The historic district of Muzaffarpur, endowed with fertile lands producing rich stocks of its world-famous “shahi litchis”, home to beautiful lac bangles much sought after during the wedding season and a place with valiant stories of freedom fighters, turned 150 on Wednesday.
It was on this very day, January 1, in 1875 that two new districts created after splitting the erstwhile Tirhut (also spelt as Tirhoot) district in the then Bengal Presidency, had come into effect, according to archival records.
In December, PTI visited the headquarters of the district located in the historic city Muzaffarpur in north Bihar and interacted with many senior administrative officials and some of the staff who have served in the district Collectorate and other offices for many decades.
According to a senior official in the district administration, the exact date of creation of the district was found in archival documents located in Kolkata, a couple of years ago, when a team assigned by the then district magistrate was asked to carry out research on the establishment of Muzaffarpur district.
“The team was able to find a very old newspaper in which the original notification that was issued in 1875, was published the same year, and thus it was established that January 1 is the foundation day,” the official told PTI.
A banner was then put up near the current Muzaffarpur Collectorate building on its campus, displaying the text of the original notification as it was published 150 years ago, he said.
“...the subdivisions of Darbhanga, Mudboobunnee and Tajpore, in the district of Tirhoot, are formed into a new district, to be stykled East Tirhoot, and with Head-quarters at the station of Darbhanga,” reads the notification that carries archaic spellings.
“The remainder of the present district of Tirhoot, comprising the subdivisions of Mozufferpore, Hajeepore, and Seetamuurree, is formed into a district, to be styled West Tirhoot, with head-quarters at the station of Mozufferpore. These arrangements will take effect from the 1st January 1875,” it says.
The two districts eventually got the name of Mozufferpore (now Muzaffarpur) and Darbhanga.
The main facade of the British-era old Collectorate building at Darbhanga carries two plaques — in English and Hindi — carrying the date January 1, 1875.
Thus, today also marks 150 years since the establishment of Darbhanga district, a culturally rich area known for its iconic palaces and other landmarks, music and food of the Mithila region.
Raj Trivedi, a head clerk (Bada Babu) at the Muzaffarpur Collectorate, shows a bound photocopy of the old Muzaffarpur district gazetteer published in 1958, which was a revision of the historic gazetteer published in 1907, authored by ICS officer LSS O’Malley, and asks his staff to carefully store it back in an almirah.
“We are proud that Muzaffarpur has completed 150 years as a district. But, earlier we did not know the exact date of its creation,” he said.
In 1907, Muzaffarpur district was part of the Bengal presidency and only five years later it came under Bihar region after a new province of Bihar and Orissa was carved out of Bengal in 1912.
“The district of Muzaffarpur was a part of the Division of Patna when the last Gazetteer (in 1907) was published,” reads the 1958 district gazetteer by P C Roy Chaudhury.
In 1908, the Patna Commissionership was divided, and the districts of Saran, Champaran, Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga on the north of the river Ganges became known as “Tirhut Division”, the gazetteer reads.
The Tirhut commissioner’s office is located in a handsome single-storey British-era building located near the iconic Muzaffarpur Collectorate building.
A massive earthquake in 1934 wreaked havoc and practically destroyed many cities in north Bihar and Nepal. Both Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga bore the brunt of the calamity and repair and reconstruction works had to be carried out in both cities and their neighbouring areas in the districts.
Several iconic heritage buildings dot the landscape of the city of Muzaffarpur, besides the elongated single-storey Collectorate built in 1936 with a handsome ancillary wing, and a garden in between, such as the old sub-division building next to Rajendra Park, named after the first president of India; the old record room of the Collectorate, the civil court building, Muzaffarpur Club and the old municipal building.
However, several local residents and heritage lovers in the city rued that many historic buildings such as the old District Board building and the Dak Bungalow run by it, have been lost in the past 10-15 years in the name of “development”.
The old British-era railway station of Muzaffarpur was already subjected to insensitive interventions in its building, but local residents are happy that railway authorities are upgrading the station with modern infrastructure and a new-age look.
“Old District Board building was of the British era, and our city has many old buildings of that era which need to be preserved for future generations,” said Krishna Mohan, a local native and a journalist.
Muzaffarpur district magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen who will complete one year in office at the Collectorate by the end of January, in an interaction with PTI in December at his office, however, has assured that the district administration will ensure the upkeep of heritage structures here.
According to a succession board displayed in the DM office, C F Worsley was appointed as the first magistrate and collector of Muzaffarpur district in 1875.
The land of Muzaffarpur is also famous for freedom fighters like Khudiram Bose, who was sent to the gallows at the age of 18 years in 1908, for throwing a bomb at a carriage in a bid to assassinate a British magistrate in the city; and Jubba Sahni who was hanged to death in Bhagalpur Central Jail at the age of 38.
A park in the Muzaffarpur was named in honour of Sahni who hailed from this district.
Bose is a legend in Muzaffarpur and a memorial built in honour of him and Prafulla Chaki stands in the Company Bagh area, and the jail where he was hanged here was later renamed Shaheed Khudiram Bose Central Jail, Muzaffarpur.
