| Introduction | Places of Interest | How to Reach |
The district of West Champaran is spread over an area of 5,229 sqkm in the northwest
corner of Bihar and is a part of the Tirhut division. Bettiah is the HQ town of the district,
divided into hilly tract and Terai region (largely populated by the Tharu tribe).
Bettiah is 225 km northwest of Patna. It is the birthplace of famous writer Gopal Singh
Nepali. Mahatma Gandhi started his famous 'satyagraha' from Bettiah.
To the north of the district is the hilly region of Nepal and to the south is Gopalganj and a
part of East Champaran. To its east, it has East Champaran and to the west, it has padrauna and
Deoria districts of Uttar Pradesh.
Gandak or Narayani and Sikrahana or little Gandak are the two major rivers of the district.
Forests are confined to the northern tract (Sumeshwar and the Dun ranges).
Bettiah Raj was once a great estate and the two kings, Ujjain Singh and son Gaj Singh,
received the title of Raja from Emperor Shah jahan (1628). The last Maharaja was Harendra
Singh who died issueless in 1893. He was succeeded by his first wife who died in 1896 and
then Maharaja's junior widow, Maharani janaki Kuar,became the queen.
Bettiah had indigo planters who were oppressed by the colonial empire, and this resulted
in rise of nationalism here. In this connection, freedom fighter Raj Kumar Shukla met Mahatma Gandhi who, in turn, visited Bettiah in 1917 and gradually this region became the hub of Indian nationalism.
Valmiki Tiger Reserve (60 Kms from Bettiah) is one of the major attractions for tourists here. |
