Nalanda district is one of the thirty-eight

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

of 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 ...

in India.

Bihar Sharif Bihar Sharif is the headquarters of Nalanda district and the fifth-largest sub-metropolitan area in the eastern Indian state of Bihar. Its name is a combination of two words: ''Bihar'', derived from '' vihara'' (meaning monastery), also the nam ...

is the administrative headquarters of this district. The districts is home to the ancient

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

Mahavihara a UNESCO

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. Nalanda is located in the Magadh region of southern Bihar.

In Jainism

* The 24th

Jaina Jaina can refer to: * Jain/Jaina, a follower of Jainism, an ancient classical religion of India ** List of Jains, a list of various notable Jains ** Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA) * Jaina Island, an archaeological site ...

Tirthankara In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...

''Mahāvīra'' is said to have spent 'many ''Cāturmāsyas'' (rainy seasons)' at ''Nālandā''. Canonical scriptures of the ''

Śvetāmbara The Śvetāmbara (; also spelled Shwetambara, Shvetambara, Svetambara or Swetambara) is one of the two main branches of Jainism, the other being the Digambara. ''Śvetāmbara'' in Sanskrit means "white-clad", and refers to its ascetics' practi ...

'' sect also mention that ''Nālandā'' was known by other names such as ''Nālandāpada'' and ''Nālandā Sanniveśa''. The texts further highlight that it was a suburb of '' Rājagṛha''. ''Mahāvīra'' is said to have had met '' Makkhali-gosāla'', the leader of the ''Ājīvakas'', for the first time at ''Nālandā''. * Jaina tradition records that some of ''Mahāvīra's Gaṇadharas'' (disciples), namely '' Indrabhūti Gautama'', ''Agnibhūti Gautama'', and ''Vāyubhūti Gautama'' were born in ''Nālandā.'' * '' Sūtrakṛtāṅga Sūtra'', a canonical Jaina scripture, contains a lecture (Book 2, Lecture 7) narrating a conversation about

non-violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

between ''Indrabhūti Gautama'' and ''Lepa'', a Jaina householder in ''Nālandā''. * '' Majjhima Nikāya'', an ancient Buddhist text, mentions that ''Mahāvīra'' had visited ''Nālandā'' along with many of his followers. * '' Vividha Tīrtha Kalpa'', a 14th century text by ''Ācārya Jinaprabhasūri'', mentions that ''Mahāvīra'' completed 14 rainy seasons at ''Nālandā'' and that 'it is the source of all beauty.'' * In his travel chronicle written in 1509 CE, Jaina monk, ''Muni Hansasomavijaya'' mentions the presence of 16 Jaina temples in ''Nālandā. Panyās Jayavijaya'' states the presence of 17 Jaina temples by 1608 CE in the region. However, by 1694 CE, most of the temples were destroyed and ''Panyās Saubhāgyavijaya'' records the presence of a temple and a stūpa only. * The ASIGoI report of 1861 mentions the presence of a Jaina temple in the premises of the ruins of ''Nālandā University''. It was found to have had the same architecture style as seen in the ''Great Temple'' at '' Bodha Gayā'' and was dated to the 5th century CE. The temple was found to have Jaina images and sculptures dated to 1447 CE. * ''The Indian Antiquary'' (1918) mentions that the Jaina temple found within the ruins of ''Nālandā'' is the oldest temple in the region. * According to ''Muni'' ''Nyāyavijaya'' (c. 1949), there were 2 Jaina temples and at least 100 Jaina images at ''Nālandā''. * ''The Indian Archaeology'' (1955-56) also mentions the recovery of a Jaina image from ''Nālandā.'' * Currently, the ''Śvetāmbara'' Jaina temple at ''Nālandā'' shares a wall with the ruins of ''Nālandā'' ''University'' and has ancient Jaina images dated to as early as the 10th century CE. The principal idol of the temple is an image of '' Ṛṣabhanātha'', the 1st Jaina Tirthankara. It features unique iconography depicting '' Marudevī'', his mother, on top of his head. The image also features elongated hairlocks, typically seen in ''Śvetāmbara'' Jaina iconography of ''Ṛṣabhanātha''. Other ancient images include idols of '' Śāntinātha'', the 16th Jaina Tirthankara, ''Mahāvīra'', the 24th Jaina Tirthankara and of ''

Pārśvanātha ''Pārśvanātha'' (), or and ''Pārasanātha'', was the 23rd of 24 ''Tirthankara, tīrthaṅkaras'' ("Ford-Maker" or supreme preacher of Dharma (Jainism), Dharma) of Jainism. According to traditional accounts, he was born to King Aśvasena a ...

,'' the 23rd Jaina Tirthankara. Ancient footprints of ''Indrabhūti Gautama'' and other ''Gaṇadharas'' are also present in a separate temple in the same premises.

History

Nalanda became a fully-fledged district when it was split from

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, ...

on 9 November 1972.

Geography

Nalanda district occupies an area of . The Phalgu, Mohane, Jirayan, and Kumbhari rivers flow through it. The district is a part of

Patna Division Patna Division is one of the nine administrative units of Bihar, a state in the east of India. Patna is the headquarters of the division. Established in 1829, it is one of the oldest divisions of the state. History of administrative districts ...

. Majority of the land in the district is fertile land of Indo Gangetic plane. In the extreme South, there lies the hills of Rajgir. There is also one small hillock in the district headquarters of Bihar Sharif.

Flora and fauna

In 1978 Nalanda district became home to the Pant Wildlife Sanctuary,

Rajgir Rajgir, old name Rajagriha, meaning "The City of Kings," is an ancient city and university town in the Nalanda district of Bihar, India. It was the capital of the Haryanka dynasty, the Pradyota dynasty, the Brihadratha dynasty, the Maurya ...

which has an area of .

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Nalanda district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 2,877,653, roughly equal to the nation of

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

or the US state of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. This gives it a ranking of 134th in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

), and 18th in state. The district has a population density of . Its

population growth rate Population growth is the increase in the number of people in a population or dispersed group. The global population has grown from 1 billion in 1800 to 8.2 billion in 2025. Actual global human population growth amounts to around 70 million annu ...

over the decade 2001-2011 was 21.18%. Nalanda has a

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 ...

of 921

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 ...

for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 66.41%. 15.91% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 21.12% and 0.05% of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 56.27% of the population in the district spoke

Magahi Magahi (), also known as Magadhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai region of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name de ...

, 37.28%

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 ...

and 5.69%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

as their first language.

Politics

Since Kurmis are dominant in Nalanda, it is also known by the name ''Kurmistan'' in political circle. Nalanda district is the birthplace of

Chief Minister of Bihar The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional h ...

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

. The Nalanda district comprises Nalanda Lok Sabha constituency, which can further be fragmented into seven Legislative Assembly constituencies. In 2015 Bihar Assembly elections,

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

(JDU), the political party led by Kumar was able to win five out of seven Legislative Assembly constituencies of the district. It has been stated that preponderance of

Kushwaha Kushwaha (sometimes Kushvaha), is a community of the Indo-Gangetic Plain that has traditionally been involved in agriculture, including beekeeping. The term has been used to represent different sub-castes of the Kachhis, Kachhvahas, Koeris ...

s apart from Kurmis and sizeable population of Extremely Backward Castes, who are considered as the supporters of Kumar, has been the prime factor behind success of JDU in polls conducted in this district.

Divisions

* Sub Divisions: 3 -

and Hilsa. Modern District of Nalanda with HQ Biharsharif was established on 9 November 1972. Earlier it was Biharsharif sub-division of Patna district. Rajgir is a historical site in the district, while Hilsa serves as an important hub for agriculture and local trade.

Municipal bodies

Municipal corporation Municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including (but not necessarily limited to) cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. The term can also be used to describe municipally o ...

(1) #

Municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

(3) #

# Islampur # Hilsa *

Nagar panchayat A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

(11) #

Pawapuri Pawapuri, or Pavapuri (also called Apapapuri, meaning "the sinless town"), is a holy site for Jainism, Jains located in the Nalanda district of Bihar state in East India, eastern India. It is located about 19 kilometres from Rajgir and 101 kilo ...

# Parwalpur # Asthawan # Sarmera # Rahui # Ekangsrsarai # Harnaut # chandi #

# Giriyak # Silao

Blocks

These 3 Tehsils are further divided into 20

Block Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

s, each headed by a Block Development Officer (BDO). # Asthawan # Bena # Biharsharif #

Bind BIND () is a suite of software for interacting with the Domain Name System (DNS). Its most prominent component, named (pronounced ''name-dee'': , short for ''name Daemon (computing), daemon''), performs both of the main DNS server roles, acting ...

Chandi Chandi (, ) or Chandika () is a Hindu deity. Chandika is a form of goddess Durga. She shares similarities with the Goddess Chamunda, not only in name but also in attributes and iconography. Due to these similarities, some consider them to ...

# Ekangarsarai # Giriyak # Harnaut # Hilsa # Islampur # Karai Parsurai # Katrisarai # Nagarnausa # Noorsarai # Parwalpur # Rahui #

# Sarmera # Silao # Tharthari

Status

Nalanda district is fast developing and the ruins of the ancient Nalanda University or UNESCO Nalanda Archaeological Site attracts tourists from all over the world driving the local economy.

Economy

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, with the majority of the population engaged in agriculture. Rice, wheat, maize, pulses, potato, fruits, and vegetables are the main crops. A newly setup Ordnance Factory, one of the 41

Indian Ordnance Factories The Directorate of Ordnance (Coordination & Services) (abbreviated: DOO(C&S)) is an authority under the Department of Defence Production (DDP) of Ministry of Defence (MoD), Government of India. Its primary work is to management, give instructio ...

has been set up by the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

to manufacture artillery shells at Nalanda by the then Defence Minister Shri George Fernandes. Then there is the railway coach maintenance plant at Harnaut Block of Nalanda. Tourism is well developed, with million of people flocking at ruins of Nalanda University,

and

. Rajgir was the first capital of Magadh Empire. Buddha had spent years at this place. Surrounded by five hills, it has got scenic views. Pawapuri, the Nirwana place of

Mahavir Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...

, is holy place for the Jains. In 2006 the

Ministry of Panchayati Raj The Ministry of Panchayati Raj () is a branch of the Government of India. The Ministry is in charge of the Panchayati Raj and Panchayati Raj Institutions. It was created in May 2004. The Ministry is headed by a minister of cabinet rank / Min ...

named Nalanda one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of

). It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Notable people

* Kalim Ajiz, a Padma Shri recipient and Urdu writer * Shah Amanat, a Sufi figure * Satyadev Narayan Arya, politician and Governor of Haryana *

Aasim Bihari Ali Husain Aasim Bihari (15 April 1889 – 6 December 1953) was an Indian social activist from Bihar. Biography Aasim Bihari was born in Bihar Sharif and later moved to Kolkata. He led literacy campaigns and organised the Momin Ansari commun ...

, social activist * Abdul Qavi Desnavi, Urdu language writer, critic, Bibliographer, and linguist. * Nawal Kishore Dhawal, a writer, poet, editor, and critic * Ganesh Dutt, administrator and educationalist * Manazir Ahsan Gilani, a writer and Islamic scholar * Jabir Husain, politician * Zafar Iqbal, former Indian field hockey player and captain * Abhay Kumar, a poet-diplomat * Chandra Mohan Kumar, named as the Britain's "Top Doctor" under the anesthesia category by ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' newspaper in 2010 *

Kaushalendra Kumar Kaushalendra Kumar is a Member of Parliament for the Nalanda (Lok Sabha constituency), Nalanda constituency of the India Lok Sabha. He is a representative of the Janata Dal (United) party. He was first elected to the Lok Sabha in the 2009 India ...

, MP of Nalanda *

, Chief Minister of Bihar and former MP from Nalanda * Vikas Kumar, actor * Sulaiman Nadvi, Islamic scholar, writer and Pakistani historian * Krishna Ballabh Prasad Narain, RSS activist * Mrityunjay Prabhakar, theatre director and dramatist * Kapil Dev Prasad, a weaver and Padma Shri recipient * L. S. N. Prasad, Indian paediatrician and Padma Shri recipient * Siddheshwar Prasad, former MP and served as Governor of Tripura * Pramod Ranjan, journalist * Abul Muhasin Muhammad Sajjad, Islamic scholar, political activist and politician * Brahmadeo Narayan Singh, singer * Kapildev Prasad Singh, former member of

Bihar Legislative Council Bihar Legislative assembly also known as Bihar Vidhan Parishad is the upper house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India. History A new Province of Bihar and Odisha was created by the Government of India on 12 Decem ...

from Nalanda * Rajesh Kumar Singh M.L.C from Nalanda * Ramchandra Prasad Singh, Member of Rajya Sabha and former IAS officer * Veer Pratap Singh, Cricketer * Tarkeshwari Sinha, politician * Hari Uppal, founder of Bhartiya Nritya Kala Mandir and a Padma Shri recipient * Vijay Kumar Yadav, Ex- MP from Nalanda

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord, 25, 12, 00, N, 85, 31, 12, E, region:IN-BR_type:adm2nd_source:kolossus-nowiki, display=title Patna division Districts of Bihar