Ghanta Ghar in Bhagalpur. Picture by Amit Kumar

Bhagalpur, Jan. 17: The district administration has a unique riddle to solve — finalise a day from four con-flicting dates when Bhagalpur was attached to the map of Bihar.

The art and cultural department had proposed two dates — February 12, 1773 and January 2, 1775. The district gazetteer, however, suggested October 7, 1774, as the foundation day of Bhagalpur.

The puzzle became all the more tricky when local historians preferred May 4, 1733, as the “original foundation day” of Bhagalpur.

The riddle remained unresolved and the administration kept returning Rs 3 lakh to the government every year despite getting the amount to celebrate Bhagalpur day.

The latest round of initiative came from district magistrate Narmadeshwar Lal, who took keen interests on celebrating Bhagalpur day.

His efforts were fuelled by the centenary celebrations of the state and initiatives by neighbouring districts to celebrate foundation days.

“We want to have some evidence first to finalise a date before we can celebrate the foundation day of Bhagalpur,” Lal said.

Besides seeking advice from the art and culture department, Lal has constituted a team of historians, intellectuals and mediapersons to throw some light on Bhagalpur’s history and resolve the foundation date riddle.

Senior additional collector-cum-in charge of the general section Janardan Kumar said the art and cultural department has been sending Rs 3 lakh every year since 2009 to Bhagalpur for the celebration of the foundation day of the district.

However, the money is being sent back to the department because the administration has not been able to finalise the date as yet.

Raman Sinha, a veteran teacher and member of the Bihar History Congress, said East India Company documents revealed that the diwani adalats (civil courts) were set up in Bhagalpur and Rajmahal (now in Jharkhand) on February 18.

The company, however, set up the criminal court in Bhagalpur and it had its jurisdictions up to Rajmahal, he said. The teacher added that the company had on the same date introduced sair duties, a process to collect revenues for the government.

“The East India Company had empowered James Barton with the task of collecting Sair duties and employed him as the first collector of Bhagalpur-Rajmahal on May 4, 1773. The Bhagalpur-Rajmahal area was then known as Greater Bhagalpur. We should consider May 4 as the original foundation day of Bhagalpur,” he said.

A senior district official, on condition of anonymity, said: “We have a difficult task in hand. We have to select a date from four dates. It has to be historically accurate.”

Till then, the residents of Bhagalpur can only wait to know when the ancient silk city, popularly known as the Anga Pradesh, was actually attached to the map of Bihar.