Dumraon

Dumraon is located at 25°33′N 84°09′E / 25.55°N 84.15°E / 25.55; 84.15^[3] at an average elevation of 61 metres (200 feet).

It was the capital of the Dumraon Raj. Dumraon Raj was a zamindari state during British era. The town was originally founded by Raja Horil Singh following the division of erstwhile territory of Bhojpur. It is also known as "Horilnagar". During the time of Indian independence, Dumraon Raj covered an area of 2,330 km² which stretched from Buxar district in west Bihar to Ballia district in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. In Ballia district, Dumraon Raj covered rights of more than 70 villages which are located on the banks of the Ganga river.^[4][5] The nephews of Raja Horil Singh, Babu Buddh Singh and Raja Udwant Singh ruled the principalities at Buxar and Jagdishpur.^[6]

Dumraon was formally constituted as a municipality in 1877; during the late 1800s, the town was a producer and exporter of sugar.^[7]

The famous Bismillah Khan was born in Dumraon. His father was a court musician employed in the court of the Maharaja of Dumraon.^[8]

As of 2011^[update] India census,^[9] Dumraon had a population of 53,618 as per census of 2011 Out of which 28,498 are males while 25,120 are females. The Average Sex Ratio of Dumraon is 881. Males constitute 53% of the population. Dumraon has an average literacy rate of 71.6% lower than the national average by 2.64%: male literacy is 66.6% and, female literacy is 53.4% . In Dumraon, 16% of the population is under 6 years of age. Religion-wise population of Dumraon is as follows: there are 83.85% Hindu, 15.94 Muslim, 0.11% Christian, 0.01% Buddhist and 0.07% non-religion.

Ustad Bismillah Khan (21 March 1916 – 21 August 2006) (born as Qamaruddin Khan), often referred to by the honorific title Ustad, was an Indian musician credited with popularizing the shehnai, a subcontinental wind instrument of the oboe class. Khan was born on 21 March 1916 in a family of traditional Muslim musicians in Bhirung Raut Ki Gali, Dumraon, in what is now the eastern Indian state of Bihar, as the second son of Paigambar Baksh Khan and Mitthan. He was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 2001, becoming the third classical musician after M. S. Subbulakshmi and Ravi Shankar to be accorded this distinction.

The Former Princely State also finds mention and is the setting for the second half of the popular novel Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat where the protagonist Madhav Jha played by Arjun Kapoor is the Prince of the former Princely state Dumraon.^[10][11]Murali Manohar Srivastava, resident of Dumraon, is a great journalist, writer and researcher. He has written many books. His famous books are the biography of Bharat Ratna Shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan “Shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan (2009)”, Jazbaat (Ghazal) 2021, ‘Veer Kunwar Singh Ki Prem Katha’ (2023) book on the great leader of 1857 Gadar Babu Veer Kunwar Singh. Are famous. While the religious texts Quran are being translated into Bhojpuri. Apart from this, 'Lockdown' (Travelogue Story) and biography of SIS founder RK Sinha are coming soon.

Dumraon Railway Station is located in between Ara and Buxar Railway Station on the Howrah–Delhi main line via Patna–Mughalsarai section main line. The Railway code for Dumraon is DURE.^[12]

Besides the city of Dumraon itself, there are 93 villages in Dumraon block. Of these, 73 are inhabited and 20 are uninhabited. As of 2011, the total population of these villages was 179,064, in 28,898 households.^[1]