Kosala

In ancient days, modern-day chapra was a part of Kosala. Kosala was bounded on the west by Panchala, by the river Sarpika (sai) in the south, on the east by Gandak and on the north by Nepal. Kosala consisted of modern-day Faizabad, Gonda, Basti, Gorkhapur,Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Saran. The historical background of the district - as available in the 'Ain-E-Akbari - records Saran as one of the six Sarkars (revenue divisions) in the province of Bihar. When Diwani was granted to the British East India Company in 1765, there were eight Sarkars including Saran and Champaran. These two were later combined to form Saran. Saran (along with Champaran) was included in the Patna Division when the Commissioner's Divisions were set up in 1829. Champaran became a separate district in 1866. Saran was made a part of newly formed Tirhut Division in 1908. By this time there were three subdivisions in this district, namely Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj. In 1972, each subdivision of the old Saran district became an independent district. The new Saran district was still headquartered at chapra after the separation of Siwan and Gopalganj.

[edit]Ashoka Pillar

The famous Ashoka Pillar is located about 33 km from chapra (5 km from Maker Village). This is the place where Lord Buddha made his 13th stop on his way to attaining nirvana. He converted Amrapali, a local courtesan and powerful prostitute, into a saint. This is now a major tourist attraction for Buddhists and is well maintained by the archaeological survey of India. At Chirand near chapra, ancient bones were found and are placed in the chapra Museum. It is famous for King Maurayadhwaj, who was ready to sacrifice his only son to Vaman Avatar Lord Vishnu.

[edit]Bhojpuri heritage

Bhojpuri is a common language in states of Maharaja Bhoj, especially in Bhojpur District (headquartered in Arrah) and the surrounding area. It has its own script known as Kaithi because Kayastha were responsible for literacy. Today, this Kaithi script is limited to older Kayastha people or their relatives. These days, Bhojpuri is a common language in 26 districts of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, spoken by 30,000,000 people worldwide.

Bhojpuri singers have been very famous, such as Santraj Singh "Ragesh", Sriniwas Sinha "Bhushan", Sharda Sinha, Bireshwar Singh, Janardan Dubey, Baidh Nath Prasad, Bairister Giri, Sant Kumar Singh and Tripathi Prashuram Shashtri. Mahendra Misir, the pioneer of "Purvi" (a style of Bhojpuri folk song), was also from Saran.

Bollywood actors make Bhojpuri films, including Prakash Jha, Vijay Khare and Ashutosh Khare.

Bhojpuri magazine publishers include Dr. Anil Kumar Pandey (former I.G. Railway) and Dr. Lal Babu Tiwari. Amiya Bhushan is a Bhojpuri poet and scholar. The famous Bhojpuri poet Bhikhari Thakur (often referred to as the "Shakespeare of Bhojpuri") came from Saran.

chapra Ara and Ballia are often colloquially referred to as the "ABC" region of Bhojpuri. Indentured laborers of this region have taken Bhojpuri across the Indian border to Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad & Tobago, Surinam and Guyana. Bhojpuri is the only language from India spoken in Fiji, Surinam, Mauritius, Guyana and Trinidad.