Sonitpur district

Etymology

The name Tezpur is derived from the Sanskrit words 'Teza' (meaning blood) and 'Pura' (meaning town or city). Legend has it that the original name of this place was 'Sonitpur' ("sonit" in Sanskrit also means blood), the capital of asura king, Banasura, a devout of Shiva. Later his daughter Usha had a Gandharva marriage with Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna, whom she had abducted with the help of Chitralekha. On finding this Banasura imprisoned Aniruddha. Subsequently, in the battle between Krishna's army and Banasura's army fought for the rescue of Aniruddha, the grandson of Lord Krishna, according to legend, there was so much bloodshed that the whole place was stained in red. This led to the name of the place becoming Tezpur. It is the "seventh largest city" of Assam after Guwahati, Silchar, Dibrugarh, Jorhat, Nagaon and Tinsukia.

History

Sonitpur district was created in 1983 when it was split from Darrang. Udalguri was also carved out for the BTAD.

Administration

Geography

Sonitpur district occupies an area of 5,324 square kilometres (2,056 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to Guadalcanal. Major Rivers in the district are Brahmaputra, Jiabharali, Gabharu, Borgang & Buroi.

National protected area

Climate

Sonitpur District falls in the Sub-Tropical climatic region, and enjoys Monsoon type of climate. Summers are hot and humid; with an average temperature of 29 °C. Summer rain is heavy 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. Winters extend from the month of October to February, and are cold and generally dry, with an average temperature of 16 °C. It gets quite chilling in late December and early January, on account of snowfall in the upper reaches of Arunachal Pradesh.

Flora and fauna

In 1998 Sonitpur district became home to Nameri National Park, which has an area of 200 km² (77.2 sq mi). It is also home to Orang National Park, which it shares with Darrang district. Orang was established in 1999 and has an area of 79 km² (30.5 sq mi).

Sonitpur is home to two wildlife sanctuaries: Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary. It is also home to Behali, Naduar, Charduar RF.

Economy (as on 1997-98 )

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Sonitpur district has a population of 1,925,975, roughly equal to the nation of Lesotho or the US state of West Virginia. This gives it a ranking of 245th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 365 inhabitants per square kilometre (950/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 15.67%. Sonitpur has a sex ratio of 946 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 69.96%.

The Assamese

There are around 350,000 speakers of the Assamese language inhabiting the district who use Assamese as their first language. These are Ahoms, Assamese Brahmins, Koch Rajbongshis, Kalita, Nath Jogis, Sutiya, other caste Hindus and Assamese Muslims. They are considered to be among the early inhabitants of the place, and the typical culture of the place grew with them. They have become a minority in the district because of an influx of other ethnic groups from other regions.

The Gorkha

The Nepali speaking Gorkha community is composed of Bahun, Chettri, Newar, Tamang, Limbu and other Nepali ethnic castes, with a population of over 350,000 (nearly one-fifth of the district's population), is fairly dominant in the central and southern part of the district, especially in the Biswanath Chariali, Gohpur and Jamugurihat subdivisions. Sonitpur district boasts the largest and highest concentration of Nepali speakers in Assam.

Nepali people are considered to be the ethnic tribe of northeast India comprising Khas,(Chetri-Bahun, Sanyasi, Kaami, Damai, Sarki, Pode, Gaine) Bhujel, Dewan, Gurung, Jogi, Limbu(Subba), Magar, Newar, Rai, Tamang, Thami, Dhimal and Sunuwar.

Adivasi (Tea tribes)

Adivasi community also called Tea tribes mainly composed of Mundas, Santhals, Kurukh, Gonds, Kharia, Bhumij, Tanti, Saora and dozens of motley group of tribes forms a significant portion accounting for nearly one-third of the district's population or if taken as a whole the largest community in the district with over 600,000. Their ancestors were chiefly brought from tribal dominated region of Central India for the purpose of employing in the tea industry by British during late 19th century. They are now spread all over the district. However, they are mostly concentrated in the surrounding regions of Dhekiajuli, Rangapara, Balipara, Jamugurihat, Biswanath chariali, Behali, Gohpur, Helem and northern parts of the district. They use Sadri, a dialect of Hindi as their first and primary language amongst themselves and Assamese as their second or third language. Almost 100,000 of them practices Christianity.

Bengali Hindus

The Bengali speaking Hindus came from erstwhile undivided Bengal, 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. Though their primary language is Bengali but most of them speak Assamese too. They are mostly urbanised having sizeable population in towns of Rangapara, Tezpur, Dhekiajuli, Biswanath Chariali and Balipara. The population of Bengali Hindus is over 100,000 in the district.

Bengali Muslims

There has a sizeable population of 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 the community is now over 250,000 in the district.

Hindi Speakers

There are nearly 50,000 native speakers of Hindi and it's dialect Bhojpuri living in the district who are primarily immigrated into the district from Northern Hindi speaking regions of India particularly Bihar and Rajasthan.

Tribes

Scheduled Tribes or Tribals forms about 12% of total district's population. The largest tribe being the Bodos followed by Mishings.

Mishings

The Mishing people live in a scattered manner in the northern part of the Naduar and Biswanath Circles, i.e. east of the Bhorali River; and form a significant portion of the population of Gohpur sub-division. The population of Mishings tribe is around 60,000 in the district.

The Bodos

The Bodo with a population around 150,000 dominates the areas of northern part of Dhekiajuli, Chariduar, Naduar, Helem and Gohpur (Sadar) Circles. They speak Bodo language amongst themselves.

Other Tribes

Other tribes living in the District include the Rabha, Mechs, Nyishis, Garos, Adis, Apatanis, Lamas etc. Their population is sparse, and mainly confined to the foothills of the Himalayas near Arunachal Pradesh.

All the tribes have their indigenous cultures but they have adopted Assamese culture and thereby they are considered as part of greater Assamese community.

Religion

The major religions of the populace of Sonitpur district are – Hindu and Muslim, As per 2011 census there are approximately 1,422,821 (73.83%) Hindus and 350,675 (18.18%) Muslims in the district. There are around 138,355 (7.19%) Christians in the district. Other small population following Buddhism (0.5%), Jainism and Sikhism is also present in the district.

Notable personalities

Tezpur is considered to be the cultural capital of Assamese culture. Being from the core Assamese cultural region, the town has produced many stalwarts such as:

Some other notable persons are :

Education

Health Centre

Transportation