Begusarai

Begusarai is a prominent town of north Bihar and the administrative headquarters of Begusarai district, located on the northern bank of the River Ganga. In modern administrative records, the area was constituted in 1870 as a subdivision of Munger district, and later—on 2 October 1972—it was upgraded to an independent district, with Begusarai town as its headquarters. The district’s name is often explained through local tradition as “Begu” (a person linked with the region) + “sarai” (a resting place/inn), suggesting a settlement that grew around routes of movement and trade.

In the decades after independence, Begusarai’s identity expanded beyond agriculture as the nearby Barauni area developed into one of Bihar’s biggest industrial pockets. The Barauni Refinery of Indian Oil—established in the mid-1960s and dedicated to the nation in 1965—became a landmark of this transformation, strengthening transport links, jobs, and ancillary businesses across the region.

Today, Begusarai is known for this blend: a town rooted in the fertile Gangetic plains and local markets, yet shaped strongly by modern industry and district-level administration.