About Birbhum District.

History :

    At the dawn of the history, part of the district as now constituted appears to have been included in the tract of the country known as "Rarh" and part in the tract called "Vajjabhumi ". The traditions of the Jainas state that Mahavira, their last great Tirthankara, wandered through these two tracts in the 5th Century, B.C.; and the description of them would seem to show that the eastern part of the district , with its alluvial soil, well watered by rivers, formed part of Rarh, while the wilder and more rugged country to the west was aptly known as Vajjabhumi, i.e., the country of Thunderbolt...................................More.

      General Description : Birbhum is the northernmost District of the Burdwan Division. It lies between 23° 32' 30" and 24° 35' 0" north latitude and 88° 1' 40" and 87° 5' 25" east longitude. In shape it looks like an isosceles triangles. The apex is situated at the northern extremity not far south of point where the Ganges and the hills of the Santhal Paraganas begin to diverge while the river Ajay forms the base of this triangle. Birbhum is bounded on the north and west by Santhal Paraganas, on the east by the districts of Murshidabad and Burdwan and on the south by Burdwan, from which it is separated by the Ajay river. The district extends over an area of 4545 Sq. Kms

     River System : The district is well drained by a number of rivers and rivulets running in nearly every case from west to east with a slight southerly inclination. Only two are rivers of any magnitude , viz., the Mor and the Ajay, the latter of which marks the southern boundary, while the Mor runs through Birbhum from West to East. Both rivers are of considerable size when they enter the district, their width varying according to the configuration of the country, from two hundred yards to half a mile. The Ajay first touches the district at its south-west corner, and follows a winding course in an easterly direction, till it enters Burdwan at the extreme south-eastern angle of Birbhum, eventually falling into Bhagirathi near Katwa. The Mor enters Birbhum from the Santhal Paraganas near the village of Haripur and flows through the centre of the district from west to east, passing two miles north of Suri and forming the southern boundary of the Rampurhat Sub-division. It leaves the district a little east of Gunutia and joins Dwarka which itself is a tributary of the Bhagirathi. The Mor is also widely known as Mayurakshi meaning "the peacock eyed", i.e. having water as lustrous as the eye of the peacock. Between the Mor and Ajay there are a few large streams coming from beyond the western boundary, of which the Hinglo is the most important. It enters the District from the Santhal Paraganas some eight miles north of Ajay, flows through Dubrajpur thana, and gradually approaches that river, unites with it at Chapla, after a course in Birbhum of about 15 miles. Another river is the Bakreswar, which rises at hot spring of same name near Tantipara, some ten miles west of Suri, and after following a zigzag course eastward, and receiving one by one the waters of almost all the rivulets, joins the Mor a few miles beyond the eastern boundary of the district . .......................More..