Aurangabad is a city in

Aurangabad District, Bihar Aurangabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It is currently a part of the Red Corridor. Aurangabad played a major role in the Indian independence struggle, and is also the birthplace of eminent nationalist & ...

, India. It is the district's centre of governance and has a population of 102,244 as of 2011. The people of this region speak

Magahi The Magahi language (), also known as Magadhi (), is a language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name deriv ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

History

Aurangabad is sometimes called the "

Chittorgarh Chittorgarh (also Chittor or Chittaurgarh) is a major city in Rajasthan state of western India. It lies on the Berach River, a tributary of the Banas, and is the administrative headquarters of Chittorgarh District. It was a major stronghol ...

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...

" because of its large

Rajput Rajput (from Sanskrit ''raja-putra'' 'son of a king') is a large multi-component cluster of castes, kin bodies, and local groups, sharing social status and ideology of genealogical descent originating from the Indian subcontinent. The term Ra ...

population of the Suryavanshi lineage. Since the first Indian general elections in 1952, Aurangabad has only ever elected

representatives. In ancient times, Aurangabad was located in the Mahajanapada kingdom of

Magadh Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

(1200 - 322 BCE). The ancient rulers of the town included Bimbisara (late 5th century BCE), Ajatashatru (early 4th century BCE),

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (350-295 BCE) was a ruler in Ancient India who expanded a geographically-extensive kingdom based in Magadha and founded the Maurya dynasty. He reigned from 320 BCE to 298 BCE. The Maurya kingdom expanded to become an emp ...

(321 - 298 BCE) and

Ashoka Ashoka (, ; also ''Asoka''; 304 – 232 BCE), popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was the third emperor of the Maurya Empire of Indian subcontinent during to 232 BCE. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, s ...

(268 - 232 BCE). During the rule of

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri ( ps, شیرشاه سوری) (1472, or 1486 – 22 May 1545), born Farīd Khān ( ps, فرید خان) , was the founder of the Sur Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He standardized the silver coin ...

(1486 - 1545 CE), Aurangabad became strategically important as part of the Rohtas Sirkar (district). After the death of

, Aurangabad fell under the rule of

Akbar Abu'l-Fath Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (25 October 1542 – 27 October 1605), popularly known as Akbar the Great ( fa, ), and also as Akbar I (), was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Hum ...

. The

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity **Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pash ...

upsurge in the area was suppressed by

Todar Mal Raja Todar Mal (1 January 1500 – 8 November 1589) was the Finance Minister (Mushriff-i-Diwan) of the Mughal empire during Emperor Akbar's reign. He was also the Vakil-us-Sultanat (Counsellor of the Empire) and Joint Wazir. He was one of the ...

. Some elements of

architecture remain. In 1865, Bihar District was separated from Patna District. Aurangabad was made a subdivision of Bihar district. Stement was the first subdivisional officer of Aurangabad subdivision. The first Member of Parliament from the district was the former Chief Minister of Unified Bihar, Satyendra Narayan Singh (Chhote Saheb). On 26 January 1973,

Aurangabad district, Bihar Aurangabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It is currently a part of the Red Corridor. Aurangabad played a major role in the Indian independence struggle, and is also the birthplace of eminent nationalist & ...

, was created (government notification number 07/11-2071-72 dated 19 January 1973). K. A. H. Subramanyam was the first district magistrate and Surjit Kumar Saha was the sub-divisional officer.

Geography

Aurangabad town is located in north east India on the NH 2 now NH19 (

Grand Trunk Road The Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sarak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sarak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. ...

) at its crossing with NH98 now NH139. Its nearest large town is Gaya to the east. The capital of Bihar,

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

is to the north east. The area of the town is . Aurangabad rests on

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a largely flat landform created by the deposition of sediment over a long period of time by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A floodplain is part of the process, being the smal ...

on the bank of Adri river. The larger

son river Son River ( hi, सोन नदी, also spelt Sone River) is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district of Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges River near Pa ...

is to the west. Other rivers such as the Punpun, Auranga, Bataane, Morhar, and Madaar flow through Aurangabad district.

Economy

Aurangabad has an agrarian economy. It lies in a drought-prone area. The main crops are

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

, gram

lentil The lentil (''Lens culinaris'' or ''Lens esculenta'') is an edible legume. It is an annual plant known for its lens-shaped seeds. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in pods, usually with two seeds in each. As a food crop, the largest p ...

and rapeseed. With rapid industrialisation, Aurangabad has secured 4th position in most improved districts by Niti Aayog. It mainly includes heavy electricity production industries like Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Plant which has a capacity of 4380 MW(660MWX6).It is one of the third largest power plants in India.On 6th sep 2019, the power plant commissioned the first 660 MW unit of 4380 MW . ( NTPC, Nabinagar) and Cement Production (

Shree Cement Shree Cement is an Indian cement manufacturer, founded in Beawar, Rajasthan, in 1979. Now headquartered in Kolkata (soon to be shifted entirely to Noida), it is one of the biggest cement makers in Northern India. Shree Cement has moved in the ...

). Manufactured products include carpets, blankets and brassware. Auranagabad is also famous for strawberry cultivation which helps local farmers to boost their economy and generates jobs for the villagers, who no longer need to migrate in search of livelihood.

Demographics

India census, Aurangabad had a population of 102,244.

Notable people

Anugrah Narayan Sinha Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known as '' Bihar Vibhuti'', was an Indian nationalist statesman, participant in Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhian & one of the architects of modern Bihar, who was the first Deputy Chief Minist ...

, Member

Constituent Assembly of India The Constituent Assembly of India was elected to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the 'Provincial Assembly'. Following India's independence from the British rule in 1947, its members served as the nation's first Parliament as ...

and first

Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar The Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar is the seniormost cabinet member of the state government who serves as the de-facto second head of the state. He is the second highest ranking executive authority of the state's council of ministers. The curr ...

Satyendra Narayan Sinha Satyendra Narayan Sinha (12 July 1917 – 4 September 2006) was an Indian politician and statesman, participant in the Indian independence movement, a leading light of Jaya Prakash Narayan's ‘ ''complete revolution''’ movement during the E ...

, first

Member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

and former Chief Minister of Bihar * Shankar Dayal Singh, Author and Member of Parliament

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-p ...

1971-77 /

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

1990-95 * Nikhil Kumar, former MP and former Governor of Kerala *

Sushil Kumar Singh Chongtham Sushil Kumar Singh is an India football player. He is currently playing for NEROCA F.C. in Manipur's local statewide league. Career Mahindra United Singh started his footballing career at Mahindra United in the I-League and score ...

, Member of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of ...

References