. BAHAR' (also spelt Behar. and Bihar). one of the old Mohammedan provinces of India, occupying part of the valley of the Ganges, and named after its thief town, a city which in 1872 had a pop. of 44,295. A. is now one of the provinces of lower Bengal, and is divided 'into the two cotninissionersliips of . Patna; and. Bliagulpore, which are again subdivided into 12 adminiStrative districts. Th'e area of the 'province is 42,417. sq.m., and the pop. (1872) 19,730,101, giving an average of persons to thesq. mile. , The name B. was also given to one of the administrative districts, now, officially called. Gayah. Roads and bridges can neither be well made nor thoroughly repaired, where, during nearly half the year, the surface of the country is inundated, and torn by innu merable torrents. In the dry season, the beds of the rivers present only detached pools. Among, the minerals, the most important are coal and mica: The Tatter, nearly as , pellucid as glass, is sometimes found in blocks, yielding plates of '86in. by 18. Potatoes,
cabbages, cauliflower, lettuces, turnips, etc. have been introduced from Europe, and ; succeed well. Of indigenous productions, the most are rice, pulse, sugar, ; cotton, indigo, and tobacco. The district is largely. engaged in the manufacturing of , muslins, silks, carpets, blankets, tents, tapes, • threads, ropes, paper, glass,, cutlery, jewelry, leather, ink, soap, and pottery. Ardent spirits, too, are extensively distilled I from the flowers of the bassia latifotia (q.v.). Before the days even of Moslem domina- , tion B. appears to have been the center of a .Hindu 'empire, which native accounts describe as of matchless splendor, and of fabulous duration..