History
Bihar Sharif was once the capital of the Muslim Governors of Bihar
between 13th and 16th centuries when the city was an active cultural
center and an important seat of Muslim thought and learning. Turkish
and Pashtun invaders often used abandoned viharas as military
cantonments.The word Bihar may have come from the large number of
viharas thus employed in the area that later became Bihar. Originally
Bihar was name of the town, which was headquarter of the Muslim
invaders in the Magadha region in the medieval period. Later on the
headquarter was shifted from Bihar to Patana (current Patna) by Sher
Shah Suri and the whole Magadha region was called Bihar. Almost 80% of
the Muslim population of Bihar Sharif and surrounding areas have a good
degree of Turkish and Afghan blood in their veins, especially so among
the middle and upper classes, but also among the lower classes.
