BAHAR, a large province of Hindostan, which lies principally between the 22d and 27th degrees of north latitude.. On the north it was, until the conquests from ^θpaul in 1815, bounded by a range of hills and a low woody country; on the south by the ancient Hindoo province of Gundwana; and on the west by Allahabad, Oude, and Gundwana. It comprehends an area of51,973 square miles, of which one half, consisting of 26,000 square n }des, is an arable plain, fertile, populous, and highly cul-ivated. This plain is divided into two nearly equal por- 1 °ns by the Ganges, which runs across the province in an easterly course for 200 miles. The northern division extends 70 miles from the Ganges, to the forests of Nepaul ' and Morung, on the upper streams of that great river. It is one uninterrupted flat, which was subdivided by the emperor Akbar into four districts, namely, Tirhoot, Hajypoor, Sarun, with Chumparun or Bettiah, including four pergunnahs from Monghir. The central division of Bahar extends south of the Ganges sixty miles, to the commencement of the hilly country, which stretches southward; and it contains 18,000 square miles, not nearly so productive as the plains. This central division contains the district of Bahar, which is in the middle of it, and occupies about one half of the whole level area; the plains ofMong-hir, one sixth more; and the restare mountainous. Rhotas, the south-western district, lies between the rivers Soane and Caramnassa; the remaining district Shahabad extends along the south side of the Ganges. There is, besides, a straggling hilly country of 8000 square miles, which is not productive. This province has great natural advantages, and it is favourably situated, between Bengal and the upper provinces, for being the medium of internal commerce. Its climate is temperate, and the soil is fertile, well watered, and productive of the higher grains, as also of opium and other luxuries, which arc in request in northern countries. Agriculture, as well as commerce and manufactures, have always flourished in Bahar. Opium may be considered the staple commodity of the country; but, according to the narrow maxims of the East India Company, all that is produced in Bahar and Benares is monopolized by the government, and disposed of in Calcutta by public sale. In addition to those articles, the country yields the ordinary productions of grain, sugar, indigo, oil, betel leaf, and a variety of flower essences, especially roses. Saltpetre is principally manufactured in the divisions of Hajypoor and Sarun, and it scarcely passes the eastern limits of Bahar. Cotton cloths for exportation are manufactured everywhere. The climate is extremely hot; and in Bahar Proper and the contiguous districts, the country is visited by a parching wind from the westward, which prevails through a large portion of the hot season, blowing with great strength during the day, and commonly succeeded at night by a cool breeze in an opposite direction. Sometimes it ceases for days and weeks, giving way to easterly gales. Farther westward, and in the interior of the country, the climate is still hotter, owing to the parching winds which prevail; and it is not so much tempered by refreshing breezes or cooling showers of rain and hail. The Bahar province during the cold season is sometimes liable to a blighting frost. The country is well watered. Its principal rivers are the Ganges, the Soane, the Gunduck, the Dummoodah, the Caramnassa, and the Dewah, besides numerous smaller streams, which supply the country with moisture, and aid its cultivation. The chief towns arc Patna, Chuprah, Daoudnagur, Goya, Boglipoor, Monghir, ' Arrah, Cbittra, and Muzufferpoor.

Ever since the British acquired possession of this province in 1764, which is about sixty-six years, it has enjoyed the most profound tranquillity. Hence its cultivation has been continually increasing, and in many parts it is overflowing with people, owing to the predilection of the natives for the settled districts rather than the contiguous wastes. The land in Bahar is divided into smaller ze-mindarics than in Bengal, and a greater portion of it is in jaghires. The lands have always been let to farm; and from the time that the British acquired the right of collecting the land revenue, no settlement had been concluded with the proprietors of the soil until the final assessment in 1792. The tenantry, though they are left at the mercy of the zemindars or landlords by the revenue settlement, are on the whole in a prosperous condition.
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Experience has taught the zemindars the necessity of treating them justly; and, accordingly, one half of the produce is the usual allowance of the cultivators, and there is such a demand for their industry, that in some cases they are enabled even to make better terms. The hire of a ploughman, since the year of the perpetual settlement in 1792, has nearly doubled, while the price of grain has fallen. This territory was at an early period subdued by the Mahommedan invaders. The large towns on the Ganges have always been their favourite residences, and hence a considerable proportion of the population. About one fourth profess the Mahommedan faith. The amount of the land tax is 6,152,435 rupees, and of the abkarry or excise duties on consumable articles 594,103.