The Darbhanga Raj — the largest and wealthiest zamindari of north Bihar — left a sweep of palaces across an 85-acre walled campus in the city of Darbhanga. The complex includes the Rambagh, Nargona and Bela palaces, blending Mughal and European styles, much of it built under Maharajas Lakshmeshwar Singh and Rameshwar Singh and the last ruler, Maharaja Kameshwar Singh.
The older palace was badly damaged in the great 1934 Bihar–Nepal earthquake, and its ruins still stand as a reminder of the dynasty’s scale — at independence Kameshwar Singh was reckoned among the richest men in India. Nearby, the Chandradhari Museum preserves Mithila miniatures, manuscripts and one of the oldest surviving Madhubani paintings. The Raj’s legacy lives on in the universities and institutions it endowed.