Darbhanga is 2nd sub metropolitan city of north Bihar and municipal corporation in Bihar, India. It is the headquarters of Darbhanga district and Darbhanga division. Darbhanga is 5th largest city of Bihar and rapidly developing. Darbhanga is also the second biggest medical hub of Bihar and will have a software technology park soon. A green signal has been given by Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of Indian Government. Historically, it had the seating of Darbhanga Raj and became the capital of the Mithila region. The history of Darbhanga dates back to the Ramayana and Mahabharata periods; it is among the oldest cities of Bihar. According to the Vedic sources, the Videhas first migrated to the area from the banks of Saraswati in Punjab; they were guided to the east of Sadanira (Gandak River) by Agni, the God of Fire. Settlements were established and, thus, flourished the kingdom of the Videhas, the Selfless. In the course of time, Videhas came to be ruled by a line of kings called Janaks. In this line of kings, there was a very famous king named Mithi. To commemorate his greatness the territory was named as Mithila. Another famous king was Janak Sirdhwaja, father of Sita. The legends speak of various learned men patronized by Janak Sirdhwaja, who himself was an erudite scholar. Prominent among them were Yagyavalkya, who codified the Hindu law in his Yagyavalkya Smriti and Gautam, who had various valuable philosophical treatises to his credit. King Janak was himself a great philosopher and his ideas have been eternally enshrined in the Upanishads, especially in the Brihad-āraṇyaka Upaniṣada. The name Darbhanga is the mutated form of "Dwarbanga". That is, it is the combination of words "Dwar" (Gate) and "Banga" (Bengal) meaning "Gateway of Bengal". If one notices Bengali and Maithili, he will find many a phonetic similarities particularly in the main verbs of both the languages which ends with word sounding "Chhe". Some scholars say that Darbhanga was named after Dar (Dwar) and Bhangaa which means broken gates. It is assumed that the gates of the Qila (at Qilaghat probably) were broken (by cannons or elephants) in 1326 AD when Tughlak forces attacked the last independent North Indian Hindu king. According to Imperial Gazetteer of India Vol 11 Page 158 "The Darbhanga family traces its origin to one Mahes Thakur, who is said to have come from Jubbulpore about; the beginning of the sixteenth century. He took service as a priest with the descendants of :Raja Siva Singh, who still exercised a nominal supremacy in Tirhut ; but when they collapsed before the advancing Muhammadan power, Mahes Thakur induced Akbar to grant him what are now the Darbhanga Raj estates. He and his descendants gradually consolidated the power of the family in both agrarian and social matters; and though, owing to recusancy at the Permanent Settlement, the Raja of that period was for some time deprived of a portion of his property, the British Government eventually recognized him. During the first half of the nineteenth century, owing to mismanagement and litigation, the estate fell into considerable difficulties. But the litigation had the effect of deciding that the estate was impartible and that the inheritance to it was regulated by primo- geniture; and owing to a long minority of over twenty years from x860 onwards, during which the estate was under the Court of Wards, it is now in a very flourishing condition. Darbhanga town has been the headquarters of the family since 1762, prior to which date they re- sided at Madhubaru. The present Maharaja Bahadur, Sir Rameswar Singh, K.C.I.E., succeeded on the death of his brother in 1898. The estates at present comprise lands situated in the Districts of Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Gaya, Monghyr, Purnea, and Bhagalpur, with a total area of more than 2,410 square miles". In the thirteenth century Mithila was invaded by Afghans, who deposed the Kshatriya ruler and placed a Maithil Brahman in control of land revenues over much of this region. This family soon began calling themselves kings, distributing land to other members of their caste, so that gradually land passed into the control of Maithil Brahmans. It was taken by the Turks in the 14th century. During Akbar’s reign in the sixteenth century, a second Maithil Brahman family came to rule as the Khandavala Dynasty. It enjoyed stability under the Mughals and Hindus began to flock to this town since the beginning of the 19th century when the Maharaja of Darbhanga shifted his residence to the town and was granted the title Maharaja by the East India Company. It was the biggest town of North Bihar for centuries, but after Muzaffarpur was connected to broad-gauge railway in the mid-1970s, the latter overtook Darbhanga due to shift of trade, commerce, business and transport to some extent. During Akbar's reign in the sixteenth century, a second Maithil Brahmin family came to rule as the Khandavala Dynasty. During this period, Akbar also planted 100,000 mango trees in Darbhanga, at a place now known as Lakhi Bagh. In British times, their estate, Darbhanga Raj, was the largest and richest of the great zamindari estates. Their capital was in Bhaur village in Madhubani, later shifted to the town of Darbhanga. They controlled most of Mithila until after Independence when the Republic of India abolished zamindari (Maharaja of Darbhanga was actually a zamindar entitled to add the title Maharaja in his name, besides the British title: KCIE (Knight Commander of Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire). Maharajah Sir Lakhmeshwar Singh, K.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 India, where he owned no less than 2,152 square miles (5,570 km2) with a net yearly rental of 30 lakhs, 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. The Maharaja of Darbhanga, Sir Kameshwar Singh, was also an integral part of the Constituent Assembly of India and was instrumental in campaigning for retention of privy purses and land rights for rulers. He single handedly negotiated rights of various rulers and nawabs. Maharaja of Darbhanga also spent much time in today's called kolkata, Bengal. It can be seen in various places as he has built various important places for Bengal, as in Calcutta University Building is "Darbhanga Building" Dalhousie Square and various important buildings there is also made by him. He has made great contributions to Bengal and Indian education and society.