Bettiah, Bihar, India

🇮🇳 Bettiah is a city and administrative headquarters of West Champaran district (Tirhut Division) - (Tirhut), near Indo-Nepal border, 225 km (140 mi) north-west of Patna, in Bihar state of India.

Bettiah is known for its famous education system in comparision with other cities in Bihar. The Convent Education of Bettiah plays a major role in this. This provides students of Bettiah to compete with other students and prove that BIHAR is not same everwhere. They make students both academically and morally developed that they establish foundation of success at a very small age.

History In 1244 A.D., Gangeshwar Dev, a Bhumihar of "Jaitharia" clan, settled at Jaithar in Champaran. One of his descendants, Agar Sen, acquired large territory in the reign of Emperor Jehangir and was bestowed the title of 'Raja' by Emperor Shah Jahan. In 1659, he was succeeded by his son Raja Guj Singh, who built the palace of the family at Bettiah. He died in 1694 A.D. The palace stands today but serves as marketplace.

In 1765, when the East India Company acquired the Diwani, Bettiah Raj held the largest territory under its jurisdiction. It consisted of all of Champaran except for a small portion held by the Ram Nagar Raj (also held by Bhumihar family).

Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh was the last king of Bettiah Raj. He was born in 1854 and succeeded his father, the late Maharaja Rajendra Kishore Singh Bahadur in 1883. In 1884, he received the title of Maharaja Bahadur as a personal distinction and a Khilat and a sanad from the hands of the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, Sir Augustus Rivers Thompson. He was created a Knight Commander of the Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire on 1 March 1889. He was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Bengal in January 1891. He was also a member of The Asiatic Society. He was the last ruler of Bettiah Raj. Maharaja Sir Harendra Kishore Singh Bahadur died heirless on 26 March 1893, leaving behind two widows, Maharani Sheo Ratna Kunwar and Maharani Janki Kunwar. There are a few institutions named after the queen Maharani Janki Kunwar, such as M.J.K College and M.J.K Hospital. The Bettiah Gharana was one of the oldest style of vocal music. Madhuban was part of the erstwhile 'Bettiah Raj'. Internal disputes and family quarrels divided the Bettiah Raj in course of time. Madhuban Raj was created as a consequence.

A section of Dhrupad singers of Dilli Gharana (Delhi Gharana) from Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s court had migrated to Bettiah under the patronage of Bettiah Raj and thus was sown the seed of Bettiah Gharana. The famous Dagar brothers had praised the Bettiah Dhrupad singers and some of them were invited to the Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal to perform with other accomplished singers in 1990.

On 26 December 2020, Bettiah became a municipal corporation. It includes Tola San Saraiya, Banuchapar, Kargahiya east and nearby area for its upgradation.

Colleges • Government Medical College, Bettiah • Government Engineering College, West Champaran • Government Polytechnic,West Champaran • Maharani Janki Kunwar College, Bettiah • Ram Lakhan Singh Yadav College, Bettiah • Gulab Memorial College, Bettiah • MRRG College, Bettiah • MNM Mahila College, Bettiah • St. Teresa Primary Teachers Training College, Bettiah • Chanakya College of Education, Bettiah • Raj Inter College, Bettiah.

Transport: Rail Bettiah is connected to different cities of India through railways. Bettiah railway station is the main railway station serving the city. Direct trains are available to all the major destinations across India like Patna, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Guwahati, Ahemdabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Jammu & Katra, etc.

Prajapati Halt railway station, also known as Bettiah Cant Railway station, is another railway station serving the city.

Roadway National Highway 727, 139W, 28B, 727aa and State Highway 54 passes through the city.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has notified a new Patna-Bettiah road as National Highway 139W, setting the state for construction of a high-quality four-lane road between the two towns that would reduce the distance between them to 167 km from the current 200-odd km and travel time to around two hours.

Tola San Saraiyan new town aided village. The new Gopalganj-Bettiah Road passed through this new town aided village. Through this new road a distance of 60 km (37 mi) become shorten for Gopalganj-Bettiah.

A New expressway is constructing via BETTIAH notified by NHAI which links Gorakhpur to Silliguri.

A direct NH is constructing to link Bettiah to Gorakhpur notified as 727aa. NH727AA connects Manuapul (Bettiah), Patzirwa, Paknaha, Pipraghat and Sevrahi in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

Airway The nearest airport is Kushinagar International Airport which is about 97 km (60 mi) from Bettiah. The nearest airport in bihar is Jay Prakash Narayan International Airport located in Patna which is about 200 km (120 mi) via Muzaffarpur and 177 km (110 mi) via areraj.