ABSTRACT
Recorded history of India begins in the sixth century bc. At this point Magadh emerges as a political entity. Magadh became the core of the present day state of Bihar, a bigger entity with the Ganga River running through its centre. Magadh led the way politically as well as intellectually; the ruling elite was intellectually motivated. No wonder Ashoka the Great, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya and successor to the throne became an admirer of Buddhism and decided to propagate it within his empire. Towards the end of the twelfth century, Muslims from Central Asia attacked north India. Muslims controlled Sindh and Punjab, the latter after the raids of Muhammad Ghazni. Along with Islam, Sufi order arrived in Bihar as well. Followers of Sufi saints Abu Najib Abdul Qadir Suhrawardi and his disciple Shaikh-us-Shaykh Suhrawardi, and so on, came to Bihar and resided there. They preached the message of Saints that they worshipped.
