Cachar district

The region was originally a part of the Tripura Kingdom which was taken over by Koch King Chilarai in 1562.Chilarai gave the charge of the region to his brother Kamalnarayan. The descendants of Kamalnarayan ruled the region till 18th century. After the fall of Koch kingdom the Dimasa Kingdom took over the region and ruled most of undivided Cachar district. The Last King of Cachar was Raja Govindrachandradwajanarayana Hasnu. During his period Khaspur was the Capital of Cachar (Kachar). Cachar was another native kingdom that fell victim to the imperialist design of the British. The Kingdom of Cachar was being ruled by two rulers having clearly defined areas of control. In the plains (southern portion of Cachar) Govindrachandradwajanarayana Hasnu was the ruling prince. Immediately after his assassination by Gambhir Singh, then king of Manipur, British annexed it to their dominion in India (1832). Tularam was the ruling chief of the hilly tract (northern portion of Cachar or Dima Hasao). His territories were annexed after he died in 1854. Thus entire Cachar came under the British occupation. While south Cachar was annexed under Robertson, the hilly tract of Cachar came under British occupation when Jenkins was the Commissioner of Assam.In 1916,it was the Commissioner of Pakokku Hill Tracts until 1947. [1]

The history of the district includes the active participation and support of its people in the Indian independence movement. Many leaders, such as Kamini Kumar Chanda, his son Arun Kumar Chanda and Abdul Matlib Mazumdar etc. led the people of the district to fight for the cause. While Chanda was instrumental in garnering support of the Bengali Hindus, Mazumdar was one of the prominent Muslim leaders of Eastern India to oppose the partition of India on communal lines. Mazumdar, along with Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, (who later became the 5th President of India) became the most prominent Muslim opponents to the demand for a separate Muslim state of Pakistan, especially in the eastern part of the country. To counter the rising popularity of Muslim League, he successfully organised the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind movement in Assam. Jamiat was an ally of the Congress having a mass following among the nationalist Muslims. In the very crucial 1946 General Elections, conducted just on the eve of India's independence, he wrested the Muslim majority Hailakandi seat from the hold of the Muslim League. That victory virtually sealed the hopes and aspirations of the Muslim League to include southern Assam, including Cachar, in Pakistan.

Assam's Surma Valley (now partly in Bangladesh) had Muslim-majority population. On the eve of partition, hectic activities intensified by the Muslim League as well Congress with the former having an edge. A referendum had been proposed for Sylhet Region (now mostly in Bangladesh). Mazumdar along with Basanta Kumar Das (then Home Minister of Assam) travelled throughout the valley organising the Congress and addressing meetings educating the masses about the outcome of partition on the basis of religion. On 20 February 1947, Mazumdar inaugurated a convention – Assam Nationalist Muslim's Convention at Silchar. There after another big meeting was held at Silchar on 8 June 1947.[2] Both the meetings, which were attended by a large section of Muslims, paid dividend. He was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam, especially Karimganj with India.[3][4] Mazumdar was the leader of the delegation that pleaded before the Radcliffe Commission that ensured that a part of Sylhet, the present Karimganj district, remained with India.[5][11]. Arun Kumar Chanda did not join Bordoloi cabinet in 1946 but preferred to do social work as a legislator and also to uplift the premier educational institution, G.C. College. Unfortunately he soon died leaving a huge vacuum of an able Bengali Hindu leader with a secular bent of mind.

The entire eastern India was swept by violence just after India's partition and independence on 15 August 1947. Scores of Hindus had to flee the newly created East Pakistan for India and Muslims fled Assam for East Pakistan. A large number of people lost their lives owing to violence, which resurfaced with more ferocity in 1950. Mazumdar, the only member from the undivided Cachar in the cabinet, along with his cabinet and party colleagues took up the responsibility for the safety of both Hindus and Muslims in Cachar, touring affected areas and arranging camps and rehabilitation for the refugees, organising supplies and security.The Bengali Language Movement of 1960-1961 which was a movement to protest the forceful imposition of Assamese language upon the Bengali-speaking population of Barak valley by the Assam Government is also an important event in the history of Barak Valley.

In the 1960s, Moinul Haque Choudhury, who was a cabinet minister in Assam from 1957 to 1966, became a prominent political figure in the district. In 1971, he became the Industry minister of India under the Prime Ministership of late Indira Gandhi. Late Arun Kr. Chanda's wife Jyotsna Chanda also represented Silchar in the parliament.

1 July 1983 saw the creation of Karimganj district by curving out the eponymous subdivision from Cachar.

The district has three sub-divisions: Silchar, Lakhipur and Katigorah.Katigorah as a Sub-division declared by Tarun Gogoi cabinet in the year 2016. There are seven Assembly constituencies in this district, viz. Silchar, Sonai, Dholai, Udharbond, Lakhipur, Barkhola and Katigorah.[9] Dholai is designated for scheduled castes.[9] The seven constituencies make up the Silchar Lok Sabha constituency.[10]

According to the 2011 census, Cachar district has a population of 1,736,617,[12] roughly equal to the nation of The Gambia[13] or the US state of Nebraska.[14] This gives it a ranking of 278th in India out of a total of 640.[12] The district has a population density of 459 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,190/sq mi) .[12] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 20.17%.[12] Cachar has a sex ratio of 958 females for every 1000 males,[12] and a literacy rate of 80.36%.[12]

Religious demographics are as follows:[15]

• Hindus - 1,038,985
• Muslims - 654,816
• Christians - 37,635.

There was a presence of Sikhism in Cachar after Guru Nanak's visit to eastern India in 1508 to spread the religion. Most of these Sikhs, in the early 18th century, were found in the northern part of Cachar where they used to work for the Assam Bengal Railway.[16]

Bengali is the official language of the district and is spoken by 75% of the overall population,[18] while English also served as 2nd additional official language of the district. Bengali Hindus form's the plurality with a population of 647,648 i.e. (37.3%), while Bengali Muslims are single largest minority with a population of 654,816 comprising (37.7%) of the population and the majority of them speak's Sylheti language which is primarily a dialect of Bengali. Other minority languages spoken in the district include Bhojpuri, Meitei Manipuri, Dimasa Kachari, Bishnupuriya Manipuri , Nepali Language, Hmar and Rongmei. There are also a few Kuki and Khasi people who form the microscopic minorities.

The district also includes a number of degree colleges such as:

• Cachar College
• Gurucharan College
• Radhamadhab College
• Ramanuj Gupta Memorial Junior College
• Janata College, Kabuganj
• Madhab Chandra Das College, Sonai
• Women's College, Silchar
• Presidency junior College
• Aryan Junior College
• Sathya Ranjan college, Kalain
• Aviator Junior College, Kalain
• Katigorah Junior College
• Nehru College, Pailapool
• Jagannath Singh College, Udharbond
• Jagannath Singh Jr. College, Udhaarbond

Prominent schools in the district include:

• Government Boys & Girls School
• Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Pailapool
• Kendriya Vidyalayas
• Adhar Chand Higher Secondary School,
• Darul Ulum,Banskandi
• Narsing Higher Secondary School
• Cachar High School,
• Don Bosco School,
• D.N.N.K. Girls' Higher Secondary School,
• Silchar Senior Madrassa,
• Oriental High School,
• Holy Cross School,
• Maharishi Vidya Mandir,
• Muktashree High School,
• Pranabananda Holy Child School
• Pranabananda Vidya Mandir
• Silchar Collegiate School,
• Sonai Nitya Gopal Higher Secondary School
• Moinul Hoque Choudhury Higher Secondary School
• Sonai Senior Madrassa
• Ram Dulal Roy Higher Secondary school
• Satkarakandi High School
• East Kazidhar High School
• Sonai Jubati Singha Manipuri High School
• South Point School
• Sonai Senior Madrassa
• Saint Capitanio School
• Oxford School
• Netaji Memorial Institute
• Murshedul Alam Choudhury Memorial Academy
• Adharsh Vidyapith, Kalain
• Jupiter High School, Kalain
• Asapalli English School, Fulertal
• Nehru Higher Secondary School, Pailapool
• D.N.H.S. School, Udharbond
• Saraswati Vidya Niketan, Kalain
• Swarna Lakshmi Higher Secondary School, Narshingpur
• M.H.C.Memorial Girls High Madrassa, Lathimara
• Al-Mahmud English School, Najathpur