Bettiah is a city and the administrative headquarters of

West Champaran district West Champaran is an administrative district in the state of Bihar in India, located just west of Birgunj. It is the largest district in Bihar with an area of 5,228 km2(2,019sq mi). It is a part of Tirhut Division. The district headquart ...

( Tirhut Division) - ( Tirhut). It is near the Indo-Nepal border, northwest 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, ...

, in the state of

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 ...

History

In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

of the Jaitharia clan, settled at Jaithar in Champaran. One of his descendants, Agar Sen, acquired large territories during the reign of Emperor Jahangir, and was bestowed the title of 'Raja' by Emperor

Shah Jahan Shah Jahan I, (Shahab-ud-Din Muhammad Khurram; 5 January 1592 – 22 January 1666), also called Shah Jahan the Magnificent, was the Emperor of Hindustan from 1628 until his deposition in 1658. As the fifth Mughal emperor, his reign marked the ...

. In 1659, he was succeeded by his son Raja Gaj Singh, who built the palace of the family at Bettiah. He died in 1694 A.D. The palace stands today and is used as a marketplace. In 1740, a Roman Catholic mission was founded in the city. On 7 December 1745 AD, Father Joseph Mary, Father Cassen, and Nepali

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Michael arrived in Bettiah from Nepal. The King of Bettiah provided them with a house located in front of the royal court. This three-room house became the center of their activities. One room served as a clinic where free medicines were distributed to the general public, the second room was a Christian prayer house—a small church, and the third room was dedicated to providing religious education. From this modest setting, the propagation of Christianity began in Bettiah, laying the foundation for what would later become the presence of the Catholic Church in the northern Indian subcontinent, as well as the foundation of the Bettiah Christian community. In 1765, when the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

acquired the ''

Diwani Diwani is a calligraphic variety of Arabic script, a cursive style developed during the reign of the early Ottoman Turks (16th century - early 17th century). It reached its height of popularity under Süleyman I the Magnificent (1520–1566 ...

'', the Bettiah Raj held the largest amount of territory under its jurisdiction. It consisted of all of Champaran except for a small portion held by the Ram Nagar Raj . Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh was the last king of Bettiah Raj. He was born in 1854 and succeeded his father, the late Maharaja Rajendra Kishore Singh Bahadur in 1883. In 1884, he received the title of Maharaja Bahadur as a personal distinction and a Khilat and a sanad from the hands of the Lieutenant

Governor of Bengal In 1644, Gabriel Boughton procured privileges for the East India Company which permitted them to build a factory at Hooghly district, Hughli, without fortifications. Various chief agents, Governors and presidents were appointed to look after co ...

, Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson. He was created a Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire on 1 March 1889. He was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Bengal in January 1891. He was also a member of The Asiatic Society. He was the last ruler of Bettiah Raj. Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh Bahadur died heirless on 26 March 1893, leaving behind two widows, Maharani Sheo Ratna Kuer and Maharani Janki Kuer . There are a few institutions named after the queen Maharani Janki Kuer, such as M.J.K College and M.J.K Hospital. The Bettiah Gharana was one of the oldest styles of vocalised music.

Madhuban Madhuban is a small area of Jorhat City and is under Jorhat municipality Board, Assam, India. The only road that passes through Madhubon is the Madhuban Path. It connects two important roads of Jorhat; Malow Ali and Choladhara road. Madhuban is ...

was part of the erstwhile 'Bettiah Raj'. Internal disputes and family quarrels divided the Bettiah Raj as time went on. As a result, the Madhuban Raj was created. In 1869, Bettiah was constituted and affirmed as a municipality. A section of

Dhrupad Dhrupad is a genre in Hindustani classical music from the Indian subcontinent. It is the oldest known style of major vocal styles associated with Hindustani classical music (for example in the Haveli Sangeet of Pushtimarg Sampradaya), and is als ...

singers of Dilli Gharana ( Delhi Gharana) from the Mughal Emperor

's court had migrated to Bettiah under the patronage of Bettiah Raj, and thus was sown the seed of Bettiah Gharana. The well-known Dagar brothers had praised the Bettiah

singers and some of them were invited to the Bharat Bhavan in

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

to perform with other accomplished singers in 1990. The University of Bihar has a local branch of its college in Bettiah, M.J.K. College, first established in 1955 under the name of Bettiah Mahavidyalya. The current name is in honour of Maharani Janki Kunwar of the Bettiah Raj. On 26 December 2020, Bettiah became a municipal corporation. It includes Tola San Saraiya, Banuchapar, Kargahiya east and nearby areas. Development and upgrades to the local infrastructure are planned.

Geography

Climate

The climate of Bettiah is characterised by high temperatures and high precipitation especially during the

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

season. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

sub-type for this climate is " Cwa" (Dry-winter humid subtropical climate).

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian Census, Bettiah NP had a total population of 132,209, of which 69,529 were males and 62,680 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 18,995. The total number of literates in Bettiah was 91,298, which constituted 69.1% of the population with male literacy of 72.7% and female literacy of 64.9%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Bettiah was 80.6%, of which male literacy rate was 85.0% and female literacy rate was 75.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 8,266 and 828 respectively. Bettiah had 24,463 households in 2011. As per 2011 census, the Bettiah Urban Agglomeration had a total population of 156,200, with 82,663 males and 73,537 females. The population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 22,067, and the effective literacy rate (literacy of people above the age of 7) was 80.89%. The urban agglomeration includes Bettiah (municipal corporation), Tola Mansaraut (census town), Kargahia Purab (census town) and Hat Saraiya (census town). On 26 December 2020, Bettiah became a municipal corporation. It included Tola San Saraiya, Banuchapar, Kargahiya east, and other nearby areas. The total population at this time was 414,453

Notable landmarks

* Amwaman Lake- state's first water sports zone * Sagar Pokhra Bettiah * Udaypur Wildlife Sanctuary * Hajarimal Dharmshala- Shyam Baba Mandir * Mata Ranisati Mandir * Gopinath Panchayat Mandir * Sant Ghat Mandir & River Bank * Joda Shivalay Mandir * Saraiyaman Jheel * Shahid Smarak * Raj Dwedhy- Raj Palace * Raj Kachhary * Nazarbagh Park * Maa Kalibagh Dham * Durgabagh Mandir * Christian Quarter Catholic Church * Jangi Mosque * Machhli Lok * Valmiki National Park- a tiger reserve

Transport

Railway

Bettiah is connected to different cities of India through railways. Bettiah railway station is the main railway station serving the city. Direct trains are available to all the major destinations across India like Patna, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahemdabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Jammu & Katra, etc. Prajapati Halt railway station, also known as Bettiah Cant Railway station, is another railway station serving the city.

Roadway

The National Highways 727, 139W, 28B, 727aa, and State Highway 54 pass through the city. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has declared a new Patna-Bettiah road as National Highway 139W, setting the stage for the construction of a high-quality four-lane road between the two towns that would reduce the distance between them to 167 kilometres from the current 200-odd km, and travel time to around two hours. The new Gopalganj-Bettiah Road passes through the New Town section of Tola San Saraiyan. Through this new road, a distance of is shortened from the commute to Gopalganj-Bettiah. A new expressway is currently being constructed via Bettiah which links

Gorakhpur Gorakhpur is a city in the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, along the banks of the West Rapti River, Rapti river in the Purvanchal , Purvanchal region. It is situated 272 kilometres east of ...

Siliguri Siliguri (, ; ), also known as Shiliguri, is a major Tier ii cities in india, tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms the twin cities, Twin Cities with the neighbouring city of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeel ...

. A direct NH is being constructed to link Bettiah to Gorakhpur, designated 727aa. NH727AA connects Manuapul (Bettiah), Patzirwa, Paknaha, Pipraghat, and Sevrahi in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Airway

The nearest airport is Kushinagar International Airport which is about from Bettiah. The nearest airport in Bihar is Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport located in

which is about from Muzaffarpur and from Areraj.

Education

Schools

* Alok Bharati Shikshan Sansthan English Medium School, Bettiah * Amna Urdu High School, Bettiah * Oxford Public Boarding & High School, Bettiah * Assembly of God Church School, Bettiah * Bipin High School, Bettiah * Delhi Public School, Bettiah * Jawahar Navoday Vidyalaya, Vrindavan, Bettiah *

Kendriya Vidyalaya The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan () is a system of Government of India, central government schools in India. Governed by the Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India. , it has a total of 1,257 schools in India, ...

, Bettiah * Khrist Raja High School, Bettiah * Kidzee Play School, Bettiah * Krishna International Public School, Bettiah * National Public Higher Secondary School, Bettiah * Notre Dame Public School, Bettiah * Raj Enter Secondary School, Bettiah * R.L international School, Bettiah * S.S. Girls High School, Bettiah * Sacred Heart High School, Bettiah * Sarsawati Vidya Mandir, Bettiah * St. Joseph’s School, Bettiah * St. Mary/Remijius High School, Bettiah * St. Michael’s Academy. Bettiah * St. Teresa's Girls' Senior Secondary School, Bettiah * St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School, Bettiah File:St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School Bettiah.jpg, St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School File:St joseph bth building.jpg, St. Joseph's School File:St. Michael's Academy Bettiah.jpg, St. Michael's Academy File:Khrist Raja High School.jpg, Khrist Raja High School File:Assembly of God Church School Bettiah.jpg, Assembly of God Church School

Colleges

* Government Medical College, Bettiah * Government Engineering College, West Champaran * Government Polytechnic,West Champaran *Maharani Janki Kunwar College, Bettiah *Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College, Bettiah *Gulab Memorial College, Bettiah *MRRG College, Bettiah *MNM Mahila College, Bettiah *St. Teresa Primary Teachers Training College, Bettiah *Chanakya College of Education, Bettiah *Raj Inter College, Bettiah File:GMC Academic block.jpg, GMC Academic block File:Administrative block of Government Engineering College Bettiah W.Champaran.jpg, Administrative block of Government Engineering College Bettiah, W.Champaran File:Chanakya College of education Bettiah.jpg, Chanakya College of education

Notable people

* Manoj Bajpai, Indian film actor *

Prakash Jha Prakash Jha (born 27 February 1952) is an Indian film producer, actor, director and screenwriter, mostly known for his political and socio-political films such as ''Hip Hip Hurray (film), Hip Hip Hurray'' (1984), ''Damul'' (1984), ''Mrityudand ...

, Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter * Renu Devi, first female and 7th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar * Satish Chandra Dubey, politician and

Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the States and union territories of India, Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Cou ...

* Sanjay Jaiswal, politician and president of

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

, Bihar *

Damodar Raao Damodar Raao (born 21 August 1977) is an Indian composer, singer, record producer, and live performer. His music genre is about acoustic folk with some traces of Indian classical music. Career In 2000, Raao got his first break as a singer in t ...

, Indian film Music Director, Singer, Producer, and Lyrics writer * Krishna Kumar Mishra, former member of Legislative assembly, Chanpatia (Bihar) * Vikas Mishra, former Vice-Chancellor,

Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra (KUK) is a university established on 11January 1956 in Kurukshetra, in the Indian state of Haryana, from the capital, Delhi. It is a member of Association of Commonwealth Universities. History The univers ...

* Gopal Singh Nepali,

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 ...

poet and Bollywood lyricist * Gauri Shankar Pandey, former member of Legislative assembly, Bettiah (Bihar) *

Kedar Pandey Kedar Pandey (14 June 1920 – 3 July 1982) was an Indian freedom fighter and Indian National Congress politician, who remained the Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1972 to 2 July 1973 and Minister of Railways in the Union Cabinet from 12 Nov ...

, 14th Chief Minister of Bihar * Raj Kumar Shukla, Indian independence activist

The Literary History of Champaran

Freedom Fighter and author Ramesh Chandra Jha was the first person who penned down the rich literary history of Champaran. His research based books including ''Champaran Ki Sahitya Sadhana'' (चम्पारन की साहित्य साधना) (1958), ''Champaran:Literature & Literary Writers'' (चम्पारन: साहित्य और साहित्यकार) (1967) and ''Apne Aur Sapne:A Literary Journey Of Champaran'' (अपने और सपने: चम्पारन की साहित्य यात्रा) (1988) meticulously document the rich literary heritage and history of Champaran,

. These seminal books continue to serve as foundational reference points for researchers, scholars, Ph.D. students, and journalists alike. Jha's insightful exploration and preservation of Champaran's historical and literary legacy have solidified his place as a cornerstone in the field of literary research.Apne Aur Sapne : Online PDF book at Archive.org
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References

External links

West Champaran Information Portal

Official Website of Tirhut Division

Galaxy International School Bettiah-GEG Group

{{Authority control Cities and towns in West Champaran district