West Champaran, carved out of the old Champaran District in 1972, with its headquarters at Bettiah

Background

West Champaran District was carved out of the old Champaran District in the year 1972 as a result of re-organization of the District in the state. It was formerly a subdivision of Saran District and then Champaran District, with Bettiah as its head quarters. The district administration records that Bettiah got its name from Baint (Cane) plants commonly found in the district. It also records that the name Champaran is a degenerate form of Champaka aranya, a name dating from the time when the tract was a forest of Champa (Magnolia) trees. On the 2011 Census figures the district publishes, Paschim Champaran ranks 9th in terms of population (39,35,042) and 1st in terms of area (5,228 sq.km.) in the state of Bihar. The same figures make it the 35th densely populated district in the state with 753 persons per sq.km. The district's place in the freedom movement rests on indigo cultivation: Raj Kumar Shukla, a raiyat and indigo cultivator of Champaran, carried the cultivators' case to Gandhiji, who came to Champaran in 1917 and began the Champaran Satyagraha Movement.