Sonitpur district

Sonitpur district
DistrictofAssam
Kameng RiverinNameri National ParkwithHimalayasin background
Location in Assam
Coordinates:
Country	India
State	Assam
Division	North Assam
Headquarters	Tezpur
Government
•Lok Sabha constituencies	Tezpur
•Vidhan Sabha constituencies	Barchalla,Tezpur,Rangapara,Sootea
Area
• Total	2,076.70 km2(801.82 sq mi)
Elevation	48−560 m (−1,789 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,311,619
• Density	630/km2(1,600/sq mi)
Languages
• Official	Assamese
Time zone	UTC+5:30(IST)
ISO 3166 code	IN-AS
Vehicle registration	AS12
Website	sonitpur.assam.gov.in

Sonitpur district[Pron: ˌsə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə or ˌʃə(ʊ)nɪtˈpʊə] is an administrativedistrictin the state ofAssaminIndia.The district headquarters is located atTezpur.

Etymology

The name of the district is derived from a story found inHindu epicsspecifically theBhagavata Puranaand in the locally composedKalika Puranaby theBrahminpandits where the city was established byBanasurathe eldest son ofBaliwho did great penance ortapasyato LordShivawho promised to look over the city. TheSanskritwordŚōṇitameans blood. The etymology ofTezpur,the headquarter of this district is also based on the story.

History

History

Sonitpur district falls under theDarrang Duarswhich includes the region between theBornadi RiverandDhansiri River.

It was occupied by theBaro-Bhuyanfeudal lords in the 14th century.

In the 16th century, the eastern part of the district, up to theKamengriver, was conquered by theAhoms.In 1523, they deported a large number ofChutiafamilies to a place on the east bank of the Kameng. In 1532, they defeated aMughalarmy sent against them at the banks of the Kameng.

Starting in the 16th century, under the reign ofNara Narayan,theKoch kingdomexpanded to a great extent. Several years after the Ahom victory at the Kameng,Nara Narayansacked the Ahom capital atGargaonand forced the Ahoms to pay tribute. Its eastern conquests were completed by Raghudev, the nephew of the king and heir as Nara Narayan had no son. However eventually one of Nara Nayaran's queens gave birth to a child, Lakshmi Narayan. Raghudev rebelled, supported by the Ahoms, but was eventually defeated. In response Nara Narayan gave Koch territory east of theSankosh riverto Raghudev and the rest to Lakshmi Narayan. Raghudev's kingdom became known asKoch Hajo,and quickly fell under Ahom hegemony, while the westernKoch Biharkingdom fell under Mughal influence. Koch Hajo's boundary with the Ahoms was at theKameng river,also known as the Bareli, which flowed through the middle of what is now Sonitpur district.

Soon war broke out between Raghudev and Lakshmi Narayan. Lakshmi Narayan was defeated and appealed to the Mughals for help. The Mughals sent a large force and defeated Raghudev, although Sonitpur was on the eastern boundary and so was not conquered. Raghudev's brother Bali Narayan then fled to his Ahom overlords for help, and when the Mughals demanded his return, the Ahoms refused. This led toseveral warsbetween the Ahoms and Mughals, most of which were inlower Assam.In 1615, a Mughal army advanced as far as the Kameng, but was soon defeated on both land and water. In 1637, the Mughals defeated and killed Bali Narayan and in the treaty that followed, the entirety of Sonitpur came into Ahom possession. During the chaos that followed the death ofShah Jahanin 1658, the Ahoms tried to push their boundary to theSankoshriver but were pushed back by Mir Jumla, who captured Gargaon. On their advance, the Mughals took a fort near Silghat while the Ahoms evacuated the Chandara fort near Tezpur. However the rains that set in during their retreat, as well as the dieases, took a huge toll on the Mughal army, and the Ahoms soon took backGuwahatiand kept it.

The rajas ofDarrangquickly became reduced in territory to a small area aroundMangaldoi.In 1792, theMoamoria rebellionbroke out, and fighting soon ensured the entirety of Ahom territory fell into anarchy. Several outside kingdoms, includingManipur,attempted to send help but could not do much. TheMoamoriasraised a Ahom prince to kingship, and in 1786 conqueredRangpur,the Ahom capital. The Ahom raja Gaurinath Singh was forced to flee. While the Ahoms were beset by the Moamoria rebellion, the Darrang raja and a descendant of Bali Narayan, Krishna Narayan, tried to reassert their independence with the help of Bengali mercenaries. However in 1792, a British force sent to help the Ahom kings managed to take back Guwahati and defeated Krishna Narayan. In 1794, they retook Rangpur. However much of the kingdom was still only under weak Ahom control, and subject to constant raids from the surrounding hill-tribes like theNyishis.In 1818, the Burmese invaded to restore their preferred monarch on the throne, and forced out the Ahom king and took over his land. The Burmese occupation of Assam resulted in massive death and destruction. In 1826, the British declared war on Myanmar and defeated them in the firstAnglo-BurmeseWar. In the subsequentTreaty of Yandabo,the territory came under British control.

Darrang, including present-day Sonitpur district, became a separate district in 1833, and the capital was shifted to Tezpur in 1835. The British introduced tea plantation to the district, and imported large numbers of labourers from the tribal belt ofChota Nagpurto 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 underBTAD)
• 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 theHimalayasand the valley of theBrahmaputrawhich forms its southern border.Sonitpur district had the second largest area of districts in Assam, afterKarbi Anglong district,at 5,324 square kilometres (2,056 sq mi),comparable in size to the island ofGuadalcanal.Other than theBrahmaputra,the major rivers in the district are its right tributaries and include theJiabharali,Gabharu,Borgang and Buroi.

National protected area

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

Sonitpur is home to twowildlife sanctuaries:Burachapori Wildlife SanctuaryandSonai 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 theSub-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) andShorea 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 of27), afterNagaonandDhubri.The demography of Sonitpur district is not entirely homogenous as several linguistic, religious and ethnic communities and groups live in Sonitpur district.

According to the2011 censusSonitpur district has apopulationof 1,924,110,roughly equal to the nation ofLesothoor the US state ofWest Virginia.This gives it a ranking of 245th in India (out of a total of640).The district has a population density of 365 inhabitants per square kilometre (950/sq mi).Itspopulation growth rateover the decade 2001-2011 was 15.67%.Sonitpur has asex ratioof 946femalesfor every 1000 males,and aliteracy rateof 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

Religions in Sonitpur district (2011)
Religion			Percent
Hinduism			69.27%
Islam			22.75%
Christianity			7.30%
Other or not stated			0.68%

The major religions of the populace of Sonitpur district areHinduandMuslim,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 followingBuddhism(0.5%),JainismandSikhismis also present in the district.

Ethnic groups and languages

Languages in Sonitpur district (2011)

Assamese(37.01%)

Bengali(19.27%)

Sadri(12.52%)

Boro(8.93%)

Nepali(6.63%)

Hindi(3.79%)

Odia(2.54%)

Mundari(1.98%)

Others (7.33%)

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 areAssamese Brahmins,Koch Rajbongshis,Ahom,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 immigrantBengalispeaking 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 immigrant-origin Bengali speaking 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 theAdivasis,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 ofDhekiajuli,Rangapara,Balipara,Jamugurihat,Biswanath chariali,Behali,Gohpur,Helem and northern parts of the district. They useSadri,a dialect ofHindias their first and primary language amongst themselves andAssameseas their second or third language. Around 50,000 still speak their original languages likeMundariandKurukh.Almost 100,000 of them practices Christianity.

There are nearly 50,000 speakers of Hindi and it's dialectBhojpuriliving in the district who are primarily immigrated into the district from Hindi-speaking regions of India particularlyBiharandRajasthan.

As per the 2011 census, 37.01% of the population spokeAssamese,19.36%Bengali,12.52%Sadri,8.93%Boro,6.63%Nepali,3.79%Hindi,2.54%Odiaand 1.98%Mundarias their first language.

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.

References

• Das, Smriti (1998).Assam Bhutan relations with special reference to duars from 1681 to 1949(PhD). Guwahati University.hdl:10603/67909.
• Eilmer, David (2014).The Emperor Far Away:Travels at the Edge of China.Bloomsbury.

• Mizuno, Kazuharu; Tenpa, Lobsang (2015).Himalayan Nature and Tibetan Buddhist Culture in Arunachal Pradesh, India: A Study of Monpa.Springer.

External links

• Sonitpur District Official Website