Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tirhut

TIRHUT, or Tirhoot, a district of British India, was formerly the largest and most populous in Bengal. On 1st January 1875 it was divided into the two districts of Darbhangah and Muzaffarpur. For the latter, see Muzaffarpur. The former, with an area of 3335 square miles, lies between 25° 30΄ and 26° 40΄ N. lat. and 85° 34΄ and 86° 46΄ E. long., and is bounded on the N. by Nepal, on the E. by Bhagalpur, on the S. by Monghyr, and on the W. by Muzaffarpur. The population of Darbhangah in 1881 was 2,633,447 (males 1,295,788, females 1,337,659); of these Hindus numbered 2,323,979, Mohammedans 308,985, and Christians 325. Its chief towns are Darbhangah, the capital, with 65,955 inhabitants; Madhubani, 11,911; and Rusera, 11,578. The total revenue of Darbhangah district in 1885-86 amounted to 157,037, of which the land revenue yielded 80,442.

The alluvial tract of country formerly known as Tirhut is varied by undulations, with groves, orchards, and woods. The principal rivers are the Ganges, Gandak, Baghmati, Tiljuga, and Karai, which are rarely navigable, except during the rainy season, when they are mostly rapid and dangerous. Tirhut produces all sorts of crops, rice being the principal; others are wheat, barley, maize, oil-seeds, &c.; opium and tobacco are largely grown for export. The chief industries include the manufacture of indigo, saltpetre, coarse cloth, pottery, and mats. The Tirhut State Railway runs from Mokameh on the left bank of the Ganges through Darbhangah and Muzaf farpur districts north-west into Champaran district as far as Bettia. A ferry over the Ganges at Mokameh connects it with the East Indian Railway. There are two branches, one extending from Muzaffarpur south-west to Hajipur (to be connected with the Bengal and North-Western Railway at Sonapur by a bridge over the Gandak), the other (226 miles open for traffic in March 1886) from Samastipur via Darbhangah to Janjarpur, from which it will ex tend eastwards to Partabganj, a mart upon the Kosi river near the Nepal frontier.