Ancient Mithila, the cultural region

The Ramayana records a dynastic marriage between Prince Rama of Ayodhya and Sita, the daughter of Raja Janak of Mithila. The town of Janakpur, in the northern Nepali section of Mithila, is believed to be Janak's old capital. And Sita is a Mithila girl.

Once a great king decided to judge the worth of the Brahmans in his kingdom to determine who the most superior Brahmans were. He sent out an invitation to every one of them inviting them to his feast. There was great excitement. On the day of the feast, one large group of Brahmans got up early, took their baths, and headed directly to the palace, arriving in the morning. These Brahmans were the most unworthy of the Brahmans; they became the Jaibar Brahmans. A smaller group of Brahmans took their bath, chanted the Gayatri Mantra 108 times, and arrived in the afternoon. These better Brahmans became the Yogya Brahmans. There were thirteen superior Brahmans who refused to forego all their daily rites even for the king. They got up early as always, took their baths, chanted the Gayatri Mantra 108 times, and did not arrive at the palace until evening. These thirteen superior Brahmans became the Srotriyas.

The palace of the late Maharajadhiraja Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga, now Sanskrit University

Zamindar - a landowner; in pre-modern India, a zamindar might own a village and all its lands or even many hundreds of villages. He was entitled to raise revenues for the British, keeping a percentage for himself. Some of the great zamindars called themselves raja (king) and conducted themselves like kings. The Maharaja of Darbhanga was one of these.