BHAGALPUR, town of British India, in the Behar Sec tion of Behar and Orissa, which gives its name to a district and to a division ; situated on the right bank of the Ganges, with a station on the East Indian railway. Pop. (1931) 83,847. The chief educational institution is the Tejnarayan Jubilee college. There are two monuments, one erected by government, and the other by the landholders, to the memory of Augustus Cleveland, who, as collector of Bhagalpur at the end of the i8th century, "by conciliation, confidence and benevolence, attempted and ac complished the entire subjection of the lawless and savage inhab itants of the Jungleterry of Rajamahall." A silk institute has been established by government, which has introduced new kinds of silk to the weavers, who formerly only used tussur, and has produced artistic designs in coloured silk. Sabaur near the town is the headquarters of the agricultural department of the govern ment of Behar and Orissa.
The District of Bhagalpur stretches across both banks of the Ganges. It has an area of 4, 2 2 6sq.m. and a population (1931) of 2,234,632. It is a long and narrow district, divided into two un equal parts by the river Ganges. The north is a flat alluvial plain, mainly under rice cultivation and watered by a number of streams. Three fine rivers flow through the district—the Ganges, Kosi and Ghagri. The Ganges runs a course of 6om. through Bhagalpur. The Kosi falls into the Ganges near Colgong and receives the Ghagri 8m. above its debouchure. The tract south of the Ganges is traversed by the loop-line of the East Indian rail way, and that to the north by the Bengal and North-Western railway. Rock sculptures of the 6th or 7th century exist at Patharghatta 8m. N.E. of Colgong; at the latter place a small rock-cut temple of A.D. 800 or goo stands on a small hill close to the Ganges.
The Division of Bhagalpur stretches across the Ganges from the Nepal frontier to the hills of Chota Nagpur. It comprises the five districts of Monghyr, Bhagalpur, Purnea, Darjeeling, and the Santal Parganas. The total area is 18,583sq.m.; and in 1931 the population was 8,7S9,8o1.