Maharaja of Darbhanga
| Raj Darbhanga दरबंघा |
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| Khandawala Dynasty | ||||||
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| History | ||||||
| • | Established | 1577 | ||||
| • | Disestablished | 1947 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| • | (1901) | 8,380 km2(3,236 sq mi) | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| • | (1901) | 2,912,611 | ||||
| Density | 347.6 /km2 (900.2 /sq mi) | |||||
| Today part of | India | |||||
Darbhanga Raj, also known as Raj Darbhanga and the Khandwala dynasty, were a Maithil dynasty of Zamindars and the rulers of territories that are now part of the Mithila region of Bihar, India. Their seat was in the town of Darbhanga. The estate of Darbhanga Raj was estimated to cover an area of 3,236 square miles (8,380 km2), incorporating 4,495 villages within 18 circles in Bihar and employing over 7,500 officers to manage the estate. The rulers of Raj Darbhanga were Maithil Brahmins and their seat in the town of Darbhanga became the core of the Mithila region as the rulers were patrons of Maithil culture and the Maithili language. The dynasty emerged after the fall of the Oinwar dynasty.
Raj Darbhanga/Khandaval dynasty was a powerful Brahmin dynasty who ruled over Mithila. North Bihar was under a state of lawlessness at the end of the empire of the Tughlaq dynasty. Tughlaq had attacked and taken control of Bihar, and from the end of the Tughlaq Empire until the establishment of the Mughal Empire in 1526 there was anarchy and chaos in Bihar. Emperor Akbar (ruled 1556–1605) realised that taxes from Mithila could only be collected if there was a king who could ensure peace in the Mithila region. The Brahmins were dominant in the Mithila region and Mithila had Brahmin kings in the past.
Maharajah Sir Lakhmishwar Singh, G.C.I.E., of Darbhanga, who was only in his forty-third year at the time of his death in 1898, was in every sense the best type of the Indian nobleman and landlord. He was the leading zamindar in Bihar, where he owned no less than 2,152 square miles with a net yearly rental of 3 million rupees, and was the recognized head of the orthodox Hindu community. His philanthropy and his munificent contributions to all public movement won him the esteem of all classes and creeds. He took an active part in public life and enjoyed a high reputation as a progressive and liberal-minded statesman. With but slight interruptions he was a member of the Supreme Legislative Council from the year 1883 until his death, and latterly he sat in that body as the elected representative of the non-official members of the Bengal Council. "Few Asiatics have combined more successfully in themselves the apparently incompatible characteristics of East and West.
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