The demand
for a separate Jharkhand state can be traced
back to the early 1900s, when Jaipal Singh,
an Indian Hockey captain and Olympian, suggested
the idea of a separate state consisting of
the southern districts of Bihar. The idea
did not become a reality, however, until August
2, 2000, when the Parliament of India passed
the Bihar Reorganisation Bill to create the
state of Jharkhand, carving 18 districts out
of Bihar to form Jharkhand state on 15 November
2000. It became the 28th state of India.
However, according to some historians there
was already a distinct geo-political, cultural
entity called Jharkhand even before the period
of Magadha Empire. According to a legend,
Raja Jai Singh Deo of Orissa was accepted
as the ruler of Jharkhand by its people in
the 13th century. The Singh Deo's of Orissa
have been very instrumental in the early history
of Jharkhand. The local tribal heads had developed
into barbaric dictators who could govern the
province neither fairly nor justly. Consequently,
the people of this state approached the more
powerful rulers of Jharkhand's neighbouring
states who were perceived to have a more fair
and just governance. This became the turning
point in the history of the region wherein
rulers from Orissa moved in with their armies
and created states that were governed for
the benefit of the people and involved their
participation, thus ending the barbarism that
had marked the region for centuries. The good
tribal rulers continued to thrive and were
known as the Munda Rajas, and exist to this
day. (These are regions which are still semi-
autonomous, the degree of autonomy depending
on the size of each specific Munda Raja's
domain.) Later, during the Mughal period,
the Jharkhand area was known as Kukara. After
the year 1765, it came under the control of
the British Empire and became formally known
under its present title, "Jharkhand"
- the Land of "Jungles" (forests)
and "Jharis" (bushes). Located on
Chhota Nagpur Plateau and Santhal Parganas,
has evergreen forests, rolling hills and rocky
plateaus with many places of keen beauty like
Lodh Falls.
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