Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of

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 ...

in India. It is the regional headquarter of

Katihar district Katihar district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in India, and Katihar city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of Purnia Division. It is prominently known for its Katihar Junction Railw ...

. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line.

History

Katihar is a part of the

Mithila region Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothill ...

. Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by

Indo-Aryan peoples Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of Indo-European peoples speaking Indo-Aryan languages in the Indian subcontinent. Historically, Aryan were the Indo-European pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into South Asia an ...

who established the

Mithila Kingdom Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern South Asia whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy but late ...

(also called Kingdom of the Videhas). 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

Janaka Janaka is a character who appears in the Hindu epic Ramayana. He is an ancient Hindu king of Videha, which was located in the Mithila region. His name at birth was Sīradhvaja, and he had a brother named Kushadhvaja. His father's name was Hr ...

s. The Mithila Kingdom was later incorporated into the

Vajjika League The Vajjika (Pāli: ) or Vrijika (Sanskrit: ) League, Confederacy, or Sangha, also called simply Vajji (Pāli: ) or Vriji (Sanskrit: ), was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribal league which existed during the later Iron Age period in north-east South ...

, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila. Later it was dominated by Chaudhary family who were the biggest landlord of kosi commisionery and holds approx 15000 acre land in katihar district and 8500 acre in Purnia district. The founder of Chaudhary family was Taj Ali Chaudhary and his four sons Chaudhary khuda baksh , Chaudhary Qadir baksh ,Khan Bahadur Chaudhary Mohammad baksh and Elahi baksh.

Transport

Road

Katihar is connected through road network to the neighbouring cities of Bihar. Interstate bus services are not available. A highway , however, connects it to

Purnia Purnia ()(also romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar. Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is which is next ...

, from where , and passes through or starts through.

Air

The nearest airport is located at

Purnia Airport Airforce Station Purnea is located near Purnia in the state of Bihar, India. This is the base of Indian Air Force. This airport was built for supplies to Indian Army in Sino-Indian War. Recent development It has been selected in UDAN 4 schem ...

near

Purnea Purnia ()(also romanized as Purnea) is a city that serves as the administrative headquarters of both Purnia district and Purnia division in the Indian state of Bihar. Total geographical area of Purnia Urban Agglomeration is which is next ...

(30 km), but it is a airforce station. The nearest commercial airport is located at

Bagdogra Airport Bagdogra Airport is a customs airport located in the western part of Siliguri, in Bagdogra in northern West Bengal, India. It is operated as a civil enclave at AFS Bagdogra of the Indian Air Force. It is the gateway airport to the hill st ...

(160 km) near

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms twin cities, "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling district, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian sta ...

(

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

). However, recently the government has announced to open an air force base airport in

Chunapur Chunapur is a very old village situated 3 km west of Purnia town in the state of Bihar, India. This village is situated on the bank of 'Kari Koshi' a tributary of River Koshi. The village came into limelight when the government of India ...

, Purnea to be allowed to use for commercial use. However, it is not operational yet.

Rail

Katihar Junction is a major strategic Railway Junction under

Northeast Frontier Railways The Northeast Frontier Railway (abbreviated NFR) is one of the 19 railway zones of the Indian Railways. It is headquartered in Maligaon, Guwahati in the state of Assam, and responsible for operation and expansion of rail network all across Nor ...

which connects North East India with the rest of India.

Education

Katihar Ramakrishna Mission (front view) 2014-07-24 22-55

Katihar has many education institutions, including: *

The Boffo School ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

Colonels Academy Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

International School of East India International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Katihar Jawahar is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Jawaharlal Nehru. People with the given name * Jawahar Singh * Jawahar Singh * Jawahar Lal Kaul * Jawahar Bakshi Places * Jawahar Kala Kendra Other uses * Jawahar Navodaya ...

Katihar Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandir Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line. History Ka ...

(estd. in 1951; it used to be under WBBSE; now affiliated with CBSE) * Kendriya Vidyalaya, Katihar *

Manipal public school Manipal is a suburb and university town within Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, India. Manipal is located five kilometres away from the centre of Udupi City, in Udupi District, Karnataka (state) in south western India. It is administered by the Udu ...

* SBP Vidya Vihar *

Scottish Public School, Katihar Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

;Government colleges: * D.S. College, Katihar *

Govt. Polytechnic, Katihar A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

* K.B Jha College, Katihar *

M J M Mahila College M, or m, is the thirteenth Letter (alphabet), letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphabe ...

Sita Ram Chamaria College Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

;Other important institutes: *

Katihar Medical College and Hospital Katihar Medical College (KMC) is a medical college situated in the city of Katihar in the Indian state of Bihar. Katihar Medical College offers undergraduate courses in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and post-graduate cours ...

(KMCH), a private medical college in Katihar City suburbs, recognized by the

Medical Council of India The Medical Council of India (MCI) was a statutory body for establishing uniform and high standards of medical education in India until its dissolution on 25 September 2020 when it was replaced by National Medical Commission. The Council gran ...

(MCI), *

Purnea University Purnea University is a collegiate public state university located in Purnia, Bihar, India. It has jurisdiction over Purnia, Araria, Kishanganj and Katihar districts. It was established by an act of State Legislature in 2018. As a collegiate un ...

Suryadeo Law College Suryadeo Law College or S.D. Law College is a Law school situated beside Lal Kothi Road, Karpoor Nagar, Katihar in the Indian state of Bihar. It offers 5 years integrated LL.B. course which is approved by Bar Council of India (BCI), New Delhi ...

, Katihar * Maharshi Menhi Homoeopathic Medical College & Hospital, Katihar

Demographics

As per the 2011 census, Katihar Urban Agglomeration had a population of 240,565. Katihar Urban Agglomeration includes Katihar (municipal corporation plus outgrowth) and Katihar Railway Colony (outgrowth). Katihar Municipal Corporation had a total population of 225,982, out of which 119,142 were males and 106,840 were females. It had a sex ratio of 897. The population below 5 years was 31,036. The literacy rate of the 7+ population was 79.87 per cent. Katihar is at 193rd rank in terms of its population among the top 200 cities of India as per the 2011 census.

Religion

Hinduism is major religion in Katihar city with 185.196

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

(76.9%), 53.213

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abra ...

(22.1%). Other religions includes 794

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

(0.33%), 373

Sikhs Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

(0.15%), 221 Jains (0.09%), 70 Buddhists (0.03%) and 960 (0.4%) did not stated.

Climate

The climate of Katihar is nearly moderate with widespread rainfall 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 atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

s sometimes bringing flood to the adjoining rural areas of the

Katihar District Katihar district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in India, and Katihar city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of Purnia Division. It is prominently known for its Katihar Junction Railw ...

References

External links

katihar.bih.nic.inDistrict Court, Katihar
{{Purnia Division Cities and towns in Katihar district