# Muzaffarpur

Muzaffarpur (pronunciation) is a city located in Muzaffarpur district in the Tirhut region of the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of the Tirhut division, the Muzaffarpur district, and the Muzaffarpur Railway District. It is the fourth most populous city in Bihar.
Muzaffarpur is known for Shahi litchis and is known as the Lychee Kingdom. Shahi lychee is the fourth product from Bihar to get the Geographical Indication (GI) tag, after jardalu mango, katarni rice and Magahi paan (betel leaf). The city is situated on the banks of the perennial Budhi Gandak River, which flows from the Someshwar Hills of the Himalayas.

## Etymology

The current city was established in 1875 during the British Raj for administrative convenience, by dividing the Tirhut district and was named after an aumil, Muzaffar Khan; thus the city came to be known as Muzaffarpur.

## History

The city was founded in 18th century during British Raj period and was constituted a municipality in 1864. A major road and rail hub, it is a trade centre on the route between Patna (south) and Nepal (north). Lychee, sweet corn, mango, vegetables, rice and sugar milling alongside cutlery manufacturing are the chief industries.
In 1972, the Sitamarhi and Vaishali districts were split off from Muzaffarpur.

## Geography

Muzaffarpur is located at 26°07′N 85°24′E﻿ / ﻿26.12°N 85.4°E﻿ / 26.12; 85.4. The city lies in a highly active seismic zone of India. In the disastrous earthquake on 15 January 1934, much of the town suffered severe damage and many people died. It has an average elevation of 47 meters (154 feet). This saucer shaped, low-centered town lies on the great Indo-Gangetic plains of Bihar, over Himalayan silt and sand brought by the glacier-fed and rain-fed meandering rivers of the Himalayas.

### Climate

Muzaffarpur has a humid subtropical climate (Cwa) under the Köppen climate classification. The summer, between April and June, is extremely hot and humid (28–40 °C, 90% max). and winter is pleasantly cool, around 6-20 °C. Rainfall in Muzaffarpur City is comparatively less compared to other parts of Bihar.
Climate data for Muzaffarpur (1991–2020, extremes 1901–2009) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30.8 (87.4) | 34.6 (94.3) | 39.4 (102.9) | 42.2 (108.0) | 44.5 (112.1) | 43.4 (110.1) | 43.5 (110.3) | 40.6 (105.1) | 38.2 (100.8) | 35.9 (96.6) | 33.2 (91.8) | 29.6 (85.3) | 44.5 (112.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 21.7 (71.1) | 26.1 (79.0) | 31.4 (88.5) | 35.8 (96.4) | 35.3 (95.5) | 35.0 (95.0) | 33.0 (91.4) | 33.1 (91.6) | 32.6 (90.7) | 32.0 (89.6) | 28.6 (83.5) | 24.1 (75.4) | 30.7 (87.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.4 (50.7) | 13.6 (56.5) | 17.8 (64.0) | 22.6 (72.7) | 25.1 (77.2) | 26.7 (80.1) | 27.0 (80.6) | 27.0 (80.6) | 26.0 (78.8) | 23.0 (73.4) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.0 (53.6) | 20.6 (69.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) | 2.2 (36.0) | 7.2 (45.0) | 12.6 (54.7) | 18.3 (64.9) | 19.4 (66.9) | 20.9 (69.6) | 20.6 (69.1) | 19.6 (67.3) | 14.4 (57.9) | 7.7 (45.9) | 4.0 (39.2) | 2.2 (36.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 10.5 (0.41) | 12.5 (0.49) | 7.1 (0.28) | 20.9 (0.82) | 74.9 (2.95) | 168.6 (6.64) | 270.7 (10.66) | 276.5 (10.89) | 192.4 (7.57) | 48.5 (1.91) | 3.8 (0.15) | 2.8 (0.11) | 1,089.2 (42.88) |
| Average rainy days | 0.9 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 7.0 | 12.4 | 11.9 | 8.2 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 50.1 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 17:30 IST) | 79 | 70 | 57 | 52 | 63 | 74 | 82 | 83 | 83 | 78 | 76 | 80 | 73 |
| Source: India Meteorological Department ||||||||||||||
Muzaffarpur has been ranked 32nd best "National Clean Air City" under (Category 2 3-10L Population cities) in India.

## Demographics

As of the 2011 India census, Muzaffarpur had a population of 393,724. Males constituted 52.96% (208,509) of the population and females 47.04% (185,215). Muzaffarpur had a literacy rate of 85.16%. Male literacy was 88.83%, and female literacy was 81.05%.
As per 2011 census data, there are total 275,233 Hindus whereas 74,680 Muslims and 1,352 Christians along with other small minorities.
Religion in Muzaffarpur (2011)

## Economy

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Muzaffarpur one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 36 districts in Bihar currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

### Lychee

The lychee crop, which is available from May to June, is mainly cultivated in the districts of Muzaffarpur and surrounding districts. Cultivation of litchi covers approximately an area of about 25,800 hectares producing about 300,000 tonnes every year. Litchi are exported to big cities of India like Mumbai, Kolkata, and even to other countries. India's share in the world litchi market amounts to less than 1%. The names of the litchi produced in Muzaffarpur are Shahi and China. The fruits are known for excellent aroma and quality.
Bihar's contribution in the production of lychee in about 40 percent of lychee produced in India.
Bihar has emerged as a brewery hub with major domestic and foreign firms setting up production units in the state. Vijay Mallya's group, United Breweries Group, is setting up a production unit to make litchi-flavoured wine, in Muzaffarpur in 2012. The company has leased litchi gardens.
Muzaffarpur based Prabhat Zarda Factory is one of the leading tobacco manufacturers of India.

### Lahti Bangles

The production and sales of Lahti bangles is also very prominent in city. Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai also wore the Lahti bangles of the city at her wedding.

## Transport
### Railways

Muzaffarpur Junction railway station (MFP) is a main A1 Category railway junction in Sonpur Division of East Central Railway, having total 8 platforms, with three suburban stations, Ram Dayalu Nagar, Narayanpur Anant (Sherpur), Kaparpura and Jubba Sahni. More than 200 trains regularly visits this 136+ year old railway junction.

### Roads

National Highway 57 (India) comes via Gorakhpur, Motihari, Mehsi and crosses Muzaffarpur and National Highway 57 (India) goes to Darbhanga, Purnia. The East–West Corridor crosses Muzaffarpur thus connecting it to all the major towns and cities in India. National Highway 22 (India) starting from Hajipur passes through Muzaffarpur and connects Muzaffarpur to Sitamarhi. National Highway 28 (India) connects Mehsi and Muzaffarpur to Barauni, all 6 National Highways having junction there.

### Airport

Muzaffarpur Airport (IATA: MZU, ICAO: VEMZ) is located in Patahi of Muzaffarpur city (besides NH 722 Muzaffarpur - Chhapra (Rewa Ghat)) in the state of Bihar, India. It was operable from 1967 to 1982, on a regular basis. Currently it is not in operations, commercially.
Darbhanga Airport is the nearest domestic airport roughly 64 km away by road. Patna Airport is the nearest customs airport roughly 70 km from the city.

## Education
### University

* Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University

### Colleges

* Langat Singh College
* Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology
* Mahant Darshan Das Mahila College
* S.K.J. Law College
* Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital

### Schools

* Kendriya Vidyalaya Muzaffarpur

## Notable people

* Rambriksh Benipuri, Indian freedom movement activist, eminent writer of Hindi literature
* George Fernandes, former Defence Minister of India
* Raj Bhushan Choudhary, Indian politician, Member of 18th Lok Sabha, Member of Third Modi ministry
* Devaki Nandan Khatri, the author of Chandrakanta, first modern Hindi novel
* Arunabh Kumar, founder and ex-CEO of The Viral Fever
* Dinesh Prasad Singh, Indian politician, Member of Bihar Legislative Council
* Veena Devi, Indian politician, Member of Lok Sabha, Vaishali (Lok Sabha constituency)
* Rajendra Prasad, India's first president, worked as a professor of English in Langat Singh College
* Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, sports spectator and fan of the Indian Cricket Team
* Shreya Narayan, Bollywood actress
* Aishwarya Nigam, Bollywood playback singer
* Jai Narain Prasad Nishad, Indian politician and member of parliament from Muzaffarpur Lok Sabha Constituency of Bihar.
* Ajay Nishad, Indian politician, Member of 17th Lok Sabha
* Raghunath Pandey, famous entrepreneur who founded Shri Krishna Medical College & Hospital ( SKMCH), Muzaffarpur.
* Jubba Sahni, freedom fighter
* Rajni Ranjan Sahu, Member Rajya Sabha, 1984–1996
* Sunil Sahu, Educator in the US
* Uday Shankar media executive and former journalist, president of FICCI, The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, and chairman of Star India and The Walt Disney Company India
* Janki Ballabh Shastri, Hindi poet, writer and critic
* Baikunth Shukla, revolutionary hanged by the British in 1934
* Yogendra Shukla, revolutionary, Indian freedom movement activist, served time at Kalapani
* Basawon Singh, revolutionary, Indian freedom movement activist
* Chandeshwar Prasad Narayan Singh, diplomat and freedom fighter
* Kishori Sinha, Indian politician and educationalist
* Mridula Sinha, former Governor of Goa (2014–2019)
* Bapi Tutul, Music composer