Behar abounds in great rivers, such as the Ganges, with its tributaries, the Ghagra, Gandak, Kusi, Mahananda, and Son. The Ganges enters the province near the town of Baxar, flows eastward, and passing the towns of Dinâjpur, Patna, Monghir, and Colgong, leaves the province at Râjmahal. It divides the province into two almost equal portions; north of the river lie the districts of Sâran, Champâran, Tirhut, Furniah, and part of Monghir and Bhâgalpur, and south of it are Shâhâbâd, Patnâ, Gaya, the Santal parganàs, and the rest of Monghir and Bhâgalpur. The Ganges and its northern tributaries are navigable by country boats of large burden all the year round. The Son (the most important of the southern tributaries) enters the province in the extreme south-west, and forming for a short distance its boundary in that direction, flows north, past Rhotâsgarh and Arah, separating the districts of Shâhâbâd from those of Gaya and Patmi, and joins the Ganges opposite Châprâ. It has a very wide bed, and pours down its waters with great velocity during the rains. The principal hills within the province are the Moher hill in the district of Gaya, 1620 feet; Santal pargami hills, 800 to 1600 feet; Rajmahal and Monghir hills, 1500 feet; and Râjgarh hill in Patnâ, 1200 feet above sea-level.

Behar Province contains eight districts, withan area of 42,417 square miles, and a total population in 1872 of 19,736,101 souls, inhabiting 48,285 villages or townships, and 3,252,036 houses; persons per square mile, 465; per village, 409. The males numbered 9,797,649, or 49 - 6 per cent., and the females, 9,938,452, or 50 - 4 per cent., of the total population. Of the provincial population, 16,526,850, or 83'7 per cent., were Hindus; 2,636,053, or 13 - 4 per cent., Mahometans; 54 Buddhists; 8063 Christians; and 565,081, or 2’9 per cent., of unspecified religion, mostly aborigines. Of the male adults, 3,613,231 are returned as agriculturists, and 2,489,557 non-agriculturists. The aboriginal tribes consist of the Bhars, Cherus, Dhângars, Kanjhârs, K liarwars, Kols, Mais, Naiyâs, Nats, Pahariâs, Santals, and Tharus. The census of 1872 returned 49 towns as containing upwards of 5000 inhabitants, particulars of which will be found in the accounts of the districts within which they are situated. Rice, wheat, barley, pulses, maize, and various kinds of millets, form the principal food-grains of the province. Rice is the main staple of food; but in elevated and dry localities, wheat, maize, millet, and peas are substituted. Potatoes, cabbages, &c., were introduced by Europeans, and are now largely cultivated. Many kinds of fruits and vegetables are also produced. The commercial staples consist of oil-seeds, opium, indigo, sugar, cotton, and saltpetre. Upwards of 800,000 tons of oil-seeds were exported from Behar in 1872. The principal marts for oil-seeds are Revelganj, in the Sâran district, and Roshrâ in Tirhut. The cultivation of opium is a Government monopoly, and no person is allowed to grow the poppy except on account of Government. The Behar Opium Agency has its headquarters at the town of Patnâ. Annual engagements are entered into by the cultivators, under a system of pecuniary advances, to sow a certain quantity of land with P 0 PPy> and the whole produce in the form of opium is delivered to Government at a fixed rate. The area under poppy cultivation in the Behar Agency in 1872 amounted to 330,925 acres. The Behar indigo, generally called Tirhut indigo, yields about one-half of the total produce of that dye which is annually exported from Calcutta. In the Bhâgalpur division there are 44 factories, yielding on an average about 500 tons of indigo a year. In the Patnâ division, indigo cultivation is almost entirely confined to the north of the Ganges, in the districts of Tirhut, Sâran, and Champâran, which in 1872 contained 104 factories, including outworks, and yielded 1958 tons of the dye. The indigo industry is almost entirely conducted by Europeans, and the total capital invested in the business in Behar is estimated at upwards of a million sterling. Large quantities of sugar are exported, but the cotton grown in the province is not sufficient for the requirements of the people, and has to be supplemented by imports of raw cotton and English piece goods. Saltpetre is largely refined in Tirhut, Sâran, and Champaran, and is exported both by rail and river to Calcutta; the quantity exported by river in 1872 being 22,719 tons. The manufactures of less importance are tasar-silk, paper, blankets, brass utensils, fire-arms, carpets, coarse cutlery and hardware, leather, ornamenta of gold and silver, Ac. Of minerals—lead, silver, and copper exist in the Bhâgalpur division, but the mines are not worked. One coal-mine is worked in the Santal parganàs. Before the construction of railways in India, the Ganges and the Grand Trunk road afforded the sole means of communication from Calcutta to the North-Western Provinces. But now the railroad is the great highway which connects Upper India with Lower Bengal. The East Indian Railway runs throughout the length of the province; total length of rail, upwards of 500 miles. Besides the Grand Trunk road, the other important roads in the province are—(1), Road from Synthia Railway Station to Bhâgalpur; (2), Darjiling road, from Kârâgolâto Siliguri; (3), from Shahrghâti on the Grand Trunk road to Patnâ city, and thence to Tirhut town. There are also many local roads under the management of the district road committees. The gross revenue of the province in 1872 amounted to £1,596,952, of which £1,184,906, or 74 per cent., was from land. In 1872 the 8 districts of the province were divided into 37 executive subdivisions, and contained 52 civil judges and 80 magistrates. The total police force (regular, municipal, and village) consists of 60,028 men; cost, £210,943. In 1872 there were 215 Government and aided schools, attended by 9454 pupils, and maintained at a total cost of £17,835, of which Government contributed £10,328. These are exclusive of unaided schools. The census of 1872 returned the total number of schools, aided and unaided, in the province at 4781. Bengali is the language in the eastern part of the province; but Hindi, one of the dialects of Sanskrit, is the language of the rest. The Mahometan population use Hindustâni or Urdu, a language of modern origin, formed from the fusion of Persian and Arabic with Hindi. The climate of Behar is very hot from the middle of March to the end of June, when the rains set in, which continue till the end of September. The cold season, from October to the first half of March, is the pleasantest time of the year. The total rainfall in 1872 varied from 32 to 60 inches in different localities; minimum temperature in December, 53°; maximum in May, 105°.

In ancient times Behar comprised the dominions of the kings of Magadha, who at one time were the lords paramount of India, and whose court is represented as one of the most brilliant that ever existed. Alexander the Greal when he invaded India intended to push his conquests tc Palibothra, the capital of Magadha, whose monarch he heard could oppose him with 30,000 cavalry, 600,000 infantry, and 9000 elephants. Their highest point of grandeur was supposed to have been attained at the time of Seleucus Nicator, one of the immediate successors of Alexander, whe invaded Magadha. According to the Greek historians he was victorious, but this is doubtful, as he relinquished al] the Macedonian conquests to the east of the Indus, and gave his daughter in marriage to Chandra Gupta, the reigning king. At this time Magasthenes was appointed to represent him at Magadha court. The Magadha monarchs encouraged arts and learning, constructed roads, and sent their fleets across the Bay of Bengal to colonise Java, Bali, and other islands in the Indian Archipelago. The Magadha kingdom flourished from the 4th century before the Christian era to the 5th century after it. But ancient Behar is far more celebrated in another respect. Six centuries before the Christian era it was the cradle of Buddhism when that religion was in its infant state. It sent its missionaries to Ceylon, China, Thibet, and Tartary, and the religion they taught is still followed by 300 millions of people. Behar is a sacred spot in the eyes of the Chinese and other Buddhist nations. In 1202 a.d. Behar fell into the hands of the Mahometans without a struggle, and from this time it formed one of the three subahs or provinces under the rulers of Bengal. In the time of Akbar it comprised the seven sarkars of Monghir, Champâran, Hâjipur, Sâran, Tirhut, Rohtâs, and Behar. It came into the possession of the East India Company with the acquisition of the Dïwâni in 1765, when the province was united with Bengal. In 1857 two zamindârs, Umar Sinh and Kumâr Sinh, rebelled against the British Government, and for some months held the ruinous fort of Rohtâs against the English.

Behar, a magisterial subdivision, and a town of Patna district. The Subdivision was formed in 1846. It has an area of 792 square miles, with a total population of 570,888 souls, the average population per square mile being 721. Behar Town is situated in 25° 10' N. lat., and 85° 35' E. long. It was formerly the capital of a subah or governorship under the Mahometans, but at present it is merely a subdivisional town. Population in 1872 :— Hindus, 31,006; Mahometans, 13,282; others, 7; total, 44,295. Municipal income, £1100; expenditure, £1120; rate of taxation, 6d. per head of population.