The greatest Indian empire, the Mauryan empire, originated from Magadha, with its capital at Patliputra
(modern Patna) in
325 BC. The Mauryan
Emperor, Ashoka,
who was born in Patliputra (Patna) is believed to be one of the greatest rulers
in the history of India and the world. According to ideologist A.L. Basham, the author of the book The Wonder that was India,

Bihar remained an important place of power, culture and education during the next one
thousand years. The Gupta Empire, which again originated from Magadha in 240
CE, is referred to as the Golden Age of India in science, mathematics,
astronomy, religion and Indian philosophy. The peace and prosperity
created under leadership of Guptas enabled the pursuit of scientific and artistic
endeavors. Historians place the Gupta
dynastyHan Dynasty,
Tang
Dynasty and Roman Empire as a model of a classical civilization.
The capital of Gupta empire was Pataliputra,
present day Patna.
The Vikramshila
and Nalanda
universities were among the oldest and best centres of education in ancient
India. Some writers believe the period between the 400 CE and 1000 CE saw gains
by Hinduism
at the expense of Buddhism. The Hindu kings gave much grants to the Buddhist
monks for building Brahmaviharas. A National Geographic edition
reads, "The essential tenets of Buddhism and Hinduism arose from
similar ideas best described in the Upanishads, a set of Hindu treatises set down
in India largely between the eighth and fourth centuries B.C." alongside with the

The Buddhism of Magadha was swept away by the Muslim invasion under Muhammad
Bin Bakhtiar Khilji, during which many of the viharas and the
famed universities of Nalanda and Vikramshila were destroyed, and thousands of Buddhist monks
were massacred in 12th century CE. In the years 1553–56 Afghan dynasty ruler
'Adil Shah' took the reigns of North-India and made 'Chunar' his capital. He
deputed 'Hemu' the Hindu General, also known as 'Hemu Vikramaditya' as his
Prime Minister and Chief-of-Army. Hemu fought and won 22 battles continuously
against Afghan rebels and Akbar's forces at Agra and Delhi and established
'Hindu Raj' in Delhi, after a foreign rule of 300 years. Hemu, who was bestowed
the title of 'Samrat' at Purana Quila, Delhi was then known as 'Samrat Hem
Chandra Vikramaditya'. Hemu lost his life while fighting in the 'Second Battle
of Panipat' against Akbar's forces on Nov. 7, 1556. During 1557–1576, Akbar, the Mughal
emperor, annexed Bihar and Bengal to his empire. Thus, the medieval period was mostly one
of anonymous provincial existence. The tenth and the last Guru of
Sikhism, Guru
Gobind Singh was born in Patna. After the Battle of Buxar (1764), the British East India Company obtained the
diwani rights (rights to administer, and collect revenue or tax) for Bihar, BengalOrissa. From this
point, Bihar remained a part the Bengal
Presidency of the British Raj until 1912, when the province of Bihar
and Orissa was carved out as a separate province. Bihar
now celebrates its birthday as Bihar Diwas on 22 March from 2010. In 1935,
certain portions of Bihar were reorganized into the separate province of Orissa. and

Babu Kunwar Singh of Jagdishpur and his army, as well as countless other persons
from Bihar, contributed to the India's First War of Independence (1857),
also called the Sepoy Mutiny by some historians. Resurgence in the
history of Bihar came during the struggle for India's independence.

It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his pioneering
civil-disobedience movement, Champaran Satyagraha. Bhumihar Brahmins
in Champaran
had earlier revolted against indigo cultivation in 1914 (at Pipra) and 1916
(Turkaulia) and Pandit Raj Kumar Shukla took Mahatma
Gandhi to Champaran
and the Champaran^[45]
Raj
Kumar Shukla drew the attention of Mahatma
Gandhi to the exploitation of the peasants by European indigo planters.Champaran Satyagraha received the
spontaneous support from many Bihari nationalists like Rajendra
Prasad who became the first President of India and Anugrah Narayan SinhaChief Minister cum Finance
Minister of Bihar.
Satyagraha began. who ultimately became
the first Deputy

In the northern and central regions of Bihar, peasants movement
was an important consequence of the Freedom Movement. The Kisan Sabha movement
started in Bihar under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand SaraswatiBihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS),
in order to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their
occupancy rights.Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of India.
All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation
of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session
of the Indian National Congress in April 1936
with Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as
its first President. This
movement aimed at overthrowing the feudal (zamindari)
system instituted by the British. It was led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati and his
followers Pandit Yamuna Karjee, Rahul Sankrityayan, Pandit Karyanand Sharma, Baba
Nagarjun and others. Pandit Yamuna Karjee along with Rahul Sankritayan and
a few others started publishing a Hindi weekly Hunkar from Bihar, in 1940.
Hunkar later became the mouthpiece of the peasant movement and the agrarian
movement in Bihar and was instrumental in spreading it. who had
formed in 1929, the

Bihar made an immense contribution to the Freedom Struggle, with outstanding leaders
like Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, Dr. Rajendra
Prasad, Sri Krishna Sinha, Dr.Anugrah Narayan Sinha, Brajkishore Prasad, Mulana Mazharul Haque, Jayaprakash Narayan, Thakur Jugal Kishore Sinha, Satyendra Narayan Sinha, Ram
Dulari Sinha, Basawon Singh, Rameshwar Prasad Sinha, Yogendra
Shukla, Jaglal Mahto, Baikuntha
Shukla, Sheel Bhadra Yajee, Pandit Yamuna Karjee and many others who
worked for India's freedom relentlessly and helped in the upliftment of the
underprivileged masses. Khudiram
Bose, Upendra Narayan Jha "Azad", Prafulla
ChakiBaikuntha Shukla were active in revolutionary
movement in Bihar. and

On January 15, 1934, Bihar was devastated by an earthquake of
magnitude 8.4. Some 30,000 people were said to have died in the quake.

The state of Jharkhand
was carved out of Bihar in the year 2000. The 2005 Bihar assembly elections
ended 15 years of continuous RJD rule in the state, giving way to NDA led by Nitish
Kumar.

Bihari migrant workers have faced violence and prejudice in many parts of India, such as Maharashtra,
Punjab and Assam