Kishanganj district

Kishanganj district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Kishanganj town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Kishanganj district is a part of Purnia division (Seemanchal).

This article is about the district. For its eponymous headquarters, see Kishanganj.
Kishanganj district
District of Bihar
Kishanganj Railway
Kishanganj Railway
Location of Kishanganj district in Bihar
Location of Kishanganj district in Bihar
Coordinates (Kishanganj): 26°15′N 87°59′E
Country India
StateBihar
DivisionPurnia
HeadquartersKishanganj
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituenciesKishanganj
 • Vidhan Sabha constituenciesBahdurganj, Thakurganj, Kishanganj, Kochadhaman
Area
 • Total1,884 km2 (727 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total1,690,400
 • Density900/km2 (2,300/sq mi)
Demographics
 • Literacy57.04 per cent
 • Sex ratio946
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Vehicle registrationBR-37
Major highways
Websitekishanganj.nic.in

History

Kishanganj district, which was previously part of Purnia district, is part of the Mithila region.[1] Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Mithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas) which was ruled by the Videhas, an Indo-Aryan tribe.[2]

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.[3] The Mithila Kingdom was later incorporated into the Vajjika League, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.[4]

Kishanganj was an old and important Sub-Division of Purnia district. After the long and hard struggle of around seventeen years by the people of Kishanganj including social workers, politicians, journalists, businessmen, farmers, etc., the Kishanganj district was carved out of Purnia district on 14 January 1990.[5]

Geography

Kishanganj district occupies an area of 1,884 square kilometres (727 sq mi),[6] Kishanganj district is surrounded by Araria district in the west, Purnia district in the south-west, Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal on the east, and Darjeeling district of West Bengal and Nepal on the north. A narrow strip of West Bengal, about 20 km wide separates it from Bangladesh.[7]

Kishanganj district is located between 250 20’ and 260 30’ north latitudes, and 870 7’ and 880 19’ east longitudes.[8]

River

Major rivers flowing through the district are Mahananda, Kankai, Mechi, Donk, Ratua .[8]

Politics
District No. Constituency Name Party Alliance Remarks
Kishanganj 52 Bahadurganj Mohammad Anzar Nayeemi RJD MGB Switched from AIMIM to RJD[9]
53 Thakurganj Saud Alam RJD MGB
54 Kishanganj Ijaharul Hussain INC MGB
55 Kochadhaman Muhammad Izhar Asfi RJD MGB Switched from AIMIM to RJD[10]

Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Kishanganj one of the country's 250 most backward districts out of a total of 640.[11] It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[11]

Kishanganj is the only tea producing district in Bihar.[12]

Sub-divisions

The district comprises only one sub-division, Kishanganj, which is further divided into seven blocks :


Education

On 30 January 2014, the foundation stone was laid down of the Kishanganj campus of Aligarh Muslim University by Sonia Gandhi.[13] The study centre started out by offering two courses.[14]

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901234,482—    
1911251,966+0.72%
1921269,059+0.66%
1931291,023+0.79%
1941316,813+0.85%
1951336,235+0.60%
1961459,703+3.18%
1971618,773+3.02%
1981805,333+2.67%
1991984,107+2.03%
20011,296,348+2.79%
20111,690,400+2.69%
source:[15]

According to the 2011 census Kishanganj district has a population of 1,690,400,[16] roughly equal to the nation of Guinea-Bissau[17] or the US state of Idaho.[18] This gives it a ranking of 293rd in India (out of a total of 640).[16] The district has a population density of 898 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,330/sq mi) .[16] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 30.44%.[16] Kishanganj has a sex ratio of 946 females for every 1,000 males,[16] and a literacy rate of 57.04%. 9.53% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 6.69% and 3.80% of the population respectively.[16]

Religions in Kishanganj district (2011)[19]
Religion Percent
Islam
 
 67.98%
Hinduism
 
 31.43%
Other or not stated
 
 0.59%

A vast majority of the people live in villages. Kishanganj is the only Muslim-majority district of Bihar, with Muslims forming about 68% of the population.[16] There are also Hindus of whom most are Surajpuris (Rajbanshi). There also are small pockets of Santals.[20][21] Most of the inhabitants of Kishanganj speak Surajpuri.[22]

Languages in Kishanganj district (2011)[23]

  Surjapuri (42.61%)
  Urdu (32.62%)
  Hindi (9.05%)
  Bengali (6.66%)
  Santali (3.45%)
  Maithili (2.63%)
  Bhojpuri (1.23%)
  Others (1.75%)

At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 42.61% of the population in the district spoke Surjapuri, 32.62% Urdu, 9.05 Hindi, 6.66% Bengali, 3.45% Santali, 2.63% Maithili and 1.23% Bhojpuri as their first language.[23]

Gender Ratio of District[24]
Year 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6
Gender Ratio 926 950 946 936 948

Administrative units
Sl. no. Name of the Blocks No. of Gram Panchayats
1 Kishanganj 10
2 Bahadurganj 20
3 Thakurganj 22
4 Kochadhaman 24
5 Dighalbank 16
6 Pothia 22
7 Terhagachh 12
Total number of Gram Panchayats[25] 126
  • Number of Revenue Division(s)- 1
  • Number of Blocks- 7[26]
  • Number of Police Stations- 20
  • Number of Gram Panchayats- 126
  • Number of Census Villages- 771
  • Number of Municipalities- 3
  • Number of Municipal Corporation- 1[27]

See also - Literacy In Bihar

Notable people

Asrarul Haq Qasmi

References
  1. Thakur, Minni (2010). Women Empowerment Through Panchayati Raj Institutions. ISBN 9788180696800.
  2. Michael Witzel (1989), Tracing the Vedic dialects in Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes ed. Caillat, Paris, pages 13, 17 116–124, 141–143
  3. Witzel, M. (1989). "Tracing the Vedic dialects". In Caillat, C. (ed.). Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes. Paris: Fondation Hugot. pp. 141–143.
  4. Hemchandra, R. (1972). Political History of Ancient India. Calcutta: University of Calcutta.
  5. History, Kishanganj District, retrieved 15 December 2021.
  6. Srivastava, Dayawanti et al. (ed.) (2010). "States and Union Territories: Bihar: Government". India 2010: A Reference Annual (54th ed.). New Delhi, India: Additional Director General, Publications Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India). Government of India. pp. 1118–1119. ISBN 978-81-230-1617-7. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  7. "Kishanganj district map". Maps of India. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  8. "Kishanganj District (Bihar)". Kishanganj district administration. Archived from the original on 2010-11-14. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  9. "Bihar: Four of five AIMIM MLAs join RJD, making it single-largest party again with 80 seats". The Indian Express. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  10. "Bihar: Four of five AIMIM MLAs join RJD, making it single-largest party again with 80 seats". The Indian Express. 2022-06-30. Retrieved 2022-07-09.
  11. Ministry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme" (PDF). National Institute of Rural Development. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  12. "Kishanganj Judgeship/District Court in India | Official Website of District Court of India". 2019-07-20. Archived from the original on 2019-07-20. Retrieved 2019-07-20.
  13. Kumar, Madan (30 January 2014). "Sonia to lay foundation of AMU Kishanganj unit today". The Times of India. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  14. Ahmad, Wali (2020-10-25). "The picture of a university: AMU Kishanganj centre flounders". The Indian Express. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  15. "Table A-02 Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901: Bihar" (PDF). census.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  16. "District Census Handbook: Kishanganj" (PDF). Census of India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  17. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on June 13, 2007. Retrieved 2011-10-01. Guinea-Bissau 1,596,677 July 2011 est.
  18. "2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2011-09-30. Idaho 1,567,582
  19. "Table C-01 Population by Religion: Bihar". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  20. "The Socio-Economic and Political Scenario of Kishanganj District". Azad India Foundation. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  21. "Kishanganj: Bihar's most backward district in quest for AMU centre". TwoCircles.net. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
  22. Singh, Premshankar. Maithili Bhasha Sahitya: Beesam Shatabdi. ISBN 9789380538129.
  23. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: Bihar". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  24. "election commission ppt".
  25. "Blocks". 2008-05-05. Archived from the original on 2008-05-05. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  26. "Blocks in Kishanganj District, Bihar". www.census2011.co.in. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
  27. "Demography | Welcome to Kishanganj District". Retrieved 2019-05-27.
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