Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district (Tirhut Division)[4] - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, 225 kilometres (140 mi) north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India.

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बेतिया राज Bettiah Raj
City
Bettiah
Anticlockwise from top left -Bettiah Raj mahal Saheed Park, Sagar pokhra and Shiv Mandir, Supriya Cinema road, Bettiah auditorium and Maharaja Stadium, Gandhi statue at Hariwatika Chowk, Aeria view of Station chowk.
बेतिया राज Location in Bihar, India
Coordinates: 26°48′05″N 84°30′10″E
Country	India
State	Bihar
District	West Champaran
Founded by	Gangeshwar Dev
Government
• Type	Mayor-council
• Body	Bettiah Municipal corporation
Area
• City	24 km2 (9 sq mi)
• Urban	64 km2 (25 sq mi)
Elevation	65 m (213 ft)
Population  (2020)as estimated[1]
• Rank	14th(as in 2011)in Bihar
• Urban	414,453
Language
• Official	Hindi[2]
• Additional official	[ ][2]
• Urdu	Bhojpuri[3]
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	845438
BTH	06254
ISO 3166 code	IN-BR
Vehicle registration	BR-22
Sex ratio	53% male : 47% female ♂/♀
Lok Sabha constituency	Paschim Champaran/was before Bettiah
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Bettiah
Website	westchamparan.bih.nic.in

History

In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar Brahmin of "Jaitharia" clan, settled at Jaithar in Champaran.[5] One of his descendants, Agar Sen, acquired large territory in the reign of Emperor Jehangir and was bestowed the title of 'Raja' by Emperor Shah Jahan. In 1659, he was succeeded by his son Raja Guj Singh, who built the palace of the family at Bettiah. He died in 1694 A.D. The palace stands today but serves as marketplace.

In 1765, when the East India Company acquired the Diwani, Bettiah Raj held the largest territory under its jurisdiction.[6] It consisted of all of Champaran except for a small portion held by the Ram Nagar Raj (also held by Bhumihar family).[6]

Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh was the last king of Bettiah Raj.[5] He was born in 1854 and succeeded his father, the late Maharaja Rajendra Kishore Singh Bahadur in 1883. In 1884, he received the title of Maharaja Bahadur as a personal distinction and a Khilat and a sanad from the hands of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson. He was created a Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire on 1 March 1889. He was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Bengal in January 1891. He was also a member of The Asiatic Society. He was the last ruler of Bettiah Raj. Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh Bahadur died heirless on 26 March 1893, leaving behind two widows, Maharani Sheo Ratna Kunwar and Maharani Janki Kunwar. There are a few institutions named after the queen Maharani Janki Kunwar, such as M.J.K College and M.J.K Hospital. The Bettiah Gharana was one of the oldest style of vocal music.[7] Madhuban was part of the erstwhile 'Bettiah Raj'. Internal disputes and family quarrels divided the Bettiah Raj in course of time. Madhuban Raj was created as a consequence.

A section of Dhrupad singers of Dilli Gharana (Delhi Gharana) from Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s court had migrated to Bettiah under the patronage of Bettiah Raj and thus was sown the seed of Bettiah Gharana.[7] The famous Dagar brothers had praised the Bettiah Dhrupad singers and some of them were invited to the Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal to perform with other accomplished singers in 1990.[7]

On 26 December 2020, Bettiah became a municipal corporation. It includes Tola San Saraiya, Banuchapar, Kargahiya east and nearby area for its upgradation.[1]

Geography

Climate

The climate of Bettiah is characterised by high temperatures and high precipitation especially during the monsoon season. The Köppen Climate Classification sub-type for this climate is "Cfa" (Humid Subtropical Climate).

Connectivity

Railway

Bettiah is connected to different cities of India through railways. Bettiah railway station is the main railway station serving the city. Direct trains are available to all the major destinations across India like Patna, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahemdabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Jammu & Katra, etc.

Prajapati Halt railway station, also known as Bettiah Cant Railway station, is another railway station serving the city.

Roadway

National Highway 727 , 139W , 28B and State Highway 54 passes through the city.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has notified a new Patna-Bettiah road as National Highway 139W, setting the state for construction of a high-quality four-lane road between the two towns that would reduce the distance between them to 167 kilometres from the current 200-odd km and travel time to around two hours.[9]

Tola San Saraiyan new town aided village. The new Gopalganj-Bettiah Road passed through this new town aided village. Through this new road a distance of 60 km (37 mi) become shorten for Gopalganj-Bettiah.[10]

Airway

The nearest airport is Kushinagar International Airport which is about 97 km (60 mi) from Bettiah. The nearest airport in bihar is Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport located in Patna which is about 200 km (120 mi) via Muzaffarpur and 177 km (110 mi) via areraj.

Demographics

As of 2011 Indian Census, Bettiah NP had a total population of 132,209, of which 69,529 were males and 62,680 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 18,995. The total number of literates in Bettiah was 91,298, which constituted 69.1% of the population with male literacy of 72.7% and female literacy of 64.9%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Bettiah was 80.6%, of which male literacy rate was 85.0% and female literacy rate was 75.8%. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 8,266 and 828 respectively. Bettiah had 24463 households in 2011.[11]

As per 2011 census, the Bettiah Urban Agglomeration had a total population of 156,200, with 82,663 males and 73,537 females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 22,067 and the effective literacy (literacy of people above the age of 7) was 80.89.[12] The urban agglomeration includes Bettiah (municipal corporation), Tola Mansaraut (census town), Kargahia Purab (census town) and Hat Saraiya (census town).[13]

On 26 December 2020, Bettiah became a municipal corporation. It included Tola San Saraiya, Banuchapar, Kargahiya east and nearby area for its upgradation. The total population 414,453[1]

Education

Schools

• Alok Bharati Shikshan Sansthan English Medium School, Bettiah[14]
• Amna Urdu High School, Bettiah[14]
• Assembly of God Church School, Bettiah[14]
• Bipin High School, Bettiah[14]
• Delhi Public School, Bettiah[14]
• Jawahar Navoday Vidyalaya, Vrindavan, Bettiah[15]
• Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bettiah[16]
• Khrist Raja High School, Bettiah[14]
• Kidzee Play School, Bettiah[14]
• Krishna International Public School, Bettiah[14]
• National Public Higher Secondary School, Bettiah[14]
• Notre Dame Public School, Bettiah[14]
• Raj Enter Secondary School, Bettiah[14]
• R.L international School, Bettiah[17]
• S.S. Girls High School, Bettiah[14]
• Sacred Heart High School, Bettiah[14]
• Sarsawati Vidya Mandir, Bettiah[14]
• St. Joseph’s School, Bettiah[14]
• St. Mary/Remijius High School, Bettiah[18]
• St. Michael’s Academy. Bettiah[14]
• St. Teresa's Girls' Senior Secondary School, Bettiah[14]
• St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School, Bettiah[14]

• 
  St. Xavier's Higher Secondary School
• 
  St. Joseph's School
• 
  St. Michael's Academy
• 
  Khrist Raja High School
• 
  Assembly of God Church School

Colleges

• Government Medical College, Bettiah
• Government Engineering College, West Champaran
• Maharani Janki Kunwar College, Bettiah[19]
• Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College, Bettiah[19]
• Gulab Memorial College, Bettiah[20]
• MRRG College, Bettiah[21]
• MNM Mahila College, Bettiah
• St. Teresa Primary Teachers Training College, Bettiah[22]
• Chanakya College of Education, Bettiah[23]
• Raj Inter College, Bettiah[24]

• 
  Inside view of Government Medical College
• 
  Administrative block of Government Engineering College Bettiah, W.Champaran
• 
  Chanakya College of education

Notable people

• Manoj Bajpai, Indian film actor
• Prakash Jha, Indian film producer, director, and screenwriter
• Renu Devi, first female and 7th Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar
• Sanjay Jaiswal, politician and president of Bharatiya Janata Party, Bihar
• Damodar Raao, Indian film Music Director, Singer, Producer, and Lyrics writer
• Krishna Kumar Mishra, former member of Legislative assembly, Chanpatia (Bihar)
• Vikas Mishra, former Vice-Chancellor, Kurukshetra University
• Gopal Singh Nepali, Hindi poet and Bollywood lyricist
• Gauri Shankar Pandey, former member of Legislative assembly, Bettiah (Bihar)
• Kedar Pandey, 14th Chief Minister of Bihar
• Raj Kumar Shukla, Indian independence activist

See also

• Bettiah Raj
• Bettiah Christians
• West Champaran district
• List of cities in Bihar
• Champaran Satyagraha
• Paschim Champaran (Lok Sabha constituency)

References

External links

• West Champaran Information Portal
• Official Website of Tirhut Division
• Galaxy International School Bettiah-GEG Group

• Bettiah City Population Census 2011-2019 | Bihar

На других языках

[de] Bettiah

[ru] Беттиах