BHAGALPUR

city, eastern Bihar state, northeastern India, just south of the Ganges River. The city has major road and rail connections and trades in agricultural produce and cloth. Major industries include rice and sugar milling and woolen weaving. Bhagalpur is also noted for its silk production. A sericulture institute and an agricultural-research station have been established, and the city is the seat of Bhagalpur University (1960). Formerly called Sujanganj, Bhagalpur was constituted a municipality in 1864. The surrounding region includes an alluvial plain in the north and forested uplands of the Chota Nagpur Plateau to the south. The Ganges and Chandan rivers drain the area. Grains and oilseeds are the principal crops; china clay, fireclay, and mica deposits are worked. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 254,993.