Madhepura was a part of Maurya Empire, this fact is asserted by the Mauryan pillar at Uda-kishunganj.[8]
During British Raj, the district of Madhepura was dominated by the Yadav Zamindars of Murho Estate, who were the biggest landlords of the district.[9][10]
Madhepura district as it stands now was carved out of Saharsa district and got the status of revenue district on 9 May 1981. Prior to that, Madhepura was a sub-division under Bhagalpur district with effect from 3 September 1845.[11] It was on 1 April 1954 that Saharsa district was carved out with three subdivision Saharsa, Madhepura and Supaul of Bhagalpur district.[12] The munsif court was established in 1865 at Madhepura, earlier it was in Kishanganj. Sub Judge Court was established here in 1944.
Geography
Madhepura district occupies an area of 1,788 square kilometres (690 sq mi),[13] comparatively equivalent to Russia's Bolshoy Shantar Island.[14] Madhepura district is surrounded by Araria and Supaul district in the north, Khagaria and Bhagalpur district in the south, Purnia district in the east and Saharsa district in the West. It is situated in the Plains of River Koshi and located in the Northeastern part of Bihar at latitude between 25°. 34 to 26°.07' and longitude between 86° .19' to 87°.07'.
The district has 2 sub-divisions - Madhepura and Uda Kishunganj, 13 blocks, 13 police stations, 170 panchayats and 434 revenue villages. The total population of Madhepura, as per census of the year 2001 is 15,24,596 of which 7,96,272 are male and 7,29,324 are female. Literacy rate is 36.9% as against the national rate of 64.8% and state rate of 47%. The density of population is 859 per km2.
Climate
The maximum temperature of this district ranges from 35 to 45 °C (95 to 113 °F) and the minimum temperature varies from 7 to 9 °C (45 to 48 °F). The average rainfall in this district is 1,300 mm (51 in).
An electric locomotive factory has been set up at Madhepura by the Indian Railways in a joint venture with Alstom SA of France. The factory has the distinction of manufacturing the most powerful railway engine in India, the WAG-12.
Sub-divisions
Madhepura district comprises the following Sub-Divisions:
According to the 2011 census Madhepura district has a population of 2,001,762,[18] roughly equal to the nation of Slovenia.[19] This gives it a ranking of 232nd in India (out of a total of 640).[18] The district has a population density of 1,116 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,890/sq mi) .[18] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 30.65%.[18] Madhepura has a sex ratio of 914 females for every 1000 males,[18] and a literacy rate of 53.78%. 4.42% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 17.30% and 0.63% of the population respectively.[18]
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 38.43% of the population spoke Maithili, 37.15% Hindi and 5.71% Urdu as their first language. 18.04% were classified as speaking a language under 'Other' Hindi in the census.[20] Around 25% of total population of the district are of Yadav caste.
834 Govt. schools are imparting education in the district. Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University is situated at the district headquarter, Madhepura and adding glory to the educational atmosphere of this district.
^ abMinistry of Panchayati Raj (September 8, 2009). "A Note on the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme"(PDF). National Institute of Rural No 1 district in education No 1 wheat and rice production in Bihar Development. Archived from the original(PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
