historic town, western Bihar state, northeastern India, just south of the Ganges (Ganga) River (Ganges River). The Battle of Baksar (Baksar, Battle of) (Buxar; 1764) resulted in the final acquisition of lower Bengal by the British. A place of great sanctity, it is believed to have been originally called Vedagarbha (“Womb of the Veda”). Numerous writers of the Vedic hymns are said to have lived in the town, which is also connected with the early life of the Hindu god Rama. Many terra-cotta sculptures dating to the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE have been found there. Buxar is also the site of the Indian Institute of Hardware Technology. Pop. (2001) 83,168.