Darrang district General information 

Darrang is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Mangaldai. The district occupies an area of 3481 km² and has a population of 1,503,943 (as of 2001).

History

The name Darrang seems to have originated from the Sanskrit word 'Dwaram' which means a 'Duar' or a pass. In the past there were some fixed duars on the northern side of the district from which the various hill tribes descended to the plains from the Himalayan ranges. Some of the areas still have a suffix 'Duar' to their names and one of the six passes on the northern side of the present district is called 'Khaling Duar'. Another possible origin of the name is the word 'Devaranga' which means the playground of Devas. The names a number of places in the district like Athrikhat, Khalingduar, Dhwalpur, Markandasram etc. show their ancient association with the mythic sages like Markedeya, Kaulinya, Atri, Yagyabalka etc.

The name, Mangaldai is, however traced to Mangola Devi, the daughter of Koch king Lakshminarayana, who was married to the Ahom king Pratapsingha. In Yogini Tantra, mention is also made of the river Mangala which is again referred to as Su-Mangala in the Kalikapurana. It is thus possible that the name Mangaldai is derived from the river Mangala Devi. However a parallel and equally convincing theory says that the name was derived from the native Bodo dialect, where Mangal means pure and Dai means water.

Many archaeological sites like Narikali,Tamreswar, Bijulibari, Lakshimpur, Bhairavkunda , Mathajhar, Murhadeor, Dhawalpur, Orang etc. which have come to light lately, point to a hoary past of this places. The bronze Bishnu icon of the 11th century, found at Bijulibari near Sipajhar, now on display at Assam state Museum and a number of tanks like Jayapal, Burhinagar, Barampur, Baldev, Dighir, Lakhmpur etc. all stand as evidence of the ancient glory of Mangaldai.

However, no definitive records about Darrang are available for the pre-medieval period. According to Dr. Maheswar Neog, the Darrang become famous only after the middle Age i.e.., up-rising of the king Biswa Singha Naranarayana. It perhaps formed a part of the ancient kingdom of Kamrupa and with its decline , Darrang at different times might have been under the rule of the Chutias, Bodo-Kacharies and the Bhuyans. However, the picture becomes somewhat clearer from the 16th century,. In 1581, the famous Koch king Naranarayan gave a part of his kingdom to his cousin Raghudev, son of Sukladhwaj best known as 'Chilarai' for his military powers. Raghudev's part included Mangaldai subdivision and also the district of Kamrup and Goalpara. This part has been referred to as Koch Hajo or the kingdom of eastern Koches. Raghudev however did not exercise any independent authority and he and his successor's attempt to achieve freedom only got them embroiled in quarrels first with the Mughals and then with the Ahoms. In the Ahom-Mughal contest , Balinarayana, another son of Raghudev helped the Ahom king Pratap Singh (1603-1641) from whom received the tract known as Darrang. He was feudatory Raja under the Ahom king who allowed him to rule with the title 'Dharmanarayana'. Some northern parts of the river Brahmaputra also formed a part of then Darrang and there he established his capital. It was later on shifted to Mangaldai during the time of his son and successor Sundarnarayan. Friction however continued with the Mughalsand sometimes with the Ahoms, but the efforts of the Darrang Rajas to assert independence did not succeed. During the reign of the Ahom king Gaurinath Singha (1780-1794), the authority of the Darrang Raja was further reduced and he was placed at the disposal of the Borphukan at Guwahati. During this period Raja Krishnanarayan even tried to secure the British help against the Ahoms which however did not succeed. Later, the Ahoms lost their former strength and glory, and having fallen prey to the Burmese attacks, the British East India company stepped in to draw the curtain.

In 1826 Darrang , like the rest of Assam passed into the hands of the British after the treaty of Yandabu (Yandabu Sandhi). Having established their authority, the company Government began the work of reconstructions and in 1933, Darrang became a district with Mangaldai as its headquarters. In 1935, the headquarters was shifted to Tezpur. The same position was maintained until the subdivision of Mangaldai was converted into a district in 1983.

Darrang has a long history of resistance against any oppressive rule. That happened during the Ahom period and in the British period, the people first organised a Rajmel on the assembly of the people at Patharighat, about 15 kms. west of Mangaldai to protest against the unreasonable taxation of the Government. At that time (1868), the people also gheraoed some top ranking officers of the district, but the situation did not deteriorate because of the intervention of some leading persons. The great event of 1894, popularly known as 'Patharughatar Ran' (Battle of Patharughat) is too well known to need any repetition here. On that fateful day (January 28),some 140 persons belonging to all the communities lost their lives as a result of unprovoked police firing while protesting against enhanced revenue. The number of injured wasalso very high. The administration did nothing to tend the injured or remove the dead bodies. Patharighat is Assam's Jallianwalabagh.

During the freedom struggle, Darrang also played a glorious part. People actively participated in the various aspects of the movement and thereby contributed to the achievement of Indian independence.

The district has also not lagged behind in contributing to the richness of Assam's culture and civilization. The various temples and other objects of art though much ravaged by the passage of time, speak highly of the artistic genius of our craftsmen. Under the patronage of Darrang Rajas many books on different subjects were also composed. One such look is Darrang Rajvansavali, written by Suryakhadi Daivagna. It is a metrical chronicle of Darrang Rajas composed at the initiative of its tenth ruler Samudranarayana. Ojhapali, a form of sacred dance drama is still a very popular event in the socio-cultural like of the people. Darrang is associated with the famous 'BYAS OJAS'. Even a village named after Byas Ojas as Byaspara is situated here. Darrang is also famous for Dhepadhol, Bardhol, Mohkunda song, Suknanni Oja, Siya Geet etc. which contribute to enrich the colourful heritage of Assam. We also find many rituals and festivals here, like Deul, Pasati, Mathani, Gondhchowpari Sabha etc., which reflecr the socio cultural recreation system of the district. Many aspects of the culture of the district still remain unexplored.


Geography

The District comprises mainly of plain areas dotted by small hillocks. The northern part of the District is generally hilly areas and the southern part of the district are covered with forest and hillocks.

There elevation of Darrang varies from 50 mtrs to 250 mtrs above sea level and there is a constant slope from north to south. The Khalingduar Reserved Forest and Bhairavkunda area is at the peak of 150 - 250 mtrs. height. This is touched by another thin belt of 100 to 150 mtrs. high, The central belt of the district is at 50 - 100 mtrs.  and covers 40% of the district. To the south, this elevation gets further reduced. The Brahmaputra maintains a level of 10 to 50 mtrs.

Geology

The District can be divided in the low-lying plains, covered plains and hills. The hills are for the most part formed of gneissic rocks from which excellent building stone can be obtained. The plain is of alluvial origin and consists of sand and clay in varying proportions.

The northern border is covered by Alluvium, accompanied by another thin belt of older alluvium, The rest of the District is covered by sandstone & shale. There is a small resource of coal near Udalguri.

River

The Brahmaputra is the main river in the border of the south of the District on the east to west direction. Other important tributaries of the Brahmaputra are Barnadi, Nanoi, Mangaldai, Noanodi, Saktola, Dhansiri, which  are the main River flowing through the District and the rivers are perennial in nature.

Climate

The District has a Sub-tropical climate with semi-dry hat summer and clod winter. Dust storms are common in the southern part of the District during February to April of the year because of the proximity of the area to sand loads of the Brahmaputra. Generally December and January are the coldest months of the year. The maximum rainfall generally occur during a period of 4 months starting from May/June. The drainage system is inadequate in the monsoon. Recurrence of flood during monsoon due to heavy rainfalls in the district and neighboring Arunachal Pradesh(state) and Bhutan(country) causes loss of crops and other properties almost every year. In recent years the District the experienced the heavy floods, to be precise, flash floods, due to heavy deforestation towards northern part. The people of the district, who mainly depend on rain water for their cultivation are often badly affected on  one hand by floods and on the other hand by occasional dry spell.

The annual rainfall varies from 1500 mm. to 2600 mm. Annual rainfall of the District in 1995 was 2449 mm. The Orang N.P. and Khalingduar R.F. comes under the lowest rainfall zone.. The highest rainfall occurs at a small Western part including Tangla & Kalaigaon. The district received maximum rainfall during the month May to September.

With respect of Temperature,  again the district is divided into belts in East-West direction. The middle belts are the hottest, where temperature goes upto 36o and The northern belts is the coolest, the temperature goes below 10o here. . Other parts experience temperature ranges around 22o.

 The mean relative humidity here is around 82 %.

Soil

The northern part of the District consists of the vast tracts of marshy Tarai-land of Bhutan hills filled up by alluvial and colluvial deposits  forming light textured soils with a loose stratum. Major part of the district, mainly southern part, is Younger alluvial entisols. The central portion is covered by older alluvial alfisols. The northern part, is brown red & yellow ulfisols, tarai mollisols and small amount of bhabar.

Tourist Place

The main place of attraction in Darrang is Bhairabkund. Bhairabkund is a famous picnic spot in Assam. Geographically it shares the border with Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. Bhairabkund is a must see place in Assam.The other important towns in Darrang are Udalguri, Tangla, Rowta, Kharupetia and Byhata Chariali. After the formation of BTAD, Udalguri has been turned into a district, encompassing a large area, including Bhairabkund, rowta, orang, etc. It has every potential to be the nerve center of the newly formed BTAD. The great EM, Mitharam, is the first of its kind ruler of the district. He is practically associated with the cultures and traditions of the bodo people. Sudempuri, is one of the rapidly developing part of Udalguri district, followed by Maidanguri and others. Great people like Shyamlal Chouhan, the modern Socrates and the great journalist of all time, Tuntu, alias Monideep boro live here. Frequent visitors of this place for its rich cultural and traditional outplay, include great people like Jala alias Jwaharlal Brahma, the pandit and also other dignitaries of the place, like Deepak Basumatary, owner of cattle market, Mongal Dempha, associated with BODO FILM productions of the area and the great leader, Bolen.Kalaigaon is also an important place of this district.People of different communities live with peace and harmony here.