Kahalgaon

History

The university of Vikramashila served as one of the most important mahaviharas (centers of Buddhist learning) during the early medieval period in India, alongside Nalanda, Odantapuri and Somapura. The university was established by Dharmapala, who ruled the Pala Empire from 770–810 CE, in response to a perceived decline in the quality of scholarship at Nālandā. Kahalgaon also houses the mausoleum of Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah, the last independent sultan of the erstwhile Bengal Sultanate, who died in the area a few days after his army was defeated by Sher Shah. S.S.V. College, a local degree college affiliated with Bhagalpur University, was established in Kahalgaon in 1969. In 1985, the state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation established the Kahalgaon Super Thermal Power Station (KSTPS), a large coal-fired power station situated on the banks of the Ganges river. The station has a total power capacity of 2,340 megawatts, produced by processing coal mined from the Rajmahal coalfield in Jharkhand. The water supply for the plant is provided by the nearby Ganges river. The electricity produced by KSTPS is distributed to localities located in the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Sikkim.