Araria district

Araria district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. Araria district is a part of Purnia division. The district occupies an area of . Araria town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Distance from Nepal border is only about 8 km from Forbesganj head quarter. During the British Raj, the area was under the administration of a British district collector and municipal commissioner, Alexander John Forbes (1807-1890) of East India Company. Forbes had a bungalow at the same location. Consequently the area was known as 'residential area' also abbreviated as 'R-area'. Over time, the name transformed to 'Araria' and the neighbouring subdivision came to be known as 'Forbesganj'. Araria district is a part of the Mithila region. Mithila first gained prominence after being settled by Indo-Aryan peoples who established the Mithila Kingdom (also called Kingdom of the Videhas). During the late Vedic period (c. 1100–500 BCE), Kingdom of the Videhas became one of the major political and cultural centers of South Asia, along with Kuru and Pañcāla. The kings of the Kingdom of the Videhas were called Janakas. The Mithila Kingdom was later incorporated into the Vajjika League, which had its capital in the city of Vaishali, which is also in Mithila. The territory of the present-day district became Araria sub-division of the erstwhile Purnia district in 1964. Araria district was formed in January 1990 as one of the administrative districts of under Purnia Division. 2017 Floods affected 19 districts of North Bihar causing death of 514 people, in which Araria district accounted for 95 deaths alone. Floods have claimed 215 lives in Araria over 18 years, of which 61 in 2016. Araria district occupies an area of , comparatively equivalent to Russia's Zemlya Georga. The famous village of Araria is Dehti. East-West Corridor passes through the district. Train facility is in the form of broad gauge track and the district have two railway stations.