Supaul district is one of the thirty-eight
districts of Bihar
Bihar, a state of India, currently has 38 administrative districts, 101 subdivisions (अनुमंडल) and 535 CD blocks.
A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a district magistrate or a deputy ...
,
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 ...
. The town
Supaul
Supaul is a town and municipality that is headquarters of Supaul district in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Bihar.
There are 11 blocks under the Supaul district: Supaul, Kishanpur, Saraigarh-Bhaptiyahi, Pipra, Triveniganj, ...
is the district's administrative headquarters. The district, which was split from the former
Saharsa district
Saharsa is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India. Saharsa city is the administrative headquarters of this district. Saharsa district is a part of the Kosi Division and it became a district on 1 April 1954 and has subsequently become ...
on 14 March 1991, occupies .
Social Group
Supaul Voic
X(Twitter)
History
Supaul, which was previously a part of
Saharsa district
Saharsa is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India. Saharsa city is the administrative headquarters of this district. Saharsa district is a part of the Kosi Division and it became a district on 1 April 1954 and has subsequently become ...
, is now 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 foothil ...
. Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by
Indo-Aryan people
Indo-Aryan peoples are a diverse collection of peoples predominantly found in South Asia, who (traditionally) speak Indo-Aryan languages. Historically, Aryans were the Indo-Iranian speaking pastoralists who migrated from Central Asia into ...
, who established the
Mithila Kingdom
Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy ...
(also called
Kingdom of the Videhas
Videha ( Prākrit: ; Pāli: ; Sanskrit: ) was an ancient Indo-Aryan tribe of north-eastern Indian subcontinent whose existence is attested during the Iron Age. The population of Videha, the Vaidehas, were initially organised into a monarchy ...
).
During the late
Vedic period
The Vedic period, or the Vedic age (), is the period in the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age of the history of India when the Vedic literature, including the Vedas (–900 BCE), was composed in the northern Indian subcontinent, between the e ...
(c. 1100–500 BCE), Videha, along with
Kuru and
Pañcāla
Panchala () was an ancient kingdom of northern India, located in the Ganges-Yamuna Doab of the Upper Gangetic plain which is identified as Kanyakubja or region around Kannauj. During Late Vedic times (c. 1100–500 BCE), it was one of the ...
, became one of the major political and cultural centres of South Asia. The kings of the Videha Kingdom were called
Janaka
Janaka (, IAST: ''Janaka'') is the King of Videha who ruled from Mithila (region), Mithila, in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Janaka was married to Sunayana (Ramayana), Sunayana. He is the father of Sita and Urmila in the epic. The term Janaka ...
s.
The Videha Kingdom was later incorporated into the
Vajjika League
The Vajjika (Pāli: ) or Vrijika () League, Confederacy, or Sangha, also called simply Vajji (Pāli: ) or Vriji (), was an ancient Indo-Aryan league which existed during the later Iron Age period in the north-eastern Indian subcontinent.
Na ...
, which had its capital in the city
Vaishali, which is also in Mithila.
Geography
Supaul district occupies
and is bounded by
Nepal
Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...
to the north,
Araria district
Araria district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. Araria district is a part of Purnia division. The district occupies an area of . Araria town is the administrative headquarters of this district. The Nepali border is abo ...
to the east,
Madhepura
Madhepura is a municipality in Madhepura district in the Indian state of Bihar. It stands at the centre of Kosi ravine, It was called ''Madhyapura-'' a place centrally situated which was subsequently transformed as Madhipura into present Madhe ...
and
Saharsa
Saharsa is a city and municipal corporation in the Saharsa District in the eastern part of the state of Bihar, India. It is situated near the eastern banks of the Kosi River. It serves as the administrative headquarters for the Saharsa District ...
districts to the south, and
Madhubani district
Madhubani district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar, India, and is a part of Darbhanga division. Its administrative headquarters are located in Madhubani. The district has an area of and has a population of 4,487,379 (as of 20 ...
to the west. Supaul district is a part of
Kosi division
Kosi division is an administrative geographical unit of Bihar state of India. Saharsa is the administrative headquarters of the division. Currently (2022), the division consists of Saharsa district, Madhepura district, and Supaul district.
Eco ...
. The
Koshi River
The Kosi or Koshi is a transboundary river which flows through China, Nepal and India. It drains the northern slopes of the Himalayas in Tibet and the southern slopes in Nepal. From a major confluence of tributaries north of the Chatra Gorge onw ...
flows through the district, which is regularly affected when it floods.
Notable people
*
R K Singh, IAS is a former Indian bureaucrat served as Home Secretary to GoI and a member of the Indian Parliament since May 2014.
*
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain
Syed Shahnawaz Hussain is an Indian politician and a member of the Central Election Committee of Bharatiya Janata Party. He is one of the national spokespersons of Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP). Hussain was the Minister of Textiles and the ...
, BJP spokesperson and former Union Minister is also from Supaul.
*
Udit Narayan
Udit Narayan Jha (born 1 December 1955) is an Nepali and Indian playback singer whose songs have been featured mainly in Hindi cinema, Hindi films. He has also sung in various other languages including Telugu language, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil ...
was born in the village of Baisi in the district of Supaul.
*
Sharda Sinha
Sharda Sinha (1 October 1952 – 5 November 2024) was an Indian folk and classical singer. Hailing from Bihar, she predominantly sang in Maithili and Bhojpuri language and is called ''Bihar Kokila'', the cuckoo of Bihar. Sinha has sung many f ...
*
Lalit Narayan Mishra
Lalit Narayan Mishra (2 February 1923 – 3 January 1975) was an Indian politician who served as Minister of Railways in the government of India from 1973 to 1975. His political career started when he was made parliamentary secretary to the ...
*
Govind Kumar Singh
Govind Kumar Singh is an Indian fashion designer. He has appeared in two series of ''Let's Design'', a television reality show, on Zoom (Indian TV channel), Zoom and won the 2011 series.
Early life and career
Singh is from the Supaul district ...
, a fashion designer
Educational Institutions
*
Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University
Bhupendra Narayan Mandalauda University (B. N. M. U) is the state government university situated at the district headquarters, of Madhepura. B. N. Mandal University, Madhepura came into existence on 10 January 1992. It acts as an affiliating ins ...
*
Jamiatul Qasim Darul Uloom Al-Islamiah
Jamiatul Qasim Darul Uloom -il-Islamia is an Islamic seminary in India. The Jamia was established by Mufti Mahfoozur Rahman Usmani, an Islamic scholar of India in 1989 at the Indo-Nepal border, in Supaul, Bihar. The Jamia also serves as a cen ...
Sub-divisions
The Supaul district comprises the following four sub-divisions:
*Supaul Sadar
*Birpur
*Triveniganj
*Nirmali
Blocks
There are a total of eleven blocks in the Supaul District:
* Basantpur (Parts of Birpur Sub-division)
* Raghopur (Parts of Birpur Sub-division)
* Pratapganj (Parts of Birpur Sub-division)
* Supaul (Parts of Supaul Sadar Sub-division)
* Kishanpur (Parts of Supaul Sadar Sub-division)
* Saraigarh-Bhaptiyahi (Parts of Supaul Sadar Sub-division)
* Pipra (Parts of Supaul Sadar Sub-division)
* Triveniganj (Parts of Triveniganj Sub-division)
* Chhatapur (Parts of Triveniganj Sub-division)
*
Nirmali (Parts of Nirmali Sub-division)
* Marauna (Parts of Nirmali Sub-division)
Politics
Supaul Lok Sabha is one of the 40 Lok Sabha (parliamentary) constituencies in Bihar state. This constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of the implementation of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on the recommendations of the
Delimitation Commission of India
The Delimitation Commission of India is a commission established by the Government of India under the provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act, tasked with redrawing the boundaries of legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies bas ...
constituted in 2002.
Economy
Agriculture is the major occupation of this district and rice is the main crop.
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 Supaul as one of the country's 250
most backward districts 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 ...
.
[ It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar that receive funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).] From December 2012, Bivha International Child Fund has funded education in Supaul's Koshi division. Several programs are funded for education, agriculture from Bivha International School, Bivha Rural Development fund, national banks, NABARD, and World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
.
A dairy farm, which produce approximately of milk per day has been established by Bivha Corporation in Simrahi Bazar, Supaul. There is also an egg farm, which produces approximately 20,000 eggs per day, which was established by M/S Koshi in Parsauni village.
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, Supaul district had 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 2,229,076, roughly equal to the nation Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
or the US state of New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. This gives it a ranking of 204th 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 ...
) districts.[ 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 28.62%.[ Supaul 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 925 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 59.65%. 4.74% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 15.89% and 0.46% of the population respectively.[
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 76.31% of the population in the district spoke Maithili, 12.43% ]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 ...
, 9.30% 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 ...
and 1.25% Bengali
Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to:
*something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia
* Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region
* Bengali language, the language they speak
** Bengali alphabet, the w ...
as their first language.
Urban and Rural Supaul
Supaul District urban population 2011
According to the 2011 census, out of the total population of Supaul, 4.74 percent live in urban regions of the district. In total, 105,558 people lives in urban areas; there were 55,788 males and 49,770 females. The sex ratio in the urban region of Supaul district is 1,000 males to 892 females as per 2011 census data. The sex ratio of children in Supaul district was 1,000 males to 932 females in 2011. The child population (ages 0–6) in urban region was 17,654, of which there were 9,140 males and 8,514 females, comprising 16.38% of the urban population. The average literacy rate in Supaul district as per census 2011 was 72.74%; the rate in males was 80.78% and in females it was 63.64%. The exact figure of 63,939 people in the urban regions were literate, of which males numbered 37,684 and females numbered 26,255.
Supaul District rural population 2011
As per 2011 census, 2,123,518 people, 95.26% of the population of Supaul district, live in rural areas and villages. of which 1,099,495 were male and 1,024,023 were female. In rural areas of the district, the sex ratio is 931 females per 1,000 males. If the sex ratio of children is 945 girls per 1,000 boys. The child population of six years or below was 419,703 in rural areas, of which 215,813 were male and 203,890 were female. Children comprise 19.63% of the district's rural population. The literacy rate in rural areas of Supaul district is 56.89% as per census data 2011. Male and female literacy stood at 69.03& and 43.82% respectively. In total, 969,344 people were literate, of which 609,988 were male and 359,356 were female respectively.
Culture
The well-known historical and religious place, namely Durga Sthan, parsarma lies in the Supaul district and it is only away from the district headquarters.
* Rajbiraj
Rajbiraj () is a mid-sized municipality located in the south-eastern part of Madhesh Province of Nepal. The city is also called the "Pink City of Nepal" because the township was designed in 1938 based on influence from the "Indian Pink City" Ja ...
(10 km towards north in Nepal, is a historic city which houses the famous 8th century Rajdevi Temple and close to Chinnamasta shakti Peeth. It also has lot of displays of the region's culture. It is just off the Kunauli
Kunauli is a town located in the Supaul (old Saharsa) district of Bihar, India on the border of Nepal's Saptari District
Saptari (), is Located in the easternmost part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. Its ...
border.
Vishnu Mandir, temple based on south Indian architecture and dedicated to lord Vishnu has become a major tourist destination in the district. This adds a south Indian essence to the Mithila culture of the area. It is situated on the national highway 106.
Transport
Supaul is well-connected to other cities by road with national highways 106 and 57 that pass through it. NH57 connects Supaul to major cities such as Silchar, Gauhati Siliguri, Forbesganj, Mujjafarpur, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Porbandar. There are regular buses to the state's capital 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, ...
and the national capital Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
.
Rail transport is available across the district. The former narrow-gauge railway
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...
connecting to Saharsa and Forbesganj is running . It is planned to be connected to Forbesganj, Saharasa Darbhanga, Mujjafarpur, and numerous other cities.
* The former Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and his chosen Union Council of Ministers, Council of Ministers, despite the president of ...
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...
prompted the foundation of New Kosi Mahasetu Bridge in 2002, which was washed away in heavy floods and the India-Nepal earthquake in 1934. The new bridge was inaugurated in 2020 by Narendra Modi
Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...
and was constructed at a cost of . The length of the bridge is . Forbesganj
Forbesganj is a city with municipality in the Araria District (formerly Purnia District before 1992) in the state of Bihar, India, situated at the border of Nepal.
Etymology
During the British Raj the area was under the administration of a Bri ...
, Saharasa and Raghopur - Saraigarh DEMU became first trains to cross this bridge.
See also
* Sukhpur Dayodhi
References
External links
Official website
Supaul Information Portal
{{Authority control
1991 establishments in Bihar
Districts of Bihar
Kosi division