Jamui Nawada Chota Nagpur Lac Mineral Tribal Bihar

Jamui and Nawada districts in the Chota Nagpur plateau's Bihar extension are forested mineral-rich districts where copper deposits at Koderma-Jamui border and bauxite outcrops coexist with tribal lac cultivation and NTFP collection by Santhal, Malto, and Oraon communities in the plateau's mixed forest landscape. Nawada district's Rajgir hills (adjacent to Nalanda) contain the ancient Rajgir fort walls — cyclopean stone walls without mortar from the Mahajanapada period — and Ajatashatru's fort remains that attest to the Magadha empire's military infrastructure. Jamui's Aiyasi village is notable as the birthplace of Mahavira (599 BCE), the 24th tirthankara of Jainism, making the district a pilgrimage destination for Jains who visit Kundalpur and Vaishali as part of Jain religious circuits.