Birbhum district

Overview

Birbhum is an administrative district in the state of West Bengal in eastern India. Located in the north-western part of the state, it is bordered by the state of Jharkhand to the west and north, and by the West Bengal districts of Murshidabad to the east, and Bardhaman (now Purba Bardhaman and Paschim Bardhaman) to the south. The district headquarters is at Suri. Birbhum is sometimes called the "Land of Red Soil" (Rangamati) on account of the lateritic soils that distinguish much of its terrain.

Key facts

Geography

Birbhum lies in the Rarh tract of Bengal, a transitional zone between the Chota Nagpur plateau to the west and the Ganges delta to the east. The land slopes gradually from the laterite uplands in the west to alluvial plains in the east. The principal rivers — the Ajay, Mayurakshi, Bakreshwar, Brahmani, Dwarka and Kopai — generally flow from west to east. The Mayurakshi is dammed at Massanjore (in Jharkhand) under the Mayurakshi Reservoir Project, which provides irrigation to large parts of the district.

The climate is tropical, with hot summers, a monsoon season from June to September, and a cool, dry winter. Western Birbhum experiences higher summer temperatures than the deltaic districts of southern Bengal.

Administration

The district is part of the Burdwan administrative division. It is divided into three subdivisions: Suri Sadar, Bolpur and Rampurhat. These are further organised into community development blocks, panchayat samitis and gram panchayats for rural administration, and a number of municipalities for urban areas, including Suri, Bolpur, Rampurhat, Sainthia, Dubrajpur and Nalhati.

History

The name Birbhum is commonly traced to "Bir" (variously interpreted as "hero" or as a reference to the Bir or forest tribes) and "bhum" (land). In the medieval period the western parts of the district lay under tribal and small Hindu chieftaincies, while the eastern lowlands were absorbed into the Sultanate and later the Mughal administration of Bengal. Under the Mughals, a Birbhum sarkar existed within the Subah of Bengal, and a line of Pathan rulers held sway from Rajnagar.

After the Battle of Plassey (1757) and the grant of the Diwani of Bengal to the East India Company in 1765, Birbhum came under Company administration. The modern district was constituted by the British in the late 18th century, with Suri eventually becoming the headquarters. During the 19th and early 20th centuries the district was a centre of the Bengal Renaissance through institutions established at Santiniketan.

Culture and notable places

Santiniketan and Visva-Bharati

Santiniketan, near Bolpur, was developed by the Tagore family, beginning with Debendranath Tagore in the 19th century. His son, the poet Rabindranath Tagore, founded a school there in 1901, which grew into Visva-Bharati, recognised as a central university in 1951. Santiniketan was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023.

Pilgrimage and religious sites

Birbhum is associated with several Shakta pilgrimage centres traditionally counted among the Shakti Pithas. Tarapith, near Rampurhat, is a major temple of the goddess Tara and a centre associated with the 19th-century Tantric saint Bamakhepa. Other important sites include N