Saharsa 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). During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Videha became one of the major political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Videha Kingdom were called
Janakas. The Videha Kingdom was later incorporated into the
Vajjika League, which had its capital in the city of
Vaishali, which is also in Mithila. Mandan Mishra whose conversation with the
Shankaracharya was considered one of the most intellectual conversations in the world was done in Mahismati village, nowadays Mahisi village. During the Dharma Vijaya yatra of
Adi Shankara, He visited Mahisi village (then called Mahishmati) to debate Mandana Misra. After winning in all discussions in all over the nation, He lost the
Sastrartha there. Earlier, the Saharsa district was part of the
Munger and
Bhagalpur districts. On 1 April 1954 it was made a district of its own. It was also made headquarters of
Kosi division on 2 October 1972, comprising Saharsa,
Purnia and
Katihar district, with its headquarters at Saharsa. Similarly a new Civil Sub-Division Birpur was created on 1 December 1972, consisting of 24 development blocks, including Raghopur, Chhatapur, Basantpur and Nirmali, which were previously under Supaul subdivision of the district. Two new districts,
Madhepura and
Supaul, were formed from Saharsa district on 30 April 1981 and 1991. Saharsa district now consists of two subdivisions, Saharsa Sadar and Simri Bakhtiarpur. The district consists of 10 development blocks and anchals each. == Geography ==