Buxar

The town Buxar is located on the bank of river Ganges (Ganga). A road bridge over Ganges connects Buxar with Ballia District in the neighboring state Uttar Pradesh. The town is connected to the state capital Patna by rail and road routes. The Buxar railway station is a major station. Many major trains pass through the station due to its strategic location. The language spoken is “Bhojpuri” and the script is “Devanagari”. Substantial proportion of trade activities are with well connected towns and cities in Uttar Pradesh such as Varanasi, Ballia and Ghazipur.

Demography
As of 2001 India census, Buxar had a population of 82,975. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Buxar has an average literacy rate of 72%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 77% and female literacy of 59%. 16% of the population is under 6 years of age.

History
Mir Kasim (reign:1760 to 1763), made an attempt to recover Bengal from the hands of British. In 1764, he enlisted the help of Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II and Nawab Shuja Ud Daulah of Oudh (Awadh). On October 23, 1764, Mir Kasim with his army was defeated at the Battle of Buxar by the British Major Hector Monro who led a contingent of 857 European soldiers and 6213 sepoys. This victory paved the way for British Empire in India.

Battle of Buxar (October 1764)
It was a significant battle fought between the forces under the command of the British East India Company on the one side, and the combined armies of Mir Kasim, the Nawab of Bengal ; Nawab of Awadh; and Shah Alam II, the Mughal Emperor. The battle fought at Buxar, a town (currently in Bihar state, India) located on the bank of the Ganges river, was a decisive battle won by the forces of the East India Company.

The battle resulted into securing of Diwani rights to administer the collection and management of revenues of large areas which currently form parts of Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Uttar Pradesh , as well as of Bangladesh. The Battle of Buxar heralded the establishment of the rule of the East India Company in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent.

Agriculture
Agriculture is the main occupation of the majority of the people of this district. One major canal passing through this district has been the source of irrigation for the farmers along with its subsidiary channels. However, over time it has not been receiving the due care and maintenance that it needs and hence, it has become a less reliable source of irrigation, particularly, at the lower end of it. The farmers are engaged in growing rice, wheat, sugarcane, potato, jowar, bajra, maize, sunflower and all varieties of green vegetables. The district is abundant with mango trees. The district has various banks which provide loans to farmers.