Sarmera

Sarmera is a town and a block in Nalanda district in the Indian state of Bihar. It is located 110 km east of Patna and is on the National Highway NH33 (linking Arwal to Mokameh and passes through Bihar Sharif) and State Highway SH78 (Bihta - Sarmera) connecting it to major cities in Bihar. Sarmera is a block in Nalanda district of Bihar, India and has nine panchayats namely Malawan, Kenar, Dhanuki, Mirnagar, Husaina, Sarmera, Chero, Narshinghpur, Sasaur and Isua. Major inhabited villages in Sarmera are Gopalbad, Brindawan, Pojh, Chero, Parnawa, Isua, Bari Malawan, Choti Malawan, Kenar, Mirnagar,Narshinghpur, Rupaspur, Sasaur, Husiana dHARAMPUR and until 1943 it was ruled by royal family of Nalanda.

Sarmera
town
Sarmera Location in Bihar, India
Coordinates: 25.29682°N 85.81082°E
Country	India
State	Bihar
Region	Magadh
District	Nalanda
Government
• Shri.	Kaushlendra kumar (MP), Jitendra Kumar (MLA, Asthawan (171))
Elevation	42 m (138 ft)
Population  (2001)
• Total	96,441
Languages
• Official	Hindi, Magadhi, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	811104
Telephone code	916132
ISO 3166 code	IN-BR
Vehicle registration	BR
Sex ratio	1000/892 ♂/♀
Literacy	53.64%
Lok Sabha constituency	Nalanda
Vidhan Sabha constituency	Ashthama(171)
Climate	ETh (Köppen)
Precipitation	1,020 millimetres (40 in)
Website	nalanda.nic.in

Geography

Sarmera is situated on 20 km from the southern banks of the Ganges. The landscape is predominately plain and the land strip along the north of Ganges is called Tal, which is the flood plain of river Ganges and submerges during monsoons.

History

The recorded history of Sarmera dates back to Samudragupta's reign when the area was known as Gajpur after that the area is mentioned in the period of the mighty emperor Vikramjit Singh and his 23 sons. Vikramjit had 23 sons and 18 wives. He was 7 feet tall, muscular and his skin tone was fair like a god. His overall personality was godlike. Vikramjit was the only emperor in India who is known by historians but yet still he is not mentioned in Indian history . The capital of his empire was Dwarka. On 22 August 1535 Vikramjit was born in the family of a rich merchant. But due to different mindset and temperament, Vikramjit's father gave his entire wealth to Vikramjit's brother. Then Vikramjit left his home and begun creating an army and then after winning 760 small battles in a row he created a large army. But he got famous when he defeated King Ayush Varman of Dwarka and captured his kingdom. It is said that except Raja Vikramjit Singh of Sarmera no one had ever defeated King Ayush Varman of Dwarka. And he was the most powerful king of India. And his kingdom Dwarka was the most prosperous and powerful kingdom at that time. After occupying Dwarka, Vikramjit studded the entire kingdom of Dwarka with precious gems to make it look more prosperous. And when the time to declare the capital arrived, Vikramjit declared Dwarka as the capital of his empire instead of Sarmera, because of this the sentiments of the people of Sarmera and some others were deeply affected and they became angry with Vikramjit. Then after ruling for 40 years as the strongest king of India he died then his 23 sons begun fighting with each other and the Singh Dynasty started becoming imbalanced then revolts begun taking place against the Singh Dynasty but according to historians the main reason behind the decline of Singh Dynasty is heavy rainfall and flood. According to historians, the descendants of the Singh dynasty still live somewhere in Bihar. Vikramjit Singh commanded the most powerful army on the planet as well as the largest army on the planet. Then this area mentioned in Akbar's reign when it was known as Gayaspur Pargana and was assigned as a mansab by him to the Dhaulani Brahmans from Kannauj who ruled Sarmera estate till independence when the estate was annexed and made a part of the Indian Union.

Economy

The main occupation is agriculture and agriculture related commercial activities. However, there are significant numbers of brick kilns along the road passing to this town. Main crops are lentils, chickpeas, mustard, rice and vegetables. Recently Sarmera is developing as a market and a trading place, however Barbigha still remains the major market of this region.

Transport

Sarmera is connected to all the major cities of Bihar by road. However the neighbouring areas lacked any kind of road until recently.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census,[1] Sarmera had a population of 16,441. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Sarmera block, which constitutes 9 panchayats, has a population of 78,610.[2] Sarmera has a literacy rate of 53.64%, lower than the national average of 69.5%: male literacy is 69%, and female literacy is 39%.[3]

People and Culture

Most people speak Magadhi here, a dialect called Magahi locally. However, it changes considerably across a couple of Kilometres. Families are very traditional, and often large. However, as people are getting education, they are becoming liberal. Marriages are generally arranged and they involve a large sum of dowry, although illegal. Bride and groom meet only after marriage. Caste system is ingrained in the social fabric of the place in the same way as it exists in other parts of Bihar. Consequently, caste based politics plays an important role in the life of the people here. The continuously diminishing infrastructure and unemployment have forced the people to migrate to other parts of India for better opportunities. The common attire of the people includes dhoti, kurta and gamchha, a large rectangular cotton cloth on their shoulders or tied round heads. Women dress in sarees. The most awaited and widely celebrated festival is Chhath, a festival where people worship the setting and the rising Sun in the month of October/November.

References

1. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
2. , Vision of Nalanda.
3. , Bihar Statistics.