Daudnagar

Daudnagar was founded by Daud Khan. The area between Daudnagar and Aurangabad assumed great strategic importance when Daud Khan, Aurangzeb's Subedar in Bihar, marched against the Raja of Palamu. As a mark of victory against the Raja in the year 1664, Daud Khan founded the city of Daudnagar. Daud Khan Qureshi was an Indian Muslim Shaikhzada native of Hisar (city) in Haryana, then called Hisar Firuza.[5] The surrounding area was also granted to him as a Jagir by the emperor. Early in the 18th century, Buchanan saw it as a flourishing town with cloth and opium factories. The Sarai, built by Daud Khan was possibly intended to serve as a stronghold, as it was well-fortified with a battlemented wall, two large gates and a surrounding moat. In the outlying part of the town, called Ahmadganj, lies the tomb of Ahmad Khan.[4][6]

Daudnagar is located at 25.03°N 84.4°E / 25.03; 84.4.[7] It has an average elevation of 84 metres (275 feet). Daudnagar is situated on the bank of the Son River and NH139 passes through the town. It is situated 30 kilometres (19 mi) away from the district headquarter Aurangabad The Indrapuri Barrage canal also passes through the town.

As of 2011 India census,[8] Daudnagar town has population of 52,364, male population is 27,493 and female population is 24,871. Population of Children with age of 0-6 is 9003 which is 17.19% of total population. Town's Female Sex Ratio is 905 against state average of 918. Moreover Child Sex Ratio in Daudnagar is around 957 compared to Bihar state average of 935. Literacy rate of the town is 67.51% which is higher than the state average of 61.80%. In Daudnagar, Male literacy is around 74.72% while female literacy rate is 59.44%. Hindus are majority in the town with 80.80% of the population while Muslims constitute 18.78% of the town's total population. Followers of the other religions like Christian, Jain, Sikh, Buddhist also live in Daudnagar but their population is minuscule, just 0.42% of the total population. Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 12.83% while Schedule Tribe (ST) are 0.08% of the total population of Daudnagar.[9]

The 2.9km 4 lane Sone bridge which connects Daudnagar on the southern bank with Nasriganj on the northern bank of the Sone River and is located around 105km southwest of Patna was inaugurated on 16 February 2019, by the then District Magistrate cum Collector of Aurangabad district. The Sone Bridge eases traffic and reduces the distance between Rohtas and Gaya by 60km and between Patna and Rohtas by 70km. Traffic coming from the western part of the country and entering Bihar for onward journey to Jharkhand and other eastern states bypass the busy traffic of Patna, saving precious time and fuel. The Son bridge benefits the entire Buddhist circuit as the distance between Kushinagar and Bodhgaya is reduced by 65km providing an alternate route that currently passes through the congested roads of Patna and Gaya.[10]

It is one of the cultural towns of Bihar, where Hindu community are in majority followed by Muslim and Christian. Some of the festivals celebrated by the people are Durga puja, Chhath, Diwali, Holi, jiutiya (Jivitputrika), Raksha Bandhan, Eid, Muharram, Eid ul Zuha Uurush, Sab e Barat, Christmas, Makar Sankranti, Vasant Panchami, and Teej . Daudnagar is famous for its unique and grand celebration of the festival of Jiutiya (Jivitputrika) where women keep fast for the longevity of their son. Dring this festival Daudnagari disguise themselves as God, Goddess, demon, King, Queen etc. and roam in the town to showcase their skill. This way of celebrating the jiutiya festival in the town is century long.[11]

Out of the total population, 16,446 were engaged in work or business activity. Of this 12,146 were males while 4,300 were females. In census survey, a 'worker' is defined as a person who has a business or job or services as a cultivator or in some other capacity in labour activity. Of the total 16446 working population, 72.15% were engaged in main work while 27.85% of the total workers were engaged in marginal work.[9]

Daudnagar town, considered as the hub of education, over the years, has constantly been producing state toppers in High School and Senior Secondary school exams conducted by BSEB, Patna and CBSE, New Delhi.[12][13][14][15]

Daudnagar has many government schools, colleges, private institutions & coaching classes. Students from neighbouring districts also come here for educational purposes. Following is the list of some of the well known govt. and private institutions

• Ashok Inter School Daudnagar
• Vivekanand Mission School[16]
• DAV Public School, Daudnagar[17]
• Gyan Ganga Inter School[18]

Daudnagar is about 100km southwest of the capital of Bihar, Patna and is well connected by the roads. NH 98 which is now NH 139 and SH 7 which is now NH 120 passes through the town. Recently built 3km four-lane bridge on the Son river connecting it to Nasriganj reduces the distance between two different towns of Magadh and Shahabad regions of the state. The new road bridge is now considered part of the NH-120.[19]

Daudnagar block contains 60 rural villages, all of which are inhabited:[21]

• List of cities in Bihar

• Aurangabad, Bihar