A particularly significant reduction occurred when the influence of the British Raj caused them to lose control of the territories that were in Nepal but, nonetheless, their holdings were considerable.

[4] Akbar, the Mughal emperor, realised that taxes from Mithila could only be collected if there was a king who could ensure peace there and by 1574 he had succeeded in defeating the Rajput Rajas of Tirhut.

[4] As per local tradition, Akbar summoned Rajpandit Chandrapati Thakur to Delhi and asked him to name one of his sons who could be made caretaker and tax collector for his lands in Mithila.

[4] Henningham was of the opinion that Akbar made use of Mahesh Thakur by helping the Maithil Brahmins to displace the Rajputs as the local ruling elite.

[1] In a report to the Patna Committee of review, Shitab Rai, the naib diwan of Bihar, admitted that the weak state of the empire had rendered many of the zamindars, including Raj Darbhanga, independent.

[4] The rulers of Darbhanga in keeping with their elevated status, adopted the Kshatriya surname of Singh and also made use of force when it came to pursuing their interests.

[4] The descendants of Mahesh Thakur gradually consolidated their power in social, agrarian, and political matters and came to be regarded as kings of Madhubani.

The estate had in any event been badly run prior to this time: a complex system influenced by both nepotism and sycophancy had dramatically affected the family's rental income.

The bureaucratic system introduced by the Court, whose appointed officials had no ties to the area, resolved the issue although, being focussed entirely on what was best for the owners, it did so without considering the consequences for the tenants.

[8] Three percent of total cultivation was given over to indigo at that time, making the estate one of the most important centres in the region for this crop prior to the introduction of chemical dyes.

He died in 1962 without naming a successor, though many members of the family live on carrying other Maithil Brahmin surnames such as Thakur, Jha, and Shukla.

The supporters of the theory that Raj Darbhanga was a kingdom argue that it was held by privy council, that the rulership was a hereditary one with succession governed by primogeniture.

The supporters argue that by the end of the 18th century, the Sarkar of Tirhut was practically an independent kingdom until the conquest of Bengal and Bihar by the British.

[10][full citation needed] The Raj Darbhanga was also much larger when compared with many of the princely states in Western parts of India, many of whom only contained a population of 200 people.

The Maharajas of Darbhanga were devoted to Sanskrit traditions and were supporters of orthodox Hindu practices in both caste and religion.

[17][better source needed] Raj Darbhanga supported Murad Ali Khan, one of the foremost sarod players of his time.