Kishanganj district

Kishanganj district is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India, and Kishanganj town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Kishanganj district is a part of Purnia division (Seemanchal). Kishanganj district, which was previously part of Purnia district, is 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) which was ruled by the Videhas, an Indo-Aryan tribe. 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. Kishanganj was an old and important Sub-Division of Purnia district. After the long and hard struggle of around seventeen years by the people of Kishanganj including social workers, politicians, journalists, businessmen, farmers, etc., the Kishanganj district was carved out of Purnia district on 14 January 1990. Kishanganj district occupies an area of , Kishanganj district is surrounded by Araria district in the west, Purnia district in the south-west, Uttar Dinajpur district of West Bengal on the east, and Darjeeling district of West Bengal and Nepal on the north. A narrow strip of West Bengal, about 20 km wide separates it from Bangladesh. Kishanganj district is located between 250 20’ and 260 30’ north latitudes, and 870 7’ and 880 19’ east longitudes. Major rivers flowing through the district are Mahananda, Kankai, Mechi, Donk, Ratua . |} In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Kishanganj one of the country's 250 most backward districts out of a total of 640. It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF). Kishanganj is the only tea producing district in Bihar.