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colony of indigo planters has been scattered abroad. The old province, stretching widely across the valley of the Ganges from the frontier of See also:

NEPAL, NEPAUL

Nepal to the hills of See also:

CHOTA (or CHUTIA) NAGPUR

Chota See also:

NAGPUR

Nagpur, corresponds to the two administrative divisions of Patna and See also:

BHAGALPUR

Bhagalpur, with a See also:

TOTAL

total See also:

AREA

area of 44,197 sq.m. and a See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population of 24,241,305. It is the most densely populated See also:

TRACT (from Lat. tractare, to treat of a matter, through Provencal tractat and Ital. trattato)

tract in India, and therefore always liable to See also:

FAMINE (Lat. fames, hunger)

famine; but it is now well protected almost everywhere by See also:

RAILWAYS

railways. It is a See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country of large landholders and formerly of indigo planters. The See also:

VERNACULAR (Lat. verna, dim. vernaculus, a slave horn in his master's house)

vernacular See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language is not See also:

BENGALI

Bengali, but a See also:

DIALECT (from Gr. Sia stcror, conversation, manner of speaking, &aXeyec6at, to converse)

dialect of See also:

HINDU

Hindu; and the See also:

PEOPLE

people likewise resemble those of Upper India. The See also:

general aspect of the country is See also:

FLAT (a modification of O. Eng. flet, an obsolete word of Teutonic origin, meaning the ground beneath the feet)

flat, except in the district of See also:

MONGHYR

Monghyr, where detached hills occur, and in the See also:

south-See also:

east of the province, where the See also:

RAJMAHAL

Rajmahal and See also:

SANTAL (or SONTHAL) PARGANAS, THE

Santal ranges abut upon the plains. Behar abounds in See also:

GREAT

great See also:

rivers, such as the Ganges, with its tributaries, the Ghagra, See also:

GANDAK

Gandak, Kusi, Mahananda and See also:

SONE

Sone. The Ganges enters the province near the town of See also:

BUXAR, or BAXAR

Buxar, flows eastward and, passing the towns of See also:

DINAJPUR

Dinajpur, Patna, Monghyr and Colgong, leaves the province at Rajmahal. It divides the province into two almost equal portions; See also:

north of the river See also:

lie the districts of See also:

SARAN

Saran, See also:

CHAMPARAN, or CWJMPARUN

Champaran, Tirhoot, See also:

PURNEA

Purnea, and See also:

PART

part of Monghyr and Bhagalpur, and south of it are See also:

SHAHABAD

Shahabad, Patna, Gaya, the Santal parganas, and the See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest of Monghyr and Bhagalpur.

The Ganges and its See also:

NORTHERN

northern tributaries are navigable by country boats of large See also:

BURDEN, or BURTHEN

burden all the See also:

YEAR

year See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round. The cultivation of See also:

OPIUM (Gr. amov, dim. from Orbs, juice)

opium is a See also:

government See also:

MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

monopoly, and no See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person is allowed to grow the See also:

POPPY

poppy except on See also:

account of government. The Behar Opium Agency has its headquarters at the town of Patna. See also:

ANNUAL

Annual engagements are entered into by the cultivators, under a See also:

SYSTEM

system of pecuniary advances, to sow a certain quantity of See also:

LAND

land with poppy, and the whole produce in the See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of opium is delivered to government at a fixed See also:

RATE

rate. See also:

SALTPETRE (from the Lat. sal, salt, Petra, a rock)

Saltpetre is largely refined in Tirhoot, Saran and Champaran, and is exported both by See also:

RAIL

rail and river to See also:

CALCUTTA

Calcutta. The manufactures of less importance are tussore-silk, See also:

paper, blankets, See also:

brass utensils, firearms, carpets, coarse See also:

CUTLERY (Fr. coutellerie, from the Lat. cultellus, a little knife)

cutlery and hardware, See also:

leather, ornaments of See also:

gold and See also:

SILVER

silver, &c. Of minerals—lead, silver and See also:

COPPER (symbol Cu, atomic weight 63.1, H=1, or 63.6, O = 16)

copper exist in the Bhagalpur See also:

DIVISION (from Lat. dividere, to break up into parts, separate)

division, but the mines are not worked. One See also:

COAL

coal-mine is worked in the parganas. Before the construction of railways in India, the Ganges and the See also:

GRAND

Grand See also:

TRUNK (Fr. tronc, Lat. truncus, cut off, maimed)

Trunk road afforded the See also:

SOLE (Solea)

sole means of communication from Calcutta to the North-Western Provinces. But now the railroad is the great See also:

HIGHWAY

highway which connects Upper India with See also:

LOWER

Lower Bengal. The East See also:

INDIAN

Indian railway runs throughout the length of the province. The See also:

CLIMATE

climate of Behar is very hot from the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of See also:

March to the end of See also:

JUNE

June, when the rains set in, which continue till the end of See also:

SEPTEMBER (Lat. septem, seven)

September.

The See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season, from See also:

OCTOBER

October to the first See also:

HALF

half of March, is the pleasantest See also:

time of the year. See also:

HISTORY

History.—The province of Behar corresponds to the See also:

ancient See also:

KINGDOM

kingdom of See also:

MAGADHA

Magadha, which comprised the country now included in the districts of Patna, Gaya and Shahabad, south of the Ganges. The origin of this kingdom, famous alike in the See also:

POLITICAL

political and religious history of India, is lost in the mists of antiquity; and though the Brahmanical Puranas give lists of its rulers extending back to remote ages before the See also:

Christian era, the first See also:

AUTHENTIC (from Gr. aOO 'rns, one who does a thing himself)

authentic See also:

DYNASTY (Gr. &vvaareta, sovereignty, the position of a hevnori7r, lord, ruler, from SuvaaBay to be able, Suvaµas, power)

dynasty is that of the Saisunaga, founded by Sisunaga (c. 600 B.C.), whose See also:

capital was at Rajagaha (Rajgir) in the hills near Gaya; and the first See also:

king of this dynasty of whom anything is known was Bimbisara (c. 528 B.C.), who by conquests and matrimonial alliances laid the See also:

FOUNDATIONS

foundations of the greatness of the kingdom. It was in the reign of Bimbisara that Vardhamana Mahavira, the founder of Jainism. and Gautama, the founder of See also:

BUDDHISM

Buddhism, preached in Magadha, and Buddhist missionaries issued thence to the See also:

CONVERSION (Lat. conversio, from convertere, to turn or ,change)

conversion of See also:

CHINA

China, See also:

CEYLON

Ceylon, See also:

TIBET, or THIBET

Tibet and Tatary. Even to this See also:

day Behar, where there are extensive remains of Buddhist buildings, remains a sacred spot in the eyes of the See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese and other Buddhist nations. Bimbisara was murdered by his son Ajatasatru, who succeeded him, and whose bloodthirsty policy reduced the whole country between the Himalayas and the Ganges under the See also:

SUZERAINTY

suzerainty of Magadha. According to tradition, it was his See also:

GRANDSON (Ger. Grandsee)

grandson, Udaya, who founded the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city of Pataliputra (Patna) on the Ganges, which under the Maurya dynasty became the capital not only of Magadha but of India. The remaining history of the dynasty is obscure; according to Mr See also:

Vincent See also:

Smith, its last representative was Mahanandin (417 B.c.), after whose See also:

DEATH

death the See also:

THRONE

throne was usurped, under obscure circumstances, by Mahapadma Nanda, a See also:

man of See also:

low See also:

CASTE (through the Fr. from Span. and Port. casta, lineage, Lat. cast us, pure)

caste (See also:

Early Hist. of India, p. 36). It was a son of this usurper who was reigning at the time of the invasion of See also:

Alexander the Great; and the conqueror, when his advance was arrested at the Hyphasis (326 B.c.), meditating an attack on Pataliputra (the Palimbothra of the Greeks), was informed that the king of Magadha could oppose him with a force of 20,000 See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry, 200,000 See also:

INFANTRY

infantry, 2000 chariots, and 3000 or 4000 elephants.

The Nanda dynasty seems to have survived only for two generations, when (321 B.C.) Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the great Maurya dynasty, seized the throne. This dynasty, of which the history belongs to that of India (q.v.), occupied the throne for 137 years. After the death of the great Buddhist king, See also:

ASOKA

Asoka (c. 231), the Maurya See also:

EMPIRE

empire began to break up, and it was finally destroyed, about fifty years later when Pushyamitra Sunga murdered the Maurya king Brihadratha and founded the Sunga dynasty. Descendants of Asoka continued, however, to subsist in Magadha as subordinate rajas for many centuries; and as See also:

LATE

late as the 8th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century A.D. See also:

PETTY, SIR WILLIAM (1623-1687)

petty Maurya dynasties are mentioned as ruling =n See also:

KONKAN, or CONCAN

Konkan. The reign of Pushyamitra, who held his own against 1\fIenander and succeeded in establishing his claim to be See also:

lord See also:

PARAMOUNT (Anglo-Fr. paramont, up above, par el mont, up or on top of the mountain)

paramount of northern India, is mainly remarkable as marking the beginning of the Brabmanical reaction and ' the decline of Buddhism; according to certain Buddhist writers the king, besides reviving Hindu See also:

RITES

rites, indulged in a See also:

savage persecution of the monks. The Sunga dynasty, which lasted 112 years, was succeeded by the Kanva dynasty, which after 45 years was overthrown (c. 27 B.c.) by the Andhras or.Satavahanas. In A.D. 236 the Andhras were overthrown, and, after a confused and obscure See also:

period of about a century, Chandragupta I. established his See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power at Pataliputra (A.D. 320) and founded the famous See also:

GUPTA

Gupta empire (see GUPTA), which survived till it was overthrown by the Ephthalitcs (q.v.), or See also:

White See also:

HUNS

Huns, at the See also:

close of the 5th century. In Magadha itself the Guptas continued to See also:

RULE

rule as tributary princes for some centuries longer.

About the middle of the 8th century Magadha was conquered by Gopala, who had made himself See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master in Bengal, and founded the imperial dynasty known as the Palas of Bengal. They were zealous Buddhists, and under their rule Magadha became once more an active centre of Buddhist See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence. Gopala himself built a great monastery at Udandapura, or Otantapuri, which has been identified by See also:

Sir Alexander See also:

Cunningham with the city of Behar, where the later Pala See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings established their capital. Under Mahipala (c. 1026), the ninth of his See also:

LINE

line, and his successor Nayapala, missionaries from Magadha succeeded in firmly re-establishing Buddhism in Tibet. In the 1th century the Pala empire, which, according to the Tibetan historian Taranath, extended in the 9th century from the See also:

Bay of Bengal to See also:

DELHI, DEHLI

Delhi and Jalandhar (See also:

JULLUNDUR, or JALANDHAR

Jullundur) in the north and the Vindhyan range in the south, was partly dismembered by the rise of the " Sena " dynasty in Bengal; and at the close of the 12th century both Palas and Senas were swept away by the See also:

MAHOMMEDAN

Mahommedan conquerors, the city of Behar itself being captured by the See also:

TURKI

Turki See also:

FREE

free-See also:

LANCE

lance Mahommed-i-Bakhtyar Khilji in 1193, by surprise, with a party of 200 horsemen. " It was discovered," says a contemporary Arab historian, "that the whole of that fortress and city was a See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college, and in the See also:

Hindi See also:

TONGUE (O. Eng. lunge)

tongue they See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call a college Bihar." Most of the monks were massacred in the first See also:

HEAT (0. E. haktu, which like " hot," Old Eng. hat, is from the Teutonic type haita, hit, to be hot; cf. Ger. hitze, heiss; Dutch, hitte, heet, &c.)

heat of the See also:

ASSAULT (from Lat. ad, to or on, and saltare, to leap)

assault; those who survived fled to Tibet, Nepal and the south. Buddhism in Magadha never recovered from this See also:

BLOW, JOHN (1648-1708)

blow; it lingered in obscurity for a while and then vanished. Behar now came under the rule of the Mahommedan See also:

GOVERNORS

governors of Bengal. About 1330 the See also:

SOUTHERN

southern part was annexed to Delhi, while north Behar remained for some time longer subject to Bengal. In 1397 the whole of Behar became part of the kingdom of See also:

JAUNPUR

Jaunpur; but a See also:

HUNDRED

hundred years later it was annexed by the Delhi emperors, by whom—save for a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short period—it continued to be held. The capital of the province was established under the Moguls at the city of Behar, which gave its name to the province.

From the middle of the 14th to the middle of the 16th century a large part of Behar was ruled by a line of See also:

BRAHMAN

Brahman tributary kings; and in the 15th century another Hindu dynasty ruled in Champaran and See also:

GORAKHPUR

Gorakhpur. Behar came into the See also:

possession of the East India See also:

COMPANY

Company with the acquisition of the Diwani in 1765, when the province was See also:

UNITED

united with Bengal. In 1857 two zemindars, See also:

UMAR

Umar Singh and Kumar Singh, rebelled against the British government, and for some months held the ruinous fort of Rohtas against the British. See Imperial Gazetteer of India (See also:

Oxford, 1908), s.v. " Bihar " and " Bengal "; V. A. Smith, Early History of India (2nd ed., Oxford, 1908).

End of Article: BEHAR, or BIHAR

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