city, north-central Bihar state, northeastern India. Hajipur lies in the North Bihar Plains, which are part of the Middle Ganges (Ganga) Plain. It is located on the land route from Vaishali, which was the capital of one of the states in northern India during Buddha's lifetime, to Nalanda (Nālanda), which was the seat of a celebrated Buddhist monastic university in the 5th–12th centuries. Engineering products, glass, and steel containers are manufactured in Hajipur. There are colleges affiliated with the University of Bihar at Muzaffarpur. The city is connected by railway and road to Patna, the state capital. Pop. (2001) 119,412.