town, northern Bihar state, northeastern India. Samastipur lies just south of the Burhi Gandak River. A major rail hub with workshops, it engages in agricultural trade and has sugar refining as its chief industry. The town has a hospital and tuberculosis clinic, and religious fairs are held annually. Samastipur was constituted a municipality in 1897. The Indian railway minister Lalit N. Mishra was assassinated there on Jan. 2, 1975. Pop. (2001) 55,589.