Golaghat district

Golaghat district (Pron:ˌgəʊləˈgɑ:t) is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. It attained district status in 1987. The district headquarters are located at Golaghat. The district occupies an area of and lies above sea level.

Etymology

The name 'Golaghat' originated from the markets established by a business class of people called Marwari during the mid-19th century at the bank of the river Dhansiri in the vicinity of the district headquarters. "Gola" means market and "Ghat" means a river port .

History

9th century

The Nagajari-Khanikargaon rock inscription of Nagajari Khanikar village of Sarupathar, remnants of fortifications, brick structures, monuments, temples, tanks, etc. are evidence of a 9th-century kingdom in the Doyang-Dhansiri valley.

With Ming dynasty and Kingdom of Ava

Earlier, this part was ruled by the Dimasa Kingdom. The Ming dynasty had contact with the Dimasas and canonised the Dimasa kingdom as a tusi in 1406.

The Ming court sent Zhou Rang, a Supervising Secretary to bestow Imperial orders, patent, seals, paper money, silks etc. to the kingdom and in return, the chieftain of Dimasa sent horses and local products as a sign of tribute.

In 1425, paper money, ramie-silks, silk gauzes and thin silk were conferred to Mazhiasa who was sent to the Ming court by Diedaomangpa, the acting head of Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendency.

thumb|Chinese plate for Dimasa of the era of Emperor Yong-le (1407 AD.)|alt=① 永樂五年: Yong-le emperor 5 years: 1407 AD. ② 信符: Plate ③ 底馬撒宣慰司: Di-ma-sa Xuanwei Si ④ 皇帝聖旨: Imperial edict ⑤ 合當差發: "合當" means must or should, "差發" is a commercial form in the early Ming dynasty that frontier ethnic groups or tribes exchange horses for tea with Ming officials. "合當差發" could be understood as if you have this plate then you can exchange horses for tea with a Ming official. The Ming dynasty prohibits the folk tea trade with frontier ethnics and tribes. "合當差發" is the only way they can get tea from Ming. ⑥ 不信者斬: If somebody does not comply, he should be killed.

It is speculated that Dimasa kingdom is referred to as Timmasala in the Yan-anng-myin pagoda inscription of Burma in 1400 A.D. In this inscription by Minkhaung I, the kingdom of Ava is said to extend on the east to Shan Pyi, northwest to Timmasala, west to Kula Pyi, and south to Talaing Pyi.

thumb|Ava in 1400s

In a 1442 inscription from Pagan of Burma mentions Timmasala (Hill Kacharis) to be one of the 21 principalities under Mong Mao ruler Thonganbwa (1413–1445/6), who was later captured by the Governor of Taungdwin and presented to King Narapati I of Ava.

Under Ahoms

The Ahoms became the rulers of the Doyang-Dhansiri valley in the 16th century. The Kacharis were pushed back towards west of the Karbi hills. The Ahom King Suhungmung (1497–1539), appointed a ruler entitled Marangi-Khowa Gohain, an administrative post with the Rank of a Governor/Minister of the Ahom administration. Under Marangi-khowa Gohain, large number of people from different parts of Ahom kingdom were settled in erstwhile Kachari Kingdom. An interesting aspect of such settlement was that a large number of people from different castes/communities were mixed up together so that there was remote chance of rebellion in such newly acquired territory. Most of the Morongi-Khowa Gohains were appointed from the Burhagohain families although there were few exceptions.

Later, when the British took control of Assam, the Doyang-Dhansiri valley was incorporated under the newly formed Golaghat subdivision of the Sibsagar district in 1846. Golaghat district played an active part in the freedom struggle of India. Kushal Konwar, Kamala Miri, Dwariki Das, Biju Vaishnav, Sankar Chandra Barua, Shri Tara Prasad Barooah, Rajendra Nath Barua, Gaurilal Jain, Ganga Ram Bormedhi and Dwarikanath Goswami are eminent freedom fighters of the region.

Golaghat was raised to the position of a district of Assam on 15 August 1987, when it was split from Sibsagar district.

Geography

Golaghat district occupies an area of , comparatively equivalent to the Bahamas' North Andros Island.

Location

Golaghat district is surrounded by the river Brahmaputra to the north, the state of Nagaland to the south, Jorhat district to the east and Karbi Anglong and Nagaon district to the west. Dhansiri is the principal river, which originates from Laisang peak of Nagaland. It streams through a distance of 352 km from south to north before joining the Brahmaputra. Its catchment area is . Doyang, Nambor, Doigrung and Kalioni are the four rivulets of the Dhansiri. The river Kakodonga marks the border between Golaghat and Jorhat districts.

National protected area

Kaziranga National Park (Part)
Nambor - Doigrung Wildlife Sanctuary

Climate

The climate is tropical with a hot and humid weather prevailing most of the summer and monsoon months. Total average annual rainfall is 1300 mm. Maximum precipitation occurs in June and July. Maximum temperature is 38.0 °C in June and minimum temperature is 8.0 °C in December.

Divisions

There are four Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Bokakhat, Sarupathar, Golaghat, and Khumtai. All four are in the Kaliabor Lok Sabha constituency.

Administration

Within the merged establishment of the Deputy Commissioner, Golaghat are the Offices of the Sub-Divisional Officers, Dhansiri and Bokakhat. There are multiple functions and issues looked after by the Deputy Commissioner's office from its headquarters. The branches of the Office of the Deputy Commissioner are rationalized as Administration, Civil Defence, Confidential, Development, Election, Excise, Home Guards, Magisterial, Nazarat, Personnel, Registration, Revenue, Supply, Treasury and Zila Sainik Board. The Courts of District and Session Judge are also located in its headquarters at Golaghat.

Villages

Sapjuri

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Golaghat district has a population of 1,066,888, roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Rhode Island. This gives it a ranking of 430th in India (out of a total of 640).|align=center