Aurangabad is a city in

Aurangabad District, Bihar Aurangabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It is currently a part of the Red Corridor. Aurangabad is also called "Chittorgarh" of Bihar because the number of Suryavanshi Rajputs is very high here. Aurangaba ...

, India. It is the district's centre of governance and has a population of 102,244 as of 2011. The people of this region speak

Magahi Magahi (), also known as Magadhi (), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal states of eastern India, and in the Terai region of Nepal. Magadhi Prakrit was the ancestor of Magahi, from which the latter's name de ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

History

In ancient times, Aurangabad was located in the

Mahajanapada The Mahājanapadas were sixteen kingdoms and aristocratic republics that existed in ancient India from the sixth to fourth centuries BCE, during the second urbanisation period. History The 6th–5th centuries BCE are often regarded as a ...

kingdom of

Magadh Magadha was a region and kingdom in ancient India, based in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, eastern Ganges Plain. It was one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas during the Second Urbanization period. The region was ruled by several dynasties, which overshado ...

(1200 - 322 BCE). The ancient rulers of the town included

Bimbisara Bimbisāra (in Buddhist tradition) or Shrenika () and Seniya () in the Jain histories ( or ) was the King of Magadha (V. K. Agnihotri (ed.), ''Indian History''. Allied Publishers, New Delhi 262010p. 166f. or ) and belonged to the Haryanka d ...

(late 5th century BCE),

Ajatashatru Ajatasattu (Pāli: ) or Ajatashatru (Sanskrit: ) in the Buddhist tradition, or Kunika () and Kuniya () in the Jain tradition (reigned c. 492 to 460 BCE, or c. 405 to 373 BCE), was one of the most important kings of the Haryanka dynasty of Mag ...

(early 4th century BCE),

Chandragupta Maurya Chandragupta Maurya (Sanskrit: elp:IPA/Sanskrit, t̪͡ɕɐn̪d̪ɾɐgupt̪ɐ mɐʊɾjɐ (reigned 320 BCE – c. 298 BCE) was the founder and the first emperor of the Maurya Empire, based in Magadha (present-day Bihar) in the Indian ...

(321 - 298 BCE) and

Ashoka Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...

(268 - 232 BCE). During the rule of

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

(1486 - 1545 CE), Aurangabad became strategically important as part of the Rohtas Sirkar (district). After the death of

, Aurangabad fell under the rule of

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

. The

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

upsurge in the area was suppressed by

Todar Mal Raja Todar Mal (1523-24 – 8 November 1589) was an Indian minister, economist, and military commander who served as the Finance minister, Finance Minister (Diwan-i-Ashraff) of the Mughal empire during the reign of Akbar, Akbar I. He was also ...

. Some elements of

architecture remain. In 1865, Bihar District was separated from Patna District. Aurangabad was made a subdivision of Bihar district. Stement was the first subdivisional officer of Aurangabad subdivision. The first Member of Parliament from the district was the former Chief Minister of Unified Bihar, Satyendra Narayan Singh (Chhote Saheb). On 26 January 1973,

Aurangabad district, Bihar Aurangabad district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. It is currently a part of the Red Corridor. Aurangabad is also called "Chittorgarh" of Bihar because the number of Suryavanshi Rajputs is very high here. Aurangaba ...

, was created (government notification number 07/11-2071-72 dated 19 January 1973). K. A. H. Subramanyam was the first district magistrate and Surjit Kumar Saha was the sub-divisional officer.

Geography

Aurangabad town is located in north east India on the NH 2 (now NH19 –

Grand Trunk Road Grand Trunk Road (formerly known as Uttarapath, Sadak-e-Azam, Shah Rah-e-Azam, Badshahi Sadak, and Long Walk) is one of Asia's oldest and longest major roads. For at least 2,500 years it has linked Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. It r ...

) at its crossing with NH98 (now NH139). Its nearest large town is Gaya, to the east. The capital of Bihar,

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

is to the north east. The area of the town is . Aurangabad rests on

alluvial plain An alluvial plain is a plain (an essentially flat landform) created by the deposition of sediment over a long period by one or more rivers coming from highland regions, from which alluvial soil forms. A ''floodplain'' is part of the process, bei ...

on the bank of Adri river. The larger

Son river Sone River, also spelt Son River, is a perennial river located in central India. It originates near Amarkantak Hill in Pendra (Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi district), Chhattisgarh and finally merges with the Ganges river near Maner in Patna, Biha ...

is to the west. Other rivers such as the Punpun, Auranga, Bataane, Morhar, and Madaar also flow through Aurangabad district.

Economy

Aurangabad has an agrarian economy along with some industries. It lies in a drought-prone area. The main crops are

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

, gram

lentil The lentil (''Vicia lens'' or ''Lens culinaris'') is an annual plant, annual legume grown for its Lens (geometry), lens-shaped edible seeds or ''pulses'', also called ''lentils''. It is about tall, and the seeds grow in Legume, pods, usually w ...

and

rapeseed Rapeseed (''Brassica napus'' subsp. ''napus''), also known as rape and oilseed rape and canola, is a bright-yellow flowering member of the family Brassicaceae (mustard or cabbage family), cultivated mainly for its oil-rich seed, which naturall ...

. With rapid industrialisation, Aurangabad has secured 4th position in most improved districts by Niti Aayog. It mainly includes heavy electricity production industries like Nabinagar Super Thermal Power Plant which has a capacity of 4380 MW(660MWX6).It is one of the third largest power plants in India.On 6th sep 2019, the power plant commissioned the first 660 MW unit of 4380 MW . ( NTPC, Nabinagar) and Cement Production ( Shree Cement). Manufactured products include carpets, blankets and brassware. Auranagabad is also famous for strawberry cultivation which helps local farmers to boost their economy and generates jobs for the villagers, who no longer need to migrate in search of livelihood.

Demographics

India census, Aurangabad had a population of 102,244.

Notable people

Anugrah Narayan Sinha Anugrah Narayan Sinha (18 June 1887 – 5 July 1957), known as ''Honorary titles of Indian leaders, Bihar Vibhuti'', was an Indian nationalist politician, participant in Champaran Satyagraha, Gandhian & one of the architects of modern Bihar, wh ...

, Member

Constituent Assembly of India Constituent Assembly of India was partly elected and partly nominated body to frame the Constitution of India. It was elected by the Provincial assemblies of British India following the Provincial Assembly elections held in 1946 and nominated ...

and first Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar *

Satyendra Narayan Sinha Satyendra Narayan Sinha (12 July 1917 – 4 September 2006) was an Indian politician and statesman, participant in the Indian independence movement, a leading light of Jaya Prakash Narayan's ‘ ''complete revolution''’ movement during the E ...

, first Member of parliament and former

Chief Minister of Bihar The chief minister of Bihar serves as the head of the Government of Bihar, overseeing its administration and governance within the constitutional framework of India. While the Governor of Bihar holds the ceremonial role of the constitutional h ...

* Shankar Dayal Singh, Author and Member of Parliament

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

1971-77 /

Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...

1990-95 * Nikhil Kumar, former MP and former

Governor of Kerala The governor of Kerala is the constitutional head of state of the southern Indian state of Kerala. The governor is appointed by the President of India, and holds office at the President's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head of the govern ...

* Sushil Kumar Singh, Member of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok ...

from Bharatiya janata party .

References