Bengal District Gazetteers Birbhum 1910

Abstract

Birbhum , the northernmost district of the Burdwan Division, is situated between 23° 33' and 24° 35' north latitude and between 87° 10' and 88° 2' east longitude. It extends over 1,752 square TI0N’ miles, and has a population, according to the census of 1901, of 902,280 persons. One of the smallest districts in Bengal, it has a larger area than the county of Lancaster, and its population is nearly as great as that of Kent. The principal town, which is also the administrative head-quarters of the distriot, is SurJ, situated two miles south of the Mor river. Several theories have been put forward regarding the derivation of the name Birbhum. According to Sir William Hunter, name!* °? it means the land of heroes ( Virbhumi) * and another suggestion is that it signifies forest land, bir in Santali meaning jungle.t A third derivation is connected with the traditional history of the district. I t is said that one upon a time the Raja of Bishnupur went out hawking'in this part of his kingdom. He threw off one of the birds in pursuit of a heron, which turned upon its pursuer with great fury and came off victorious. This unusual occurrence excited the surprise of the king, who imagined that it must have been due to some mysterious quality in the soil: that the soil was, in fact, Timati (i.e., vigorous soil), and that whatever might be brought forth by that soil would be endowed with heroic energy and power. Thereupon he named it Virbhumi.