Koch Bihar district General information
KOCHBIHAR is a district of the state of WEST BENGAL
History
In course of time, Cooch Behar has been transformed from a kingdom to a State and from a State to the present status of a district. Before 28th August 1949, Cooch Behar was a Princely State ruled by the king of Cooch Behar, who had been a feudatory ruler under British Government. By an agreement dated 28th August, 1949 the king of Cooch Behar ceded full and extensive authority, jurisdiction and power of the state to the Dominion Government of India. The transfer of administration of the state to the Govt. of India came into force on 12th September, 1949. Eventually, Cooch Behar was transferred and merged with the province of West Bengal on 19th January, 1950 and from that date Cooch Behar emerged as a new District in the administrative map of West Bengal.
Agriculture
Wheat is one of the most important cereal crop in Rabi season. The coverage of crop in this district is gradually increasing. Pulse is one of the important cereal crops and steps have been taken to increase the productivity as well as production. This district is marginally surplus in rice production.
Culture
Bhawaiya a genre of North Bengal folk song, is believed to have originated in Rangpur (a district in Bangladesh) and Cooch Behar (a district of West Bengal in India). The name of this folk song is generally about love between man and woman; derives its name from bhava (emotion). However, Bhawaiya songs may also be spiritual in theme as in 'fande pariya baga kande re' (the heron cries entrapped in a net), 'chhar re man bhaver khela' (O my mind, leave earthly games), etc.
Bhawaiya may be of two types: one draws out the voice in melancholy notes, while the other has a chatka or skipping tone. The first type is emotional in theme and usually about a young woman's tender feelings of love and separation. Some popular songs on these themes include 'oki gariyal bhai' (hey, cart-driver), 'je jan premer bhav jane na' (he who does not know the feelings of love), 'kon dyashe jan maishal bandure' (which country are you off to, oh buffalo rider, my friend?), 'nauton piritir baro jwala' (new love is highly painful), etc.
Geography
Cooch Behar is a district under the Jalpaiguri Division of the state of West Bengal. Cooch Behar is located in the northeastern part of the state and bounded by the district of Jalpaiguri in the north, state of Assam in the east and by Bangladesh in the west as well as in the south. The district forms part of the Himalayan Terai of West Bengal.
A geopolitical curiosity is that there are 92 Bangladeshi exclaves, with a total area of 47.7 km² in Cooch-Behar. Similarly, there are 106 Indian exclaves inside Bangladesh, with a total area of 69.5 km². Twenty-one of the Bangladeshi exclaves are within Indian exclaves, and three of the Indian exclaves are within Bangladeshi exclaves. The largest Indian exclave, Balapara Khagrabari, surrounds a Bangladeshi exclave, Upanchowki Bhajni, which itself surrounds an Indian exclave called Dahala Khagrabari, of less than one hectare.
River
Cooch Behar is a flat country with a slight southeastern slope along which the main rivers of the district flow. Most of the highland areas are in the Sitalkuchi region and most of the low-lying lands lie in Dinhata region.
The rivers in the district of Cooch Behar generally flow from northwest to southeast. Six rivers that cut through the district are the Teesta, Jaldhaka, Torsha, Kaljani, Raidak and Gadadhar.
Climate
The district of Cooch Behar has a moderate type of climate characterised by heavy rainfall during the monsoon and slight rainfall in the month of October to mid-November. The district does not have high temperatures at any time of the year. The summer season is from April to May with April being the hottest month with mean daily maximum of 32.5 °C and mean daily minimum of 20.2 °C. The winter season lasts from late November to February, with January being the coldest month with temperature ranging from 10.4 °C to 24.1 °C, The recorded temperature minimum is 3.9 °C and respective recorded maximum is 39.9 °C. The atmosphere is highly humid throughout the year, except the period from February to May, when the relative humidity is as low as 50 to 70%. The rainy season lasts from June to September. The district's average annual rainfall is 3 201 mm.
Soil
Being the district near the Eastern Himalayan foothills, after rains in the catchment area of each of the rivers generally attain strong current and flood the adjacent area. The turbulent water carries sand, silt, pebbles which causes many problems in productivity as well as hydrology. The soil is formed by alluvial deposits and is acidic in nature. It is friable loam to sandy loam ranging in depth from 0.15 to 1 meter. The soil has a low level of nitrogen while potassium and phosphorus levels are medium. Deficiency of zinc, calcium, magnesium and sulphur is quite high.
Flora and Fauna
The flora here includes among others palms, bamboos, creepers, ferns, orchids, aquatic plants, fungi, timber, grass, vegetable and fruit trees.
In absence of large forest area in the district, except at Patlakhawa, not many species of animal are found though there are many wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and animal reserves in the neighboring Jalpaiguri district and Alipurduar subdivision of Jalpaiguri which are not very far from the district.