History of Tirhut: From the Earliest Times to The End of the Nineteenth Century

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IT is an admitted fact that owing chiefly to the lack of an adequate account of the subject, few possess any connected information about the history of Tirhut without which the civilization of India as a whole cannot be fully appreciated. For not only does it possess much intrinsic merit in itself but the light it sheds on the life and thought of Indian population has a peculiar interest for every student of Indian history. It is rather strange that up to this time no history of Tirhut as a whole has been written in any language and any attempt, however inadequate, to make up the deficiency may perhaps be welcome. It is in this belief that I have ventured to offer this book to the public. I have not tried to treat the topics in a full and comprehensive manner, but have contented myself with noting down only those facts, the knowledge of which, I hope, may be of some use to the country. As regards chronological data and statements of facts, I lay no claim to original research, and must express full acknowledgment for the use of the works of my predecessors in the field. But the treatment of the subject and interpretation of facts are mostly my own, and sometimes differ materially from those of other writers. I have avoided as far as possible entering into controversies on points of purely literary interest, though it has been sometimes necessary to take a definite stand-point when important historical issues are at stake.

I have been requested to write a Foreword to Mr. Shyam Narayan Singh's History of Tirhut and I do so with confidence that I was instrumental in bringing it to the notice of so distinguished an authority as Professor Sylvain Levi, and it is on his encouragement that the book is published. He would indeed himself have written the introduction had he not been called away to Nepal on urgent business. It is with sincere pleasure that I introduce to the public a work on Bihar history by a Bihari, which has earned the commendation of so distinguished a scholar.

Mithila has remained known for its distinguished contribution to Indian civilization since ancient period. Quite a number of ancient and medieval works reveal its religio-philosophical achievements and throw light on its political traditions. However, attempt to prepare the historical account of the region (in post-Puranic style) began to be made most probably since Bayaz was written by Mulla Taqia' in the sixteenth century. Leaving aside the hagiographical works (though they are valuable, no doubt) 2, Riaz-i-Tirhut (in Urdu), published in 1868 seems to be the second historical account of Mithila. Then, Aina-i-Tirhut came out in 1883 and Mithila Darpan in 1915. Mithila Tattva Vimarsha was written before 1920 and in 1922, History of Tirhut From the Earliest Times to the End of the Nineteenth Century, (written in English by Shyam Narayan Singh) was published.

Most of such works, according to Upendra Thakur, lack "historical approach to and scientific treatment of the subject concerned". Further, History of Tirhut, Thakur wrote in 1955, "was written long ago and our knowledge of the subject has advanced a great deal since then. Moreover, only passing reference to personalities and events in Mithila history are made in this work." He, however, did not make any comment on Aina-i-Tirhut and Riaz-i-Tirhut. Thakur's observation regarding all the scholars whose contributions to the history of Mithila have been mentioned so far can hardly be disputed since none of the authors of the said books can be supposed to have had any professional experience in historiography. However, their contributions are not at all ignoble from the points of view of social sciences and history. History of Tirhut, of all, is the first book in English on Mithila's history which was much appreciated by Sylvain Levi, a great indologist, and it was "on his encouragement" that it was published. One may thus suppose that Shyam Narayan Singh was first to introduce history of this cultural zone to historical or indological studies at the national and international levels. His epistemic interest, it seems, enthused him so much that he undertook his mission with a broad vision of Mithila and, consequently, the quality of his exercise still continues to be appealing by all means. The book is keenly sought after by those working on the history of the region. However, it has now become too rare to be found out easily in the market or in libraries. So, it was decided by the trustees of Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh Kalyani Foundation to bring it out again (about a century after its first publication) in Kameshwar Singh Bihar Heritage Series.l