Bihar-Specific General Knowledge: History, Geography, Culture and Schemes
This section tests Bihar’s history, geography, culture, schemes and current affairs. Questions usually combine a static fact with a state scheme or a personality, so learn districts, rivers and regions together rather than as isolated lists.
Core rules
- Bihar Day (Bihar Diwas) is 22 March, marking the 1912 separation of Bihar from Bengal; Patna is the capital.
- Bihar has 38 districts and 9 divisions. The Ganga flows west to east; the Kosi is called the “Sorrow of Bihar” for its shifting course and floods.
- Ancient sites: Bodh Gaya (Buddha’s enlightenment), Nalanda and Vikramshila (mahaviharas), Rajgir and Vaishali.
- Freedom movement: Champaran Satyagraha (1917), Kunwar Singh in 1857, Jayaprakash Narayan’s 1974 movement.
- Culture: Chhath is the signature festival; Madhubani painting has a GI tag; Maithili is in the Eighth Schedule.
- State schemes: Jal Jeevan Hariyali, Satat Jeevikoparjan Yojana, Mukhyamantri Kanya Utthan Yojana, Student Credit Card.
Worked example
“Which river is known as the Sorrow of Bihar?” The Kosi rises in Tibet/Nepal and carries heavy silt; its frequent westward shift and embankment breaches flood north Bihar. The Gandak also floods, but the standard answer is the Kosi.
Traps
- Bihar Diwas (22 March) is not the 1936 separation of Orissa, nor Independence Day.
- Do not confuse Makhana (fox nut), mainly from Mithila, with litchi, mainly Muzaffarpur.
- Scheme names change; match the scheme to its department and beneficiary group.