Samsi is a village in

Ratua I Ratua I is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Chanchal subdivision of Malda district in the Indian state of West Bengal. History Gauda and Pandua Gauda was once the "capital of the ancient bhukti or political ...

block in

Chanchal subdivision Chanchal subdivision is an administrative subdivision of the Malda district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of West Bengal. Geography Chanchal subdivision covers the Tal, one of the three physiographic sub-regions of the dis ...

Malda district Malda district, also spelt Maldah or Maldaha (, , often ), is a district in West Bengal, India. It lies 347 km (215 miles) north of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Mango, jute and silk are the most notable products of this district. ...

of Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

Geography

Location

Sahibganj Sahebganj (also known as Sahibganj) is a scenic town and a port city with the serene Ganga and sturdy hills in the Sahibganj subdivision of the Sahebganj district of Jharkhand state, India. It serves as headquarters for Sahibganj District, Sahi ...

Manihari Manihari is a town and a notified area in Katihar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. Pincode of Manihari is 854113. Geography Manihari is located at . It has an average elevation of 31 metres (101&nb ...

Raiganj Raiganj () is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Uttar Dinajpur district. The police station was set up 125 years ago and railway connectivity reached the place 115 years ago. The city h ...

and

Katihar Katihar is a city situated in the eastern part of the state of Bihar in India. It is the regional headquarter of Katihar district. It is one of the important cities of Bihar. Also it's a main route of Delhi - Guwahati railway line. History Ka ...

are the nearby cities. It is in the border of Maldah District and

Katihar District Katihar district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state in India, and Katihar city is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district is a part of Purnia Division. It is prominently known for its Katihar Junction Railwa ...

and is near to the

Bihar Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...

state border.

Area overview

The area shown in the adjacent map covers two physiographic regions – the ''

Barind Barind Tract (alternately called the Varendra Tract in English and Borendro Bhumi in Bengali) is the largest Pleistocene era physiographic unit in the Bengal Basin. It covers most of Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabna, Rajshahi, Bogra, and Joypurhat d ...

'' in the east and the ''tal'' in the west. The eastern part is comparatively high (up to 40 metres above mean sea level at places) and uneven. The soils of the eastern region are “hard salty clays of a reddish hue and the ground is baked hard as iron.” It lies to the east of the

Mahananda River The Mahananda River (Pron:/ˌməhɑːˈnʌndə or ˌmɑːhəˈnʌndə/) is a trans-boundary river that flows through the Indian states of Bihar and West Bengal, and Bangladesh. It is an important tributary of the Ganges. Course The Mahananda ...

. The area lying to the west of the Mahananda River, the ''tal'', is a flat low land and “is strewn with innumerable marshes, bils and

oxbow lake An oxbow lake is a U-shaped lake or pool that forms when a wide meander of a river is cut off, creating a free-standing body of water. In South Texas, oxbows left by the Rio Grande are called '' resacas''. In Australia, oxbow lakes are call ...

s.” The ''tal'' area is prone to flooding by local rivers. The total area is overwhelmingly

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

. There are two important historical/ archaeological sites in the area – Pandua and

Jagjivanpur Jagajjibanpur or Jagajivanpur (in Bengali: জগজ্জীবনপুর) is an archaeological site in Habibpur block of Malda district in West Bengal state in eastern India. This site is located at a distance of 41 km east from English Ba ...

. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the area. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics

As per the

2011 Census of India The 2011 Census of India or the 15th Indian Census was conducted in two phases, house listing and population enumeration. The House listing phase began on 1 April 2010 and involved the collection of information about all buildings. Information ...

, Samsi had a total population of 48989, of which 25,200(51%) were males and 23789 (49%) were females. Population below 6 years was 276. The total number of literates in Siwwas as 2,056 (85.31% of the population over 6 years).

Transport

Samsi railway station is on the

Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line The Howrah–New Jalpaiguri line is a railway line connecting with in North Bengal in the Indian state of West Bengal. The line continues through North Bengal and western part of Assam to connect with Guwahati. The – link allows trains from ...

. National Highway 31 starts from

Unnao Unnao is a city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of Unnao district and a part of Lucknow division, between Kanpur and Lucknow. Unnao is a large industrial city with three industrial suburbs around it. ...

in Uttar Pradesh and passes through Bihar and terminates at its crossing with

State Highway 10 (West Bengal) State Highway 10 (West Bengal) is a State highways in India, state highway in West Bengal, India. Route SH 10 originates from Malda Town and passes through Manikchak, Malda, Manikchak, Ratua, Samsi, Malda, Samsi, Gazole Town, Madnahar, Buniadpur ...

at Samsi, as shown in Google maps.

Education

Samsi College Samsi College is an undergraduate college at Samsi under Chanchol police station in the Malda district of West Bengal, India. The college is affiliated to the University of Gour Banga, offering undergraduate courses. History This is the s ...

, established at Kandaran in 1968, is located near Samsi. It is affiliated with the

University of Gour Banga University of Gour Banga is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Malda City, Malda, West Bengal, India. It is one of the newest state universities established in 2008 by the Government of West Benga ...

. It offers honours courses in Arabic, Bengali, English, Sanskrit, history, geography, philosophy, political science, economics and sociology, and general courses in arts and commerce. It has a boys hostel and a girls hostel is under construction.

Healthcare

Ratua Rural Hospital at

Ratua Ratua is a town in the Ratua I CD block in the Chanchal subdivision of Malda district in the state of West Bengal, India. Geography Location Ratua is located at . Area overview The area shown in the adjacent map covers two physiographic regi ...

(with 30 beds) is the main medical facility in Ratua I CD Block. There are primary health centres at Debipur (with 10 beds), Mahanandatola (with 10 beds) and Samsi (with 10 beds).

References

{{Malda District Villages in Malda district