Barbigha is a city and a municipality in the

Sheikhpura district Sheikhpura district is one of the thirty-eight districts in Bihar, India and a part of the Munger division with Sheikhpura as its administrative headquarters. Established on 31 July 1994 from the Munger district due to political efforts by ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is well connected by road to the state capital of

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

. National highways NH33 and NH333A also pass through Barbigha, and Bihta-Sarmera four lane state highway passes from Gopalbad near it. Vishnudham, Samas and Panchvadan Sthan, Kusedhi are some prominent

temples A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

of Barbigha.

Etymology

The name "Barbigha" is believed to be derived from two

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

words, ''Barah'' and ''Bigha'', meaning twelve bighas (approximately 3

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. A ...

). This suggests that the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

originally encompassed this area at the time of its founding.

History

The earliest known historical mention of Barbigha dates back to 1812, when

Francis Buchanan Francis Buchanan (15 February 1762 – 15 June 1829), later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, was a Scottish surgeon, surveyor and botanist who made significant contributions as a geographer and zoolo ...

referred to it as ''Barabigha'', a spelling variation of the name. At that time, it was noted to consist of nearly 1,000 households, similar to its divisional headquarters,

Sheikhpura Sheikhpura is a town and a municipality in Sheikhpura district in the Indian state of Bihar. Sheikhpura is also an administrative headquarter of Sheikhpura district. Postal code PIN code of Sheikhpura post office is 811105. Postal code for ...

. Another Account of 1838 notes it to be a

marketplace A marketplace, market place, or just market, is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a ''souk'' (from ...

. Data from 1867 to 1872 reported the population of Barbigha as 6,362. The Census of India in 1881, conducted by Emil Jung, recorded the population as 7,904. There are mentions of a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

as early as 1894 and a

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

as early as 1901 in historical records related to Barbigha. In the same year, the Sheikhpura and Barbigha police stations were transferred from the

Jamui Jamui is a town and a municipality in Jamui district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. It is the district headquarter of Jamui district. Jamui was formed as a district on 21 February 1991 as a result of its separati ...

subdivision to the Monghyr subdivision. The same Barbigha

reported the discovery of a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of 96

treasure trove A treasure trove is an amount of money or coin, gold, silver, plate, or bullion found hidden underground or in places such as cellars or attics, where the treasure seems old enough for it to be presumed that the true owner is dead and the he ...

coins of the

Sultans of Delhi Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used ...

during the period of 1919-1920. A report from 1903 mentions the ongoing construction of the district road to Sheikhpura to serve as feeder of South Bihar Railway.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census, Barbigha had a population of 136,167, more than double that of its district headquarters,

. The town comprises 21,797

households A household consists of one or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is impo ...

, with 65.94% of the population living in

rural areas In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically descri ...

. The population includes 70,611

males Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to ...

and 65,556

females An organism's sex is female (symbol: ♀) if it produces the ovum (egg cell), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete (sperm cell) during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Females and male ...

, with 22.3% classified as Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes. The

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

is 928 females for every 1,000 males, slightly above the state average of 918, while the child sex ratio is 945, compared to the

Bihar state Bihar ( ) is a state in Eastern India. It is the second largest state by population, the 12th largest by area, and the 14th largest by GDP in 2024. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Ben ...

average of 935. Barbigha has grown to become the biggest town market of the

, serving as a commercial market for the surrounding villages. Sri Krishan Singh (First Chief Minister of Bihar) was from Barbigha and Rastrakavi Ramdhari Singh Dinkar served as headmaster of a high school in Barbigha.

Education

Higher Education Institutions

* S.K.R College : A constituent unit of

Munger University Munger University is a state university and was established on 18 March 2018 through bifurcation of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur. The university started operating academically from the 2018–19 academic year. History Munger Un ...

, previously affiliated with

Bhagalpur University Tilka Majhi Bhagalpur University, formerly Bhagalpur University, is a public university in Bhagalpur, Bihar, India. It was established on 12 July 1960, having local colleges initially associated with Patna University. Its campus is around in ar ...

. * R. Lal College : Affiliated with

Patliputra University Patliputra University (PPU) is a collegiate public state university located in Patna, Bihar, India. It was established by an act of the state legislature in 2018. As a collegiate university, its main functions are divided between the academic ...

Other Degree Colleges

* Sundar Singh College, Mehus * Neemi College * Sai College * C.N.B College, Hathiyama

Technical Colleges

* Government Polytechnic College * Government ITI College

Schools

CBSE Affiliated Senior Secondary Schools

Source: * Gyan Niketan Residential School * Divine Light Public School * St. Mary's English School * Vikas International Public School

Unaffiliated CBSE Schools

* SPS Public School * G.I.P Public School * Adarsh Vidya Bharti * Barbigha Central School * Mount Litera Zee School * Golden Era English School

Bihar Government Affiliated Schools

* Raj Rajeshwar +2 School * Ram Prasad Bhagwati Charan adarsh High School * Barbigha Town High School * Tailik Balika Inter School * High School Kutaut * Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Kutaut * +2 School, Mehus * Sri Satya Sai Vidya Mandir, Bhadarthi

References

{{Munger Division Cities and towns in Sheikhpura district