Muzaffarpur

Muzaffarpur is a major city of north Bihar, in the old Tirhut tract, and the administrative centre of Muzaffarpur district. For colonial administration, the district was created in 1875 by splitting the larger Tirhut district, and the city’s name is commonly linked with Muzaffar Khan, an amil (revenue officer). After the East India Company’s victory at Buxar (1764), British authority consolidated across Bihar; in 1857, the shock of revolt in north India also created anxiety and unrest in this region. Muzaffarpur entered national memory in 1908 through the “Muzaffarpur bomb case,” when revolutionaries targeted district judge Kingsford; the attack failed and led to major investigations and trials. After independence, Muzaffarpur remained a key district of Tirhut Division, though its territory was reduced when Sitamarhi district was carved out on 11 December 1972. In recent decades the city has grown as a hub for administration, education, and wholesale markets and trade. It is also popularly called the “Land of Litchi,” and the district won international notice for Shahi and China litchi. The famed Shahi litchi of the Muzaffarpur belt received a Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2018, reinforcing the city’s fruit-based identity and supporting orchard livelihoods across north Bihar for farmers.