city, northwestern Bihar state, northeastern India. An agricultural trade centre, it also manufactures brass, metalware, and leather goods. The headquarters of the Bettiah Raj estate, established in the 17th century, it contains the maharaja's palace. There is a Roman Catholic mission, which was established in 1740. Constituted a municipality in 1869, Bettiah has a college affiliated with the University of Bihar. Just north, at Lauriya Nandangarh, lie an Ashokan pillar and funeral mounds said to be the only indisputably Vedic monuments identified in India. Pop. (2001) 116,670.