Lanka, Assam

Geography

Lanka town of Hojai District, Assam is located about 20 km of the district headquarters Hojai.

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Lanka is a Municipal Board having 11 Wards. Lanka had a population of 34,423. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Lanka has an average literacy rate of 73%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 78%, and female literacy is 68%. In Lanka, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Connectivity

Lanka town is connected by the erstwhile National Highway 54 connecting nearby Dabaka (25 km.)with Silchar (305 km. This highway is now numbered as NH-27 a East - West corridor connecting Porbander in Gujarat to Silchar in Assam. The highway is being developed as a four-lane highway by National Highways Authority of India.

Lanka is also served by a railway line which Guwahati - Lumding BG line connecting to all parts of Assam and also to Delhi, Howrah etc. The town is about 150 km by rail and 185 km. by road from Guwahati.

History

A king of Bhoum Pal Barahi clan made Lanka the capital of Dabak. The name ‘Dabak’ is a derivative of the Sanskrit word ‘Devark’ According to Historian Rajmohan Nath. In olden times, times there was scarcity of water, and the by the regional language Lang Kha means the same, hence the name of the place came into being.

During that time the place was a barren land. During the British Invasions water was brought by wagons and this place was also made the base camps. It was only after the 1950 Assam–Tibet earthquake that the water level raised again.

Rangmahala, a place in thet outskirts of Lanka had the King’s Amusement palace or Rangmahal. After the rulers abandoned Lanka, Khasi-Jayantiya started to rule.

When King Viswasundar was the ruler of DABAK, Lanka was an independent state. An inscription of the 13th century discovered near Dabaka, has the following lines about Lanka:

“ Kachhar rajyad jayantay lankanta rajyabanta Yajnamenong daabeka mandali mathastha karyamasa” The Lankeswari Temple is of historical significance for the place. Its very much Linked to the Heart and culture of Lanka`

In the earlier times, the year 1505 to be precise, the first prophet of the Sikhs, Guru Nanak Dev had visited Kamrup, Assam. This fact is recorded in the documents concerning the numerous journeys undertaken by Guru Nanak in various stages of his life. It is said that, he had Srimanta Shankardeva, the founder of the Mahapuruxiya Dharma as the Guru traveled from Dhaka to Assam.

After this journey by the first Guru, Ninth Guru or prophet of Sikhs Guru Tegh Bahadur also visited Assam in 1668. This was the time when armies of Aurangzeb tried the best to cross the Brahamputra river and enter the Assam. They were thoroughly routed by the Ahom general Lachit Borphukan. Guru visited the place called Dhubri. A famous for the Sikh Gurudwara was constructed to commemorate his visit. Every year Sikhs from all over India and foreign visit this holy place.The grateful Ahom King invited Guruji to the Kamakhya shrine, where he was honoured.

While some died and some came back to Punjab, a few stayed on and made Assam their home, raising families. Their descendants today —mostly concentrated in Nagaon district — are Assamese for all practical purposes, and none speaks Punjabi, but continue to maintain their Sikh identity and observe most tenets and traditions of the religion.