A History of Bihar

• Introduction
• Chapter 1 The Ancient Land: Bihar in Prehistory and Protohistory
• Chapter 2 The Rise of Mahajanapadas: Anga, Magadha, and Vajji
• Chapter 3 The Age of Mahavira and Buddha: The Birth of Jainism and Buddhism
• Chapter 4 The Mauryan Empire: Pataliputra as the Capital of a Subcontinent
• Chapter 5 Ashoka the Great: The Proliferation of Dhamma
• Chapter 6 The Shungas, Kanvas, and the Kushans: A Period of Transition
• Chapter 7 The Gupta Empire: The Golden Age of Magadha
• Chapter 8 The Palas of Bengal and Bihar: A Flourishing of Art and Mahayana Buddhism
• Chapter 9 The Karnatas of Mithila and the Chero Chieftains
• Chapter 10 The Arrival of the Turks: The Decline of Buddhist Monasteries
• Chapter 11 Bihar under the Delhi Sultanate
• Chapter 12 The Rise of the Jaunpur Sultanate and its Influence on Bihar
• Chapter 13 Sher Shah Suri: The Afghan Ruler from Sasaram
• Chapter 14 Bihar as a Mughal Subah
• Chapter 15 The Consolidation of British Power: The Battle of Buxar and its Aftermath
• Chapter 16 The Indigo Plantations and the Plight of the Peasantry
• Chapter 17 The Revolt of 1857 and the Role of Kunwar Singh
• Chapter 18 The Dawn of a New Consciousness: Social and Religious Reforms
• Chapter 19 The Champaran Satyagraha: Gandhi's First Experiment in Civil Disobedience
• Chapter 20 The Non-Cooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements in Bihar
• Chapter 21 The Quit India Movement and the Parallel Governments
• Chapter 22 The Formation of Modern Bihar: Post-Independence Consolidation
• Chapter 23 The JP Movement and the Emergency
• Chapter 24 The Politics of Social Justice in the Late 20th Century
• Chapter 25 Bihar in the 21st Century: Challenges and Transformations
• Afterword

To write a history of Bihar is to write a history of India itself, writ small. This is no idle boast. For centuries, the region now known as Bihar was the very heart of India, a crucible of empire, religion, and intellectual ferment. Its fertile plains, watered by the mighty Ganges and its tributaries, have sustained a dense population and have been the stage for some of the most pivotal moments in the subcontinent's story. To understand Bihar's past is to gain a deeper appreciation for the grand narrative of Indian civilization.

The name "Bihar" itself whispers of this storied past. It is a corruption of the Sanskrit and Pali word "vihara," meaning monastery or abode. This etymology points to the time when the land was dotted with countless Buddhist monasteries, housing monks who carried the teachings of the Buddha across Asia. Indeed, it was in this land, at Bodh Gaya, that Prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. Not far from there, in the ancient republic of Vaishali, Vardhamana Mahavira, the 24th Tirthankara of Jainism, was born, and he too would give rise to a major world religion from this very soil.

Long before the rise of these new faiths, the land of Bihar was already a center of political power and cultural innovation. Ancient Indian religious texts and epics speak of kingdoms like Magadha, Anga, and Videha. The kings of Videha, known as the Janakas, were famed for their patronage of learning and philosophy during the late Vedic period. It was from these early states that India's first great empire, the Mauryan Empire, would arise in the 4th century BCE. From its magnificent capital at Pataliputra, near modern-day Patna, the Mauryas, most notably Chandragupta and his grandson Ashoka the Great, unified vast swathes of the Indian subcontinent under a single administration.

The decline of the Mauryas did not extinguish the region's importance. In the 4th and 5th centuries CE, the Gupta dynasty, once again with its heartland in Magadha, presided over a period often referred to as India's "Golden Age," a time of remarkable achievements in science, mathematics, art, and literature. The great universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila, established during this era and flourishing under the later Pala dynasty, were beacons of learning that attracted scholars from across the known world. These institutions were testaments to a deeply ingrained culture of intellectual inquiry and debate.

The medieval period brought with it significant changes. The arrival of Turkic and Afghan invaders led to the decline of the great Buddhist centers of learning and the integration of Bihar into the Delhi Sultanate. Yet, even in this new dispensation, the region continued to produce figures of historical significance. Sher Shah Suri, an Afghan chieftain from Sasaram, rose to challenge and briefly displace the Mughal emperor Humayun in the 16th century, leaving behind a legacy of administrative reforms and the magnificent Grand Trunk Road. Under the subsequent Mughal Empire, Bihar was constituted as a 'Subah' or province, with its capital at Patna.

The weakening of Mughal authority in the 18th century paved the way for the rise of the British East India Company. The Battle of Buxar in 1764, a decisive victory for the British, solidified their control over the eastern part of India and marked a turning point in Bihar's history. The colonial period was one of profound economic and social transformation, not all of it for the better. The exploitative cultivation of indigo, for instance, led to widespread peasant distress. It was in response to the plight of these indigo farmers that Mahatma Gandhi launched his first experiment in civil disobedience, the Champaran Satyagraha of 1917, a seminal moment in India's freedom struggle.

The people of Bihar played a vital and often heroic role in the long and arduous journey towards independence. From the great rebellion of 1857, where Kunwar Singh emerged as a formidable leader, to the various nationalist movements of the 20th century, the spirit of resistance and the desire for self-determination ran deep. Following India's independence in 1947, Bihar became a state in the new Indian Union. The post-independence period has been marked by both progress and persistent challenges. The state has grappled with issues of land reform, caste-based politics, and economic development. The JP Movement of the 1970s, a testament to the region's continued political dynamism, had a profound impact on the national stage.

This book aims to provide a comprehensive and engaging account of this long and fascinating history. It will trace the story of Bihar from its prehistoric origins to the present day, exploring the rise and fall of empires, the birth and spread of religions, the lives of ordinary people, and the complex interplay of social, political, and economic forces that have shaped this remarkable land. It is a story of great achievements and profound disappointments, of intellectual brilliance and social stagnation, of a glorious past and a challenging present. It is, in essence, the story of a land that has been at the very center of the Indian experience.

Before the age of empires and the dawn of recorded history, before the Buddha walked its soil and mighty capitals rose on the banks of the Ganges, the land of Bihar was already home to humanity. The story of this ancient habitation is not found in texts or inscriptions, but in the silent testament of stone and bone, unearthed from the region's rolling hills and fertile river valleys. To understand the foundations upon which Bihar's celebrated history was built, one must delve into the deep time of prehistory, a vast expanse stretching back hundreds of thousands of years, when the very first humans began their long journey in this part of the world.

The prehistoric record in Bihar, as in much of the Gangetic plain, presents a unique challenge to archaeologists. The relentless deposition of silt by the region's great rivers has buried the most ancient landscapes under a thick alluvial blanket, concealing much of the earliest evidence. Consequently, the story of the first Biharis begins not in the plains, but in the hilly tracts to the south, particularly in the Kharagpur hills of Munger and Jamui, the Kaimur hills of Rohtas, and the Jethian valley near Rajgir. These uplands, extensions of the Chota Nagpur Plateau and the Vindhyan ranges, were rich in the one resource that defined the earliest phase of human existence: stone.

The Old Stone Age: Echoes from the Hills

The longest chapter in the human story is the Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age. In Bihar, evidence of this period comes primarily from surface finds of stone tools. These early inhabitants were hunter-gatherers, living in small, mobile groups, their lives dictated by the seasons and the movement of animal herds. Their toolkits, though seemingly crude to the modern eye, were the cutting edge of technology for their time, painstakingly fashioned from quartzite and other hard rocks.

One of the most significant Paleolithic sites in Bihar is Paisra, in Munger district. Excavations here have provided a remarkable window into the lives of these ancient people. Archaeologists have unearthed Acheulean-era tools, including hand-axes and cleavers, which are characteristic of the Lower Paleolithic period. What makes Paisra particularly special is the discovery of what appear to be habitation floors, suggesting it was a place where people lived and worked for extended periods. Evidence of post-holes and stone alignments has led to the interpretation that these early humans may have constructed simple shelters or windbreaks, a fascinating insight into their capacity for planning and cooperation. Paisra is often referred to as a "factory site," a place where tools were manufactured on a large scale, evidenced by the thousands of finished tools, cores, and waste flakes found scattered across the area.

As the Paleolithic era progressed, so did the sophistication of the stone tools. The Middle Paleolithic is marked by a shift towards smaller, lighter tools made from flakes struck from a prepared core. These included scrapers, borers, and points, suggesting a more diverse range of activities. The Upper Paleolithic, the final phase of the Old Stone Age, saw the development of even more refined blade and burin technologies. While sites from these later Paleolithic periods have been identified in Bihar, the evidence remains somewhat more scattered than that for the earlier Acheulean culture. The focus of human activity, however, remained concentrated in the southern hilly regions, the ancient homeland where the first chapters of Bihar's human story were etched in stone.

The Middle Stone Age: A Time of Transition

Following the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 BCE, the climate began to warm, heralding a period of significant environmental change. This transitional phase between the Old Stone Age and the advent of agriculture is known as the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age. For the hunter-gatherer populations of Bihar, this meant adapting to new landscapes, new types of forests, and different species of animals and plants.

The hallmark of the Mesolithic period is the microlith, a tiny, geometric stone tool. These were not typically used on their own but were set into bone or wooden handles to create composite tools like sickles, barbed spearheads, and arrows. This innovation reflects a more efficient use of raw materials and a greater degree of specialization in hunting and gathering techniques. Evidence for this period has been found at sites like Paisra in Munger, which appears to have been occupied from the Paleolithic into the Mesolithic, and in the rock shelters of the Kaimur, Nawada, and Jamui hills, where prehistoric paintings have also been discovered. These paintings, depicting animals, hunting scenes, and aspects of daily life, offer a rare and evocative glimpse into the symbolic world of these ancient peoples. The Mesolithic lifestyle was still fundamentally one of hunting and gathering, but it was also a period of adaptation and innovation that laid the groundwork for the monumental changes to come.

The New Stone Age: The Agricultural Revolution on the Plains

The most profound transformation in human history was the Neolithic Revolution, when communities began to cultivate crops and domesticate animals. This shift from a nomadic, food-gathering existence to a settled, food-producing one had enormous consequences, leading to population growth, the development of villages, and new forms of social organization. In Bihar, this revolution appears to have taken firm root in the fertile alluvial plains of the Ganges.

The preeminent Neolithic site in Bihar, and indeed one of the most important in all of India, is Chirand. Located in Saran district on the northern bank of the Ganga River, near its confluence with the Ghaghara, Chirand has provided a continuous archaeological record from the Neolithic period (c. 2500–1345 BC) through the Chalcolithic and Iron Ages. The discovery of a major Neolithic settlement here was revolutionary, as it was one of the first to be found in the Gangetic alluvium, challenging the long-held belief that the plains were only settled much later.

Excavations at Chirand have revealed that its Neolithic inhabitants lived in circular wattle-and-daub huts with rammed earth floors. Initially, these dwellings were semi-subterranean, dug into the ground for insulation, but later they were built at ground level. The presence of hearths and ovens, some found within a large semi-circular hut, suggests communal cooking and food preparation. These early farmers cultivated an impressive variety of crops, including wheat, rice, barley, and various lentils, indicating a well-established agricultural economy.

What truly sets Chirand apart is its remarkable and extensive bone tool industry. Archaeologists have unearthed over 400 bone tools, fashioned primarily from the antlers and long bones of deer and cattle. This collection includes a wide array of implements such as needles, scrapers, borers, pendants, and arrowheads, showcasing a high level of craftsmanship. The abundance of bone tools at Chirand is unique in the subcontinent and suggests a specialized adaptation to the local riverine environment, where suitable stone for tool-making was scarce.

The people of Chirand also produced a variety of handmade pottery, including red ware and some early examples of black-and-red ware. They adorned themselves with ornaments made of terracotta, ivory, and semi-precious stones. Terracotta figurines of humped bulls, birds, and snakes have also been found, hinting at their belief systems, possibly including a Naga (serpent) cult. Other important Neolithic sites have been discovered at Senuwar in Rohtas district, Chechar in Vaishali, and Taradih near Bodh Gaya, further demonstrating that by the third millennium BCE, settled agricultural life was flourishing across the plains of Bihar.

The Copper-Stone Age: The First Foray into Metallurgy

The Neolithic period gradually gave way to the Chalcolithic, or Copper-Stone Age, a phase characterized by the continued use of stone tools alongside the introduction of copper, the first metal to be worked by humans. This period, which in Bihar is dated to roughly 1600 BCE onwards, represents a significant technological step forward. While copper was still relatively rare and likely a prestige item, its use in making tools, weapons, and ornaments marks the beginning of metallurgy in the region.

Many of the prominent Neolithic sites in Bihar show a continuous occupation into the Chalcolithic period, indicating a smooth cultural transition. At Chirand, the Chalcolithic layer sits directly atop the Neolithic, revealing an evolution in lifestyle. The wattle-and-daub houses continued, but the pottery became more refined. The most distinctive ceramic of this period is Black and Red Ware (BRW), a type of pottery with a black interior and a red exterior, achieved through a special inverted firing technique. This pottery style is found widely across Chalcolithic sites in Bihar and beyond, including Sonepur and Taradih in Gaya district, and Maner in Patna.

The economy of the Chalcolithic communities remained firmly based on agriculture and animal husbandry. They cultivated rice, a staple crop well-suited to the Gangetic plains, and also engaged in fishing and hunting, as evidenced by the discovery of copper fish-hooks. The settlements were typically rural, located along riverbanks to take advantage of the fertile soil and abundant water. Life was lived in modest mud-plastered houses, and community hearths and ovens suggest a continuation of the communal living patterns seen in the Neolithic. The Chalcolithic period in Bihar represents a developed rural economy, a stable and growing society that was slowly mastering new technologies and laying the social and economic groundwork for the next great leap forward.

The Iron Age and the Eve of History

The final phase of Bihar's protohistory began with the introduction of iron technology around 1000-800 BCE. The adoption of iron had a far more revolutionary impact than copper had. Iron was more readily available than copper and, once smelted, could be used to create harder, more durable tools. Iron axes made it possible to clear dense forests more efficiently, opening up new lands for agriculture. The iron ploughshare allowed for deeper and more effective tilling of the heavy alluvial soil of the Gangetic plains.

This technological advance led to a significant increase in agricultural surplus, which in turn supported a larger population, spurred trade, and allowed for the growth of towns. This period of re-urbanization in the Gangetic plains is often called the Second Urbanization of India. It was a time of immense social and political change, leading directly to the emergence of the great states, or Mahajanapadas, which will be the focus of the next chapter.

Archaeologically, the early Iron Age is associated with a distinctive and highly sophisticated type of pottery known as Northern Black Polished Ware (NBPW). This deluxe, wheel-thrown ware is characterized by its fine fabric and a lustrous, glossy black surface that often resembles lacquer. While initially thought to have emerged around 700 BCE, recent discoveries in Bihar have pushed its origins back even further. NBPW was likely a luxury item used by elites and is found at the sites that would soon become the major cities of ancient India. Its appearance in the upper layers of sites like Chirand and Sonepur marks the transition from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age and signals the end of prehistory. The stage was now set. The scattered villages of the prehistoric era were about to be forged, through the power of iron and new political ideas, into the mighty kingdoms and republics that would place Bihar at the very center of the Indian world.