Today’s Chhapra was a part of Kosala kingdom in ancient days. The kingdom of Kosala consisted of today’s Faizabad, Gonda, Basti, Gorkhapur, Deoria in Uttar Pradesh and Saran in Bihar. The 'Ain-E-Akbari written by Abul Fazal shows that   Saran was one of the six Sarkars (Revenue Divisions) constituting the province of Bihar. In 1765 when East India Company got Diwani there were eight Revenue Divisions i.e. Sarkars including Saran and Champaran in the province of Bihar. These two Sarkars were merged and the new Sarkar was named as Saran. Saran was included in the Patna Division when the Commissioner's Divisions were set up in 1829. It was separated from Champaran in 1866 when Champaran was made a new district. Saran became a part of Tirhut Division when it (Tirhut) was created in 1908. At this time the Saran district had three subdivisions namely Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj. In 1972, the Bihar Government declared all the three subdivisions of Saran district as separate districts. Today the Commissioner's Division of Saran consists of these three districts  namely Saran, Siwan and Gopalganj.   

The saran district is amongst one of the most backward districts in India with no or little industrial activities. The Union Government of India declared Saran as one of the country's 250 most backward districts in 2006 and thereafter the district is receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Agriculture is back bone of the economy of the district. The net sown area                                                     is 199300 hectare with 200% of cropping pattern. Major crops are Paddy, Wheat, Maize, Arhar, Gram, Lentil, Til and Linseed. The net Irrigated area is 101611 hectare.

LAND UTILIZATION

Area		Unit In Hectare
(a)	Total Area	270244.74
(b)	Cultivable Area	199300
(c)	Forest Area	Nil
(d)	Barren Land	17601.60
(e)	Land Use Other than Agriculture	25916.80
(f)     Land Under Water
	Permanent	3789.20
	Seasonal	299.20
(g)	Cultivable  Waste Land	1784.80
(h)	Pouster ( grazing Land)	472.40
(i)	Land Under Tree and Plant	8270
(j)	Other fallow Land	7699.60
(k)	Current fallow	5111.14
Total		270244.74

Types of Cultivable Land (Area and Percentage)

	Types of  Land	Area (In Hectare.)	Percentage
1	High Land	54212	27%
2	Medium High Land	13326	7%
3	Medium Land	36630	15%
4	Low Land	23300	12%
5	Chaur Land	42271	21%
6	Diara Land	29561	15%

Data Source: District Administration                                           

Marhowrah is only industrial area of the district with no significant industrial activity. The Sugar, Iron, Cotton and Chocolate factories located at Marhowrah are sick for years. One locomotive factory is being set up at Bela under Darya Pur block of the district.

The district of Saran is positioned between 25°36' and 26°13' North latitude and 84°24' and 85°15' East longitude in the southern post of the Saran Division of North Bihar. The triangle shaped Saran district is encircled by three rivers namely the Ganges, Ghaghra, Gandak with districts of Bhojpur and Patna in south, in the north of Saran district, there are Siwan and Gopalganj districts of Bihar, in the east Vaishali and Muzaffarpur districts lie and in the west of saran distict, there are Siwan of Bihar and Balia district of Uttar Pradesh. The Ganges forms the Southern boundary. The Ghaghra River divides Saran and Ballia. The Gandak divides Saran in the east with vaishali and Muzaffarpur districts.

The whole district is constituted of plains with a few depressions and marshes, which forms the three broad natural divisions.

·   The alluvial plains by the side of the three big rivers due to which the area is subjected to periodic outpouring and prone to floods.

·         The region of highlands far from the rivers, which is not prone to floods.

·         The diara areas in the beds of the big rivers.

The district has both Government owned and privately managed schools imparting education through Hindi Urdu and English medium of instructions from pre-primary to intermediate(+2) levels of education.

List of English/Public Schools

Serial No.	Name of the School	Contact Number
1	Chapra Central School	06152-224772
2	A.N.D Public School
3	Saran Central School
4	Central Public School	06152-248388
5	Children Delight School
6	Bhagwat Vidyapeeth
7	Greenland Public School
8	Apples English School
9	Iqra Academy
10	Brajkisor kinder garden

High Schools:

Central Schools in the Saran District

Serial No.	Name of the School	Contact Number
1	Central School,  Chapra
2	Central School,  Mashrakh
3	Central School, Sonepur
4	Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Deoti, Chapra

Some of the famous high schools of Saran districts are:

Serial No.	Name of the School	Contact Number
1	Zila School
2	Saran Academy
3	Bisheshwar Seminary
4	Rajput High School
5	Brahmin School
6	Govt. Girls' High School
7	Mahmood memorial girls high school
8	Janak Yadav Girls High School
9	Arya Kanya Girls School
10	Sita Ram Project Balika Uchh Vidailya(Pojhi Kapoor)
11	R.S.K.S. High School Khalpura
12	Darihara High School Darihara
13	Gautam Rishi Uccha vidyalay, Revelganj
14	Islamia High School Olhanpur
15	Hariji High School Aphaur
16	J.M. High School Raipura (Garkha)
17	B.N.High SchoolMohamadpur
18	Ishwari High School Basant
19	Mishri Lal Dharmnath Prasad High School Kanhauli
20	Rampurkhoram High School
21	Abdul Qayyum Ansari High School
22	Tapsi Singh High School   Chirand
23	Krishana BahadurHigh School         Harpurajan
24	Nepal Singh High School   Gawandri
25	G.M. High School   Bardahiya
26	Janta  High School Godana
27	S.N.G.High School  Rampur Atowli
28	Rahmat Balika High School          Mastichak
29	Sri Awadh  High School    Chainpur Charihara
30	Sri Ambika High School    Ami
31	Nageswar High School      Bahadurpur
32	Khomari Sah High School Ishuapur
33	M.D. High School    Kanhowli
34	Kapildeo High School       Sishahi
35	Gandhi Asmarak High School         Kopa
36	B.B. Ram High School       Nagra
37	Macdonald  High School   Dewariya
38	Sadhu Lal Prithvichand High School  Chapra
39	Rajendra Collegiate School          Chapra
40	Gandhi High School          Chapra
41	Lokmanya High School     Chapra
42	L.N.B.High School  Chapra
43	Government Sarwodai High School  Chapra
44	Adarsh Janta High School Naini, Chapra
45	Dalan Singh High School   Manjhi
46	Gautam Rishi High School Revelganj
47	Alakh Narayan Singh High School         Ekma
48	Dr. Ram Bihari Singh High School         Bisunpura
49	Sanyasi High School         Kopa Samhowta
50	Dhodhnath High School    Lahladpur