Sonitpur district

History

Early Medieval period

During the early medieval period, the area around present-day Tezpur formed an important part of the Kamarupa kingdom. Under the Mlechchha or Salastambha line, which ruled Kamarupa from the late 7th to the 10th century, Tezpur was known as Haruppesvara, Hadapesvara or Hatapesvara and served as an important political centre. The Tezpur rock inscription of King Harjjaravarman, dated to 510 Gupta Era, corresponding to 829–830 CE, is one of the important epigraphic records from this period. The early historic and early medieval importance of the region is also reflected in monuments such as the Da-Parbatia temple door-frame, regarded as one of the finest early examples of stone sculpture in Assam, and the masonry remains at Bamuni Hill, which have been dated to around the 9th–10th century CE and ascribed to the later Salastambha rulers.

Late Medieval period

After the fall of the Kamrupa kingdom, the lands of the current district were divided between the Baro-Bhuyans and the Chutia Kingdom rule. The border between the two territories was the Bharali River.

The Buranjis mention that after the conquest of the Chutia Kingdom in 1524 CE, the Ahom forces of Suhungmung crossed the Bharali River in 1527 and 1529 CE, suppressed the Bhuyans of Rauta-Temoni (modern-day Darrang-Nagaon region) and resettled them in the Uttarkula or North bank of Upper Assam (Lakhimpur-Biswanath region). In 1526 CE, Suhungmung first appointed Konsheng Dhanudharia Gohain as Bhatialia Gohain or Namoniyal Sandikoi to rule the north-bank region and later gave him the title of Barpatra Gohain (Chao-Sheng-lung) in imitation of the earlier Chutia Barpatra title, after which the Ahom forces crossed the Bharali and subjugated the Bhuyans in the years 1527 and 1529 CE.

The Bengal Sultanate forces under various commanders like Turbak Khan, Bor Ujir and Bit Malik attacked the Ahom kingdom between 1527 and 1532, and battles were fought at various places in the Biswanath, Nagaon and Sonitpur region. The Ahoms won the battles, and the Muslims were chased away from the region.

From the mid-16th century, the Darrang–Sonitpur region became a contested frontier between the Ahoms and the expanding Koch kingdom. During the first major Koch–Ahom campaign in 1546, Chilarai, the brother and commander-in-chief of Nara Narayan, advanced eastwards along the north bank of the Brahmaputra. The Koch army defeated an Ahom force at the Dikarai River, after which further engagements took place at Kaliabor and Sala, where the Ahoms were again forced to retreat. The Dikarai river system and the medieval Sala–Biswanath military complex lay in the present Sonitpur–Biswanath region. In the following year, the Koches fortified Narayanpur, but the Ahom king Suklenmung established a fortified position on the Pichala River and cut their communications. The Koch army suffered a severe defeat at Pichala in 1547 and withdrew from its eastern conquests.

Hostilities were renewed under Sukhaamphaa in 1562–63. During this second invasion, local Bhuyans and other chiefs of the north-bank region submitted to or joined the Koch forces; the Bhuyans of Rowta are specifically recorded as submitting to Nara Narayan in 1563. A fugitive prince of the former Chutia kingdom, accompanied by Chutia nobles, also approached Nara Narayan and sought his assistance in recovering his ancestral kingdom from the Ahoms. Chilarai's forces defeated the Ahoms, occupied Garhgaon, and compelled Sukhaamphaa to acknowledge Koch supremacy and cede a considerable tract on the north bank of the Brahmaputra. A Koch garrison was subsequently maintained at Narayanpur.

The eastern Koch gains, however, were not permanent. The Ahoms soon recovered the north-bank territory as far west as the Bharali. Sukhaamphaa then brought this recovered tract under direct Ahom administration and created the office of the Salal Gohain to administer it. The Salal Gohain's jurisdiction included the eastern part of the old Tezpur subdivision and the adjoining western portion of Lakhimpur, and one of his principal frontier duties was to guard the plains against incursions by the Akas and Daflas.

The Koch political sphere nevertheless continued to include much of the country farther west. In 1581, after the birth of Nara Narayan's son Lakshmi Narayan displaced Raghudev from the expected succession, Nara Narayan assigned Raghudev the eastern division of the kingdom. Nityananda Gogoi describes this territory as extending from the Sankosh River in the west to the Bharali in the east on the north bank. This eastern principality subsequently became known as Koch Hajo, while the western kingdom became Koch Bihar. Local Bhuyan chiefs, however, continued to exercise authority in parts of the Barnadi–Bharali tract beneath this wider political framework.

After Raghudev's death, his son Parikshit Narayan came into conflict with Lakshmi Narayan of Koch Bihar, who sought Mughal assistance. Mughal forces defeated Parikshit and conquered Koch Hajo in 1612–13, initially extending their authority eastwards to the Barnadi River. They subsequently advanced beyond the Barnadi into the tract towards the Bharali, bringing them into conflict with the Ahoms. Parikshit's relative Bali Narayan fled to the court of the Ahom king Pratap Singha, who refused Mughal demands for his surrender.

The resulting Ahom–Mughal conflicts began in 1615. In early 1616 the Ahoms defeated the advancing Mughal forces in the Bharali–Samdhara region, after which Pratap Singha established Bali Narayan, renamed Dharmanarayana, as tributary ruler of the tract between the Barnadi and Bharali. This formed the tributary kingdom of Darrang under Ahom suzerainty. Warfare over Kamrup continued intermittently. In 1636 the Ahoms and Bali Narayan temporarily occupied much of Mughal Kamrup, but a Mughal counter-offensive in 1637–38 drove them back and Bali Narayan was killed in 1638. The Treaty of Asurar Ali in 1639 finally fixed the Barnadi River as the Mughal–Ahom boundary on the north bank, leaving the Barnadi–Bharali tract and the tributary Darrang state within the Ahom political sphere.

During the political disorder following the illness and deposition of Shah Jahan in 1658, the Ahoms attempted to extend their western boundary to the Sankosh River, but were pushed back by Mir Jumla II, who captured Garhgaon. During the Mughal advance, a fort near Silghat was captured, while the Ahoms evacuated the Chandara fort near Tezpur. However, the monsoon rains and disease caused heavy losses to the Mughal army during its retreat, and the Ahoms soon recovered Guwahati and retained it.

The northern foothill belt of the wider Darrang-Sonitpur region included a series of hill–plain gateways known as the Darrang Duars. Buriguma and Killing were the principal Duars through which the Ahom state dealt with Bhutan, while Koriapar, farther east, had a distinct political position. Koriapar was held by Monpa chiefs known as the Sat Rajas, who were subordinate to the ruler of Tawang rather than directly to the Bhutanese government.

The Ahoms came into closer contact with the Bhutan frontier during the reign of Pratap Singha, especially after the Battle of Bharali in 1616, when Bali Narayan was installed in Darrang as a tributary ruler under the title Dharma Narayan. Ahom occupation of the Darrang plains did not result in exclusive control over the northern Duars. Bhutanese attempts to extend their authority over the fertile plains south of the hills up to the Gohain Kamal Ali were checked by the combined forces of the Ahoms and the Koches, and the Darrang Duars of Buriguma and Killing initially remained under Ahom administration. During the reign of Jayadhwaj Singha, however, Bhutan acquired a recognised position in these Duars under an agreement by which the Bhutias paid annual tribute to the Ahom king and surrendered the Duars to Ahom officials for four months each year, from Ashar to Aswin. The Raja of Darrang was made responsible for collecting the tribute and managing dealings with the Bhutias. Bhutan thus exercised substantial but seasonal authority in the western Duars, while the Ahom government retained limited revenue and policing rights during its allotted months.

The Darrang Duars were administered through officers called Duarias, while Katakis were appointed to supervise dealings in the Duars and ensure that taxes collected from the ryots did not exceed the fixed dues. Bhutias entering through one Duar were not allowed to pass into another without permission from the Katakis. From the reign of Gadadhar Singha, the jurisdiction of the Borphukan at Guwahati was extended over both Kamrup and Darrang, and Ahom revenue collectors and police officers administered the Darrang Duars during the four months when they were under Ahom control. To check Bhutanese incursions, Gadadhar Singha also constructed a series of forts on the Darrang frontier.

Unlike Buriguma and Killing, Koriapar was not directly under Bhutanese authority. Situated east of Bhutan between the Doisam and Rowta rivers, it formed part of the Monpa Satgharia domain and was administered by the Sat Rajas, a group of Monpa chiefs. The Duar was bounded by Tawang to the north, the Gohain Kamal Ali to the south, Chariduar to the east and Buriguma Duar to the west. Assamese records generally referred to its Monpa inhabitants as Bhutias, but the Sat Rajas regarded themselves as subjects of the Tawang Deb Raja, whose authority was linked to the Tibetan government at Lhasa.

Koriapar Duar acted as an important trading point between Assam and Tibet. Its management was carried out by an officer known as the Sanzati, while the Tibetan government at Lhasa appointed Tibetan officials called Gellongs to supervise the local Monpa chiefs. Koriapar came under Ahom possession after the western part of Assam was taken from the Koches. After his successes against the Mughals, Pratap Singha compelled the Sat Rajas of Koriapar to enter into an agreement by which they held the Duar for eight months of the year, while the Ahom government retained control for the remaining four months. This arrangement continued until 1839–1840.

In 1688, the Ahom officer Parbatrai went to Koriapar to collect taxes from the Kachari Maholias, or betel-nut traders, but was prevented from doing so. After the matter was reported, the Barphukan sent soldiers to the region. The Bhutias attacked the Ahom camp at night at Ghoramara Choramar, killed several Ahom soldiers, and carried away four men from the outpost of the Darrang Raja. The dispute was later settled when the Bhutias paid Rs. 2,000 to the Ahom king and Rs. 1,000 to the Barphukan. In 1690, the Bhutias killed Baidyanath Choudhury, the Ahom tax collector, when he went to collect taxes from the Kachari Maholias. The Duaria later captured the culprits and handed them over to the Barphukan, after which the Bhutias admitted guilt and paid Rs. 1,000 as compensation.

In 1691, the Bhutias of Koriapar again obstructed the collection of taxes from the Kachari Maholias. The Barphukan suspected the involvement of the Darrang Raja and ordered him to pay the amount due to the Ahom king. The Darrang Raja complied, but reported that the Bhutias had prevented tax collection and had occupied territory up to the middle of the Gohain Kamal Ali, which they claimed as their rightful boundary. To stop these encroachments, Gadadhar Singha ordered the Darrang Raja to construct a fort. The Bhutias killed several of the Darrang Raja's men during the construction work, but fled when reinforcements arrived, and the tax was eventually collected. This settled the dispute over tax collection in the frontier Darrang Duar region during Gadadhar Singha's reign.

In the late 18th century, the authority of the Ahom kingdom weakened during the Moamoria rebellion. Several neighbouring powers, including Manipur, attempted to assist the Ahom monarchy, but the kingdom fell into disorder. The Moamorias raised an Ahom prince to kingship and captured Rangpur, forcing the Ahom king Gaurinath Singha to flee. Taking advantage of the situation, the Darrang Raja Krishna Narayan, a descendant of Bali Narayan, attempted to reassert his independence with the help of Bengali mercenaries. In 1792, a British force sent to assist the Ahom king recovered Guwahati and defeated Krishna Narayan, and in 1794 the British helped the Ahoms recover Rangpur. Even after this, much of the kingdom remained under weak Ahom control and was subject to raids by neighbouring hill groups such as the Nyishis.

British period

In 1818, the Burmese invaded Assam to place their preferred claimant on the Ahom throne, forcing out the Ahom king and occupying his territories. The Burmese occupation caused widespread death and destruction. In 1826, after the First Anglo-Burmese War, the Burmese ceded Assam to the British under the Treaty of Yandabo, bringing the Sonitpur region under British control. Koriapar Duar was annexed by the East India Company in 1844 and added to the province of Assam. Darrang, including present-day Sonitpur district, was made a separate district in 1833, and its headquarters was shifted to Tezpur in 1835. The British later introduced tea plantations in the district and brought large numbers of labourers from the tribal belt of the Chota Nagpur Plateau to the Sonitpur area.

Administration

• Headquarters: Tezpur
• Number of Revenue Circles/Tehsils
• Number of Mouza: 26
• Number of Community Development(C.D.) Blocks: 17
• Number of Police Stations: 11
• No. of Anchalik Panchayats: 7
• Name of Gaon Panchayats: 158
• Number of Villages: 1615 (including 19 under BTAD)
• Number of Towns: 6
• Names of Towns: Tezpur, Dhekiajuli, Rangapara & Jamugurihat
• Number of Municipality Board: 2
• Number of Town Committees: 4
• Number of Police District: 1 (Sonitpur Police District)

Geography

Sonitpur district lies on the plains between the foothills of the Himalayas and the valley of the Brahmaputra which forms its southern border. Sonitpur district had the second largest area of districts in Assam, after Karbi Anglong district, at 5,324 square kilometres (2,056 sq mi), comparable in size to the island of Guadalcanal. Other than the Brahmaputra, the major rivers in the district are its right tributaries and include the Jiabharali, Gabharu, Borgang and Buroi.

National protected area

Sonitpur District is home to several wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. In 1998, Sonitpur district became home to Nameri National Park in the north, which has an area of 200 km² (77.2 mi²). It is also home to Orang National Park, which it shares with Darrang district. Orang National Park was established in 1999 and has an area of 79 km² (30.5 mi²).

Sonitpur is home to two wildlife sanctuaries: Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary. It is also home to the registered forests (RF) of Behali RF (140 km²), Naduar RF (69 km²), and Charduar RF (260 km²).

Climate

Sonitpur District falls in the Sub-Tropical Rainforest climate region, (Af) in Koppen's climate classification and enjoys Hot & Wet type of climate. Summers are hot and humid; with an average temperature of 27 °C. Rainfall is heavy above 3,000 mm (9 ft) in wet months January to June which is both a boon and a bane for the people. A boon, for it, provides natural irrigation to the fields; and a bane, as it causes the rivers to overflow their banks and cause floods. All months have average precipitation of at least 60 mm and the average temperature of the cold month is above 18 °C. As anyone can expect, Tropical rainforest is the vegetation in and around the city.

Flora and fauna

The forests of Sonitpur district are semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests and bamboo forests, with hydrophytes in the wetlands. Species include: Aegle marmelos, Albizia procera, Alstonia scholaris, Arundo donax, Bambusa balcooa, Cynodon dactylon, Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Duabanga grandiflora, Eichhornia crassipes, Mesua assamica, Melocanna baccifera, Mesua ferrea, Shorea assamica (mekai) and Shorea robusta.

Demographics

The population of Sonitpur district is 1,924,110 as per 2011 Census. It is the third most populous district of Assam (out of 27), after Nagaon and Dhubri. The demography of Sonitpur district is not entirely homogenous as several linguistic, religious and ethnic communities and groups live in Sonitpur district.

According to the 2011 census Sonitpur district has a population of 1,924,110, roughly equal to the nation of Lesotho or the US state of West Virginia. This gives it a ranking of 245th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 365 inhabitants per square kilometre (950/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.67%. Sonitpur has a sex ratio of 946 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 69.96%.

The divided district has a population of 13,11,619, of which 142,477 (10.86%) live in urban areas. Sonitpur has a sex ratio of 950 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 65,367 (4.98%) and 139,033 (10.60%) of the population respectively.

Religion

The major religions of the populace of Sonitpur district are Hindu and Muslim, As per 2011 census there are approximately 908,565 (69.27%) Hindus and 298,381 (22.75%) Muslims in the district. There are around 95,774 (7.30%) Christians in the district. Other small population following Buddhism (0.5%), Jainism and Sikhism is also present in the district.

Ethnic groups and languages

Almost 600,000 people in the district are from communities residing in Assam since pre-colonial times, making up around 46% of the population. These are Kalita, Assamese Brahmins, Koch Rajbongshis, Karbi, Keot (Kaibarta), Mising, Nath Jogis, Bodo, Thengal Kachari, Chutia, Rabha, Gorkhas and other communities of Assam. They have become a minority in the district due to the colonial and post-colonial era settlement of communities like Bengalis (both Hindu and Muslim), Biharis, Marwaris etc.

The immigrant Bengali speaking Hindus came from erstwhile undivided Bengal and Bangladesh, as officials and clerks of the British administration and the Tea Industry; and stayed back. Later, on account of the partition of India, Hindu people from Bangladesh coming as refugees added significantly to the community. Their primary language is Bengali, most of them are also fluent in Assamese too. They are mostly urbanised having a sizeable population in towns of Rangapara, Tezpur, Dhekiajuli, Biswanath Chariali, and Balipara. The population of Bengali Hindus is over 100,000 in the district. There has a sizeable population of Bengali Muslims living since colonial times in the district mainly in and around char areas of Brahmaputra river and surrounding areas of Dhekiajuli, Thelamara, and Tezpur (Napam). The population of Bengalis total is now around 250,000 in the district and make up almost 20% of the population.

The third largest community is the Adivasis, or tea garden tribes. Their ancestors were brought from tribal areas of central India to work as labourers on tea plantations. They are now spread all over the district. However, they are mostly concentrated in the surrounding regions of Dhekiajuli, Rangapara, Balipara, Jamugurihat, Biswanath chariali, Behali, Gohpur, Helem and northern parts of the district. They use Sadri, a dialect of Hindi as their first and primary language amongst themselves and Assamese as their second or third language. Around 50,000 still speak their original languages like Mundari and Kurukh. Almost 100,000 of them practices Christianity.

There are nearly 50,000 speakers of Hindi and it's dialect Bhojpuri living in the district who are primarily immigrated into the district from Hindi-speaking regions of India particularly Bihar and Rajasthan.

As per the 2011 census, 37.01% of the population spoke Assamese, 19.36% Bengali, 12.52% Sadri, 8.93% Boro, 6.63% Nepali, 3.79% Hindi, 2.54% Odia and 1.98% Mundari as their first language.

List of Guardian Ministers

Notable people

The district has produced notable people, including:-

• Jyoti Prasad Agarwala (1903–1951) playwright, songwriter, poet, writer and film maker
• Kamalakanta Bhattacharya, Assamese essayist and poet
• Ankushita Boro, boxer
• Jamuna Boro, boxer
• Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, playback singer, poet and film-maker
• Bishnu Prasad Rabha (1909–69), promoter of Assamese culture
• Phani Sarma (1909–70), theatre and film actor, playwright and director

Transportation

• Major Railway Station : Dekargaon, Rangapara & Biswanath Chariali.
• Nearest Airport : Salonibari Airport, Tezpur.
• Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) Stand : At the midst of Tezpur town.