Kokrajhar

History

Under the Kingdom of Bhutan

From the early 17th century to 1865, the Kokrajhar district was under the control of the Kingdom of Bhutan, until the Duar Wars in 1865, when the British removed the Bhutanese influence and later the areas were merged into the undivided Goalpara district of the Indian Union in 1949.

Geography

Kokrajhar is located at . It has an average elevation of 38 metres (124 feet).

Climate

| Jan record high C = 30 | Feb record high C = 33 | Mar record high C = 38 | Apr record high C = 40 | May record high C = 38 | Jun record high C = 40 | Jul record high C = 37 | Aug record high C = 37 | Sep record high C = 37 | Oct record high C = 35 | Nov record high C = 32 | Dec record high C = 28 | year record high C = 40 | Jan record low C = -2 | Feb record low C = -3 | Mar record low C = 4 | Apr record low C = 11 | May record low C = 16 | Jun record low C = 18 | Jul record low C = 20 | Aug record low C = 21 | Sep record low C = 20 | Oct record low C = 9 | Nov record low C = 0 | Dec record low C = -1 | year record low C = -3

Demographics

As per 2011 Indian census, Kokrajhar had a population of 34,136.

Indian census, Kokrajhar had a population of 31,152. Males constitute 52% of the population and females constitute 48% of the population. Kokrajhar has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 71%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 74%. In Kokrajhar, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. The district has 3 sub divisions Kokrajhar, Gossaigaon and Parbotjhora.

Language

Bengali is the most spoken language at 17,693 speakers, followed by Bodo at 8,549, Hindi spoken by 2,946 people and Assamese at 2,752, with smaller but significant number of Bhojpuri, Rajbanshi, Nepali and Marwari speakers.

Transportation

Rupsi Airport is situated 66 km west from Kokrajhar town.

Kokrajhar is served by the government owned Assam State Transport Corporation, Bodoland Transport Services and many private bus operators.

The Kokrajhar railway station lies on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of Barauni–Guwahati line under the Northeast Frontier Railway with services to important cities of the country like Guwahati, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai etc.

Important trains like Rajdhani Express, Kamrup Express, Brahmaputra Mail, North East Express, Vivek Express, Garib Rath Express, Avadh Assam Express etc. have their stoppage at Kokrajhar railway station.

Education

The town has many schools and colleges with English being the sole medium of instruction in higher education. All the colleges under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council is affiliated under Bodoland University since 2017.

Secondary schools

• Don Bosco School, Kokrajhar
• U. N. Academy, Kokrajhar
• D N Himatsingka High School

Universities and colleges

• Bodoland University, Kokrajhar
• Kokrajhar University
• Commerce College, Kokrajhar
• Science College, Kokrajhar
• Bineswar Brahma Engineering College, Kokrajhar
• Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar
• Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital

Politics

Kokrajhar consists of three assembly constituencies: Kokrajhar East, Kokrajhar West and Gossaigaon, which all are part of Kokrajhar (Lok Sabha constituency).

Joyanta Basumatary from United People's Party, Liberal is the current member of Lok Sabha from Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency.

Notable personalities

• Halicharan Narzary, national footballer
• Hagrama Mohilary, ex chief of BTC and chairperson of Bodoland People's Front
• Durga Boro, footballer
• Bineshwar Brahma, politician, poet, teacher
• Apurna Narzary, national footballer

References

Sources

References

1. Hasnat, Karishma. (8 October 2020). "As Assam grants Bodo language official status, here's all you need to know on Bodoland struggle".
2. "Kokrajhar, Assam".
3. "Central Institute of Technology Kokrajhar".
4. "Kokrajhar Pin Code". India TV News.
5. "While Bhutan generally enjoyed absolute possession of the eleven Bengal duars, its control over the seven Assam duars was not straightforward. Even during the Ahom rule, the Bhutanese did not gain full possession of the duar tracts. As a result, they are said to have harassed the population along the Assam frontiers with persistent incursions and raids."{{harvcol. Phuntsho. 2013
6. [https://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/03/Kokrajhar.html Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kokrajhar]
7. link. "Historical Weather for Delhi, India". Weather Underground
8. "C-1 Population By Religious Community".
9. "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India.
10. "C-16 City: Population by mother tongue (town level)".
11. "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies". Election Commission of India.