Kishanganj district

Kishanganj was formerly known as Krishnaganj, but the name was altered to Kishanganj. ==Geography==

Kishanganj district occupies an area of , Kishanganj district is surrounded by Araria district in the west, Purnia district in the south-west, Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal on the east, and Darjeeling district of West Bengal and Nepal on the north. A narrow strip of West Bengal, about 20 km wide separates it from Bangladesh. Kishanganj district is located between 25° 20’ and 26° 30’ north latitudes, and 87° 7’ and 88° 19’ east longitudes. River Major rivers flowing through the district are Mahananda, Kankai, Mechi, Donk, Ratua. == Politics ==

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Kishanganj one of the country's 250 most backward districts out of a total of 640. Kishanganj is the only tea producing district in Bihar. ==History==

Kishanganj district, which was previously part of Purnia district, is part of the Mithila region. Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Mithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas) which was ruled by the Videhas, an Indo-Aryan tribe. Present Kishanganj was in the western part of the Pundra region which was initially outside the Indo-Aryan band of settlement. There are still tales of the fort of Raja Virat in Thakurganj tehsil who gave the Pandavas shelter during their exile. Pundra was included in the Mauryan Empire, and it was then included in the Gupta Empire. The region was visited by Xuanzang during his travels and was conquered by Shashanka in the early 7th century. The Palas and Senas then took over the district before the Muslim conquest. ==Sub-divisions==

The district comprises only one sub-division, Kishanganj, which is further divided into seven blocks: • Bahadurganj • Dighalbank • Kishanganj • Kochadhaman • Pothia • Terhagachha • Thakurganj ==Education==

On 30 January 2014, the foundation stone was laid down of the Kishanganj campus of Aligarh Muslim University by Sonia Gandhi. The study centre started out by offering two courses. ==Demographics==

According to the 2011 census Kishanganj district has a population of 1,690,400, roughly equal to the nation of Guinea-Bissau or the US state of Idaho. This gives it a ranking of 293rd in India (out of a total of 640). Most of the inhabitants of Kishanganj speak Surjapuri. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 42.61% of the population in the district spoke Surjapuri, 32.62% Urdu, 9.05 Hindi, 6.66% Bengali, 3.45% Santali, 2.63% Maithili and 1.23% Bhojpuri as their first language. == Administrative units ==

• Number of Revenue Division(s)- 1 • Number of Blocks- 7 • Number of Police Stations- 20 • Number of Gram Panchayats- 126 • Number of Census Villages- 771 • Number of Nagar panchayat- 3 [Bahadurganj, Thakurganj, Powakhali] • Number of Municipal Council- 1 [ Kishanganj] See also - Literacy In Bihar == Notable people ==

Asrarul Haq Qasmi ==References==