Beltola

During the Ahom reign, the kingdom of Beltola extends from the borders of the kingdom of Rani in the west, while in the east it extends to the borders of the kingdom of Mayong and Dimorua. The places named as Rajgarh and Hatigarh in present-day Guwahati city, were the borders between Ahom ruled Guwahati city and the kingdom of Beltola. After the fall of Ahom kingdom and the British occupation of Assam, Beltola lost its status as a kingdom and converted into a Mouza or revenue circle. Under British rule, the size of the Beltola Mouza was much reduced. Presently Beltola Mouza consists of several places of Modern day Guwahati city. Centrally located from Beltola haat or Beltola Bazaar, the Mouza or estate covers the area of Narengi, Birkuchi, Hengrabari, Panjabari, Hatigaon, Bhetapara, Maidam gaon, Rukminigaon, Khanapara, Kahilipara, Ganeshguri and Basistha Mandir. It was said that the Royal residence of the Beltola royal family was in Rukminigaon, while the place where the royal elephants were kept and trained was Hatigaon, literally meaning village of elephants (in Assamese Hati means elephant; gaon means village). Maidam gaon was said to be the place of cremation of the royal family members. The old name of Khanapara was Kainapara. Kaina is a Khasi word, which means elephant, while Para in Khasi language means human settlements or colony. It was said that the ruler of Beltola used to capture elephants and was indulge in the profitable business of selling elephants. It can be assumed that the Khasi people living in that region were indulged in the capturing elephants for the rulers of Beltola, due to which the name Kainapara or later Khanapara came into existence. Birkuchi name comes from the combination of two words, Bir means heroes and Kuchi means camp. It was said that the Koch army of Chilarai use to camp there for some time and thus the place got its name.

Over time, Beltola[3] has expanded as a residential area come commercial and educational hub with Beltola College as the institute offering graduate courses in Arts and Science. A sub-centre of the All Assam Students Union known as Beltola Students Union and is active in various activities.

The Upcoming Project in Beltola is going to be not only icon of this locality but of whole Northeast India, the Twin Tower World Trade Center of 280 meters(918.635 feet) height with 65 floors including a cinema hall, a shopping mall, World Class Convention Centre (in association with World Trade Center site, New York), a State of the art Auditorium, Seminar halls and meeting rooms, food courts, open-air amphitheatre, Museum, Commercial Offices, Residential Apartments, Service Apartment, Sky Park at 200m height of 2acre area a Swimming Pool.[4]

Sky Park will have a public observatory, Restaurant for panoramic view of City, river Brahmaputra and Hills surrounding the city. This project is under National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC) and will cost 2500 crore Rupees( approx).[5]

• THE CRIMSON VALLEY Restaurant
• Beltola Bazar
• Rani Bagan
• MATRIX MALL
• CARNIVAL CINEMAS
• Reliance Market
• JDDS Supermarket
• AG Office
• Bongaon Playground
• Bongaon Shiv Temple
• Megha Mart
• Lakhi Mandir
• Vishnu Mandir

The Beltola market opens two times a week from the morning till late in the evening.

Beltola has a long history. It was, until about half a century ago, the hub of a small kingdom, the kingdom of Beltola. Close to the site of the famous "Beltola-haat", where small local vendors sell their agricultural produce and other goods of small-scale manufacturing twice a week, lived the royal family of the Beltola kings. Within living memory, there was a royal mansion/palace with the royal gardens. The Beltola-haat has been almost monumental for the inhabitants of greater Guwahati in that it has always been known to everyone here that the items that cannot be found in any other market in Guwahati, are likely to be sold here. Being located at a point convenient of access for vendors who came on foot and animal-transport from far-off places like present-day Meghalaya, this market retained its distinctive, indigenous character till about a decade ago before the high-rise apartment complexes were built. Even today this character is not entirely lost.

Beltola Bazaar

Today, Beltola Bazaar has become a daily market selling everything from clothes to vegetables. But, starting from Wednesday night to Thursday night and Saturday night to Sunday night from Vegetables to fruits, clothing, fast foods, home items, foot wear, women's apparel, toys, pastries all are available in Market ( Haat ).

• History of Beltola
• Ulubari
• Paltan Bazaar
• Ganeshguri
• Chandmari
• Maligaon
• Bhetapara