You must be knowing about Ballia, the easternmost district of UP? Yes, the same rebel Ballia whom Satya Vyas has introduced to Baliatic politics, student politics and the city in his recent factual novel. Today is the foundation day of that district. Today Ballia has completed 144 years. The district was established on 1 November 1879 AD. There are many stories of naming of this district. In ancient times, because of the silvery white sand (sand), the primitive people called it ‘Balua’, which was corrupted to Baliya. In the Vedodaya period, it was known as “Baliag” because it was the yagya place of the philanthropist Asurendra King Bali, which was corrupted to Baliya. In Tretayuga, it got the name “Balimikiya” because of Valmiki Ashram, which was corrupted to Baliya. It got the name Ballia because it was the capital of Balay-Buli kings.
There is also a connection with the Mahabharata period
Some people believe that Ballia was chosen by Lord Shiva for his penance. Before the Buddhist period, Ballia was given by Kosala king Prasenjit to Magadha emperor Bimbisara as dowry of his sister Mahakosala. Then it was withdrawn and again the new Magadha emperor attacked and Kosala king Prasenjit gave her along with his daughter Prasenjit in dowry to Magadha king Ajatashatru. Some people believe that King Shantanu of Hastinapur came to see the natural beauty of Ballia and married Nishad’s daughter Satyavati, from which the Kaurava and Pandava dynasty of Mahabharata period started. According to the Ballia Gazetteer, in 1302 AD, Bakhtiyar Khilji carved out land from Angadesh and Bangadesh and created Mahal as a revenue collection unit for the first time. On November 01, 1879, the British Empire Government made it a district, which exists today.
These sages performed penance on this earth
Let us tell you that Bagi Ballia is the place of worship of Lord Shiva, along with the place of worship of sages like Maharishi Bhrigu, Dardarmuni Valmiki, Durvasa etc., along with Vedavyas, Parshuram Parasar, Chenram Maharajbaba Sudishtha Baba Junglee Baba, Shrinath Baba, Sant Sadaphal Dev, Sant Gayadas Paramahamsa, Hareram Brahmachari Chiraiyan. Baba Ramsimhasan Brahmachari. It is the birthplace of countless proven saints like Yogi Gangadhar Shastri, Shri Pashupatinath Baba etc. Besides, it is the birthplace of hundreds of litterateurs like Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedi, Pt. Parshuram Chaturvedi, Dr. Bhagwat Sharan Upadhyay Hariprasad Verma, Shri Hari Jagdish Ojha ‘Sundar’, Amarkant Dr. Kedarnath Singh.
Like rebel Ballia immortal martyr Mangal Pandey, Govind Mallah, Kaushal Kumar Singh, Devvasan Koiri, Bhim Ahir, Ramjanm Gond Rajkumar Bagh, Dukhi Koiri, Shivprasad Koiri, Dhela Dusadh, Ram Subhag Chamar, Suraj Mishra, Ganpati Pandey, Raghunath Ahir, Shri Krishna Mishra. It is the land of hundreds of sacrifices.
It is also the birthplace of politicians.
These were Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan, Babu Murali Manohar Lal, Gaurishankar Rai, Jagannath Chaudhary, former Prime Minister Late. It is also the birthplace of politicians like Chandrashekhar, Janeshwar Mishra, Harivansh Narayan.