In ancient times the tract which corresponds to the district of Ranchi and the neighbouring parganas was in the undisturbed possession of Munda and Oraon tribes and was known to Aryans as Jharkhand or the 'forest territory'. The entire tract was presumably beyond the pale of the direct Hindu influence in ancient India. However, Jarasandh, the mighty emperor of Rajgriha in the Mahabharat period might have exercised some kind of loose supervision over the area. Similarly, Mahapadmanand Agrasen of Magadh, who subdued the entire country upto Orrisa, might have gained some control over Jharkhand as well.
Possibly, the area was included in the Magadh Empire during the reign of Ashoka ( 273-232 B.C. ). With the decline of Mauryan power, King Kharavels of Kalinga led on army through Jharkhand and ransacked Rajgriha and Patliputra. Later , Samudra Gupta (335-380 A.D.) must have passed through the area on his expedition to the Deccan.
The Chotanagpur Raj is believed to have been set up in fifth century A.D. after the fall of the imperial Guptas. Phanimukut was elected the first king It is said that he was found by the Side of a tank under the protection of a Nag ( Snake). Hence the dynasty founded by him was named the Nag Dynasty.
In ancient times the tract which corresponds to the district of Ranchi and the neighbouring parganas was in the undisturbed possession of Munda and Oraon tribes and was known to Aryans as Jharkhand or the 'forest territory'. The entire tract was presumably beyond the pale of the direct Hindu influence in ancient India. However, Jarasandha, the mighty emperor of Rajgriha in the Mahabharata period might have exercised some kind of loose supervision over the area. Similarly, Mahapadma Nanda of Magadha, who subdued the entire country up to Orissa, might have gained some control over Jharkhand as well .
Possibly, the area was included in the Magadh Empire during the reign of Ashoka ( 273-232 B.C. ). With the decline of Mauryan power, King Kharavela of Kalinga led on army through Jharkhand and ransacked Rajgriha and Pataliputra of Magadh. Later, Samudra Gupta (335-380 A.D.) must have passed through the area on his expedition to the Deccan.
How To Reach :
By Road/Bus :
NH 33 and NH 23 passes through Ranchi. Roads connecting major cities are providing movement for passenger and freight traffic. Buses of the Jharkhand State Road Transport Corporation and private buses ply regularly to connect Ranchi to the other parts of Jharkhand. Also, Bihar State Road Transport Corporation run regularly for major cities (Patna, Gaya etc.) of Bihar. Regular bus services are there to Kolkata and other towns of neighboring states. Private buses also ply regularly to Jamshedpur, Siwan, Begusarai, Rourkela, Dumka, Varanasi, Khagaul, Hajipur, Patna and Kolkata. Luxury Mercedes buses are also available from Ranchi to Gaya and Patna. A new ring road is under construction around the city to reduce the growing traffic overload on the city roads. Three flyovers are coming up for smooth movement of traffic in busiest zones of the city. All major NH and other roads are being widened to six lanes or eight lanes.
Bulk of the public transport constitute of auto rickshaw and cycle rickshaw. A city bus service under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission was started in 2010 to meet the demands of public transport. There are a total of 150 city buses operating in Ranchi. The Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) was given the responsibility of running the buses in Ranchi.
By Plane/Air :
Birsa Munda Airport (IXR) of Ranchi has direct flights from Patna, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Few major airlines like Air India, GoAir and Jet Airways serve this purpose. A new international terminal is being built which is spread over 19,676 square metres of land, is furnished with the finest equipment imported from China, Germany and Singapore, and has the capacity to handle 500 domestic and 200 international passengers at a time. This terminal will have some ultra modern facilities. It will start operating from July 2012.
By Train/Rail :
Ranchi is now well connected with major cities of India via rail routes and one of the most profitable station in South Eastern Railways. Ranchi Railway Station with station code RNC is main station of Ranchi. Apart from Ranchi station, there are few more stations in city namely, Hatia Station, Tatisilwai Station and Namkom Station. Many important trains start from Hatia station as well. 16 trains start, 16 trains end and 20 trains pass from Ranchi Railway station. It is well connected with metro and major cities of India like Jaipur, Bilaspur, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bhubaneswar, Bangalore, Vishakhapatnam, Vijaywada, Hyderabad, Guwahati, Patna, Amritsar, Nagpur, Gorakhpur, Pune, Raipur, Cuttack, Puri, Rourkela, Durg, Ajmer, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad, Jammu, Surat, etc.