Jorhat district

Etymology

"Jorhat" or "Jorehaut" means two hats or mandis- “Macharhat” and “Chowkihat” which existed on the two different banks of the river Bhugdoi during the 18th century.

History

The northern most area of the present district was a part of the Sutiya Kingdom before the Ahom-Sutiya war in the 16th century. In 1794 the Ahom king Gaurinath Singha shifted the capital from Sibsagar (erstwhile ”Rangpur”) to Jorhat. This town was a flourishing and commercial metropolis but completely destroyed after a series of the Burmese invasions since 1817 till the arrival of the British force in 1824 under the Stewardship of David Scott and Captain Richard.

The British rule, though, was not free from rebellions and revolutions, contributed to reemergence of this historical town. From the very first decade of the British rule, the great revolutionists who emerged were Gomdhar Konwar, Jeuram and Piyali, British system of administration, came into vogue in 1839 with an established Police Thana. During the great “Sepoy Mutiny” the anti-British plot hatched by Maniram Dewan and Piyali Barua was sabotaged, and these leaders were hanged in public at this very place in 1858.

In 1885, a narrow-gauge train service (Jorhat Provincial Railway) had come into operation and ultimately became instrumental in rapid growth of tea industry.

Though the civil sub-division under Sibsagar district at Jorhat was formed in 1869, this great place was declared as administration headquarters of the undivided Sibsagar district in 1911, which comprised the present Sibsagar, Jorhat and Golaghat and parts of Karbi-Anglong district with Major A. Playfair as the first deputy commissioner.

The modern-day district of Jorhat was created in 1983 when it was split from Sibsagar district.

Geography

On the north of the district, the river Brahmaputra forms the largest riverine island of the world, Majuli, spreading over 924.6 km². with a population of about 1.50 lakh being threatened by the constant erosion by this mighty, unstable river Majuli had been the principal place of pilgrimage of Vaishnavites since the ages of the Ahom rules. There are several Satras resembling medieval monasteries headed by Satradhikars preaching and teaching the Vaishnavism which was initiated by Sankardeva (1449–1568). Each Satra has unknown wealth of Vaishnav Scriptures and extensive revenue free lands being cultivated by the “Bhakats” of the Satras.

Jorhat district occupies an area of 2,851 square kilometres (1,101 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to Russia's Zemlya Georga. Floods frequent the island every year without any exception. The mean annual rainfall of the district is 2029 mm.

District Administration

The District Administration is headed by Deputy Commissioner Mr. Solanki Vishal Vasant, IAS who is an Officer belonging to 2005 Batch of IAS (Assam-Meghalaya Cadre). Amanjeet Kaur is the newly appointed Superintendent of Police (SP) of Jorhat District, Assam belongs to the IPS batch of 2009 (Assam-Meghalaya cadre). The two outlying civil subdivisions are Titabor and Majuli. Titabor subdivisional administration is headed by SDO(Civil) Smti. Roshni Aparanji Korati,IAS who belongs to the 2011 Batch of IAS(Assam-Meghalaya Cadre). Majuli subdivisional administration is headed by SDO(Civil) Ms. Laya Madduri, IAS of the 2010 Batch, Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Divisions

There are six Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Dergaon, Jorhat, Titabor, Mariani, Teok, and Majuli. Dergaon is designated for scheduled castes and Majuli is designated for scheduled tribes. Dergaon is in the Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency, Majuli is in the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituency, whilst the other four are in the Jorhat Lok Sabha constituency.

Agriculture

There are about 135 tea gardens, including out gardens, and the predominant field crop is rice, with per capita food grain production of 205 kg per annum.

Manufacturing Industry

The district has a number of small scale and cottage industries in the field of cane work and bamboo work, silver jewelry, furniture making, brass smithy, umbrella making, soap manufacturing, packaged food manufacturing etc.

Tourism

Jorhat is the central location for reaching out to many interesting places of international importance. Including: Majuli, Khaziranga National Park, Dhekiakhowa Bornamghar, Lachit Borphukan's Maidam, Raja Maidam, Jorhat Science Centre & Planetarium, Jorhat Gymkhana Club, Chandrakanta Handique Bhavan, Ayur Sanjeeva, Jorhat District Museum, Thengal Bhawan, Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaziranga Golf Resort, Sukapha Samannay Kshetra, Mou Chapori, Mulai Forest, Jagannath Temple, Public parks and gardens

Local People assist in Assam tourism

Population

According to the 2011 census Jorhat district has a population of 1,091,295, roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Rhode Island. This gives it a ranking of 419th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 383 inhabitants per square kilometre (990/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 9.21%. Jorhat has a sex ratio of 956 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 83.42%.

The district has SC and ST population of 7.61% and 12.09% respectively of the total population. However, the Majuli Sub-Division has a tribal population of 70% who are primarily “Misings”.

Main communities in the district are Tea tribes(Adivasi), Ahoms, Sutiya, Sonowal Kacharis. There is also presence of Bengali Hindus in the urban areas.

Languages

The primary language of Jorhat and the entire state of Assam is Assamese. Other languages spoken include Aiton, which with approximately 1500 speakers is closely related to Shan and written in the Burmese script.

Culture

The cultural environment which prevails in Jorhat is the result of untiring effort of people to preserve its culture.

Notable personalities

Jorhat has been able to produce many creative writers, historians, journalists.

Flora and fauna

In 1997 Jorhat district became home to the Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 21 km² (8.1 sq mi)., is a protected area which is home of hoolock gibbons. There is another forest called Mulai Kathoni, a man made forest covering 550 hectares of area on a Brahmaputra river sandbar located near Kokilamukh area.

Education

Jorhat is considered a good place for modern education. The Jorhat Government Boys School is the oldest school established in 1883 with special facilities for Science teaching. The Jagannath Barooah College is the oldest College in the district set up in 1930 and said to be first college and in upper Assam. Later, however many degree colleges and schools came up. The people of Jorhat can rightly be proud of being a part of its glorious heritage and culture. Other schools are Carmel Convent School, Balya Bhavan, Hemalata Handique Memorial Institute, Don Bosco High School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Jorhat, Jonaki Sangha Vidyalaya, Bahona Boys High School and many more.

Jorhat is the seat of learning with a first and only agricultural university in the whole N.E. Region - Assam Agricultural University, established in 1948 in addition to the Jorhat Engineering College (1960), North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) (1961), Prince of Wales Institute Of Engineering & Technology (POWIET) (1926), Tocklai Tea Research Institute (1911), Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (2009) and Kaziranga University (2012) along with other prestigious establishment like Rowriah IAF Base, ONGC, Oil India, etc.

Media

The healthy education and cultural life of Jorhat can be best judged from the fact that the district has as many as five daily newspapers published from two publishing groups.

1. The Janambhumi group
2. Saptahik Janambhumi
3. Dainik Janambhumi
4. Eastern Clarion
5. G.L. Publication groups
6. North East Times (English)
7. Amar Asom (Assamese)
8. Purbanchal Prohori (Hindi)

The Janambhumi Group of Newspapers- The Saptahik Janambhumi, the Dainik Janambhumi and the Eastern Clarion. The Spatahik Janambhumi celebrated its 50 years of circulation and in the same way the Dainik Janambhumi crossed its 25 years of existence.

The G.L. Publication publishes three newspapers from Guwahati and Jorhat simultaneously. They are the North East Times (English) Amar Asom (Assamese) and the Purbanchal Prohori (Hindi).

The other newspapers published from Jorhat are: