ABSTRACT

By 1793, Bihar comprised the districts of Tirhut, Saran, Purnea, Behar, Bhagalpur, Shahabad with headquarters at Arrah, Ramgarh and a portion of the Jungle-Mahals. The chief administrative seat of these districts soon developed into urban centres, since they became the focal point of revenue, civil and judicial administration of the respective areas. The district of Saran included the Mughal Sarkar of Champaran and therefore, to look after the territory of Champaran a Magistrate was stationed at Motihari in 1837. Champaran bordered on Nepal and commanded the land-routes to the valley of Kathmandu. Bhagalpur became the district headquarters in the early days of the rule of the English East India Company, it was chosen because of its location on the banks of the Ganga near Munger and for easy accessibility. The new urban centres may be described as beacons of modernization since they embodied the principle of rule of law, administered through the law-courts.