________________ 446 Homage to Vatsalt several miles round. For further information, see Archaelogical Survey. Reports, Vol. I, pp. 54-64, and Vol. XVI, pp. 6-16 and 89-93; and Reports of the Archaeological Surveyor, Bengal Circle, for 1901.02 and 1903-04. Also Vaisali by Vincent A. Smith, J. R. A. S., 1902. BAKHRA 1138) A village in the south-east corner of the headquarters subdivision, situated 22 miles south-west of Muzaffarpur. Population (1901) 2,993. It contains a police outpost, saltpetre store, two schools and some temples, and is the residence of a family of influential land-holders said to be the descendants of the Sadar Kanungos of Bihar. The large- indigo factory of Saraiya is situated a short distance to the cast on the banks of the Baya river, across which the Chapra road is carried on a fine bridge of 3 arches. In the adjoining village of Kolbua is an interesting group of remains, consisting of a pillar crowned by a lion, a stupa and ancient tank. The pillar now goes by the name of the Bakhra pillar, probably because it was described as such in 1835 by Mr. Stephenson, who appears to have been one of the first to bring it to notice. For a description of these remains, see the article on Basarh. HAJIPUR SUBDIVISION [144] Southern subdivision of the district, lying between 250 29 and 260 1' N., and 850 4' and 850 39' E., and extending over 798 square miles. The subdivision was formed in 1865, and is divided into three thanas Hajipur, Lalganj and Mahuwa. It contains 1,412 villages and two towns, Hajipur, its head-quarters, situated at the confluence of the Gandak with the Ganges, and Lalganj on the Gandak. The population rose from 714,079 in 1891 to 718,181 in 1901; of these 654,185 are Hindus, 63,931 Muhammadans, and 65 are Christians. The density of the population is 900 to the square mile; the average number of villages and houses per square mile is 1.77 and 176 respectively, and the average population of each village is 485. The subdivision was long the centre of Muhammadan supremacy, and its Musalman rulers have left many traces of their rule. "It is studded with villages and towns bearing Muhammadan names, showing how completely they had identified themselves with the places of their conquest. They not only lived in them, but reparcelled the lands, giving them their own national names; they not only built new cities, towns and villages, ., but re-named those in existence. About 65 per cent of the villages in the Hajipur subdivision bear dames of Muhammadan origin."* *."On some names of places in Behar", Calcutta Review, January 1891
