Modern history of Bihar is dealing with the rule of the British Government from the year 1858 that is after the Sepoy Mutiny. During the time of British India, Bihar remained as a part of the Presidency of Bengal, and was governed from Kolkata. This territory was dominated by the people of Bengal. Later after the separation from the Bengal Presidency in 1912, Bihar and Orissa comprised a single province. Later, under the Government of India Act of 1935, the Division of Orissa became a separate province; and the Province of Bihar came into being as an administrative unit of British India. At Independence in 1947, the State of Bihar, with the same geographic boundary, formed a part of the Republic of India, until 1956.
Resurgence in the history of Bihar came during the struggle for India`s independence. It was from Bihar that Mahatma Gandhi launched his Civil-Disobedience Movement, which ultimately led to India`s independence. At the persistent request of a farmer, Raj Kumar Shukla, from the district of Champaran, in 1917 Gandhiji took a train ride to Motihari, the district headquarters of Champaran. Here he learned, first hand, the sad plight of the indigo farmers suffering under the oppressive rule of the British. Alarmed at the tumultuous reception Gandhiji received in Champaran, the British authorities served notice on him to leave the Province of Bihar. Gandhiji refused to comply, saying that as an Indian he was free to travel anywhere in his own country. For this act of defiance he was detained in the district jail at Motihari. From his jail cell, with the help of his friend from South Africa days, C. F. Andrews, Gandhiji managed to send letters to journalists and the Viceroy of India describing what he saw in Champaran, and made formal demands for the emancipation of these people. When produced in court, the Magistrate ordered him released, but on payment of bail. Gandhiji refused to pay the bail. Instead, he indicated his preference to remain in jail under arrest. Alarmed at the huge response Gandhiji was receiving from the people of Champaran, and intimidated by the knowledge that Gandhiji had already managed to inform the Viceroy of the mistreatment of the farmers by the British plantation owners, the magistrate set him free, without payment of any bail. This was the first instance of the success of civil disobedience as a tool to win freedom.
Many people from Bihar came forward in India`s struggle for independence. Apart from Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Jayprakash Narayan also significantly contributed to the struggle. He had even opposed the autocratic rule of Indira Gandhi and her younger son, Sanjay Gandhi. Fearing people`s reaction to his opposition, Indira Gandhi had him arrested on the eve of declaring National Emergency beginning June 26, 1975. He was put in the Tihar Jail, located near Delhi.
The movement started by JP, however, brought the Emergency to an end and led to the massive defeat of Indira Gandhi and her Congress Party at the polls, and to the installation of a non-Congress government -The Janata Party - at Delhi, for the first time. Morarji Desai became the fourth Prime Minister of India. JP remained the Conscience of the Janata Party and of post-Gandhi - post-Nehru India. However soon after attaining power, bickering began among the leaders of the Janata Party that led to the resignation of Shri Desai as the Prime Minister. The Janata Party continued with his call for "total revolution" but he succumbed to kidney failure at a hospital in Mumbai in 1979.
Subsequent bickering in the Janata Party led to the formation of a breakaway political party - the Janata Dal. This political party is a constituent unit of the current ruling coalition at Delhi, the so called, United Front. It was also from this party that Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Chief Minister of Bihar was elected. The bickering continued. A new party led by Yadav was formed as the Rashtriya Janata Dal which went on to rule for almost 15 years in Bihar.
Development of Hindi Literature
During this period Hindi literature came to flourish in the state. Raja Radhika Raman Singh, Shiva Pujan Sahay, Divakar Prasad Vidyarthy, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Ram Briksha Benipuri are some of the stalwarts who contributed to the flowering of Hindi literature. The Hindi language, certainly its literature, began around mid to late nineteenth century. It is marked by the appearance of Bhartendu Babu Harischandra`s drama "Harischandra". Devaki Nandan Khatri began writing his mystery novels in Hindi during this time. Few of his novels are Chandrakanta, Chandrakanta Santati, Kajar ki Kothari, Bhootnath, etc. He was born at Muzaffarpur in Bihar and had his earlier education there. One of the first short stories in Hindi, if not the very first, was "Indumati" written by Pundit Kishorilal Goswami, which was published in 1900.
