Mithila, situated in North Bihar, has an area of 40 thousand square kilometers with a population of more than five million. The name `Mithila` goes back to Puranic times. It occurs in the Mahabharata and in Pali literature. According to the Puranic tradition the name has been derived from that of Mithi (son of Nimi) King of Ayodhya and grandson of Manu who founded a kingdom which was called Mithila after him. It is associated with Valmiki, Ashtavakra, Yajnavalkya, Udayana, Mahavira, Gautama, Kanada, Jaimini and Kapila as well as the women philosophers, such as, Gargi, Maitreyi, Bharati and Katyayani.

After the era of the Ramayana it is said that the three seats of Vedic culture - Kosala, Kasi and Videha - merged to form the Vajjian confederacy and the centre of political gravity shifted from Mithila to Vaisali.

The emperor of Magadha, Ajatasatru, annexed the states of the confederation the 5th century BC. After the Mauryas, a number of rulers captured Mithila. It was only 1500 years after the fall of the Vajjian confederacy that the glory of Mithila was restored in AD 1097 with the establishment of the kingdom of Karnatas by Nanyadeva, who came from the Deccan. After this the kingdom passed to the Tughluqs and then ultimately to the Mugha Empire. It was Akbar who handed over Mithila to Maharaja Mahesa Thakkura, the founder of the Darbhanga Raj. This was a dominant force and represented the highest class of Brahmins who are known as Srotriyas. It produced 3 illustrious maharajas in the last century: Lakshmishvar Singh, Rameshvar Singh and Kameshvar Singh. Rameshvar Singh was a great Tantrik and a Sanskrit scholar as was his son, Kameshvar Singh. All of them promoted learning, culture and Sanskrit and English education, as did Banaili Raj, presently District Purnea and Bihar.

The region where this Brahmin community belongs to was greatly influenced by Buddhism too. Other philosophies that shaped this community are the Navyanyaya School of philosophy. This school was piloted by Gangesa Upadhya, an outstanding mimamsakar. He lived during the time of the Karnata king, Bhava Simha. His Nyayatatwacbintamani is an outstanding work on Nyaya (logic), one of the six orthodox systems of Indian philosophy.

Religion and Society of the Maithil community: As far as religion is concerned the Maithil community chiefly worships Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu. In honor of their lord they wear threefold mark on their forehead.