Kishanganj

Kishanganj is a city and district headquarters of Kishanganj district in Purnea division of Bihar state. Kishanganj old name is Nepalgarh. Historically a part of Nepal since ages it became part of Mughal India in 1840 after the local ruler got defeated by the Mughal India forces.Koch/Rajbongshi are the original inhabitant of this area. They are locally called Surjapuri.Subsequently, it was absorbed in British empire. It is part of the chicken neck of Indian map. It is located at 26°04′46″N 87°56′14″E. Main rivers of this district are Mechi, Mahananda, Kankai. it is the only tea producing district in Bihar. It is one of the most sensitive districts of India, as the borders of this district are very near to Bangladesh(10 km), touching Nepal in southeast and north to Uttar Dinajpur and Darjeeling district of West Bengal respectively.Kishanganj has seven BlockHistorySome passages in the Mahabharata describing conquest of Bhima in eastern India furnish further information about the inhabitants of this part of country. Bhima, it is said, conquered Maharaja, the king of Kanski-kocha and the land of the Pandras. He also defeated Karna, the king of Anga, conquered the hills of tribes, killed the king of Modagri in the battle, and then subdued the powerful Pundra king.Local tradition still speaks of the struggle and the conquest of the Kiratas. A Kirata woman from the Morang or Tarai is said to have been the wife of Raja Birat, who, it is said in Mahabharata, gave shelter to Yudhishthira and his four Pandava brothers during their 12 years of exile. The site is still pointed out at the Thakurganj in the north of this district. A big pond which is called Bhatdola to the west of Thakurganj is just adjacent to the railways lines still existing. People say that it was used by Draupadi, the wife of Panch Pandavas for cooking rice for the Pandavas. It is said to have been the site of the residence of the Raja Birat. Some stones with inscription were dug up at Thakurganj, which the villagers declare were the remains of the Birat's palace.