Biharis
[10] Bihar is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya where the Buddha attained nirvana and the Buddhist monastic university of Nalanda.
Until at least the 13th century, there was still a significant number of Buddhists in Bihar who mainly followed the Mahayana and Vajrayana schools until they were assimilated into Hinduism.
[11] Many famous Buddhist and Hindu philosophers and scholars have originated or studied in Bihar during the period from the 5th to 13th century at institutions like Nalanda and Vikramashila including Kamalaśīla, Ratnākaraśānti, Śāntarakṣita, Abhayakaragupta, Udayana and Gaṅgeśa.
[16] The founder of Sur Empire, Sher Shah Suri was born in Sasaram, a city in the state of Bihar in present-day India into a Pashtun family.
[17][18] During the period of Islamic rule, much of Bihar was under the sway of local Zamindars or chieftains who maintained their own armies and territories.
[19] Many academics including Dirk Kolff and Walter Hauser have noted that Bihar has a history of armed activism among its peasantry.
Mughal sources also record that many peasant soldiers were recruited from Northern parts of Bihar (Tirhut).
[21] In late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the middle peasant castes like Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav also got recruitm ent in the British Indian Army as soldiers.
[23] This martial heritage continued into the late 20th century with the formation of private armies or senas that were formed to maintain the interests of specific castes.
The Biharis, who constitute a martial race in India similar to the Sikhs or the Pathans, in keeping with the role conceived by the British colonial administration, were a mother lode for Monghol and English army recruiters.
Their independent fighting spirit, which has earned them a reputation for toughness, has been in evidence throughout their history.The traditional dress of Bihari people includes Dhoti and Chapkan (Angarkha)[25][26] or Kurta (replacing the older chapkan which is a robe fastened on the right or on the left)[26] for men and Saree for women.
In rural Bihar, men also wear a sort of plaid called Gamchha, which is often tied around the head as turban or headscarf and sometimes thrown round the body or over the shoulders.
However, there are some traditional Bihari jewelries like "Chhara", "Hansuli", "Kamarbandh","Tika", "Nathiya" , "Bichhiya" , "Dholna" , "Patwasi" , "Panjeb" , "Matarmala" ," etc.
In this struggle between competing Hindi and Urdu, the potential claims of the three large mother tongues in the region – Bhojpuri, Maithili and Magahi were ignored.
Bihar also produced several eminent Urdu writers including Sulaiman Nadvi, Manazir Ahsan Gilani, Abdul Qavi Desnavi, Paigham Afaqui, Jabir Husain, Sohail Azimabadi, Hussain Ul Haque, Dr. Shamim Hashimi,[36] Wahab Ashrafi[37] etc.
Satyapal Chandra[38] has written many English bestseller novels and he is one of India's emerging young writer.
[40] The detailed data of the census report titled Bihar me jati adharit janganana (caste based census in Bihar) reveals that the Other Backward Class (OBC) population in the State is 27.1286% while, the Extremely Backward Class (EBC) comprises 36.0148%.
[52] Notable local foods of Bihar include Dal Pitha, Litti Chokha, Chana Ghugni, Mutton Kabab and Reshmi Kabab, Kadhi Bari, Puri Sabzi, Malpua,Satru Paratha,Doodh Pittha,Bajka,Kopal/Arikanch ka sabzi,many kinds of saags, etc.
Maghfoor Ahmad Ajazi registered his objection to this discriminatory arrangement after which Bihari delegates were also given appropriate seats.
[55][56] According to social scientist Dr. Shaibal Gupta, the beating of students from Bihar in Mumbai in October 2008 has consolidated Bihari sub-nationalism.
