renamed Azimabad by Azim-us-Shan in 1704.

• Colonial Age (1757-1947)

Patna became one of the most important commercial and trading centres in eastern India during the British East India Company’s reign in Bihar, second only to Kolkata. Following India’s independence in 1950, Bihar and the other 13 states were granted statehood by the Republic of India. (At the time, India was a confederation of 14 states.) Bihar’s southern half was surrendered to Jharkhand, which became an independent state in November 2000.

And in this way, Bihar state was formed in India. 

Reorganisation of Bihar

When it comes to the reorganisation of Bihar, the concept was created by the parliament of India, where they planned to pass a law in 2000 called ‘BIHAR REORGANISATION ACT, 2000’. The bill was passed by both Rajyasabha and Loksabha on 2nd and 11th August, respectively, and it gave birth to a new state called Jharkhand on 15th November 2000. Jharkhand is a portion of Bihar. In addition to that, the reorganisation bill shows saving powers of state government where they have mentioned that – ‘Nothing in this Section shall be construed to limit the right of the Bihar or Jharkhand governments to change the name, area, or boundaries of any district or other territorial division in the state after the specified day.’ 

Furthermore, the reorganisation of Bihar showcases the formation of: 

• new legislatures, 
• amendments of the scheduled castes and tribes, 
• high court for Jharkhand, 
• jurisdiction and transfer of proceedings from the high court of Patna to the high court of Jharkhand, 
• State of Jharkhand budget authorisation.
• Reports on the state of Bihar’s accounts. 
• Revenue division 

Conclusion

Hence, Bihar has been a mixture of historical events and divisions since the Neolithic age. This entire article showcases how the concept of formation and reorganisation of Bihar was created and how Bihar got its statehood independence to form its legislatures. All these historical periods, such as the bronze age, Rigvedic period, Iron age, Medieval period, colonial period, have had a huge effect on the land of Bihar to the day where Bihar was finally formed as an independent state followed bypassing the reorganisation bill by Indian parliament to allow Jharkhand to be an autonomous state.