Sursand

The village has the ruins of a fortress, known as Sursandgarh, constructed during the Mugal period by King Sursen.[2]

According to an account published in the Bengal District Gazetteers,

"The name of the place is said to be derived from Sur Sen, a chieftain who once lived there. After his death, it lapsed once more into jungle, until it was reclaimed by two brothers—Mahesh Jha and Amar Jha, the founders of the present Sursand family. These brothers, the story runs, left their home at Ghograha, in the district of Darbhanga, and came to settle at Jadupati, a village belonging to them, 8 miles from Sursand. One day Mahesh Jha went with his astrologer to hunt in the woods at Sursand, and came across the ruins of Sur Sen's fort. The astrologer having told him that the man who made a home there would be a Raja, Mahesh Jha acted on his advice and cleared the jungle. The several branches of the Sursand family sprang from his son, Chaudhri Kelwal Krishna. Amar Jha's branch did not prosper, and his descendants are impoverished. Chaudhri Hirdai Narayan, a descendant of the elder branch, added largely to the family estates.King Sursena always admired Babu Bhim Lal Singh II of Singh Dynasty because his Daughter Maheshwari Devi was married to Babu Bhim Lal Singh II of Singh Dynasty"[3]

During the 1857 Indian mutiny, the zamindars of Sursand assisted the British to suppress the movement. The zamindar of Sursand offered a reward of Rs. 30/- for each deserter seized.[4]

It is located at an elevation of 55 m above MSL.[5]

Sursand is located 20 km from the district headquarters in Sitamarhi.

Sursand - in the outskirts of the modern town, the area locally known as Garh Devi Sthan shows a 3 m high circular mound at present covering about 2 acres of ground. Set in a mando grove, the antiquity of this locally sacred spot should go back to the Pala period.[6]

Birakh - a tank associated with a small mound at this place lies a few kilometers to the east of Sursand. A defaced but well-decorated Vishnu image of c. eleventh century AD is in worship here below a tree. A small image os reported stolen from this spot.

Parihar - to the northwest of Sursand there is a large circular mound about 5 acres and about 5 m high which cenrtainly goes back to the Pala period but seems to contain earlier evidence including micaceous Black-and-Red Ware.

National Highway 104 passes through Sursand. It is very near the Indian border with Nepal and has a border crossing near Bhitthamore (india) to malibara, Jaleshwar (Nepal) with a customs checkpoint. The nearest airport is Janakpur Airport approx 16 Kms from Sursand town but Janakpur is in Nepal. In India the nearest airport is Darbhanga Airport which is about 76 Kms (47 miles) away.

People speak Maithili and Hindi.

Major festivals are Durgapuja, Chhath, Dipawali, Holi, Sama-Chakewa, Jursital, Chaurchan, rakshabandhan, ganesh chaturthy,

etc.

Schools and Colleges

Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial College, Barahi (Sursand), affiliated to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jawahar Nagar, P O Sutihara Via Sursand.

The oldest High school for boys is Saryu High School, Sursand and for girls there are two high schools Shahi High School and Kamaldas Girls High School. These schools are up to +2 level with Science, Arts, Commerce and many others stream. And there are several Primary and Middle schools are also as well as for religion - schools like maqtabfor Muslim students are also available. Darul Ullom Madarsa Nizamia and Darul Ullom Madarsa Rizwania are there for Arabic, Persian and Urdu languages.

Maharani Kunwar: In 1870 A.D. Maharani Kunwar of Sursand(Bihar) madethis Ghat. Earlier it was known as "Nagamber ghat".After picca Constructions it is known as Janaki ghat.It has a little Religious important but people bathsince it is safe and Clean.[7][8]

Sir Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh (born 18 April 1901) was one of the scions of zamindars of Sursand.[9] Sir CPN Singh was India's first ambassador to Nepal during fifties and later an ambassador to Japan (from 1958) and also the second Governor of Punjab in 1953 and then governor of Uttar Pradesh from 1980 to 1985.

Shyam Nandan Prasad Mishra (Born October 1920) served as the Union Deputy Minister for Planning from 1954 to 1962. He also served as the Parliamentary Secretary to the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru from June, 1951 to May, 1952. He was Deputy Leader of the Congress Party in Parliament from 1967 to 1969 and Leader of the Congress (O) Party in the Rajya Sabha from 1969 to 1971. In 1979, Mishra was appointed Minister for External Affairs in Charan Singh Ministry.

Kumudini Devi (Born 1932) received National Award in 1971 [10] for Sikki arts. She was initiated into the craft by her mother and grandmother. She was the Organiser of Sikki Procurement Centre Vill PO Sursand, Sitamari Muzaffarpur. Kumidini Devi have brought name and fame to Mithila for their Sikki arts. The feminist film-maker Nalini Singh had documented Kumudini Devi work.[11] Sursand had been a sikki centre of excellence during the 1970s. However Sikki handicraft at sursand failed late because of the severe weakness of production and marketing.

Nalini Singh (born 17 February 1945), an Indian journalist is from Sursand.[12] She has been the anchor for several current affairs programs on Doordarshan, and is most known for her program, 'Aankhon Dekhi', on investigative journalism.

Shubham Sarawgi, (born 17 March 1996) Son of a Marwari Businessman, an Indian student working under Shri Shri Manu Sharma at one of the Big Four accounting firms in the world is proclaimed to be one of the most successful residents of Sursand.

Ravindra Prasad Shahi, former M.L.A, has been twice elected as a member of legislative assembly. He contested his first election as an independent candidate and won against a nationwide strong wave of Rajiv Gandhi. Raman Ayush is the grandson of Ravindra Prasad Shahi who is a former MLA.

• About Sursand
• Satellite map of Sursand
• Bengal district gazetteers 1901