Darbhanga

Darbhanga दरभंगा
Metropolitan City
Monument at Darbhanga
Nickname(s): Medical city, Cultural Capital of Bihar
Darbhanga Location in Bihar, India
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	Darbhanga
Elevation	52 m (171 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	306,089
Languages
• Official	Maithili
• Other	hindi, Bengali, urdu, Marwari, Sindhi,Nepali
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	8460xx
Telephone code	06272
Vehicle registration	BR 07
Sex ratio	910:1000 ♂/♀
Lok Sabha constituency	Darbhanga
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Darbhanga, Darbhanga Rural
Website	darbhanga.bih.nic.in

Darbhangā is a city and municipal corporation in Bihar, India. It is the headquarters of Darbhanga district and Darbhanga division. Darbhanga is 5th largest city of Bihar and rapidly developing. Darbhanga is also the second biggest medical hub of Bihar and will have a software technology park soon. A green signal has been given by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Indian Government. Historically, it had the seating of Darbhanga Raj. Darbhanga is also known as "Cultural Capital of Bihar" or "Unstated Capital of Mithilanchal".

History

See also: Raj Darbhanga

The history of Darbhanga dates back to the Ramayana and Mahabharata periods; it is among the oldest cities of Bihar. According to the Vedic sources, the Videhas first migrated to the area from the banks of Saraswati in Punjab; they were guided to the east of Sadanira (Gandak River) by Agni, the God of Fire. Settlements were established and, thus, flourished the kingdom of the Videhas, the Selfless.

Shyama Temple in Darbhanga

In the course of time, Videhas came to be ruled by a line of kings called Janaks. In this line of kings, there was a very famous king named Mithi. To commemorate his greatness the territory was named as Mithila. Another famous king was Janak Sirdhwaja, father of Sita. The legends speak of various learned men patronized by Janak Sirdhwaja, who himself was an erudite scholar. Prominent among them were Yagyavalkya, who codified the Hindu law in his Yagyavalkya Smriti and Gautam, who had various valuable philosophical treatises to his credit. King Janak was himself a great philosopher and his ideas have been eternally enshrined in the Upanishads, especially in the Brihad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣada.

The name Darbhanga is the mutated form of "Dwarbanga". That is, it is the combination of words "Dwar" (Gate) and "Banga" (Bengal) meaning "Gateway of Bengal". If one notices Bengali and Maithili, he will find many a phonetic similarities particularly in the main verbs of both the languages which ends with word sounding "Chhe".

Some scholars say that Darbhanga was named after Dar (Dwar) and Bhangaa which means broken gates. It is assumed that the gates of the Qila (at Qilaghat probably) were broken (by cannons or elephants) in 1326 AD when Tughlak forces attacked the last independent North Indian Hindu king.

In the thirteenth century Mithila was invaded by Afghans, who deposed the Kshatriya ruler and placed a Maithil Brahman in control of land revenues over much of this region. This family soon began calling themselves kings, distributing land to other members of their caste, so that gradually land passed into the control of Maithil Brahmans. It was taken by the Turks in the 14th century. During Akbar’s reign in the sixteenth century, a second Maithil Brahman family came to rule as the Khandavala Dynasty.

It enjoyed stability under the Mughals and Hindus began to flock to this town since the beginning of the 19th century when the Maharaja of Darbhanga shifted his residence to the town and was granted the title Maharaja by the East India Company. It was the biggest town of North Bihar for centuries, but after Muzaffarpur was connected to broad-gauge railway in the mid-1970s, the latter overtook Darbhanga due to shift of trade, commerce, business and transport to some extent.

During Akbar's reign in the sixteenth century, a second Maithil Brahmin family came to rule as the Khandavala Dynasty. During this period, Akbar also planted 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga, at a place now known as Lakhi Bagh. In British times, their estate, Darbhanga Raj, was the largest and richest of the great zamindari estates. Their capital was in Bhaur village in Madhubani, later shifted to the town of Darbhanga. They controlled most of Mithila until after Independence when the Republic of India abolished zamindari (Maharaja of Darbhanga was actually a zamindar entitled to add the title Maharaja in his name, besides the British title: KCIE (Knight Commander of Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire).

Statue of Maharajadhiraj at Chaurangi Square Darbhanga City

Maharajah Sir Lakhmeshwar Singh, K.C.I.E., of Darbhanga, who was only in his forty-third year at the time of his death in 1898, was in every sense the best type of the Indian nobleman and landlord. He was the leading zamindar in India, where he owned no less than 2,152 square miles (5,570 km²) with a net yearly rental of 30 lakhs, and was the recognized head of the orthodox Hindu community. His philanthropy and his munificent contributions to all public movement won him the esteem of all classes and creeds. He took an active part in public life and enjoyed a high reputation as a progressive and liberal minded statesman. With but slight interruptions he was a member of the Supreme Legislative Council from the year 1883 until his death, and latterly he sat in that body as the elected representative of the non-official members of the Bengal Council.

The Maharaja of Darbhanga, Sir Kameshwar Singh, was also an integral part of the Constituent Assembly of India and was instrumental in campaigning for retention of privy purses and land rights for rulers. He single handedly negotiated rights of various rulers and nawabs.

Maharaja of Darbhanga also spent much time in today's called kolkata, Bengal. It can be seen in various places as he has built various important places for Bengal, as in Calcutta University Building is "Darbhanga Building" Dalhousie Square and various important buildings there is also made by him. He has made great contributions to Bengal and Indian education and society.

Languages and religion

The main languages spoken in this district are Maithili, Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, however Hindi is used for official documentation. Here, Urdu is spoken by locale Muslim community in a unique style. In Darbhanga City, local residents speak a relaxed style of Maithili. Other languages spoken by their respective speakers in Darbhanga are Bengali, Marwari, Punjabi, Sindhi, and Nepali.

Demographics

As per data released by the government of India for the 2011 census, Darbhanga is an Urban Agglomeration coming under category of Class I UAs/Towns. The total population of Darbhanga UA/Metropolitan region is 306,089. The male population of which is 161,346 while female population is 144,743. Total literates: 205,203. Male literates: 115,620. Female literates: 89,583. Sex ratio: 898, Child sex ratio: (0–6 years) 905 and Effective Literacy State rate (7+ Pop): total Persons: 80.88, Male: 86.43, Female: 74.68, Compare to 2001 India census, Darbhanga City had a population of 267,348 while the district had a population of 3,295,789. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Darbhanga has an average literacy rate of 64%, which is higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 72% and, female literacy is 56%. In Darbhanga, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age. Darbhanga is a place where people of different languages and religions live. There are many lingual minorities which have contributed to the development of Darbhanga.

Climate

Darbhanga has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cwa).

Climate data for Darbhanga
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	30.4 (86.7)	33.9 (93)	39.9 (103.8)	42.0 (107.6)	41.9 (107.4)	43.4 (110.1)	39.1 (102.4)	38.4 (101.1)	39.6 (103.3)	39.2 (102.6)	33.9 (93)	29.9 (85.8)	43.4 (110.1)
Average high °C (°F)	22.1 (71.8)	25.8 (78.4)	31.0 (87.8)	34.1 (93.4)	35.0 (95)	34.9 (94.8)	32.5 (90.5)	32.8 (91)	32.5 (90.5)	31.6 (88.9)	28.0 (82.4)	24.8 (76.6)	30.43 (86.76)
Average low °C (°F)	9.2 (48.6)	11.0 (51.8)	15.1 (59.2)	19.1 (66.4)	21.2 (70.2)	22.9 (73.2)	23.8 (74.8)	24.2 (75.6)	23.8 (74.8)	21.2 (70.2)	15.8 (60.4)	10.6 (51.1)	18.16 (64.69)
Record low °C (°F)	−0.2 (31.6)	−0.2 (31.6)	3.9 (39)	9.2 (48.6)	10.4 (50.7)	15.9 (60.6)	18.7 (65.7)	19.4 (66.9)	18.9 (66)	12.7 (54.9)	7.2 (45)	2.4 (36.3)	−0.2 (31.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	13.0 (0.512)	14.0 (0.551)	9.0 (0.354)	29.0 (1.142)	76.0 (2.992)	139.0 (5.472)	353.0 (13.898)	254.0 (10)	193.0 (7.598)	73.0 (2.874)	6.0 (0.236)	7.0 (0.276)	1,166 (45.905)
Average rainy days	1.6	1.7	1.6	2.6	4.6	7.6	16.4	12.2	10.5	3.4	0.5	1.0	63.7
Average relative humidity (%)	68	63	49	56	60	70	78	79	79	73	66	67	67.3
Source: NOAA (1971–1990)

Geography

Darbhanga is located in the northern part of Bihar.

Transport

Darbhanga is well connected via rail and road services.

Railways

Darbhanga Junction is an A1+ category railway junction and a model station on the East Central Railway and is one of the most important railway junction of the state and is the busiest station of Samastipur Division as it is connected directly to all the major cities of India, viz., Kolkata, Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Amritsar, Patna, Nagpur, Kanpur, Ranchi, Pune, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chennai, Raipur, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Siwan, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Raxaul, Mysore, Ajmer etc. The Darbhanga Junction connects very large part of North Bihar and Tarai of Nepal with rest of India as major Rail head. It is the main station of Darbhanga & Madhubani. Some main trains from Darbhanga:

• Bagmati Express to Banglore City
• Bihar Sampark Kranti Superfast to New Delhi
• Darbhanga Puri Express to Puri
• Mumbai LTT Express to Lok Manya Tilak Terminal
• Swatantrata Senani Express to New Delhi
• Kolkata Express to Kolkata
• Darbhanga Secunderabad to Secunderabad
• Darbhanga Pune to Pune
• Sabarmati Express to Ahmedabad
• Jivachh Link Express to Guwahati

One more railway station of the city is known as Laheriasarai Railway Station. Laheriasarai is famous for the Lah(Lahthi).

Roadways

Darbhanga is connected to other parts of India by National Highway 57 , National Highway 105 and Bihar State highways 50, 56, 88 and 75. Darbhanga is also connected to the Madhubani which is located at Nepal border and Sitamarhi.

East-West Corridor expressway, which connects the Porbandar, Gujarat to Silchar, Assam passes through Darbhanga which provides greater connectivity for trade purposes.

The city has two bus stands – Darbhanga Bus Stand and Laheriasarai Bus Stand – and a new interstate bus stand is under construction for the city. Bus services are available from Darbhanga to all the nearby major cities viz. Patna, Gaya, Kolkata, Purnia, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Ranchi, Jamshedpur.

Local transport

For local transport, the commuters have the options of city bus and auto-rickshaw. Auto rickshaws are the popular mode of local commuting. The City Bus Service is also in the city by BSRTC.Low floor buses are also proposed for the city by Central Govt.

Airport

Darbhanga Airport is the longest runway airport of Bihar,and is operated by the Indian Air Force at present. It is spread over a 200-acre area of the city. It was built exclusively for the use of Maharajah of Darbhanga's aeroplanes. Spirit Air started operations from Darbhanga in 2009, but was forced to withdraw due to its smaller strip. Very soon Skyfisher Airways would start air services from Darbhanga to Ranchi, Kathmandu, Raxaul and Varanasi.

Darbhanga Aviations was a private Indian airline started in 1950 by Maharaja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga. It had three aircraft and became defunct by 1962.

Spirit Airways started their flight from Darbhanga to major cities of India on 15 June 2015 with Bengaluru-based firm DTDS. As of now weekly flight services directly to and fro to the capital is available after so many herculean endeavors.

Media and communications

All India Radio has a 20 kW medium-wave radio station in Darbhanga which transmits various programs of mass interest. Doordarshan has one DD National and one DD News LPT relay transmitters.

Education

Medical colleges

• Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital
• Mithila Minority Dental College & Hospital
• Saryu Dental College & Hospital, Laheriasarai

University

• Lalit Narayan Mithila University
• Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University
• IGNOU Regional Centre
• Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANU) Regional Centre

Engineering and technology colleges

• Women's Institute of Technology
• Darbhanga College of Engineering (JMIT)

Polytechnic colleges

• Darbhanga Polytechnic (Bihar Govt)
• MANUU Polytechnic (A Central University branch)

I T I colleges

• Govt. I T I Ramnagar
• IMTI MAHDAULI
• Mithila Private Industrial Training Institute Mabbi Darbhanga

Management institute and college

• Institute of Business Management, Delhi More, Bela, On East-West Corridor (LNMU)
• Deptt. of MBA, LNMU

Law college

• C M LAW College Darbhanga (LNMU)

Teacher training colleges

• Dr Zakir Hussain Tecaher's Training College
• Oriental College of Education
• Swami Vivekananda B.Ed Teacher's Training College
• Mithila B.Ed college Darbhanga

Colleges

• C. M. College
• C. M. Science College, Darbhanga
• Marwari College
• Kunwar Singh College
• Millat College, Laheriasarai
• M.R.M College
• M.L.S.M College
• M.K.College, Laheriasarai
• Nagendra Jha Mahila College
• Lohia Charan Singh (LCS)

Schools

• Raj High School, Lalbagh, Darbhanga
• M L Academy
• Rose Public School
• Jesus & Mary Academy Darbhanga
• Woodbine Modern School
• Holy Cross School, Darbhanga
• Madonna English School
• Darbhanga Public School
• Harrow English School
• Public School Bela, Darbhanga
• Delhi Public School
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Darbhanga
• Don Bosco School, Bibi Pakar
• D.A.V Public School
• Gyan Bharti Public School

Notable people From Darbhanga

Current Vice President of Nepal hails From Darbhanga

• Badri Narain Sinha, poet-critic, and formerly of Indian Police Service (1952 batch)
• Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Bengali author
• Binod Bihari Verma, Maithili littérateur
• Narayan Dass - First M.P from Darbhanga Central
• Gangesha Upadhyaya - Mathematician
• Gonu Jha
• Khalid Saifullah Rahmani - General Secretary of IFA
• Kirti Azad Jha - Member of Parliament,1983 world cup cricket winning team member.
• Imtiaz Ali - Film director
• Yamuna Karjee - Indian independence activist
• Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh - King Of Darbhanga
• Sir Maharaja Rameshwar Singh - King of Darbhanga, philanthropist.
• Maharaja Sir Kameshwar Singh - last ruler of Darbhanga Raj, industrialist, philanthropist
• M J Warsi - Linguist
• Mohammad Ali Ashraf Fatmi - Ex Member Of Parliament
• Dr. Faraz Fatmi - Politician and MLA keoti.
• Amarnath Gami - Politician
• Sultan Ahmad - Ex- MLA Darbhanga Town
• Nagarjun - Maithili Poet
• Nagendra Nath Jha - Diplomat
• Nigamanand - Hindu seer
• Surendra Jha 'Suman' - Maithili poet
• Parmanand Jha - Vice President of Nepal
• Prem Shankar Jha - Writer
• Rafiuddin Raz - Pakistani poet
• Ram Gopal Bajaj - Film
• Hukmdev Narayan Yadav - Member Of Parliament
• Sriti Jha - T.V actress
• Lakshmi Kant Jha - Eighth Governor of The RBI
• Tochi Raina - Bollywood Singer
• Udayana - Philosopher
• Dhanik Lal Mandal - Former Governor of Haryana
• Rakesh Ranjan Kumar - Film director
• Sanjay Mishra - actor
• Rajiv Ranjan Mishra - CMD
• Md.Anzar Ahmad-Social Worker(Mithila social & educational welfare society)
• Ram S Kushwaha-Social Worker & Philanthropist

See also

• List of people from Darbhanga
• Laheriasarai
• Darbhanga Planetarium

External links

• Cotton, H.E.A., (1909/1980) Calcutta Old and New, pp 335-336, General Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd.