PASHCHIM CHAMPARAN, Bihar

Main Attraction: VALMIKINAGAR

Formally known as BHAINSA LOTAN, it is a famous tourist spot where a dam is built on the river Gandak (Gandak Project). This dam and its channels are the lifeline of north-western part of Bihar. This channel also irrigates some portions of eastern U.P. This dam is also generating hydroelectricity.

This dam has been handed over to the nation by late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the then Prime Minister. For any tourist interested in exploring natural beauty, a visit to the sylvan surroundings of Valmilki Nagar is a must, where the gushing streams of Gandak break the ascetic calm of the Himalayan foothills.

Brief History

The name Champaran is a degenerate form of Champaka aranya, a name which dates back to the time when the district was a tract of the forest of Champa (Magnolia) trees & was the abode of solitary asectics.The whole district is dotted with places held in religious esteem as the traditional abodes of Hindu rishis, such as valmiki, in whose hermitage Sita, the banished spouse of Rama, is said to have taken shelter. 

This great sage is reputed to have resided near Sangrampur, and the village is believed to be indebted for its name (which means the city of the battle) to the famous fight between Rama and his two sons, Lava and Kusha. There is also a popular belief that within this district lay the kingdom of Virat mentioned in the Mahabharat as the tract within which the Pandavas spent the last year of their weary 12 years’ exile; and that its capital, where the five brothers resided a year, was situated at or near a village called Vairati, or Bairati 9 or 10 kms. west of Ramnagar.

Apart from these traditions, it seems probable that Champaran was occupied at an early period by races of Aryan descent and formed part of the country in which the Videhas has settled after their migration from the Punjab. According to the legend preserved in Vedic literature, Agni the God of fire, accompanied the Videhas in their march eastwards from the banks of the Saraswati, and when they came to the broad stream of the Gandak, they cleared the forest, cultivated the virgin soil and founded a great and powerful kingdom. This kingdom was in course of time ruled over by king Janaka, who is said by local legend to have lived at Chankigarh, known locally as Jankigarh, 17 kilometres north of Lauriya Nandangarh. Under his rule, according to the Hindu mythology, the kingdom of Mithila was the most civilised kingdom in India. King Janak, himself was a scholar and author of Upanishads, and his chief priest, Yajnavalkya was the renowned codifier of the Hindu law. 

After the decline of the Videha empire, the district formed part of the Vrijjian oligarchical republic with its capital at Vaishali. The Lichchhavis were the most prominent of the clans which constituted the Vrijjian confederation. Ajatshatru the emperor of Magadh succeeded in subduing the Licchhhavis and occupying their capital at Vaishali. He extended his sovereignty over the present district of Paschim Champaran which continued under the Mauryan rule for the next hundred years. Ashoka’s pillars have been found at Lauriya (Nandangarh). After the Mauryas, the Sungas and Kanvas ruled over Magadh and its territories. Archaeological evidences pointing to the influence of the Sunga and Kanva culture which have been found in the district.

The district thereafter formed part of the Kushan Empire and later came under the Gutpa Empire, though not much is known about the material culture of the district in that age. Alongwith Tirhut, the district was possibly annexed by Harsha during whose reign Hiuen Tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim visited India.

The history of the district during the medieval period and the British period is linked with the history of Bettiah Raj.

The District Gazetteer mentions the Bettiah Raj as a great estate. It traces its descent from one Ujjain Singh and his son, Gaj Singh who received the title of Raja from the Emperor Shah Jehan (1628-58). The family came into prominence in the 18th century during the time of the downfall of the Mughal Empire when one finds frequent references made by Muhammadan historians to the Rajas of Bettiah as independent chiefs. Thus, in the Riyazus-Salatin, the Raja is described as a refractory and turbulent chief, whose territory had never acknowledged the dominion of any of the Subahdars. 

In order to subdue this chief Ali Vardi Khan led an expedition against him in 1729, and brought him and his territory under subjugation. Subsequently, in 1748, the Raja seems to have entered into an alliance with the Afghan rebel chief of Darbhanga and given shelter to the members of his family during their revolt against the Bengal Viceroy; when the Afghans were defeated by Ali vardi Khan, he offered to atone for his contumacy with a contribution of 3 lakhs of rupees. In 1759 Caillaud advanced against the fort of Bettiah, and compelled the Raja to submit; in 1762 another expedition was sent against him by Mir Kasim Ali Khan and his fort was again captured; and in 1766 a third expedition under Sir Robert Barker became necessary to establish British authority.

At the time when Sarkar Champaran passed under British rule, it was in the possession of Raja Jugal Keshwar Singh, who succeeded Raja Dhurup Singh in 1763. This Raja soon came in conflict with the East India Company. He fell into arrears of revenue and after an unsuccessful attempt to resist the British forces fled to Bundelkhand for safety. The attempt by the Company to manage the estate proved, however, a complete failure; and the Company finding that its revenue grew less and less, persuaded Jugal Keshwar Singh to return. They then settled with him parganas Majhawa and Simraon, the remainder of the district being given to his cousins, Sri Kishan Singh and Abdhat Singh and forming the Sheohar Raj. The same two paraganas of Majhawa and Simraon were settled with Bir Keshwar Singh, the son of Jugal Keshwar Singh, at the Decennial Settlement in 1791, which constituted the greater part of the Bettiah Raj Estate. Bir Keshwar Singh played a prominent part in the disputes which led to the Nepalese war, and was succeeded in 1816 by Anand Keshwar Singh on whom Lord William Bentinck conferred the title of Maharaja Bahadur as a reward for services rendered. 

On the death of his successor, Newal Keshwar Singh in 1855, the estate passed to Rajendra Keshwar who, in the words of the Lieutenant-Governor, gave at the time of the Mutiny “praiseworthy aid and support to Government during the whole progress of the rebellion”. The title of Maharaja Bahadur was also given to this Raja and to his son, Harendra Keshwar Singh, the last Maharaja of Bettiah, who was subsequently made K.C.I.E. and died in 1893. He left no children and was succeeded by his senior widow, who died in 1896. The estate, which had been under the management of the Court of Wards since 1897, was also held by the Maharaja’s junior widow’ Maharani Janaki Kuoar who was styled Maharani by courtesy. Her title to the estate was contested on three occasions. Babu Ramnandan Singh and Babu Girijanandan Singh of Sheohar each laid claim to the estate, but their claims were disallowed by the Privy Council in 1902.

The Bettiah Raj palace occupies a large area in the centre of the town. Much of the old palace was removed and large modern additions were made by the Court of Wards. In 1910 at the request of the Maharani the new palace was built after the plan of Graham’s palace in Calcutta. The later history of the district is intimately connected with indigo plantation. Britain used to get supplies of indigo from her American colonies but this ceased after the War of Independence in 1776 as a result of which the colonies became free. This forced the British to fall back upon India for supplies of indigo. Many factories were set up by the Europeans in the indigo-producing areas of Bengal and Bihar. The Bettiah and Ramnagar estates gave leases of land to them for indigo cultivation on rather easy terms.

In the freedom struggle the district played an important role and was among the outstanding districts in the state in regard to national movement. The rise of nationalism in Bettiah in early 20th century is intimately connected with indigo plantation. Raj Kumar Shukla, an ordinary raiyat and indigo cultivator of Champaran met Gandhijii and explained the plight of the cultivators and the atrocities of the planters on the raiyats. Gandhijii came to Champaran in 1917 and listened to the problems of the cultivators and the started the movement known as Champaran Satyagraha Movement to end the oppression of the British indigo planters. By 1918 the long standing misery of the indigo cultivators came to an end and Champaran became the hub of Indian National Freedom Movement and the launch pad of Gandhi’s Satyagraha.