Simraungadh, Simraongarh or Simroungarh (,

Devanagari Devanagari ( ; , , Sanskrit pronunciation: ), also called Nagari (),Kathleen Kuiper (2010), The Culture of India, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, , page 83 is a left-to-right abugida (a type of segmental Writing systems#Segmental syste ...

: सिम्रौनगढ) was a fortified city and the main capital of the Tirhut Kingdom founded by Karnat King

Nanyadeva Nanyadeva (IAST: ') was the founder of the Karnata (Karan Kayastha) dynasty of Mithila. He was the ancestor of Harisimhadeva and descendant of Suheldev . He established his capital in Simraungadh and ruled the greater Mithila region for 50 years. ...

in 1097. At present time, it is a municipality of

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

, located in

Bara District Bara District ( ne, बारा जिल्ला ) is one of the seventy–seven districts of Nepal, located in the western part of the Madhesh Province. The district is third richest district in Nepal after Kathmandu and Morang with 3.3% sh ...

Madhesh Province Madhesh Province ( Nepali/ mai, मधेश प्रदेश) is a province of Nepal that was formed after the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal. It is Nepal's most populous province, and smallest province by area. It borders Province N ...

. The archaeological exploration also shows that the part of the fortification walls are extended into

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

as the city was situated on the modern-day border. The municipality was created in 2014 by agglomerating the Village Development Committees of

Amritganj Amritganj' (Nepali: अमृतगञ्ज)'' is a Municipality in Bara District in the Narayani Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census Nepal conducted a widespread national census in 2011 by the Nepal Central Bure ...

Golaganj Golaganj is a village and Village Development Committee in Bara District in the Narayani Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census Nepal conducted a widespread national census in 2011 by the Nepal Central Bureau of Stat ...

, Hariharpur & Uchidih and later on expanded the municipality areas to include Bhagwanpur,

Kachorwa Kachorwa is a town and Village Development Committee in Bara District in the Narayani Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau ...

, Dewapur-Teta, and

Bishnupur Bishnupur or Vishnupur may refer to: Administrative divisions * Bishnupur district in Manipur, India * Bishnupur district, West Bengal in West Bengal, India * Bishnupur subdivision in West Bengal, India Municipal division * Bishnupur Rural Munic ...

. The city finds mention in the travel accounts of a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

Dharmasvamin Dharmasvamin (''Chag Lo-tsa-ba Chos-rje-dpal'', 1197–1264) was a Tibetan monk and pilgrim who travelled to India between 1234 and 1236. His biography by Upasaka Chos-dar provides an eyewitness account of the times. India visit The objective ...

(1236) when he was on his way back to Nepal And Tibet, an Italian

Missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

traveler, Cassiano Beligatti (1740),

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

James Kirkpatrick (1801) on his mission to Nepal and later used in 1835 by British

ethnologist Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology) ...

Brian Houghton Hodgson Brian Houghton Hodgson (1 February 1800 or more likely 1801 – 23 May 1894) was a pioneer naturalist and ethnologist working in India and Nepal where he was a British Resident. He described numerous species of birds and mammals from the Himala ...

. The city is located along the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between

and

. It lies south of Nepal's capital,

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, and east of

Birgunj Birgunj ( ne, वीरगञ्ज) is a metropolitan city in Parsa District in Madhesh Province of southern Nepal. It lies south of the capital Kathmandu, attached in the north to Raxaul in the border of the Indian state of Bihar. As an entr ...

metro city.

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri (;Bhojpuri entry, Oxford Dictionaries
, Oxford U ...

is the local language of Simraungadh.

Etymology

The name ''Simraon'' comes from the local language ''Simr'' which stands for Simal tree found in the area. Simraongarh's relationship with the Simal forest has been also revealed by

Gopal Raj Vamshavali The Gopal Raj Vamshavali (IAST: Gopālarājavaṃśāvalī, Devanagari: गोपालराजवंशावली) is a 14th-century hand-written manuscript of Nepal which is primarily a genealogical record of Nepalese monarchs. One of the m ...

, the oldest chronicles of Nepal. The Tibetan monk and traveler, Dharmasavamin states Simrāongarh as Pa-ta. The word ''Pata'' is an abbreviation of last affix of Pattana''', which means a capital in

Sanskrit language Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the lat ...

History

Simraungadh was the capital of an independent

Hindu kingdom The Kingdom of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल अधिराज्य), also known as the Gorkha Empire ( ne, गोरखा अधिराज्य) or Asal Hindustan ( ne, असल हिन्दुस्तान)(), was a Hindu king ...

of the

Mithila Mithila may refer to: Places * Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state ** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha * Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal ...

or Tirhut from the 11th century to early 14th century. The fortified city was built along the present-day

between

and

. The rule of the

Karnat dynasty Karnat or Karnata dynasty was a Maithil dynasty established in 1097 CE. The dynasty had two capitals which were Simraungadh in Bara District of Nepal and Darbhanga, Bihar which became the second capital during the reign of Gangadeva. The kingdom c ...

marks an important milestone and a

golden age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during ...

in the history of Tirhut. The rise of this empire saw the birth of efficient administration, social reforms, religious and the development of local folk music and literature.

Karnat dynasty

The Simraon, Karnat, or Dev Dynasty originated with the establishment of a kingdom in 1097 CE headquartered at present-day Simraungadh in Bara district. The kingdom controlled the areas we today know as

Tirhut Mithila (), also known as Tirhut, Tirabhukti and Mithilanchal is a geographical and cultural region of the Indian subcontinent bounded by the Mahananda River in the east, the Ganges in the south, the Gandaki River in the west and by the foothill ...

or Mithila in

and

. This region is bounded by 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 ...

in the east, the

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

in the south, the

Gandaki River The Gandaki River, also known as the Narayani and the Gandak, is one of the major rivers in Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. Its total catchment area amounts to , most of it in Nepal. In the Nepal Himalayas, it is notabl ...

in the west, and by the

Himalayas The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...

in the north. The boundary line was made between the two countries after the

Treaty of Sugauli The Treaty of Sugauli (also spelled Sugowlee, Sagauli and Segqulee), the treaty that established the boundary line of Nepal, was signed on 4 March 1816 between the East India Company and Guru Gajaraj Mishra following the Anglo-Nepalese War ...

in 1816 CE. According to French orientalist and

indologist Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...

Sylvain Lévi Sylvain Lévi (March 28, 1863 – October 30, 1935) was an influential French orientalist and indologist who taught Sanskrit and Indian religion at the École pratique des hautes études. Lévi's book ''Théâtre Indien'' is an important w ...

established his supremacy over Simraungadh probably with the help of Chalukya king

Vikramaditya VI Vikramaditya VI (r. 1076 – 1126 CE) became the Western Chalukya King after deposing his elder brother Someshvara II, a political move he made by gaining the support of Chalukya vassals during the Chola invasion of Chalukya territory.Sen ( ...

. After the reign of Vikramaditya VI in 1076 CE, he led the successful military campaign over modern

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

and

. The rulers of Simraongarh are as follows:

Invasion

Harisingh Dev (r. 1295 to 1324 CE), the sixth descendant of

was ruling the Tirhut Kingdom. At the same time, the

Tughlaq dynasty The Tughlaq dynasty ( fa, ), also referred to as Tughluq or Tughluk dynasty, was a Muslim dynasty of Indo- Turkic origin which ruled over the Delhi sultanate in medieval India. Its reign started in 1320 in Delhi when Ghazi Malik assumed the ...

comes to power, which ruled the

Delhi sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

and whole

Northern India North India is a loosely defined region consisting of the northern part of India. The dominant geographical features of North India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from the Tibetan Plateau and Central ...

from 1320 to 1413 CE. In 1324 CE, the founder of the Tughlaq dynasty and Delhi Sultan,

Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq Ghiyath al-Din Tughluq, Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq ) (Ghazi means 'fighter for Islam')ref name="sen2"> (died c.1325) was the Sultan of Delhi from 1320 to 1325. He was the first sultan of the Tughluq dynasty. During his reign, Ghiyath al-Din Tughlu ...

turned his attention towards

. The Tughlaq army invaded Bengal and on his way back to Delhi, The sultan heard about the Simraungarh which was flourishing inside the jungle. The last king of the Karnata dynasty, Harisingh Dev didn't show his strength and left the fort as he heard the news of approaching army of the Tughlaq Sultan towards the Simraungarh. The Sultan and his troop stayed there for 3 days and cleared the dense forest. Finally on day 3, the army attacked and entered into the huge fort whose walls was tall and surrounded by 7 big

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate divot created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ar ...

es. The remains are still scattered all over the Simroungarh region. King Harisingh Deva fled northwards into the then Nepal. The son of Harisingh Dev, Jagatsingh Dev married the widow princess of

Bhaktapur , motto = ne, पुर्खले सिर्जेको सम्पत्ती, हाम्रो कला र संस्कृति , lit=Creation of our ancestors, our heritage and culture , image_map ...

Nayak Devi.

Geography and climate

Simraungadh is located at . It has an average elevation of 83 meters. The Simraungdah town lies on the flat and fertile plain of

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in northern India and southern Nepal that lies south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills, and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by tall grasslands, scr ...

. In the south, the city borders Bijwani in the border of the Indian state of

, while Adarsh Kotwal in the north.

Tourist attractions

Ranivas Temple and Palace

Ranivas Complex comprises 'Ranivas Temple' which is also known as 'Ram Mandir', 'Ram Janaki Mandir', 'Ranivas Palace' and 'Mahal Sarai' is located 1 Kilometer north of Simraungadh market area and 2 Kilometer north of the Indian border. The complex is spread in 600

bigha The bigha (also formerly beegah) is a traditional unit of measurement of area of a land, commonly used in India (including Uttarakhand, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat ...

s. It is one of the most visited sites of Simraungadh by local and foreign tourists. The present Ram Janaki temple is built in 1878 AD by Jagat Jung Rana, son of

Jung Bahadur Rana Maharaja Jung Bahadur Kunwar Ranaji, (born Bir Narsingh Kunwar ( ne, वीर नरसिंह कुँवर), 18 June 1817; popularly known as Jung Bahadur Rana (JBR, ne, जङ्गबहादुर राणा)) () belonging to the ...

. In 1877 AD, then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Jung Bahadur Rana died at a place called Patharghat,

Rautahat Rautahat is a village development committee in Saptari District in the Sagarmatha Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 2252 people living in 468 individual households. Jung Bahadur Rana ...

while returning from a

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

camp from Simraungadh. According to the wish expressed by his queen Hiranyagarbha Devi while going to

Sati Sati or SATI may refer to: Entertainment * ''Sati'' (film), a 1989 Bengali film by Aparna Sen and starring Shabana Azmi * ''Sati'' (novel), a 1990 novel by Christopher Pike *Sati (singer) (born 1976), Lithuanian singer *Sati, a character in ''Th ...

, his son built this temple in 1878 AD. It is said and believed that this temple and present structure of Ranivas Palace is built upon the ancient palace of the

. After the fall of Karntas, Oiniwar dynasty comes into the power who ruled Mithila region from 1325 to 1527 AD. It is also believed that the Maharaja of Oinwar dynasty, Siva Singh (r. 1412 - 1416), built this palace for his daughter Isri Devi during his ruling time.

Kankali Temple

Kankali Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

located in the southeastern part of the Simraungadh market area. This temple is built in the

shikhara ''Shikhara'' (IAST: '), a Sanskrit word translating literally to "mountain peak", refers to the rising tower in the Hindu temple architecture of North India, and also often used in Jain temples. A ''shikhara'' over the ''garbhagriha'' chamber ...

style of architecture. The idol of Kankali Mai is placed in the temple, which is made of black stone and believed to be mangled by Tughlaq armies. The date L.S. 119 (which must be in

Vikram Samvat Vikram Samvat (IAST: ''Vikrama Samvat''; abbreviated VS) or Bikram Sambat B.S. and also known as the Vikrami calendar, is a Hindu calendar historically used in the Indian subcontinent. Vikram Samvat is generally 57 years ahead of Gregorian Calend ...

: 1340 and

Common era Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...

: 1283) is engraved on the

Ghanta Ghanta (Sanskrit: घण्टा, IAST: ghaṇṭā; Tibetan: drilbu) is the Sanskrit term for a ritual bell used in Hinduistic religious practices. The ringing of the bell produces what is regarded as an auspicious sound. Hindu temples genera ...

, which is placed in front of this temple. Before the renovation of this temple, the ruin of this temple was known as "Kankali Mai Sthaan". The temple was restored in a small size by Mansaram Baba before 1816 AD and the present structure was made by his disciple, Ram Sewak Das in 1967 AD. During the festivals of

Rama Navami Rama Navami () is a Hindu festival that celebrates the birthday of Rama, the seventh avatar of the deity Vishnu. people from different parts of Jharkhand attended the world famous international Hazaribagh procession organized in the city every ...

Chaitra Chaitra (Hindi: चैत्र) is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Cho ...

, there is the presence of thousands of worshipers from Nepal and India.

Jharokhar Pokhari

Jharokhar Pokhari, 'Deutaal Pokhari' or 'Kachorwa Pokhari' is an artificial pond spread in 52 bighas (87

acres The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ya ...

). As of 2020 AD, the pond is shrunk to 22 bighas (36 acres) due to a lack of maintenance and human encroachment. The Jharokhar pond, which is connected to the Nepal-India border by Dasgaja, is believed to be about 800 years old and is located in Baswariya, Simraungadh. There is an Indian village, Jharokhar which is about two hundred meters south of the pond. This is one of the largest man-made spring pond of Nepal.

Ancient city plan and fortification

The ancient city of Simraungadh is enclosed within an impressive system of earthen ramparts and infilled ditches. The fortification of the ancient city has a rectangular shape and ground plan. The fortifications of Simraungadh are called Baahi locally and remembered as a

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...

. The fort is spread in 6

Kos Kos or Cos (; el, Κως ) is a Greek island, part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese by area, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 36,986 (2021 census), ...

and the main enclosure is about 7.5 km north–south and 4.5 km east–west. The eastern and western side of the fort were built over two natural embankments. The western side of the fort was dry in comparison to eatern side. The Labyrinth and the powerful defense system of the city was well planned to protect from the river floods, enemies and regulate agriculture from controlled flow of water from the ditches shows the ability of the Kingdom. During the reign of Rama Singh Deva ( r. 1227 - 1285 CE) over Simraungadh, the Tibetan monk

visited the fortified city in 1236 AD on his way back to

and

from

Nalanda Nalanda (, ) was a renowned ''mahavihara'' (Buddhist monastic university) in ancient Magadha (modern-day Bihar), India.Oiniwar rulers or Makwanpur rulers until the

Unification of Nepal The Unification of Nepal, also known as Expansion of Gorkha Kingdom, officially began in 1743 AD (1799 BS) after King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha launched an aggressive annexation campaign seeking to broaden his own kingdom's border. After ...

in 1768 AD. During the period of time an Italian Missionary traveler Cassiano Beligatti, with seven other missionaries reached this place on their way to

Kathmandu valley The Kathmandu Valley ( ne, काठमाडौं उपत्यका; also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley ( ne, नेपाः उपत्यका, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः)), ...

from

Patna Patna ( ), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...

on 29 February 1740. He describes his journey on his travelling manuscript about this place is as follows,

References

External links

{{Bara District Populated places in Bara District Municipalities in Madhesh Province