Upper Assam division

Consisting of 7 districts initially, the Upper Assam division now contains 10 districts, that includes Sivasagar, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Dhemaji, Golaghat, Charaideo, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Biswanath, and Tinsukia. While Charaideo and Majuli are the newest districts that were raised to district status in 2016, Golaghat and Tinsukia are the biggest districts in terms square kilometre area in the region, raised to the district status in the years of 1987 and 1989 respectively.

Jorhat,¹ Golaghat² and Dibrugarh³ are also the oldest recognised and constantly inhabited urban centres (municipal areas) in the region based on the earliest years of formation of the civic bodies, constituted before the Indian independence of 1947. Jorhat is the Second most developed city of Assam. On 26 January 2025 Honourable Chief Minister of Assam Sri Himanta Biswa Sarmah declared Dibrugarh as Second Capital of Assam and now it serves as the headquarter of upper Assam division. Other cities of upper Assam are Tinsukia, Sivasagar, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji etc.

An extended list of Upper Assam region also includes the districts of Sonitpur. The region is the most productive part of the state of Assam, which is rich in natural resources like coal, oil and natural gas as well as tea plantations.

History

Medieval period

Chutia Kingdom

The medieval Chutia Kingdom was on the bank of the river Brahmaputra. It was a powerful kingdom which had ruled in northeastern Assam and the plains and foothill areas of present-day Arunachal Pradesh, with the capital at Sadiya. The kingdom controlled almost the entire region of present Assam districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia and Dibrugarh as well as parts of Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat and Sivasagar districts. In Arunachal Pradesh, it covered the districts bordering Assam.

Ahom Kingdom

The Ahom Kingdom was a kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India. Established by Sukaphaa, a Tai prince from Mong Mao, it began as a Mong in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra River. It expanded suddenly under Suhungmung in the 16th century after annexing the Chutia kingdom and parts of Kachari kingdom and therefore became multi-ethnic in character. The kingdom became weaker with the rise of the Moamoria rebellion, and subsequently fell to a succession of Burmese invasions. With the defeat of the Burmese after the First Anglo-Burmese War and the Treaty of Yandabo in 1826, control of the kingdom passed into British (East India Company) hands.