THE SCHOLARS OF BIHAR: A RESEARCH PAPER ON THEIR ACADEMIC AND RELIGIOUS SERVICES

All praise to Allah and His blessings upon His chosen men\ud \ud Bihar is a state in India situated in the eastern most part of the north Indian politico-geographical zone. Its capital has been Patna for almost 2,500 years. Bihar is the 12th largest Indian state in terms of geographical size, ranked 14 out of 28 in terms of state and the third largest as regards the population.\ud \ud Bihar was part of the ancient kingdom of Magadha. Muslims occupied it in 1193 and the Delhi sultans in 1497. In 1765, the British took over Bihar and merged it with Bengal. The province of Bihar and Orissa was formed in 1912; Bihar became a separate province in 1936.\ud \ud Historically, Bihar has been a major centre of learning, home to the universities of Nalanda, one of the earliest universities of India dating back to the fifth century.\ud \ud All the chapters mentioned above as the Contents of Table briefly throw light on the Bihar religious luminaries. I hope my thesis would help guide the future researchers and serve as a basis for future endeavours