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Barak Valley

October 25, 2023

The Barak Valley is the southernmost region and administrative division of the Indian state of Assam. It is named after the Barak river.[1] The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi.[2] The main and largest city is Silchar, which seats the headquarter of Cachar district and also serves as administrative divisional office of Barak valley division.[3][4] Once North Cachar Hills was a part of Cachar district which became a subdivision in 1951 and eventually a separate district.[5] On 1 July 1983, Karimganj district was curved out from the eponymous subdivision of Cachar district. In 1989 the subdivision of Hailakandi was upgraded into Hailakandi district.[6]

Barak Valley
Division of Assam
The five divisions of Assam
Country India
StateAssam
CapitalSilchar
Official LanguageBengali
Area
 • Total6,922 km2 (2,673 sq mi)
Population
 (2011 census)
 • Total3,624,599
 • Density520/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Barak Valley
A view of Silchar, the main city of the valley

Etymology Edit

 
Map showing colonial Undivided Cachar district, which today consist of Dima Hasao, Cachar district, and Hailakandi district. Karimganj district was a subdivision of the colonial Sylhet district.

The name "Barak" has derived from the Dimasa words 'Bra' and 'Kro'. Bra means bifurcation and Kro upper means portion/stream.[citation needed] The river Barak is bifurcated near Haritikar in the Karimganj district in to Surma River and Kushiyara River, respectively. The upstream of this bifurcated river was called Brakro by the local Dimasa people.[7]

Barak valley excluding Karimganj was once part of the Kachari kingdom. Some have suggested the word "Kachar" in Bengali language means a stretch of land at the foot of a mountain and Cachar might have been the name given by Bengalis of Sylhet to the land surrounded by mountains from all the sides.[8] Others have pointed out that the name "Kachari" is widely prevalent in the Brahmaputra valley and that the Dimasa people were known as "Kachari" even before they came to rule the Cachar plains, suggesting that it was the Dimasa people that gave the name Cachar to the plains.[9]

Districts Edit

Barak valley Division comprises three districts, namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi.[2]

Code[10] District Headquarter Population (2011)[11] Area (km2) Density (/km2)
CA Cachar Silchar 1,736,319 3,786 459
HA Hailakandi Hailakandi 659,296 1,327 497
KR Karimganj Karimganj 1,228,686 1,809 679
Total 3 — 3,624,301 6,922 1,635

History Edit

Main articles: Kachari kingdom, Kamarupa Kingdom, Twipra Kingdom, and History of Sylhet
 
Last Dimasa Kachari King, Raja Govinda Chandra Hasnu of Kachari kingdom, 1832
 
Map of Bhaskar Varman's Kamarupa Kingdom (includes a large portion of today's Barak valley and Dima Hasao)

The three districts of the Barak Valley have their own historical origins; nevertheless the region has been defined not from a natural growth from social, historical or cultural lives of the vernacular groups present in these regions, but they are the products of empire building, especially under the East India Company (EIC) and the British Raj.[12] The pre-colonial kingdoms were not cartographically defined; they were rather defined according to heartlands, and the defence of the margins were not important,[13] and it was communities living in different places owing loyalties to different royal lineages that implied territories.[14] The EIC interests led to drastically differently defined cartographic territories—it was in the interest of the two contending parties, the Tripura and the Kachari kingdoms, to define a boundary east to west across the Dalasuri flowing south to north and settle whether Hailakandi was control of the Tripuri or the Kachari polity; whereas the EIC was more interested in defining a north-south border along the Dalasuri so it could be defended.[15]

Pre-colonial formations Edit

Cachar Edit

 
Baroduwar Dimasa Kachari Palace, Khaspur in Cachar dist
 
Ruins of Kachari fort near Nayagram

The Cachar district (Cachar plains) and Dima Hasao (Cachar hills) were both parts of the Kachari kingdom. The Kacharis/Dimasas appear in historical accounts in the 13th century, when Sukaphaa encountered them in the Brahmaputra valley. They had their capital in Dimapur, but due to the pressure from the Ahom kingdom, they moved their capital twice—once to Maibong in Dima Hasao, and then to Khaspur in the Cachar plains close to present-day Silchar.

In the 16th century, the Tripura kingdom was in control of the Cachar plains, when in 1562 the Koch general Chilarai annexed the Cachar region to the Koch kingdom and it came to be administered from Khaspur (or Kochpur) by his half-brother Kamalnarayan.[16] After the death of the Koch ruler Nara Narayan, the region became independent and was ruled by the descendants of Kamalnarayan and his group, and they became known as the Dehans (after Dewan). Between 1745 and 1755, the last Koch ruler's daughter married the king of the Kachari kingdom, and the rule of Khaspur passed into the hands of the Kachari rulers who adopted the title Lord of Hedamba.[17][18][19]

The Kachari kings at Khaspur appointed Brahmins as rajpandits and rajgurus and provided land grants to Muslims from Sylhet for cultivation.[20] Some people from Manipur and the Ahom kingdom too moved to the Cachar plains following disturbances in those lands.[21] In 1835 Pemberton reported that the population of the Cachar plains was around 50,000 dominated by the Dimasa people, followed by Muslim immigrants from Sylhet and their descendants; a third group was Bengali and Assamese immigrants and their descendants and Naga, Kuki and Manipuris forming the smallest groups.[22][23]

Hailakandi Edit

Hailakandi, claimed by both the Tripura and Kachari kingdoms, was a market town on the banks of the Dalasuri river which connected the resource-rich southern hills with the markets in the north along the Barak river.[24] In 1821-22 when Thomas Fischer surveyed the area,[25] he found that Hailakandi was controlled by the Kacharis, though it was surrounded by villages of the Kuki Tanghum community that owed allegiance to the Tripura kingdom.[26] In this region a past Tripura king received a princess from Manipur.[27] It was uncertain which of the three kingdoms the communities paid their tributes to and it effectively formed a boundary zone, a concept that differed significantly from the idea of clearly defined borders between kingdoms.[28]

Karimganj Edit

Karimganj was with the colonial Sylhet district—despite a referendum result it was split from Sylhet, which was included with Pakistan during partition of India in 1947, and attached to India.[29] East India Company had pushed into the region east of Sylhet town slowly after it won the right to collect land revenue under the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765.[30]

The Barak river today splits into the northern Surma and the southern Kushiara between the towns of Badarpur in the east and Karimganj in the west. Inscriptions suggest that in the 10th century the region around Surma and Kushiara formed frontier settlements called Srihatta and Khanda Kamarupa established by Kamarupa kings in the 7th century.[31] Till 1787, when Brahmaputra changed its course to meet the Meghna a hundred miles farther south, the land between Netrokona in the west and Sylhet in the east was inundated for half of each year forming haors which made the higher plains of the upper Surma-Kushiara basin not as easily accessible from the west as it was from the Cachar plains in the east.[32]

Sylhet is farther to the west of Karimganj, also on the Surma. No state control existed in the Sylhet region till the establishment of Sarkar Sylhet when the Mughals established a Faujdar at Sylhet in 1612.[33][34] In 1303, Shah Jalal had established rule around Sylhet; and during Ibn Battuta's visit in 1346, the region was inhabited by Khasi, Garo, Hindus, Muslims, and others.[35] The Mughals began the practice of settling cultivators in the region around Sylhet, which picked up significantly only after 1719 and lasted till the beginning of East India Company rule in 1765.[36] The expansion of Mughal domains in Sylhet was part of an ancient process of Gangetic territorialism that displaced or assimilated extant populations consisting of Munda, Khasi and other peoples.[37] The Mughal administration granted land in Sarkar Sylhet to talukdars, called Chaudhuri, in smaller land parcels called taluks, as opposed to larger zamindars in the rest of Bengal.[38] Sylhet was itself a borderland when the EIC acquired the Mughal Sarkar Sylhet in 1765.[39]

Colonial boundaries Edit

EIC acquired Sarkar Sylhet, primarily the frontier town, bounded by regions that were not in their control—Mughal holdouts moved freely in the lowlands controlled by the highland rulers out of Company reach; Khasi chiefs held most of the land north of the Surma; the land north and east of Sylhet town belonged to the Jaintia kingdom; and Tripura kingdom held most of the southern highlands and the adjoining lowlands.[40] The EIC, an erstwhile mercantile company, got into the revenue-farming and judiciary business with the diwani grant of 1765 and developed a keen interest in monopolizing traditional trade routes and expanding settled farming for revenue.[41] This was achieved by marking boundaries—company officers served the EIC interests in generating more revenue and confronting Ava militarily, but they also served their own private commercial interests.[42]

According to David R. Syiemlieh, up to 1837 A.D. the plains of Cachar Valley were sparsely populated and were dominated by the Dimasa Cachari, a Tibeto Burmese tribe, under the rule of the Kachari Raja, who have established his kingdom's capital at Khaspur, Cachar plains. He had a good number of Bengali advisers (mostly Brahmins) around him and gave grants of land to some of them, but the population resembled that of the North Cachar Hills of today as evident from various historical chronicles and sources. Bengali settlers from neighbouring East Bengal poured into the Cachar plains after the British annexation of the region in 1832 A.D., turning iit into a Bengali-majority region.[43] Once, Barak Valley from (1832-1874) A.D. was a part of the Bengal Presidency under the British Empire.[44] The British Annexation of Cachar transformed the demographic patterns of the valley overnight. There was a sudden phenomenal growth in population, while the plains of Cachar had about 50 thousands inhabitants in all in 1837 A.D. that is five years after its annexation, which eventually indicates that there was a large-scale immigration. The population rose to more than five lakhs a few years later.[45] The population of Muslims in the colonial era Barak Valley decreased in the late 19th century largely because the fertile lands were occupied by earlier settlers of the region and later they immigrated to the present Hojai of Assam which was also a part of Kachari Kingdom up to 1832 AD.[17] A population 85,522 of diverse backgrounds including hill tribes, in the 1851 Census, Muslims and Hindus, 30,708 and 30,573, respectively, mostly Bengalis, constituted 70% of the total population of Cachar Valley, followed by 10,723 Manipuris, 6,320 Kukis, 5,645 Naga and 2,213 Cacharis.[17] Karimganj district, which have become a part of Cachar Valley plains after 1947, was a part of Sylhet before the Partition of Bengal (1947). The region of Karimganj was under the rule of Pratapgarh Kingdom from (1489-1700s), which was eventually a secular Bengali kingdom of Srihatta State.[citation needed]

Inclusion of Karimganj Edit

See also: 1947 Sylhet referendum and Pratapgarh Kingdom
 
Map of Sylhet District showing subdivisions and majority voting. Green represents area in favor of joining East Bengal (Pakistan) and Orange represents area in favor of remaining part of Assam and joining India

In 1947, when a plebiscite was held in Sylhet of then Assam Province with majority voting for incorporation with Pakistan. The Sylhet district was divided into two; the easternmost subdivision of Sylhet which is known as Karimganj joined with India, and now is a district of Assam, whereas the rest of Sylhet joined East Bengal. Geographically the region is surrounded by hills from all three sides except its western plain boundary with Bangladesh. Nihar Ranjan Roy, author of Bangalir Itihash, claims that "South Assam / Northeastern Bengal or Barak Valley is the extension of the Greater Surma/Meghna Valley of Bengal in every aspect from culture to geography".[46]

Assam's Surma Valley (now partly in Bangladesh) had Muslim-majority population. On the eve of partition, hectic activities intensified by the Muslim League as well Congress with the former having an edge. A referendum had been proposed for Sylhet District. Abdul Matlib Mazumdar along with Basanta Kumar Das (then Home Minister of Assam) travelled throughout the valley organising the Congress and addressing meetings educating the masses about the outcome of partition on the basis of religion.[47] On 20 February 1947 Moulvi Mazumdar inaugurated a convention – Assam Nationalist Muslim's Convention at Silchar. Thereafter another big meeting was held at Silchar on 8 June 1947.[48] Both the meetings, which were attended by a large section of Muslims paid dividend. He was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam, especially Karimganj with India.[49][50] Mazumdar was the leader of the delegation that pleaded before the Radcliffe Commission that ensured that a part of Sylhet (now in Bangladesh) join with India despite being Muslim-majority (present Karimganj district).[51][52] In return of that, Moulvibazar the only Hindu-majority district of Sylhet Division was given to East Pakistan during partition.[53]

Demographics Edit

According to the 2011 Indian census, Barak valley had a population of 3,624,599.[54] Male population is 1,850,038 and female population is 1,774,561. The Literacy rate is 76.27%.[55] The population of Barak Valley is estimated to be over 4,386,089 people for upcoming 2021 census.[56]

Historical Population of Barak Valley
YearPop.±%
1851 85,522—    
1901 630,302+637.0%
1911 713,566+13.2%
1921 751,560+5.3%
1931 803,694+6.9%
1941 895,140+11.4%
1951 1,115,865+24.7%
1961 1,378,476+23.5%
1971 1,713,318+24.3%
1981 –—    
1991 2,491,496—    
2001 2,995,769+20.2%
2011 3,624,599+21.0%
2021 4,386,089+21.0%
Source: [57][58][56][17]

Languages Edit

Languages spoken in Barak Valley (2011)[59]

  Bengali (80.84%)
  Hindi (10%)
  Manipuri (3.49%)
  Bishnupriya Manipuri (1.38%)
  Dimasa (0.6%)
  Tripuri (0.59%)
  Khasi (0.59%)
  Odia (0.53%)
  Nepali (0.14%)
  Others (1.84%)

As per (2011) language census report, Bengali is the official as well as the most spoken language of the region with approximately 2,930,378 native speakers.[59] Hindi, Manipuri, Bishnupriya and Dimasa are the next most widely spoken languages with 362,459, 126,498, 50,019 and 21,747 native speakers, respectively. Tripuri, Khasi, Odia, Nepali and Marwari are also spoken by a considerable minority, while 1.84% of the total population speaks other tribal languages.[59] Sylheti, a language that is considered to be a dialect of Bengali, or a separate language,[60][61] is spoken by a large population of the Barak Valley.[62]

According to census 2011, the major languages of Cachar district are Bengali, Hindi, Manipuri, Bhojpuri, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Dimasa, Khasi, Hmar and Odia in descending order of population. In the Hailakandi district, the major languages are Bengali, Hindi, Tripuri language, Manipuri and Bhojpuri. In the Karimganj district, the major languages are Bengali and Hindi.[59][a]

Religion Edit

Religions in Barak Valley (2011)[54]

  Hinduism (50%)
  Islam (48.1%)
  Christianity (1.6%)
  Others (0.3%)
Barak's Religious diversity as of the 2011 census[54]
Religion Population
Hindus ( ) 1,812,141
Muslims ( ) 1,744,958
Christians ( ) 58,105
Others 9,395
Total 3,624,599

Hinduism, by a sliver, is the slight majority religion, while Islam is the second-largest religion in the Valley.[54][63] The religious composition of the valley population is as follows: Hindus 50%, Muslims 48.1%, Christians 1.6%, and others 0.3%. Hindus are the majority in Cachar district (59.83%) with having (86.31%) Hindu in the district headquarter ; Silchar (which is also the main city of the valley). While Muslims are the majority in Hailakandi district (60.31%) and Karimganj district (56.36%), but Hailakandi town have (67.26%) Hindu majority, Karimganj town have also a Hindu Majority of (86.57%) as of 2011 census.[54][64]

Hinduism is mainly practiced by Bengalis, Dimasas, Tripuris, Meiteis, Odias, Nepalis, Biharis and Marwaris living in the Valley.[63] While Islam is overwhelmingly practiced by Bengalis, with some small populace of Meitei Pangals, Kacharis and Biharis.[63][65][66] Christianity is mainly practiced by Tea-garden community, tribals such as Khasis, Mizos, Hmars, Kukis and Nagas living in the Valley.[67][68]

In Barak valley, the two districts of Karimganj and Cachar adjoining Bangladesh have noted a 30 per cent rise in Muslim population during the period between (2011–21). In 2011, the Muslim population in those bordering districts of the bordering areas was 395,659 and this has jumped up to 513,126 in 2021. Assam Police officials while conducting demographic survey have said that infiltration of Bangladeshis into Assam have created a huge demographic change in last 10 years.[69] On 29 July 2023, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Assam's Barak Valley have became a hotspot for Rohingya infiltrators and insurgency activities and have further commented that "the people of Barak Valley should stay cautious to prevent the illegal Immigration and some recent activities have been noticed along the Indo-Bangla border specially in Karimganj district".[70][71][72]

Population Edit

The below are population by district tehsils in 2011:[54][73]

  1. Cachar district total – 1,736,617
    1. Sonai circle – 324,315
    2. Katigora circle – 291,875
    3. Udharbond circle – 124,090
    4. Lakhipur circle – 291,872
    5. Silchar circle – 704,465
  2. Hailakandi district total – 659,296
    1. Algapur circle – 121,379
    2. Hailakandi circle – 166,897
    3. Katlichara circle – 168,077
    4. Lala circle – 202,943
  3. Karimganj district total – 1,228,686
    1. Badarpur circle – 164,703
    2. Karimganj circle – 278,300
    3. Nilambazar circle – 242,451
    4. Patharkandi circle – 261,368
    5. Ramkrishna Nagar circle – 281,864

Trends Edit

Decadal Hindu and Muslim population of Barak Valley [74]
Year (census) Hindu population (%) Muslim population (%)
1951 676,660 (60.63%) 429,496 (38.48%)
1961 821,600 (59.60%) 539,457 (39.13%)
1971 1,005,995 (58.71%) 683,387 (39.88%)
1991 1,381,803 (55.46%) 1,071,872 (43.02%)
2001 1,580,660 (52.76%) 1,362,114 (45.46%)
2011 1,812,141 (50.00%) 1,744,958 (48.1%)

Hindu and Muslim population by district tehsils Edit

Cachar district tehsils 2011[74][75]
District Cachar/Tehsils Hindu population (%) Muslim population (%)
Sonai circle 133,507 (41.17%) 184,588 (56.92%)
Katigora circle 131,352 (45.0%) 156,290 (53.55%)
Udharbond circle 87,423 (70.45%) 32,320 (26.05%)
Lakhipur circle 178,163 (61.04%) 95,476 (32.71%)
Silchar circle 508,540 (72.19%) 186,142 (26.42%)

Hindus are majority in three tehsils of Cachar district namely Silchar, Lakhipur and Udharbond, while Muslims are majority in Katigora and Sonai circle according to 2011 census.

Hailakandi district tehsils 2011[74]
District Hailakandi/Tehsils Hindu population (%) Muslim population (%)
Algapur circle 38,501 (31.72%) 82,126 (67.66%)
Hailakandi circle 47,198 (28.28%) 118,626 (71.08%)
Katlichara circle 79,019 (47.01%) 84,044 (50%)
Lala circle 86,476 (42.61%) 112,857 (55.61%)

Hindus are significant in two tehsils of Hailakandi namely Katlichara and Lala, while Muslims are majority in all the three tehsils, but in Katlichara Muslims form a plurality according to 2011 census.

Karimganj district tehsils 2011[74]
District Karimganj/Tehsils Hindu population (%) Muslim population (%)
Badarpur circle 56,800 (34.49%) 106,909 (64.91%)
Karimganj circle 117,877 (42.36%) 159,068 (57.16%)
Nilambazar circle 58,767 (24.24%) 182,567 (75.3%)
Patharkandi circle 129,502 (49.55%) 124,768 (47.74%)
Ramkrishna Nagar circle 159,016 (56.42%) 119,177 (42.28%)

Hindus are majority in two tehsils of Karimganj namely Patharkandi and Ramkrishna Nagar, while Muslims are majority in Nilambazar, Badarpur and Karimganj circle according to 2011 census.

Demography of district headquarters Edit

Districts headquarters religions (2011)[76]
District/(Headquarters) Total population Hindu population (%) Muslim population (%) Others
Cachar district/(Silchar) 172,830 154,381 (86.31%) 21,759 (12.17%) 3,310
Hailakandi district/(Hailakandi) 33,637 22,624 (67.26%) 10,686 (31.77%) 327
Karimganj district/(Karimganj) 56,854 49,218 (86.57%) 6,856 (12.06%) 780

Statehood demand Edit

See also: Barak state movement
 
Map representing the proposed Barak state areas as demanded by various Bengali organisations.

Most Bengali organisations of Barak Region have demanded a separate state for the people of Barak within the Bengali majority areas of Assam, particularly Bengali majority Barak valley, comprising the three districts Cachar, Hailakandi, Karimganj, as well as historical Dima Hasao of Undivided Cachar Valley and Hojai district to meet the criteria for creating a separate state for themselves by carving out from Assam's Assamese majority Brahmaputra valley post NRC.[77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89] Silchar is the proposed capital of Barak state.[90] Barak Valley is the most neglected part of Assam in terms of its infrastructure development, tourism sector, educational institutions, hospitals, IT industries, G.D.P, H.D.I etc. which is still lagging behind in comparison to the Assam's mainland Brahmaputra valley that has access to all of those facilities mentioned above.[91][92][93][94][95][96][97][98] On 20 January 2023, Barak Democratic Front's Chief Convenor and former ACKHSA leader Pradip Dutta Roy said, "If Centre is planning to grant separate statehood to Kamtapur, then they should also fulfill the longstanding demand of separate Barak state by granting the region separate statehood".[99] On 7 September 2023, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma delivered a speech at a rally in Silchar and stated that "If the people of Barak Valley want separation, I will not oppose that demand. Rather the people of Barak Valley should reconsider an independent Barak state."[100][101][102] The BDF subsequently conducted a press conference on 8 September 2023 and congratulated the Chief Minister for providing implicit support to the separation call.[103] The Southern most region of Assam that is Barak Valley has an overwhelming Bengali majority population of about 80.8% as per 2011 census report.[104][59] On 27 September 2023, members of Barak Democratic Front (BDF) held a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club shedding light on the long-standing grievances of Barak Valley residents while attempting to garner support for the creation of a new Purbachal state, separate from Assam.[105][106][107]

See also: Dimaraji
 
Map representing the proposed Dimaland map.

The indigenous Dimasa Cachari people of Northeast India have been demanding a separate state called Dimaraji or "Dimaland" for several decades.[108][109][110] It would comprise the Dimasa-inhabited areas, namely North Cachar Hills, greater parts of Cachar district, Hailakandi district, significant parts of Hojai district and Karbi Anglong district in Assam together with part of Dimapur district in Nagaland.[111][112]

Festivals Edit

 
Durga puja celebration in Barak Valley, 2022

Durga puja is one of the major festivals of Barak valley, as the region is home to a large population of Bengalis in Assam. Durga puja is celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm in every part of the region be it rural or urban areas with great joy and happiness. Annually, on average 2,500 puja pandals have been organized by puja committees throughout the valley, with 300 durga puja pandals are being concentrated in Silchar alone.[113][114] The festival marks the victory of good over evil.[115]

 
A Kali Puja Pandal in Hailakandi, Barak Valley, 2018

Kali Puja is one of the most celebrated festivals in the valley after Durga Puja. Every year around 2000 Puja pandals are built in the region to mark the beginning of this festival and to seek the blessings of the goddess Kali for general happiness, health, wealth and peace through prayers[116][117][118]

 
Bishu dimasa festival of Un-divided Cachar valley

Busu Dima is an annual cultural festival celebrated by the Dimasa Kachari tribe of North Cachar Hills and Cachar of Barak valley.[119] It is the biggest harvesting agricultural festival. It is celebrated after the completion of grain harvest in different villages of the valley and hills.[120] The festival is usually organized in the month of January.[121]

 
Barman Dimasa girl while performing Baidima, the traditional dance of Dimasa Cachari tribe

Baidima is a tradition festival of Indigenous Dimasa Cachari tribe of North Cachar Hills and Cachar. It is being celebrated in the month of January just after Busu Dima festival. The traditional dance continued for a week. On that day, along with dance they also sing songs. In haflong, locals organized cultural events, public meetings, rally and various programs related to this festival.[122]

 
The Bengali new year salutation at Ramna Park, Silchar

Charak puja (Pohela Boishakh) the Bengali new year, is one of the most important and major festivals of the valley celebrated by the ethnic Bengalis, irrespective of their religious affiliation and social status. This festival marks the beginning of Bengali new year and is being celebrated 15 April every year.[123]

Eid Edit

Eid is also a major festival of the region as the Muslims constitute half of valley's population. Just like Durga puja, every year lakhs of Muslims celebrated eid with great joy and happiness throughout the valley specially in Muslim-majority Karimganj and Hailakandi district.[124][125]

Social issues Edit

Bengali Language Movement in Barak Valley Edit

Main article: Bengali Language Movement (Barak Valley)
 
Statue dedicated to martyrs of Bengali Language movement of Barak valley, located in Udharbond, Cachar

Over 80 percent of Assam's Barak Valley are Bengali people and speak Bengali language. On 24 October, a bill was passed by Assam's late Chief Minister Mr. Bimala Prasad Chaliha in the Assam Legislative Assembly making Assamese as the only sole official language of the state.[126][127] On 5 February 1961, the Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad was formed to protest against the imposition of Assamese in the Bengali-speaking Barak Valley. Rathindranath Sen was chief person of the organisation. People soon started protesting in Silchar, Karimganj and Hailakandi.[128] On 24 April, the Parishad flagged off a fortnight-long Padayatra in the Barak Valley to raise awareness among the masses, which ended after 200 miles reaching to Silchar on 2 May.[129][127] On 18 May, the Assam police arrested three prominent leaders of the movement, namely Nalinikanta Das, Rathindranath Sen and Bidhubhushan Chowdhury, the editor of weekly Yugashakti. On 19 May, the dawn to dusk hartal started. Picketing started in the sub-divisional towns of Silchar, Karimganj and Hailakandi. A Bedford truck carrying nine arrested activists from Katigorah was fired and the truck driver and the policemen escorting the arrested fled the spot.[128] Soon after that the paramilitary forces, guarding the railway station, started beating the protesters with rifle butts and batons without any provocation from them. They fired 17 rounds into the crowd. Twelve persons received bullet wounds and were carried to hospitals. Nine of them died that day. Two more persons died later. One person, Krishna Kanta Biswas survived for another 24 hours with a bullet wound in chest.[129][130][131] Ullaskar Dutta send nine bouquets for nine martyrs. On 20 May, the people of Silchar took out a procession with the bodies of the martyrs in protest of the killings.[132] After the incident and more protests, the Assam government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the Barak region by Assam government.[133][134] Soon after that a circular of Section 5 of Assam Language Act XVIII, 1961, was enacted to safeguards the use of Bengali language in the Cachar district. It says, "Without prejudice to the provisions contained in Section 3, the Bengali language shall be used for administrative and other official purposes up to and including district level."[135]

Language controversy Edit

 
Assamese language being insulted in Bengali-majority Barak Valley, 2021

On 18 October 2021, a state government hoarding which was written in Assamese language has been found smeared with black ink in Barak valley's administrative capital Silchar's Petrol Pump area. It was found that two Bengali organizations namely: Barak Democratic Yuba Front and All Bengali Students Youth Organisation have been involved in that activity and have accused that the government of Assam has been trying to impose their Assamese language on us (referring to Bengali-majority Barak Valley) through Assamese hoarding as a starting and have said that "We strictly stands against it (i.e imposition)".[136] The smearing of the government hoarding has led to condemnation from people and various regional organisations of the Brahmaputra Valley, where Assamese organizations such as All Assam Students Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad have severely reacted, deeply saddened and protested against it. In retaliation, several Bengali hoardings in Assamese-dominated Brahmaputra Valley have also meet the same fate.[137][138][139] The political 'language wars' and strife between the ethnic Assamese and Bengalis have led to several 'martyrs' on both sides of the administrative divisions. On 19 May 1961, 11 Bengali Protestors at Silchar railway station were killed for protesting against forceful imposition of Assamese language in Barak Valley region. Similarly, during Assam Movement of (1979-1985) or popularly known as the Assam Agitation which aims at detaining and deporting Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state saw as many as 855 Assamese people gave up their lives to protect the Linguistic, ethnic and cultural identity of Assam.[140][141][142][143]

Immigration of Bengali refugees in Cachar Valley Edit

 
(East Pakistan's Bengali Hindus of Sylhet Division coming to Barak's Cachar district as refugees, 1947)

In 1947 during Partition of Bengal period, it has been found that from 15 August 1947 to April 1950, the Bengali Hindu refugees population in Cachar increased to 200,000 and but after Liaquat–Nehru Pact it came down to 93,177 in 1951. According to 1961 census, the number of East Bengali refugees living in Cachar alone is found to be 156,307 which is way higher than the previous census.[144] No new Hindu immigration happened in the post 1971 period in Barak valley. Bengali Hindus who landed up in Barak valley from Bangladesh in the post 1971 census have moved out of the region before the 1991 census.[145] The number of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh in Barak Valley has varied estimates. According to the Assam government, 1.3–1.5 lakh such people residing in the Barak Valley are eligible for citizenship if the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 becomes a law.[146][147] There were reverse im-migration vice-versa trends as well. The Muslim percentage of the Cachar Valley have decreased from 42.48% to 38.49% during (1941-1951) period. On the eve of Partition of Bengal and Sylhet Referendum, most of Bengali Muslim employees hailing from Barak Valley opted for Pakistan's Sylhet and migrated there as refugees. Similarly, Bengali Hindu employees hailing from Sylhet opted for Cachar Valley and majority of them settled in the Cachar plains thereafter. Also during partition, most of the Sylhet-origin Muslim businessmen living in Cachar and Karimganj have exchanged their business, houses and residences with Hindu businessmen of Sylhet migrating to Cachar and Karimganj.[17]

In March 2020, Wasbir Hussain, the editor in chief of North East Live and member of clause 6 committee while defining who is an Assamese have stated that the original inhabitants of Barak valley are a part of greater Assamese society and he further said that illegal immigrants and migrants are of different bracket.[148] Regarding Indigenousity, Those Bengali-speaking Hindus/Muslims of Barak Valley (comprising districts of Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj) who bears surnames like Choudhury, Mazumdar/Mazumder, Laskar/Lashkar, Barlaskar, Barobhuiya, Mazarbhuiya, Talukdar and Hazari and other regular titles mostly brought and given by Kachari kings are Native.[149] The Barak Valley region is often described as a division filled with Bangladeshis. It lost its "Bangladeshi tag" after the final NRC draft results were published on 31 July 2018. Mr. Paul, a resident of Cachar district, said that the latest NRC draft had put an end to the controversy regarding the citizenship of the residents of the Valley. He further said: "It was often claimed that they are all or the majority of people of the valley are from Bangladesh. NRC draft results have shown that nearly 90% of Barak residents are Indian citizens. The Barak Valley had a population of about 37 lakh, as per last 2011 Census. NRC draft have dropped four lakh of the 37 lakh residents, majority of whom are Bengali people. As per NRC results, about 8% of the residents of Cachar, 11.82% of Karimganj and 14.2% of Hailakandi didn't feature their names on the latest final draft list. As a whole, about 11% residents of Barak could not make their name appears on the list.[150][151] The Assam Indigenous People Protection Committee has protested the exclusion of indigenous people in the final NRC list, which was published on 31 August 2019 in Assam's Barak Valley region. According to the Committee, nearly 1.5 lakh people belong to the Dimasa, Koch Rajbongshi, Meiteis, Manipuri-Muslim (Pangals), Bishnupriya Manipuri, Cachari-speaking Muslim, tea tribes, Rongmei Naga, Kuki, Khasi, Gorkha, Hmar, Das Pattni, Nath Jogi and Namasudra Bangali communities were left out of the final NRC list. The Committee further stated that, "All the Indigenous people of Barak Valley support the government stand of Implementing Clause 6 of the Assam Accord".[152] One of the early attempts to define the native people of Assam is found in the 1951 Census of Assam. It's clearly stated that "An Indigenous person of Assam means a person belonging to the State of Assam and speaking the Assamese language or any tribal languages- (Dimasa, Rabha, Koch Rajbongshi, Bodo, Mishing, Karbi etc.) of Assam, or in the case of Cachar Valley, the language of the region (Bangla)".[153][154][155]

Barak-Mizoram dispute Edit

 
An image representing of Assam's Barak and Mizoram border disputed land areas

Mizoram used to be a district of Assam as Lushai hills before being carved out as a separate union territory and later, becoming another separate state in 1987 by States Reorganisation Act, 1956. Because of the history, the district's borders did not really matter for local Mizos for a long time. Mizoram shares a border with the districts Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj which comes under Barak valley region of Assam.

Over time, the two states started having different perceptions about where the demarcation should be. While Mizoram wants it to be along an Inner Line Permit notified in 1875 to protect indigenous tribals from outside influence, which Mizos feel is part of their historical homeland, Barak valley region of Assam wants it to be demarcated according to district boundaries drawn up much later.[156][157] Conflicting territorial claims have persisted for long between Assam's Barak and Mizoram, which share a 164.6 km inter-state border. There were several clashes between the local people of the Mizoram and Barak regarding land disputes in the border areas on regular basis.[158][159] The root of the dispute is a 1,318 km2 ( 509 square miles) area of hills and forests that Mizoram claims as its own. This is on the basis of an 1875 British law. But Assam insists this area is part of their as its "constitutional boundary".[159] On 17 November 2022, Mizoram Home Minister have apologized for the clashes that have occurred in Barak-Mizoram border in which six police personnel and one civilian were killed in Lailapur.[160]

Communalism Edit

Barak valley has witnessed many major communinal riots in 1968, 1990, 2017 and 2019 in Karimganj, Hailakandi, Silchar and again in Hailakandi.[161][162][163]

Lists of riots involving communalism in Barak valley region:

Karimganj 1968 riot

In the 1968 Karimganj riots, a cow belonging to a Muslim wandered into a Hindu house. When a Hindu boy tried to chase the cow, some Muslims beat him up. Soon after that clashes erupted between the two communities. The ensuing riot claimed 82 lives.[161]

Hailakandi 1990 riot

In October 1990, a wounded cow was found near a common land, which led to clashes between Hindus and Muslims. Police records reveal that the Hindus of Hailakandi had demanded that parcel of land to construct a Kali temple. In fact, Sangh Parivar had earlier organised pujas to ritually purify bricks for shilayas at Ayodhya on the common land. The appearance of an injured cow hurt their sentiments and led to a riot resulting in many casualties.[161]

Silchar 2013 riot

In 2013, rumours of beef being found in a temple in Silchar sparked Hindu Muslim clashes in which at least 30 people were injured.[164]

Silchar 2015 riot

In 2015, there was tension yet again when the head of a slaughtered cow was found in a temple in Silchar. On the same year, allegations of "love jihad" – a term used by Hindutva groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to marry women from other religions solely to convert them to Islam – sparked violent clashes in the city area.[164]

Silchar 2017 riot

On 7 June 2017, Clashes broke out between two communities in the Silchar city of Assam's Cachar district on Tuesday evening. The incident took place in the Janigunj area of Silchar. According to police 11 civilians and eight police officials were injured in large scale stone pelting. However, there were no casualties in the incident.[162]

Hailakandi 2019 riot

Local reports said that the tension started when motorbikes owned by Muslim devotees were vandalised while they were praying inside a mosque. The motorbike owners lodged a first information report and demanded that the police take action against the accused and said that they will offer prayers on the road if action was not taken. Mohneesh Mishra, Hailakandi's police chief, told Scroll.in that the clashes began when a group of Muslim men assembled on a public road in the town and said they will offer prayers on the street. "The Hindu community tried to stop them and that led to an argument and soon after that it turned into riot," said Mishra, while adding that heavy security had been deployed in the area. At least 14 people were injured out of which 3 were police Constables and also 1 was killed in a communal clash in Hailakandi district in Assam which have occurred on 10 July 2019.[165][163]

Hailakandi 2021 riot

Tension began at Hailakandi's Serispore Tea Garden area after an e-rickshaw driver who happened to be a Muslim and his passengers (who were all Hindus) entered into an argument. After this confrontation, people from two separate groups gathered at the site and started attacking each other. Soon after that, a curfew was imposed. As per as A.H Laskar a police of Hailakandi police station, both parties were throwing stones at each other.[166]

Economy Edit

 
A tea garden in Cachar district

Tea is the important economic activity and Barak Valley have also its proportional share of tea garden in comparison to Brahmaputra valley to sustains its economy from time to time. There are plenty of oil and natural gas under the surface of Barak valley as well to run the economy as a separate state. Various oil refineries are also set up in various locations of Barak valley to meet the required economic demand.[167] Jute is an important crop grown in this region.[168] The per capita income of Cachar is Rs. 19,551, for Hailakandi it stands at Rs. 19,055 and for Karimganj it is Rs. 20,093 respectively. Barak Region as a whole have a per capita income of Rs. 58,699 which is lower than in most of Assam.[169][170][171]

Poverty Edit

Barak valley region is the poorest part of Assam in terms of Gross Domestic Product and Human Development Index rank. More than half of the region's population lives in absolute poverty. According to a survey, 51% of the population of Hailakandi district, 42.4% of the population of Cachar district and 46% of the population of Karimganj district are multi-dimensionally poor and don't have proper access to safe drinking water, food, electricity, housing and shelter etc.[172]

Forest cover Edit

 
A forest of Barail range, Barak

There are around 104 forest Villages in Barak Valley.[173] Among the three districts in Barak Valley, Cachar have an area of 3,786 km2, out of which 2,222.34 km2 area is covered with forest, Hailakandi district have a total area of 1,327 km2, out of which 774.34 km2 is covered with forest, Karimganj district have a total area of 1,809 km2, out of which 851.43 km2 area is covered with forest.[174]

List of districts in Barak valley Edit

 
Barak Valley district map

There are three districts in the Barak Valley.

  1. Karimganj having an area of 1,809 km2 and is the second largest district of the valley.[175]
  2. Hailakandi having an area of 1,327 km2 is third largest district of the valley.[176]
  3. Cachar having an area of 3,786 km2. It is the largest district of the valley.[177]

The total area of the valley is 6,922 km2.[175][176][177]

Historically, North Cachar Hills was once a part of Undivided Barak Valley. If that district is included, then the total area of Barak region as a whole increases up to 11,812 km2, which is way bigger than the neighbouring Tripura state which have a total area of 10,491 km2.[178][179]

Wildlife Edit

 
Barak River, a natural scenaric beauty of valley

The Asian elephant has already vanished from most of the valley.[180][181][182] Barail is the only wildlife sanctuary of the Barak valley region. It was initiated by noted naturalist Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury, who originally hailed from this region in the early 1980s.[183] This sanctuary was ultimately notified in 2004. There are thirteen reserve forests in the valley comprising six in Karimganj, five in Cachar, and two are in Hailakandi.[184][185] The Patharia hills reserve forest of Karimganj is the habitat of many mammals and was recommended to upgrade as 'Patharia hills wildlife sanctuary'.[186] The southern part was also recommended as 'Dhaleswari' wildlife sanctuary.[187]

Weather Edit

Barak Valley has a temperature that varies 35° to 40 °C and also has a humid environment with rainfall varying from 100 to 200 cm. It is one of the hottest and humid region of entire North East.[188]

Politics Edit

 
Assam Legislative Assembly election, 2021

Bengali-dominated Barak valley have 15 Assembly seats. As per as vote share, Maximum of the people in the valley have supported BJP in 2021 Assam Legislative Assembly election followed by INC and AIUDF. It has been found that 48.7% vote share have gone in the favour of BJP, 27% to Indian National Congress and 21.9% to AIUDF in the last election. As per as seat share concerned, BJP have won 53.3% seats, 26.7% AIUDF and 20% Indian National Congress, respectively.[189]

Constituencies Edit

Barak Valley has two Lok Sabha seats.

Barak Valley has fifteen Assam Legislative Assembly seats.

  • Badarpur
  • Algapur
  • Hailakandi
  • Katlicherra
  • Karimganj South
  • Karimganj North
  • Ratabari
  • Patharkandi
  • Katigorah
  • Dholai
  • Udharbond
  • Sonai
  • Silchar
  • Barkhola
  • Lakhipur

Districts tehsils Edit

District Tehsil
Cachar district
  1. Katigorah
  2. Lakhipur
  3. Silchar
  4. Sonai
  5. Udharbond
Hailakandi district
  1. Algapur
  2. Hailakandi
  3. Katlicherra
  4. Lala
Karimganj district
  1. Badarpur
  2. Karimganj
  3. Nilambazar
  4. Patharkandi
  5. Ramkrishna Nagar

Notable people Edit

See also Edit

Notes Edit

  1. ^ Languages constituting less than 1% and/or substantially lower as compared to the total population are not included

References Edit

  1. ^ (Tunga 1995, p. 1)
  2. ^ a b "Districts". assam.gov.in/about-us/396.
  3. ^ "Districts | Assam State Portal". assam.gov.in.
  4. ^ Bureau, Pratidin (23 March 2023). "List of all the Districts and Regional Divisions in Assam". Pratidin Time.
  5. ^ "History of Cachar | Cachar District | Government Of Assam, India". Cachar.gov.in. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  6. ^ "History of Cachar | Cachar District | Government Of Assam, India". cachar.gov.in.
  7. ^ http://www.aus.ac.in
  8. ^ https://cachar.gov.in/information-services/history-of-cachar#:~:text=It%20is%20bounded%20on%20the,and%20tagged%20to%20the%20district.
  9. ^ "An early history of Assam by Sir Edward Gait (1963 [1933]) suggests that Cachar district might have got its name from a Sanskrit word meaning a 'broadening region' or from the main tribe of the region. He further argues that the Kacharis themselves could not have got their name from Cachar district, as they are known by the same name in many parts of Assam far from Cachar, and were thus known long before they settled there: the earliest known record being 'in a letter of appointment by Raja Kirti Chandra, dated 1658 Sak (1736 CE), in which "Kacharir Niyam", or the practices of the Kacharis, is referred to' (Gait 1963: 299–300)." (Bhattacharya 2018)
  10. ^ ISO 3166
  11. ^ "District Census 2011".
  12. ^ (Cederlöf 2014:48)
  13. ^ (Cederlöf 2014:47)
  14. ^ "The geopolitical boundaries of the kingdoms were not cartographically defined. Heartlands and places of particular significance were more important than defending borderlines at margins... Communities were decidedly loyal to a particular royal lineage and such loyalties had territorial implications."s (Cederlöf 2014:47)
  15. ^ "One such conflict was played out between the kingdoms of Tripura and Cachar, and focussed on the market town of Hailakandi...At Hailakandi, for example, ...observed a north-south division across Dalasuri, and debated whether Hailakandi should end up one side or the other, the Company argued for an east-west division along the river. The Dalasuri connected people. It was a center of livelihoods, trade, and social life. But to the British, a river constituted an easily defended outer border, separating people by a line cutting through landscape by which order could be upheld." (Cederlöf 2014:36–37)
  16. ^ (Bhattacharjee 1994:71)
  17. ^ a b c d e Barbhuiya, Atiqur Rahman (27 January 2020). Indigenous People of Barak Valley. Notion Press. ISBN 978-1-64678-800-2.
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  19. ^ "An important change in the Dimasa political tradition occurred in the mideighteenth century, probably 1745, 1750 or 1755, when the centre of administration was moved from Maibong to Khaspur in the plains of Cachar. From this time onwards, the Dimasa rulers used the title 'the Lord of Heḍamba' in their own records." (Shin 2020:66)
  20. ^ "Some brahmins were appointed as Rajgurus or Rajpandits in the court. Hariścandranārāyaṇa also made land grants to the Muslims of Sylhet to encourage their agricultural activities in the Cachar plains." (Shin 2020:67)
  21. ^ "Besides the Bengalis, inhabitants of Manipur and Ahom came in Cachar in the wake of the Burmese disturbance in 1765 and the Moamaria uprising in 1767–70." (Shin 2020:67)
  22. ^ "According to Pemberton's report in 1835, the population of the Cachar plains was estimated at about 50,000, among which the Dimasa-Kacharis were the most dominant section; the second were Bengali Muslim immigrants and their descendants; the third were Bengali and Assamese Hindu immigrants and their descendants; and the last bulk of the population consists of Manipuris, Nagas and Kookis." (Shin 2020:67)
  23. ^ "The population of Lower and Upper Cachar was estimated at around 60,000. In Upper Cachar Cacharis, Kookees, Aooloongs, and Nagas were recorded. The inhabitants of Lower Cachar was predominantly Cacharis and Bengali Muslims (descendants of immigrants). There were also Kookees, Manipuris, and Nagas there." (Cederlöf 2014:116f)
  24. ^ "One such conflict was played out between the kingdoms of Tripura and Cachar, and focused on the market town of Hailakandi. The town was located on the banks of the Dalasuri, which connected the resource-rich southern hills and the markets along the Barak." (Cederlöf 2014:36)
  25. ^ (Cederlöf 2014:21)
  26. ^ "Fisher observed that Cachar now possessed the place, but that it was surrounded by villages of the Kuki Tanghum community in the lower hills, who were loyal to the king of Tripura." (Cederlöf 2014:36)
  27. ^ "On (the occasion of a wedding of the former raja of Tripura to the daughter of the raja of Manipur) the two rajas and their entourage met halfway between their kingdoms." (Cederlöf 2014:36)
  28. ^ "(It) was impossible to establish whether they paid tribute to Manipur, Trupura, or Cachar. The notion of a boundary zone, characterized by tributes and negotiations, rather than a boundary line did not occur to (Fisher)." (Cederlöf 2014:37)
  29. ^ "In 1947, Ratabari, Patherkandi, Badarpur and half of Karimganj thana left the former Karimganj sub-division of Sylhet to join the Cachar District of Assam." (Ludden 2003:5088f)
  30. ^ (Cederlöf 2014:71)
  31. ^ "In the tenth century, inscriptions suggest that land around the Kushiara was most densely populated by frontier communities formed under Kamarupa kings who granted large tracts to Brahmans and their supporters in areas called Srihatta and Khanda Kamarupa." (Ludden 2003:3)
  32. ^ "Until the Brahmaputra shifted its course a hundred miles south, in 1787, it crossed Mymensingh and emptied into the Meghna at Bhairav Bazar, from which point a vast freshwater sea covered the land for half of every year, all across the haors spanning Netrokona in the west and Sylhet the east. This inland sea deterred settlers from the west. It made the higher plains in the upper Surma-Kushiara basin much more easily accessible from the Barak valley, in the east, where the earliest Hindu settlers originated." (Ludden 2003:3–4)
  33. ^ "Before Mughal times, we do not find evidence that clearly indicates any state regime exercised authority all across the area that would comprise the Mughal's Sarkar Sylhet." (Ludden 2003:2)
  34. ^ "In 1612, Mughal troops sailed to Sylhet, conquered local Afghans, and established Mubariz Khan as Faujdar." (Ludden 2003:1)
  35. ^ "When Shah Jalal conquered rajas around Sylhet town and established Islam, in 1303, and when Ibn Batuta traveled to meet Shah Jalal, in 1346, the region comprised diverse localities held by Khasias, Garos, Hindus, Muslims, and others.10 Thus, in Shah Jalal's time, a definite 'Sylhet region' does not appear to have existed." (Ludden 2003:2)
  36. ^ (Ludden 2003:1–2)
  37. ^ "Also in ancient times, Gangetic agrarian societies began to expand eastward, toward Sylhet. The easternmost Mauryan site is a fort settlement on a river route at Mahasthan Garh. In Gupta, Pala, and Sena times, Gangetic cultural sites became more numerous in Bengal. Eastward Gangetic expansion accelerated in the second millennium, with Afghan and Turk conquests, but most dramatically under the Mughals. In each expansionist wave, Gangetic colonization forced local Munda language speakers, including Khasias, to fight, submit, assimilate, and move." (Ludden 2003:4)
  38. ^ "Local units of property rights, called taluks, were the domains of small landlords, called talukdars. Sylhet District had only one very big zamindar (whom we meet shortly) and none of the big jotedar tenants or merchant magnates who controlled so much of rural Bengal.134 Sylhet was, like Chittagong, a region of small landholders." (Ludden 2003:23)
  39. ^ "Eighteenth century outskirts of Mughal military power remained borderlands for the authority of Nawabs, and also for the English East India Company, whose Sylhet District was initially the same size and shape as Sylhet Sarkar and likewise comprised of a motley collection of contested state jurisdictions" (Ludden 2003:4)
  40. ^ "Meanwhile, unconquered Mughal opponents still roamed the lowlands, where highland rulers exercised substantial influence. Khasias held most land north of the Surma and ruled all the mountains above. Jaintia Khasia rajas held land north and east of Sylhet town. Cachar rajas held the lower Barak Valley. Tripura rajas ruled southern uplands and adjacent plains. North of the Surma, northwest of Sylhet town, ethnic communities of frontier settlers, called Bengali Khasias, had arisen from alliances between mountain Khasias and lowland Bengalis; and they had once respected Mughals and Nawabs, inside the jaghir of Omaid Reza, yet remained independent of Company Raj, as we will see." (Ludden 2003:6)
  41. ^ "The Mughal diwani grant of 1765 vested revenue-farming rights and judicial duties in a European mercantile trading corporation...A mercantile corporation was thus about to take a major step from making profit by following commodity flows to making economic use of a far more immovable source of income, that of landed revenue." (Cederlöf 2014:1–2)
  42. ^ "Company officers represented dual interests, one being the EIC's civil and military operations and the other their own private trade...in the 1820s the surveyors were simultaneously seeking to mark out land for assessment and to find the best way to move troops from Rangpur to Ava...they operated in a situation where military, fiscal and commercial interests were seamlessly interlinked. When they negotiated the boundaries in any of these spheres, they had the prosperity of all in mind." (Cederlöf 2014:44–45)
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  61. ^ "At the geographical extremes, Chittagonian, Sylheti, Mal Paharia, and Rohingya are so unintelligible to speakers of other dialects that they are almost universally considered by linguists to be separate languages on their own." (Khan 2018)
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External links Edit

  • Languages of the Barak Valley collection (Saihriem, Thadou, Hrangkhol, Ranglong, Sakachep) in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages (CoRSAL) archive
  • Annotated Texts of the Languages of the Barak Valley: Thadou, Saihriem, Hrangkhol, Ranglong by Dr. Pauthang Haokip

Sources Edit

  • Bhattacharjee, J B (1994), "Pre-colonial Political Structure of Barak Valley", in Sangma, Milton S (ed.), Essays on North-east India: Presented in Memory of Professor V. Venkata Rao, New Delhi: Indus Publishing Company, pp. 61–85
  • Bhattacharya, Gargee (2018). . Archived from the original on 30 November 2020.
  • Cederlöf, Gunnel (2014). Founding an Empire on India's Northeast Frontiers 1790–1840: Climate, Commerce, Polity. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-809057-1.
  • Khan, Sameer Ud Dowla (21 February 2018). "Amago Bhasha: In celebration of our ethnic and linguistic diversity". Dhaka Tribune. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  • Lochtefeld, James G (2002). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M. The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8239-3179-8.
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  • Shin, Jae-Eun (2020). "Descending from demons, ascending to kshatriyas: Genealogical claims and political process in pre-modern Northeast India, The Chutiyas and the Dimasas". The Indian Economic and Social History Review. 57 (1): 49–75. doi:10.1177/0019464619894134. S2CID 213213265.
  • Tunga, S. S. (1995). Bengali and Other Related Dialects of South Assam. Delhi: Mittal Publications. ISBN 9788170995883. Retrieved 19 February 2013.

24°48′N 92°45′E / 24.800°N 92.750°E / 24.800; 92.750

October 25, 2023
barak, valley, this, article, uses, bare, urls, which, uninformative, vulnerable, link, please, consider, converting, them, full, citations, ensure, article, remains, verifiable, maintains, consistent, citation, style, several, templates, tools, available, ass. This article uses bare URLs which are uninformative and vulnerable to link rot Please consider converting them to full citations to ensure the article remains verifiable and maintains a consistent citation style Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting such as reFill documentation and Citation bot documentation September 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Barak Valley is the southernmost region and administrative division of the Indian state of Assam It is named after the Barak river 1 The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam namely Cachar Karimganj and Hailakandi 2 The main and largest city is Silchar which seats the headquarter of Cachar district and also serves as administrative divisional office of Barak valley division 3 4 Once North Cachar Hills was a part of Cachar district which became a subdivision in 1951 and eventually a separate district 5 On 1 July 1983 Karimganj district was curved out from the eponymous subdivision of Cachar district In 1989 the subdivision of Hailakandi was upgraded into Hailakandi district 6 Barak ValleyDivision of AssamThe five divisions of AssamCountry IndiaStateAssamCapitalSilcharOfficial LanguageBengaliArea Total6 922 km2 2 673 sq mi Population 2011 census Total3 624 599 Density520 km2 1 400 sq mi Barak Valley A view of Silchar the main city of the valleyContents 1 Etymology 2 Districts 3 History 3 1 Pre colonial formations 3 1 1 Cachar 3 1 2 Hailakandi 3 1 3 Karimganj 3 2 Colonial boundaries 3 3 Inclusion of Karimganj 4 Demographics 4 1 Languages 4 2 Religion 4 3 Population 5 Trends 5 1 Hindu and Muslim population by district tehsils 5 2 Demography of district headquarters 6 Statehood demand 7 Festivals 7 1 Eid 8 Social issues 8 1 Bengali Language Movement in Barak Valley 8 2 Language controversy 8 3 Immigration of Bengali refugees in Cachar Valley 8 4 Barak Mizoram dispute 8 5 Communalism 9 Economy 10 Poverty 11 Forest cover 12 List of districts in Barak valley 13 Wildlife 14 Weather 15 Politics 16 Constituencies 17 Districts tehsils 18 Notable people 19 See also 20 Notes 21 References 22 External links 23 SourcesEtymology Edit nbsp Map showing colonial Undivided Cachar district which today consist of Dima Hasao Cachar district and Hailakandi district Karimganj district was a subdivision of the colonial Sylhet district The name Barak has derived from the Dimasa words Bra and Kro Bra means bifurcation and Kro upper means portion stream citation needed The river Barak is bifurcated near Haritikar in the Karimganj district in to Surma River and Kushiyara River respectively The upstream of this bifurcated river was called Brakro by the local Dimasa people 7 Barak valley excluding Karimganj was once part of the Kachari kingdom Some have suggested the word Kachar in Bengali language means a stretch of land at the foot of a mountain and Cachar might have been the name given by Bengalis of Sylhet to the land surrounded by mountains from all the sides 8 Others have pointed out that the name Kachari is widely prevalent in the Brahmaputra valley and that the Dimasa people were known as Kachari even before they came to rule the Cachar plains suggesting that it was the Dimasa people that gave the name Cachar to the plains 9 Districts EditBarak valley Division comprises three districts namely Cachar Karimganj and Hailakandi 2 Code 10 District Headquarter Population 2011 11 Area km2 Density km2 CA Cachar Silchar 1 736 319 3 786 459HA Hailakandi Hailakandi 659 296 1 327 497KR Karimganj Karimganj 1 228 686 1 809 679Total 3 3 624 301 6 922 1 635History EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed March 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message Main articles Kachari kingdom Kamarupa Kingdom Twipra Kingdom and History of Sylhet nbsp Last Dimasa Kachari King Raja Govinda Chandra Hasnu of Kachari kingdom 1832 nbsp Map of Bhaskar Varman s Kamarupa Kingdom includes a large portion of today s Barak valley and Dima Hasao The three districts of the Barak Valley have their own historical origins nevertheless the region has been defined not from a natural growth from social historical or cultural lives of the vernacular groups present in these regions but they are the products of empire building especially under the East India Company EIC and the British Raj 12 The pre colonial kingdoms were not cartographically defined they were rather defined according to heartlands and the defence of the margins were not important 13 and it was communities living in different places owing loyalties to different royal lineages that implied territories 14 The EIC interests led to drastically differently defined cartographic territories it was in the interest of the two contending parties the Tripura and the Kachari kingdoms to define a boundary east to west across the Dalasuri flowing south to north and settle whether Hailakandi was control of the Tripuri or the Kachari polity whereas the EIC was more interested in defining a north south border along the Dalasuri so it could be defended 15 Pre colonial formations Edit Cachar Edit nbsp Baroduwar Dimasa Kachari Palace Khaspur in Cachar dist nbsp Ruins of Kachari fort near NayagramThe Cachar district Cachar plains and Dima Hasao Cachar hills were both parts of the Kachari kingdom The Kacharis Dimasas appear in historical accounts in the 13th century when Sukaphaa encountered them in the Brahmaputra valley They had their capital in Dimapur but due to the pressure from the Ahom kingdom they moved their capital twice once to Maibong in Dima Hasao and then to Khaspur in the Cachar plains close to present day Silchar In the 16th century the Tripura kingdom was in control of the Cachar plains when in 1562 the Koch general Chilarai annexed the Cachar region to the Koch kingdom and it came to be administered from Khaspur or Kochpur by his half brother Kamalnarayan 16 After the death of the Koch ruler Nara Narayan the region became independent and was ruled by the descendants of Kamalnarayan and his group and they became known as the Dehans after Dewan Between 1745 and 1755 the last Koch ruler s daughter married the king of the Kachari kingdom and the rule of Khaspur passed into the hands of the Kachari rulers who adopted the title Lord of Hedamba 17 18 19 The Kachari kings at Khaspur appointed Brahmins as rajpandits and rajgurus and provided land grants to Muslims from Sylhet for cultivation 20 Some people from Manipur and the Ahom kingdom too moved to the Cachar plains following disturbances in those lands 21 In 1835 Pemberton reported that the population of the Cachar plains was around 50 000 dominated by the Dimasa people followed by Muslim immigrants from Sylhet and their descendants a third group was Bengali and Assamese immigrants and their descendants and Naga Kuki and Manipuris forming the smallest groups 22 23 Hailakandi Edit Hailakandi claimed by both the Tripura and Kachari kingdoms was a market town on the banks of the Dalasuri river which connected the resource rich southern hills with the markets in the north along the Barak river 24 In 1821 22 when Thomas Fischer surveyed the area 25 he found that Hailakandi was controlled by the Kacharis though it was surrounded by villages of the Kuki Tanghum community that owed allegiance to the Tripura kingdom 26 In this region a past Tripura king received a princess from Manipur 27 It was uncertain which of the three kingdoms the communities paid their tributes to and it effectively formed a boundary zone a concept that differed significantly from the idea of clearly defined borders between kingdoms 28 Karimganj Edit Karimganj was with the colonial Sylhet district despite a referendum result it was split from Sylhet which was included with Pakistan during partition of India in 1947 and attached to India 29 East India Company had pushed into the region east of Sylhet town slowly after it won the right to collect land revenue under the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765 30 The Barak river today splits into the northern Surma and the southern Kushiara between the towns of Badarpur in the east and Karimganj in the west Inscriptions suggest that in the 10th century the region around Surma and Kushiara formed frontier settlements called Srihatta and Khanda Kamarupa established by Kamarupa kings in the 7th century 31 Till 1787 when Brahmaputra changed its course to meet the Meghna a hundred miles farther south the land between Netrokona in the west and Sylhet in the east was inundated for half of each year forming haors which made the higher plains of the upper Surma Kushiara basin not as easily accessible from the west as it was from the Cachar plains in the east 32 Sylhet is farther to the west of Karimganj also on the Surma No state control existed in the Sylhet region till the establishment of Sarkar Sylhet when the Mughals established a Faujdar at Sylhet in 1612 33 34 In 1303 Shah Jalal had established rule around Sylhet and during Ibn Battuta s visit in 1346 the region was inhabited by Khasi Garo Hindus Muslims and others 35 The Mughals began the practice of settling cultivators in the region around Sylhet which picked up significantly only after 1719 and lasted till the beginning of East India Company rule in 1765 36 The expansion of Mughal domains in Sylhet was part of an ancient process of Gangetic territorialism that displaced or assimilated extant populations consisting of Munda Khasi and other peoples 37 The Mughal administration granted land in Sarkar Sylhet to talukdars called Chaudhuri in smaller land parcels called taluks as opposed to larger zamindars in the rest of Bengal 38 Sylhet was itself a borderland when the EIC acquired the Mughal Sarkar Sylhet in 1765 39 Colonial boundaries Edit EIC acquired Sarkar Sylhet primarily the frontier town bounded by regions that were not in their control Mughal holdouts moved freely in the lowlands controlled by the highland rulers out of Company reach Khasi chiefs held most of the land north of the Surma the land north and east of Sylhet town belonged to the Jaintia kingdom and Tripura kingdom held most of the southern highlands and the adjoining lowlands 40 The EIC an erstwhile mercantile company got into the revenue farming and judiciary business with the diwani grant of 1765 and developed a keen interest in monopolizing traditional trade routes and expanding settled farming for revenue 41 This was achieved by marking boundaries company officers served the EIC interests in generating more revenue and confronting Ava militarily but they also served their own private commercial interests 42 According to David R Syiemlieh up to 1837 A D the plains of Cachar Valley were sparsely populated and were dominated by the Dimasa Cachari a Tibeto Burmese tribe under the rule of the Kachari Raja who have established his kingdom s capital at Khaspur Cachar plains He had a good number of Bengali advisers mostly Brahmins around him and gave grants of land to some of them but the population resembled that of the North Cachar Hills of today as evident from various historical chronicles and sources Bengali settlers from neighbouring East Bengal poured into the Cachar plains after the British annexation of the region in 1832 A D turning iit into a Bengali majority region 43 Once Barak Valley from 1832 1874 A D was a part of the Bengal Presidency under the British Empire 44 The British Annexation of Cachar transformed the demographic patterns of the valley overnight There was a sudden phenomenal growth in population while the plains of Cachar had about 50 thousands inhabitants in all in 1837 A D that is five years after its annexation which eventually indicates that there was a large scale immigration The population rose to more than five lakhs a few years later 45 The population of Muslims in the colonial era Barak Valley decreased in the late 19th century largely because the fertile lands were occupied by earlier settlers of the region and later they immigrated to the present Hojai of Assam which was also a part of Kachari Kingdom up to 1832 AD 17 A population 85 522 of diverse backgrounds including hill tribes in the 1851 Census Muslims and Hindus 30 708 and 30 573 respectively mostly Bengalis constituted 70 of the total population of Cachar Valley followed by 10 723 Manipuris 6 320 Kukis 5 645 Naga and 2 213 Cacharis 17 Karimganj district which have become a part of Cachar Valley plains after 1947 was a part of Sylhet before the Partition of Bengal 1947 The region of Karimganj was under the rule of Pratapgarh Kingdom from 1489 1700s which was eventually a secular Bengali kingdom of Srihatta State citation needed Inclusion of Karimganj Edit See also 1947 Sylhet referendum and Pratapgarh Kingdom nbsp Map of Sylhet District showing subdivisions and majority voting Green represents area in favor of joining East Bengal Pakistan and Orange represents area in favor of remaining part of Assam and joining IndiaIn 1947 when a plebiscite was held in Sylhet of then Assam Province with majority voting for incorporation with Pakistan The Sylhet district was divided into two the easternmost subdivision of Sylhet which is known as Karimganj joined with India and now is a district of Assam whereas the rest of Sylhet joined East Bengal Geographically the region is surrounded by hills from all three sides except its western plain boundary with Bangladesh Nihar Ranjan Roy author of Bangalir Itihash claims that South Assam Northeastern Bengal or Barak Valley is the extension of the Greater Surma Meghna Valley of Bengal in every aspect from culture to geography 46 Assam s Surma Valley now partly in Bangladesh had Muslim majority population On the eve of partition hectic activities intensified by the Muslim League as well Congress with the former having an edge A referendum had been proposed for Sylhet District Abdul Matlib Mazumdar along with Basanta Kumar Das then Home Minister of Assam travelled throughout the valley organising the Congress and addressing meetings educating the masses about the outcome of partition on the basis of religion 47 On 20 February 1947 Moulvi Mazumdar inaugurated a convention Assam Nationalist Muslim s Convention at Silchar Thereafter another big meeting was held at Silchar on 8 June 1947 48 Both the meetings which were attended by a large section of Muslims paid dividend He was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam especially Karimganj with India 49 50 Mazumdar was the leader of the delegation that pleaded before the Radcliffe Commission that ensured that a part of Sylhet now in Bangladesh join with India despite being Muslim majority present Karimganj district 51 52 In return of that Moulvibazar the only Hindu majority district of Sylhet Division was given to East Pakistan during partition 53 Demographics EditAccording to the 2011 Indian census Barak valley had a population of 3 624 599 54 Male population is 1 850 038 and female population is 1 774 561 The Literacy rate is 76 27 55 The population of Barak Valley is estimated to be over 4 386 089 people for upcoming 2021 census 56 Historical Population of Barak ValleyYearPop 185185 522 1901630 302 637 0 1911713 566 13 2 1921751 560 5 3 1931803 694 6 9 1941895 140 11 4 19511 115 865 24 7 19611 378 476 23 5 19711 713 318 24 3 1981 19912 491 496 20012 995 769 20 2 20113 624 599 21 0 20214 386 089 21 0 Source 57 58 56 17 Languages Edit Languages spoken in Barak Valley 2011 59 Bengali 80 84 Hindi 10 Manipuri 3 49 Bishnupriya Manipuri 1 38 Dimasa 0 6 Tripuri 0 59 Khasi 0 59 Odia 0 53 Nepali 0 14 Others 1 84 As per 2011 language census report Bengali is the official as well as the most spoken language of the region with approximately 2 930 378 native speakers 59 Hindi Manipuri Bishnupriya and Dimasa are the next most widely spoken languages with 362 459 126 498 50 019 and 21 747 native speakers respectively Tripuri Khasi Odia Nepali and Marwari are also spoken by a considerable minority while 1 84 of the total population speaks other tribal languages 59 Sylheti a language that is considered to be a dialect of Bengali or a separate language 60 61 is spoken by a large population of the Barak Valley 62 According to census 2011 the major languages of Cachar district are Bengali Hindi Manipuri Bhojpuri Bishnupriya Manipuri Dimasa Khasi Hmar and Odia in descending order of population In the Hailakandi district the major languages are Bengali Hindi Tripuri language Manipuri and Bhojpuri In the Karimganj district the major languages are Bengali and Hindi 59 a Religion Edit Religions in Barak Valley 2011 54 Hinduism 50 Islam 48 1 Christianity 1 6 Others 0 3 Barak s Religious diversity as of the 2011 census 54 Religion PopulationHindus nbsp 1 812 141Muslims nbsp 1 744 958Christians nbsp 58 105Others 9 395Total 3 624 599Hinduism by a sliver is the slight majority religion while Islam is the second largest religion in the Valley 54 63 The religious composition of the valley population is as follows Hindus 50 Muslims 48 1 Christians 1 6 and others 0 3 Hindus are the majority in Cachar district 59 83 with having 86 31 Hindu in the district headquarter Silchar which is also the main city of the valley While Muslims are the majority in Hailakandi district 60 31 and Karimganj district 56 36 but Hailakandi town have 67 26 Hindu majority Karimganj town have also a Hindu Majority of 86 57 as of 2011 census 54 64 Hinduism is mainly practiced by Bengalis Dimasas Tripuris Meiteis Odias Nepalis Biharis and Marwaris living in the Valley 63 While Islam is overwhelmingly practiced by Bengalis with some small populace of Meitei Pangals Kacharis and Biharis 63 65 66 Christianity is mainly practiced by Tea garden community tribals such as Khasis Mizos Hmars Kukis and Nagas living in the Valley 67 68 In Barak valley the two districts of Karimganj and Cachar adjoining Bangladesh have noted a 30 per cent rise in Muslim population during the period between 2011 21 In 2011 the Muslim population in those bordering districts of the bordering areas was 395 659 and this has jumped up to 513 126 in 2021 Assam Police officials while conducting demographic survey have said that infiltration of Bangladeshis into Assam have created a huge demographic change in last 10 years 69 On 29 July 2023 Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that Assam s Barak Valley have became a hotspot for Rohingya infiltrators and insurgency activities and have further commented that the people of Barak Valley should stay cautious to prevent the illegal Immigration and some recent activities have been noticed along the Indo Bangla border specially in Karimganj district 70 71 72 Population Edit The below are population by district tehsils in 2011 54 73 Cachar district total 1 736 617 Sonai circle 324 315 Katigora circle 291 875 Udharbond circle 124 090 Lakhipur circle 291 872 Silchar circle 704 465 Hailakandi district total 659 296 Algapur circle 121 379 Hailakandi circle 166 897 Katlichara circle 168 077 Lala circle 202 943 Karimganj district total 1 228 686 Badarpur circle 164 703 Karimganj circle 278 300 Nilambazar circle 242 451 Patharkandi circle 261 368 Ramkrishna Nagar circle 281 864Trends EditDecadal Hindu and Muslim population of Barak Valley 74 Year census Hindu population Muslim population 1951 676 660 60 63 429 496 38 48 1961 821 600 59 60 539 457 39 13 1971 1 005 995 58 71 683 387 39 88 1991 1 381 803 55 46 1 071 872 43 02 2001 1 580 660 52 76 1 362 114 45 46 2011 1 812 141 50 00 1 744 958 48 1 Hindu and Muslim population by district tehsils Edit Cachar district tehsils 2011 74 75 District Cachar Tehsils Hindu population Muslim population Sonai circle 133 507 41 17 184 588 56 92 Katigora circle 131 352 45 0 156 290 53 55 Udharbond circle 87 423 70 45 32 320 26 05 Lakhipur circle 178 163 61 04 95 476 32 71 Silchar circle 508 540 72 19 186 142 26 42 Hindus are majority in three tehsils of Cachar district namely Silchar Lakhipur and Udharbond while Muslims are majority in Katigora and Sonai circle according to 2011 census Hailakandi district tehsils 2011 74 District Hailakandi Tehsils Hindu population Muslim population Algapur circle 38 501 31 72 82 126 67 66 Hailakandi circle 47 198 28 28 118 626 71 08 Katlichara circle 79 019 47 01 84 044 50 Lala circle 86 476 42 61 112 857 55 61 Hindus are significant in two tehsils of Hailakandi namely Katlichara and Lala while Muslims are majority in all the three tehsils but in Katlichara Muslims form a plurality according to 2011 census Karimganj district tehsils 2011 74 District Karimganj Tehsils Hindu population Muslim population Badarpur circle 56 800 34 49 106 909 64 91 Karimganj circle 117 877 42 36 159 068 57 16 Nilambazar circle 58 767 24 24 182 567 75 3 Patharkandi circle 129 502 49 55 124 768 47 74 Ramkrishna Nagar circle 159 016 56 42 119 177 42 28 Hindus are majority in two tehsils of Karimganj namely Patharkandi and Ramkrishna Nagar while Muslims are majority in Nilambazar Badarpur and Karimganj circle according to 2011 census Demography of district headquarters Edit Districts headquarters religions 2011 76 District Headquarters Total population Hindu population Muslim population OthersCachar district Silchar 172 830 154 381 86 31 21 759 12 17 3 310Hailakandi district Hailakandi 33 637 22 624 67 26 10 686 31 77 327Karimganj district Karimganj 56 854 49 218 86 57 6 856 12 06 780Statehood demand EditSee also Barak state movement nbsp Map representing the proposed Barak state areas as demanded by various Bengali organisations Most Bengali organisations of Barak Region have demanded a separate state for the people of Barak within the Bengali majority areas of Assam particularly Bengali majority Barak valley comprising the three districts Cachar Hailakandi Karimganj as well as historical Dima Hasao of Undivided Cachar Valley and Hojai district to meet the criteria for creating a separate state for themselves by carving out from Assam s Assamese majority Brahmaputra valley post NRC 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 Silchar is the proposed capital of Barak state 90 Barak Valley is the most neglected part of Assam in terms of its infrastructure development tourism sector educational institutions hospitals IT industries G D P H D I etc which is still lagging behind in comparison to the Assam s mainland Brahmaputra valley that has access to all of those facilities mentioned above 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 On 20 January 2023 Barak Democratic Front s Chief Convenor and former ACKHSA leader Pradip Dutta Roy said If Centre is planning to grant separate statehood to Kamtapur then they should also fulfill the longstanding demand of separate Barak state by granting the region separate statehood 99 On 7 September 2023 Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma delivered a speech at a rally in Silchar and stated that If the people of Barak Valley want separation I will not oppose that demand Rather the people of Barak Valley should reconsider an independent Barak state 100 101 102 The BDF subsequently conducted a press conference on 8 September 2023 and congratulated the Chief Minister for providing implicit support to the separation call 103 The Southern most region of Assam that is Barak Valley has an overwhelming Bengali majority population of about 80 8 as per 2011 census report 104 59 On 27 September 2023 members of Barak Democratic Front BDF held a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club shedding light on the long standing grievances of Barak Valley residents while attempting to garner support for the creation of a new Purbachal state separate from Assam 105 106 107 See also Dimaraji nbsp Map representing the proposed Dimaland map The indigenous Dimasa Cachari people of Northeast India have been demanding a separate state called Dimaraji or Dimaland for several decades 108 109 110 It would comprise the Dimasa inhabited areas namely North Cachar Hills greater parts of Cachar district Hailakandi district significant parts of Hojai district and Karbi Anglong district in Assam together with part of Dimapur district in Nagaland 111 112 Festivals Edit nbsp Durga puja celebration in Barak Valley 2022Durga puja is one of the major festivals of Barak valley as the region is home to a large population of Bengalis in Assam Durga puja is celebrated with great fervour and enthusiasm in every part of the region be it rural or urban areas with great joy and happiness Annually on average 2 500 puja pandals have been organized by puja committees throughout the valley with 300 durga puja pandals are being concentrated in Silchar alone 113 114 The festival marks the victory of good over evil 115 nbsp A Kali Puja Pandal in Hailakandi Barak Valley 2018Kali Puja is one of the most celebrated festivals in the valley after Durga Puja Every year around 2000 Puja pandals are built in the region to mark the beginning of this festival and to seek the blessings of the goddess Kali for general happiness health wealth and peace through prayers 116 117 118 nbsp Bishu dimasa festival of Un divided Cachar valleyBusu Dima is an annual cultural festival celebrated by the Dimasa Kachari tribe of North Cachar Hills and Cachar of Barak valley 119 It is the biggest harvesting agricultural festival It is celebrated after the completion of grain harvest in different villages of the valley and hills 120 The festival is usually organized in the month of January 121 nbsp Barman Dimasa girl while performing Baidima the traditional dance of Dimasa Cachari tribeBaidima is a tradition festival of Indigenous Dimasa Cachari tribe of North Cachar Hills and Cachar It is being celebrated in the month of January just after Busu Dima festival The traditional dance continued for a week On that day along with dance they also sing songs In haflong locals organized cultural events public meetings rally and various programs related to this festival 122 nbsp The Bengali new year salutation at Ramna Park SilcharCharak puja Pohela Boishakh the Bengali new year is one of the most important and major festivals of the valley celebrated by the ethnic Bengalis irrespective of their religious affiliation and social status This festival marks the beginning of Bengali new year and is being celebrated 15 April every year 123 Eid Edit Eid is also a major festival of the region as the Muslims constitute half of valley s population Just like Durga puja every year lakhs of Muslims celebrated eid with great joy and happiness throughout the valley specially in Muslim majority Karimganj and Hailakandi district 124 125 Social issues EditBengali Language Movement in Barak Valley Edit Main article Bengali Language Movement Barak Valley nbsp Statue dedicated to martyrs of Bengali Language movement of Barak valley located in Udharbond CacharOver 80 percent of Assam s Barak Valley are Bengali people and speak Bengali language On 24 October a bill was passed by Assam s late Chief Minister Mr Bimala Prasad Chaliha in the Assam Legislative Assembly making Assamese as the only sole official language of the state 126 127 On 5 February 1961 the Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad was formed to protest against the imposition of Assamese in the Bengali speaking Barak Valley Rathindranath Sen was chief person of the organisation People soon started protesting in Silchar Karimganj and Hailakandi 128 On 24 April the Parishad flagged off a fortnight long Padayatra in the Barak Valley to raise awareness among the masses which ended after 200 miles reaching to Silchar on 2 May 129 127 On 18 May the Assam police arrested three prominent leaders of the movement namely Nalinikanta Das Rathindranath Sen and Bidhubhushan Chowdhury the editor of weekly Yugashakti On 19 May the dawn to dusk hartal started Picketing started in the sub divisional towns of Silchar Karimganj and Hailakandi A Bedford truck carrying nine arrested activists from Katigorah was fired and the truck driver and the policemen escorting the arrested fled the spot 128 Soon after that the paramilitary forces guarding the railway station started beating the protesters with rifle butts and batons without any provocation from them They fired 17 rounds into the crowd Twelve persons received bullet wounds and were carried to hospitals Nine of them died that day Two more persons died later One person Krishna Kanta Biswas survived for another 24 hours with a bullet wound in chest 129 130 131 Ullaskar Dutta send nine bouquets for nine martyrs On 20 May the people of Silchar took out a procession with the bodies of the martyrs in protest of the killings 132 After the incident and more protests the Assam government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the Barak region by Assam government 133 134 Soon after that a circular of Section 5 of Assam Language Act XVIII 1961 was enacted to safeguards the use of Bengali language in the Cachar district It says Without prejudice to the provisions contained in Section 3 the Bengali language shall be used for administrative and other official purposes up to and including district level 135 Language controversy Edit nbsp Assamese language being insulted in Bengali majority Barak Valley 2021On 18 October 2021 a state government hoarding which was written in Assamese language has been found smeared with black ink in Barak valley s administrative capital Silchar s Petrol Pump area It was found that two Bengali organizations namely Barak Democratic Yuba Front and All Bengali Students Youth Organisation have been involved in that activity and have accused that the government of Assam has been trying to impose their Assamese language on us referring to Bengali majority Barak Valley through Assamese hoarding as a starting and have said that We strictly stands against it i e imposition 136 The smearing of the government hoarding has led to condemnation from people and various regional organisations of the Brahmaputra Valley where Assamese organizations such as All Assam Students Union and Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba Chatra Parishad have severely reacted deeply saddened and protested against it In retaliation several Bengali hoardings in Assamese dominated Brahmaputra Valley have also meet the same fate 137 138 139 The political language wars and strife between the ethnic Assamese and Bengalis have led to several martyrs on both sides of the administrative divisions On 19 May 1961 11 Bengali Protestors at Silchar railway station were killed for protesting against forceful imposition of Assamese language in Barak Valley region Similarly during Assam Movement of 1979 1985 or popularly known as the Assam Agitation which aims at detaining and deporting Illegal Bangladeshi immigrants from the state saw as many as 855 Assamese people gave up their lives to protect the Linguistic ethnic and cultural identity of Assam 140 141 142 143 Immigration of Bengali refugees in Cachar Valley Edit nbsp East Pakistan s Bengali Hindus of Sylhet Division coming to Barak s Cachar district as refugees 1947 In 1947 during Partition of Bengal period it has been found that from 15 August 1947 to April 1950 the Bengali Hindu refugees population in Cachar increased to 200 000 and but after Liaquat Nehru Pact it came down to 93 177 in 1951 According to 1961 census the number of East Bengali refugees living in Cachar alone is found to be 156 307 which is way higher than the previous census 144 No new Hindu immigration happened in the post 1971 period in Barak valley Bengali Hindus who landed up in Barak valley from Bangladesh in the post 1971 census have moved out of the region before the 1991 census 145 The number of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh in Barak Valley has varied estimates According to the Assam government 1 3 1 5 lakh such people residing in the Barak Valley are eligible for citizenship if the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 becomes a law 146 147 There were reverse im migration vice versa trends as well The Muslim percentage of the Cachar Valley have decreased from 42 48 to 38 49 during 1941 1951 period On the eve of Partition of Bengal and Sylhet Referendum most of Bengali Muslim employees hailing from Barak Valley opted for Pakistan s Sylhet and migrated there as refugees Similarly Bengali Hindu employees hailing from Sylhet opted for Cachar Valley and majority of them settled in the Cachar plains thereafter Also during partition most of the Sylhet origin Muslim businessmen living in Cachar and Karimganj have exchanged their business houses and residences with Hindu businessmen of Sylhet migrating to Cachar and Karimganj 17 In March 2020 Wasbir Hussain the editor in chief of North East Live and member of clause 6 committee while defining who is an Assamese have stated that the original inhabitants of Barak valley are a part of greater Assamese society and he further said that illegal immigrants and migrants are of different bracket 148 Regarding Indigenousity Those Bengali speaking Hindus Muslims of Barak Valley comprising districts of Cachar Hailakandi and Karimganj who bears surnames like Choudhury Mazumdar Mazumder Laskar Lashkar Barlaskar Barobhuiya Mazarbhuiya Talukdar and Hazari and other regular titles mostly brought and given by Kachari kings are Native 149 The Barak Valley region is often described as a division filled with Bangladeshis It lost its Bangladeshi tag after the final NRC draft results were published on 31 July 2018 Mr Paul a resident of Cachar district said that the latest NRC draft had put an end to the controversy regarding the citizenship of the residents of the Valley He further said It was often claimed that they are all or the majority of people of the valley are from Bangladesh NRC draft results have shown that nearly 90 of Barak residents are Indian citizens The Barak Valley had a population of about 37 lakh as per last 2011 Census NRC draft have dropped four lakh of the 37 lakh residents majority of whom are Bengali people As per NRC results about 8 of the residents of Cachar 11 82 of Karimganj and 14 2 of Hailakandi didn t feature their names on the latest final draft list As a whole about 11 residents of Barak could not make their name appears on the list 150 151 The Assam Indigenous People Protection Committee has protested the exclusion of indigenous people in the final NRC list which was published on 31 August 2019 in Assam s Barak Valley region According to the Committee nearly 1 5 lakh people belong to the Dimasa Koch Rajbongshi Meiteis Manipuri Muslim Pangals Bishnupriya Manipuri Cachari speaking Muslim tea tribes Rongmei Naga Kuki Khasi Gorkha Hmar Das Pattni Nath Jogi and Namasudra Bangali communities were left out of the final NRC list The Committee further stated that All the Indigenous people of Barak Valley support the government stand of Implementing Clause 6 of the Assam Accord 152 One of the early attempts to define the native people of Assam is found in the 1951 Census of Assam It s clearly stated that An Indigenous person of Assam means a person belonging to the State of Assam and speaking the Assamese language or any tribal languages Dimasa Rabha Koch Rajbongshi Bodo Mishing Karbi etc of Assam or in the case of Cachar Valley the language of the region Bangla 153 154 155 Barak Mizoram dispute Edit nbsp An image representing of Assam s Barak and Mizoram border disputed land areasMizoram used to be a district of Assam as Lushai hills before being carved out as a separate union territory and later becoming another separate state in 1987 by States Reorganisation Act 1956 Because of the history the district s borders did not really matter for local Mizos for a long time Mizoram shares a border with the districts Cachar Hailakandi and Karimganj which comes under Barak valley region of Assam Over time the two states started having different perceptions about where the demarcation should be While Mizoram wants it to be along an Inner Line Permit notified in 1875 to protect indigenous tribals from outside influence which Mizos feel is part of their historical homeland Barak valley region of Assam wants it to be demarcated according to district boundaries drawn up much later 156 157 Conflicting territorial claims have persisted for long between Assam s Barak and Mizoram which share a 164 6 km inter state border There were several clashes between the local people of the Mizoram and Barak regarding land disputes in the border areas on regular basis 158 159 The root of the dispute is a 1 318 km2 509 square miles area of hills and forests that Mizoram claims as its own This is on the basis of an 1875 British law But Assam insists this area is part of their as its constitutional boundary 159 On 17 November 2022 Mizoram Home Minister have apologized for the clashes that have occurred in Barak Mizoram border in which six police personnel and one civilian were killed in Lailapur 160 Communalism Edit Barak valley has witnessed many major communinal riots in 1968 1990 2017 and 2019 in Karimganj Hailakandi Silchar and again in Hailakandi 161 162 163 Lists of riots involving communalism in Barak valley region Karimganj 1968 riotIn the 1968 Karimganj riots a cow belonging to a Muslim wandered into a Hindu house When a Hindu boy tried to chase the cow some Muslims beat him up Soon after that clashes erupted between the two communities The ensuing riot claimed 82 lives 161 Hailakandi 1990 riotIn October 1990 a wounded cow was found near a common land which led to clashes between Hindus and Muslims Police records reveal that the Hindus of Hailakandi had demanded that parcel of land to construct a Kali temple In fact Sangh Parivar had earlier organised pujas to ritually purify bricks for shilayas at Ayodhya on the common land The appearance of an injured cow hurt their sentiments and led to a riot resulting in many casualties 161 Silchar 2013 riotIn 2013 rumours of beef being found in a temple in Silchar sparked Hindu Muslim clashes in which at least 30 people were injured 164 Silchar 2015 riotIn 2015 there was tension yet again when the head of a slaughtered cow was found in a temple in Silchar On the same year allegations of love jihad a term used by Hindutva groups to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to marry women from other religions solely to convert them to Islam sparked violent clashes in the city area 164 Silchar 2017 riotOn 7 June 2017 Clashes broke out between two communities in the Silchar city of Assam s Cachar district on Tuesday evening The incident took place in the Janigunj area of Silchar According to police 11 civilians and eight police officials were injured in large scale stone pelting However there were no casualties in the incident 162 Hailakandi 2019 riotLocal reports said that the tension started when motorbikes owned by Muslim devotees were vandalised while they were praying inside a mosque The motorbike owners lodged a first information report and demanded that the police take action against the accused and said that they will offer prayers on the road if action was not taken Mohneesh Mishra Hailakandi s police chief told Scroll in that the clashes began when a group of Muslim men assembled on a public road in the town and said they will offer prayers on the street The Hindu community tried to stop them and that led to an argument and soon after that it turned into riot said Mishra while adding that heavy security had been deployed in the area At least 14 people were injured out of which 3 were police Constables and also 1 was killed in a communal clash in Hailakandi district in Assam which have occurred on 10 July 2019 165 163 Hailakandi 2021 riotTension began at Hailakandi s Serispore Tea Garden area after an e rickshaw driver who happened to be a Muslim and his passengers who were all Hindus entered into an argument After this confrontation people from two separate groups gathered at the site and started attacking each other Soon after that a curfew was imposed As per as A H Laskar a police of Hailakandi police station both parties were throwing stones at each other 166 Economy Edit nbsp A tea garden in Cachar districtTea is the important economic activity and Barak Valley have also its proportional share of tea garden in comparison to Brahmaputra valley to sustains its economy from time to time There are plenty of oil and natural gas under the surface of Barak valley as well to run the economy as a separate state Various oil refineries are also set up in various locations of Barak valley to meet the required economic demand 167 Jute is an important crop grown in this region 168 The per capita income of Cachar is Rs 19 551 for Hailakandi it stands at Rs 19 055 and for Karimganj it is Rs 20 093 respectively Barak Region as a whole have a per capita income of Rs 58 699 which is lower than in most of Assam 169 170 171 Poverty EditBarak valley region is the poorest part of Assam in terms of Gross Domestic Product and Human Development Index rank More than half of the region s population lives in absolute poverty According to a survey 51 of the population of Hailakandi district 42 4 of the population of Cachar district and 46 of the population of Karimganj district are multi dimensionally poor and don t have proper access to safe drinking water food electricity housing and shelter etc 172 Forest cover Edit nbsp A forest of Barail range BarakThere are around 104 forest Villages in Barak Valley 173 Among the three districts in Barak Valley Cachar have an area of 3 786 km2 out of which 2 222 34 km2 area is covered with forest Hailakandi district have a total area of 1 327 km2 out of which 774 34 km2 is covered with forest Karimganj district have a total area of 1 809 km2 out of which 851 43 km2 area is covered with forest 174 List of districts in Barak valley Edit nbsp Barak Valley district mapThere are three districts in the Barak Valley Karimganj having an area of 1 809 km2 and is the second largest district of the valley 175 Hailakandi having an area of 1 327 km2 is third largest district of the valley 176 Cachar having an area of 3 786 km2 It is the largest district of the valley 177 The total area of the valley is 6 922 km2 175 176 177 Historically North Cachar Hills was once a part of Undivided Barak Valley If that district is included then the total area of Barak region as a whole increases up to 11 812 km2 which is way bigger than the neighbouring Tripura state which have a total area of 10 491 km2 178 179 Wildlife Edit nbsp Barak River a natural scenaric beauty of valleyThe Asian elephant has already vanished from most of the valley 180 181 182 Barail is the only wildlife sanctuary of the Barak valley region It was initiated by noted naturalist Dr Anwaruddin Choudhury who originally hailed from this region in the early 1980s 183 This sanctuary was ultimately notified in 2004 There are thirteen reserve forests in the valley comprising six in Karimganj five in Cachar and two are in Hailakandi 184 185 The Patharia hills reserve forest of Karimganj is the habitat of many mammals and was recommended to upgrade as Patharia hills wildlife sanctuary 186 The southern part was also recommended as Dhaleswari wildlife sanctuary 187 Weather EditBarak Valley has a temperature that varies 35 to 40 C and also has a humid environment with rainfall varying from 100 to 200 cm It is one of the hottest and humid region of entire North East 188 Politics Edit nbsp Assam Legislative Assembly election 2021Bengali dominated Barak valley have 15 Assembly seats As per as vote share Maximum of the people in the valley have supported BJP in 2021 Assam Legislative Assembly election followed by INC and AIUDF It has been found that 48 7 vote share have gone in the favour of BJP 27 to Indian National Congress and 21 9 to AIUDF in the last election As per as seat share concerned BJP have won 53 3 seats 26 7 AIUDF and 20 Indian National Congress respectively 189 Constituencies EditBarak Valley has two Lok Sabha seats Karimganj Lok Sabha constituency Silchar Lok Sabha constituency Barak Valley has fifteen Assam Legislative Assembly seats Badarpur Algapur Hailakandi Katlicherra Karimganj South Karimganj North Ratabari Patharkandi Katigorah Dholai Udharbond Sonai Silchar Barkhola LakhipurDistricts tehsils EditDistrict TehsilCachar district Katigorah Lakhipur Silchar Sonai UdharbondHailakandi district Algapur Hailakandi Katlicherra LalaKarimganj district Badarpur Karimganj Nilambazar Patharkandi Ramkrishna NagarNotable people EditAbdul Matlib Mazumdar freedom fighter cabinet minister in last ministry during British period and then after independence in the first and subsequent ministries Assam s first Agriculture Veterinary amp Local self government minister Moinul Hoque Choudhury ex Minister of Industries during Indira Gandhi regime established All India Radio National Institute of Technology Silchar Hindustan Paper Mill at Panchgram and Sugar Mill at Anipur Karnendu Bhattacharjee ex MP of Rajya Sabha Indian National Congress Debojit Saha singer and television host Radheshyam Biswas former member of Lok Sabha AIUDF Santosh Mohan Dev former member of Lok Sabha Indian National Congress former Minister of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises in the Union Cabinet Aminul Haque Laskar Deputy Speaker of the Assam Legislative Assembly Bharatiya Janata Party B B Bhattacharya former Vice Chancellor Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi Anwaruddin Choudhury first Divisional Commissioner of Barak Valley when it was created as a separate division in 2015 16 Popularly known as the Birdman of Assam he authored 28 books on birds and mammals He is also the first from Barak Valley to obtain a D Sc degree Sushmita Dev Leader All India Trinamool Congress Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya singer Rajdeep Roy Member of Lok Sabha Silchar Kripanath Mallah Member of Lok Sabha Karimganj Gautam Roy Ex Minister Assam Pritam Das CricketerSee also EditSylhet division Kachari Kingdom Brahmaputra ValleyNotes Edit Languages constituting less than 1 and or substantially lower as compared to the total population are not includedReferences Edit Tunga 1995 p 1 a b Districts assam gov in about us 396 Districts Assam State Portal assam gov in Bureau Pratidin 23 March 2023 List of all the Districts and Regional Divisions in Assam Pratidin Time History of Cachar Cachar District Government Of Assam India Cachar gov in Retrieved 11 August 2022 History of Cachar Cachar District Government Of Assam India cachar gov in http www aus ac in https cachar gov in information services history of cachar text It 20is 20bounded 20on 20the and 20tagged 20to 20the 20district An early history of Assam by Sir Edward Gait 1963 1933 suggests that Cachar district might have got its name from a Sanskrit word meaning a broadening region or from the main tribe of the region He further argues that the Kacharis themselves could not have got their name from Cachar district as they are known by the same name in many parts of Assam far from Cachar and were thus known long before they settled there the earliest known record being in a letter of appointment by Raja Kirti Chandra dated 1658 Sak 1736 CE in which Kacharir Niyam or the practices of the Kacharis is referred to Gait 1963 299 300 Bhattacharya 2018 ISO 3166 District Census 2011 Cederlof 2014 48 Cederlof 2014 47 The geopolitical boundaries of the kingdoms were not cartographically defined Heartlands and places of particular significance were more important than defending borderlines at margins Communities were decidedly loyal to a particular royal lineage and such loyalties had territorial implications s Cederlof 2014 47 One such conflict was played out between the kingdoms of Tripura and Cachar and focussed on the market town of Hailakandi At Hailakandi for example observed a north south division across Dalasuri and debated whether Hailakandi should end up one side or the other the Company argued for an east west division along the river The Dalasuri connected people It was a center of livelihoods trade and social life But to the British a river constituted an easily defended outer border separating people by a line cutting through landscape by which order could be upheld Cederlof 2014 36 37 Bhattacharjee 1994 71 a b c d e Barbhuiya Atiqur Rahman 27 January 2020 Indigenous People of Barak Valley Notion Press ISBN 978 1 64678 800 2 Kingdoms of South Asia Indian Kingdoms of Assam An important change in the Dimasa political tradition occurred in the mideighteenth century probably 1745 1750 or 1755 when the centre of administration was moved from Maibong to Khaspur in the plains of Cachar From this time onwards the Dimasa rulers used the title the Lord of Heḍamba in their own records Shin 2020 66 Some brahmins were appointed as Rajgurus or Rajpandits in the court Hariscandranarayaṇa also made land grants to the Muslims of Sylhet to encourage their agricultural activities in the Cachar plains Shin 2020 67 Besides the Bengalis inhabitants of Manipur and Ahom came in Cachar in the wake of the Burmese disturbance in 1765 and the Moamaria uprising in 1767 70 Shin 2020 67 According to Pemberton s report in 1835 the population of the Cachar plains was estimated at about 50 000 among which the Dimasa Kacharis were the most dominant section the second were Bengali Muslim immigrants and their descendants the third were Bengali and Assamese Hindu immigrants and their descendants and the last bulk of the population consists of Manipuris Nagas and Kookis Shin 2020 67 The population of Lower and Upper Cachar was estimated at around 60 000 In Upper Cachar Cacharis Kookees Aooloongs and Nagas were recorded The inhabitants of Lower Cachar was predominantly Cacharis and Bengali Muslims descendants of immigrants There were also Kookees Manipuris and Nagas there Cederlof 2014 116f One such conflict was played out between the kingdoms of Tripura and Cachar and focused on the market town of Hailakandi The town was located on the banks of the Dalasuri which connected the resource rich southern hills and the markets along the Barak Cederlof 2014 36 Cederlof 2014 21 Fisher observed that Cachar now possessed the place but that it was surrounded by villages of the Kuki Tanghum community in the lower hills who were loyal to the king of Tripura Cederlof 2014 36 On the occasion of a wedding of the former raja of Tripura to the daughter of the raja of Manipur the two rajas and their entourage met halfway between their kingdoms Cederlof 2014 36 It was impossible to establish whether they paid tribute to Manipur Trupura or Cachar The notion of a boundary zone characterized by tributes and negotiations rather than a boundary line did not occur to Fisher Cederlof 2014 37 In 1947 Ratabari Patherkandi Badarpur and half of Karimganj thana left the former Karimganj sub division of Sylhet to join the Cachar District of Assam Ludden 2003 5088f Cederlof 2014 71 In the tenth century inscriptions suggest that land around the Kushiara was most densely populated by frontier communities formed under Kamarupa kings who granted large tracts to Brahmans and their supporters in areas called Srihatta and Khanda Kamarupa Ludden 2003 3 Until the Brahmaputra shifted its course a hundred miles south in 1787 it crossed Mymensingh and emptied into the Meghna at Bhairav Bazar from which point a vast freshwater sea covered the land for half of every year all across the haors spanning Netrokona in the west and Sylhet the east This inland sea deterred settlers from the west It made the higher plains in the upper Surma Kushiara basin much more easily accessible from the Barak valley in the east where the earliest Hindu settlers originated Ludden 2003 3 4 Before Mughal times we do not find evidence that clearly indicates any state regime exercised authority all across the area that would comprise the Mughal s Sarkar Sylhet Ludden 2003 2 In 1612 Mughal troops sailed to Sylhet conquered local Afghans and established Mubariz Khan as Faujdar Ludden 2003 1 When Shah Jalal conquered rajas around Sylhet town and established Islam in 1303 and when Ibn Batuta traveled to meet Shah Jalal in 1346 the region comprised diverse localities held by Khasias Garos Hindus Muslims and others 10 Thus in Shah Jalal s time a definite Sylhet region does not appear to have existed Ludden 2003 2 Ludden 2003 1 2 Also in ancient times Gangetic agrarian societies began to expand eastward toward Sylhet The easternmost Mauryan site is a fort settlement on a river route at Mahasthan Garh In Gupta Pala and Sena times Gangetic cultural sites became more numerous in Bengal Eastward Gangetic expansion accelerated in the second millennium with Afghan and Turk conquests but most dramatically under the Mughals In each expansionist wave Gangetic colonization forced local Munda language speakers including Khasias to fight submit assimilate and move Ludden 2003 4 Local units of property rights called taluks were the domains of small landlords called talukdars Sylhet District had only one very big zamindar whom we meet shortly and none of the big jotedar tenants or merchant magnates who controlled so much of rural Bengal 134 Sylhet was like Chittagong a region of small landholders Ludden 2003 23 Eighteenth century outskirts of Mughal military power remained borderlands for the authority of Nawabs and also for the English East India Company whose Sylhet District was initially the same size and shape as Sylhet Sarkar and likewise comprised of a motley collection of contested state jurisdictions Ludden 2003 4 Meanwhile unconquered Mughal opponents still roamed the lowlands where highland rulers exercised substantial influence Khasias held most land north of the Surma and ruled all the mountains above Jaintia Khasia rajas held land north and east of Sylhet town Cachar rajas held the lower Barak Valley Tripura rajas ruled southern uplands and adjacent plains North of the Surma northwest of Sylhet town ethnic communities of frontier settlers called Bengali Khasias had arisen from alliances between mountain Khasias and lowland Bengalis and they had once respected Mughals and Nawabs inside the jaghir of Omaid Reza yet remained independent of Company Raj as we will see Ludden 2003 6 The Mughal diwani grant of 1765 vested revenue farming rights and judicial duties in a European mercantile trading corporation A mercantile corporation was thus about to take a major step from making profit by following commodity flows to making economic use of a far more immovable source of income that of landed revenue Cederlof 2014 1 2 Company officers represented dual interests one being the EIC s civil and military operations and the other their own private trade in the 1820s the surveyors were simultaneously seeking to mark out land for assessment and to find the best way to move troops from Rangpur to Ava they operated in a situation where military fiscal and commercial interests were seamlessly interlinked When they negotiated the boundaries in any of these spheres they had the prosperity of all in mind Cederlof 2014 44 45 Syiemlieh David R 4 February 2014 On the Edge of Empire Four British Plans for North East India 1941 1947 SAGE Publications India ISBN 9788132119654 Barak Valley Division Government of Assam The rise and fall of glorious Cachari kingdom Ray Niharranjan 1 January 1980 Bangalir itihas in Bengali Paschimbanga Samiti Chowdhury Dewan Nurul Anwar Husain Sylhet Referendum 1947 Banglapedia Retrieved 20 November 2016 Bhattacharjee J B 1977 Cachar under British Rule in North East India Radiant Publishers New Delhi Barua D C 1990 Moulvi Matlib Mazumdar as I knew him Abdul Matlib Mazumdar birth centenary tributes pp 8 9 Purkayashta M 1990 Tyagi jananeta Abdul Matlib Mazumdar The Prantiya Samachar in Bengali Silchar India Roy S K 1990 Jananeta Abdul Matlib Mazumdar in Bengali Abdul Matlib Mazumdar birth centenary tributes pp 24 27 Assam Election Results What does it mean for Bangladesh thedailystar net The Daily Star 21 May 2016 Retrieved 20 November 2016 73 yrs ago Sylhet Referendum left a Hindu community homeless between Assam and Bangladesh 6 July 2020 a b c d e f C 16 Population By Religion Barak Valley census gov in Retrieved 25 August 2020 Home Government of India censusindia gov in a b Projection of district wise population of Assam for 2021 21 November 2021 Census of India Decadal Variation in Population Since 1901 a b c d e C 16 Population By Mother Tongue census gov in Retrieved 3 September 2020 Along the linguistic continuum of eastern Indic languages Sylheti occupies an ambiguous position where it is considered a distinct language by many and also as a dialect of Bengali or Bangla by some others Mahanta amp Gope 2018 81 At the geographical extremes Chittagonian Sylheti Mal Paharia and Rohingya are so unintelligible to speakers of other dialects that they are almost universally considered by linguists to be separate languages on their own Khan 2018 Sylheti Ethnologue Retrieved 27 January 2020 a b c Saikia Arunabh 22 June 2018 In Assam s Barak Valley Muslims fear the new citizenship bill will disempower them politically Scroll in Retrieved 22 September 2023 Deka Biju Kumar 4 August 2022 Assam Muslim Population in Border Districts Rising Need to Stregthen Intelligence Says CM Himanta News18 Retrieved 22 September 2023 Pangals The forgotten Community of Barak valley India Today NE 28 May 2020 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Assam govt for economic survey of Kachari Muslims The Hindu 5 March 2020 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Christmas celebrated with fervour in Barak Valley Sentinel 26 December 2015 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Festive cheer brightens tribal belt The Times of India 24 December 2011 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Opinion is there a foreign hand behind sharp rise of Muslims in UP Assam border districts 4 August 2022 Johny Ritu Maria 29 July 2023 Rohingyas using Assam to sneak into Himanta Biswa Sarma flags threat to nation s security Hindustan Times Retrieved 22 September 2023 Is Barak Valley emerging as safe corridor for Rohingyas to enter Manipur and Mizoram The Sentinel 30 April 2019 Retrieved 22 September 2023 Rohingya Infiltration Alarming And Threat To Nation s Security Assam CM Outlook 29 July 2023 Retrieved 22 September 2023 Census tables Government of India censusindia gov in a b c d Citizenship Amendment Act BJP chasing ghosts in Assam Census data shows number of Hindu immigrants may have been exaggerated Firstpost 18 December 2019 C 1 Population By Religious Community censusindia gov in Retrieved 26 January 2021 C 1 Population By Religious Community census gov in Retrieved 14 November 2020 Com Bdnews24 Now a separate Barak Bdnews24 Com What s The Politics Behind Demand for Separate Barak Land Pratidin Time 10 September 2023 Retrieved 22 September 2023 Assam Opposition to Citizenship Bill revives separate Barak Valley demand 7 January 2019 Barak organization demands creation of separate state Sentinelassam 27 December 2016 Union territory stir for Barak Land renewed Guwahati News Times of India The Times of India 7 August 2013 Separate Barak Demand Can partition be a solution 31 January 2019 Webdesk Time8 23 October 2021 If Barak valley is considered as cancer then separate Barak from Assam Time8 Bengali Demand for Union Territory in Barak Valley Intensifies 18 August 2020 Assam NRC LIVE Not Hindus or Muslims But Bengalis Being Targeted Says Mamata News18 30 July 2018 Exclusion of Hindu Bengalis from Assam NRC changing political Business Standard India Press Trust of India 22 September 2019 via Business Standard What the NRC reveals about the challenges of being Bengali in Assam Hindustan Times 7 September 2018 NRC fallout UT demand gaining ground in Barak Valley the New Indian Express Daniyal Shoaib 31 July 2018 An expel Bengalis campaign Opposing NRC in Assam Mamata makes her strongest identity pitch yet Scroll in Silchar Assam www east himalaya com Another group demands UT status for Barak The Times of India 14 September 2023 Retrieved 22 September 2023 Statehood demand grows louder in Assam s Barak Valley The New Indian Express Desk Sentinel Digital 27 December 2016 Barak organization demands creation of separate state Sentinelassam www sentinelassam com Give up separate Barak state demand Sonowal to Dutta Roy 26 July 2018 Bifurcate Assam let Bengali majority Barak Valley be a separate state Litterateur Nagen Saikia Saikia Arunabh 29 December 2017 A tale of two valleys What s behind the demand for a separate Union Territory in southern Assam Scroll in Why there is a demand for the separate state for Barak valley GKToday www gktoday in November 2018 Statehood sought for Assam s Barak Valley The Hindu 31 October 2018 Retrieved 27 April 2022 If initiative is taken to recognise Kamtapur as separate state then same should be done for seperate sic Barak State Pradip Dutta Roy 20 January 2023 Purkayastha Biswa Kalyan 8 September 2023 Won t oppose Barak Valley s separation from Assam if people want so Sarma Hindustan Times Retrieved 8 September 2023 Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma ready to discuss proposal on separate Barak Northeast Now 8 September 2023 Retrieved 8 September 2023 CM Himanta Biswa Sarma announces ambitious development plans during Barak Valley visit Says will consider separate Barak if people want it Barak Bulletin 7 September 2023 Retrieved 27 September 2023 CM s implicit support for separate Barak appreciated Programme to be taken on the basis of public opinion in future BDF Barak Bulletin 8 September 2023 Retrieved 27 September 2023 Shaikh Mohammed 31 March 2021 Assam Elections 2021 Can Barak Valley pay BJP the dividend of CAA bid Moneycontrol Retrieved 27 April 2022 BDF conducts press conference at Kolkata Press Club demanding separate Purbachal state Provides historical context to journalists Barak Bulletin 27 September 2023 Retrieved 27 September 2023 Assam party seeks separate Barak Valley state to ensure linguistic security development ThePrint PTI 27 September 2023 Retrieved 28 September 2023 Assam outfit raises statehood demand for Bengali dominated Barak Valley after Himanta s assurance The Telegraph 28 September 2023 Retrieved 28 September 2023 Fresh demands for creation of Bodoland and Dimaraji The Economic Times Bandh for Dimaraji cripples life in Dima Hasao Guwahati News Times of India The Times of India 18 January 2011 Protests against Dimaraji Territorial Council intensify Guwahati News Times of India The Times of India 15 December 2011 Dima Raji bandh cripples normal life in Haflong Sentinelassam 15 May 2020 36 hour Dimaraji bandh hits life Demand to press for statehood status Himanta Biswa Sarma reaches out to Barak Valley visits region for Durga Puja Hindustan Times 12 October 2021 Big budget pujas in Assam s Bengali dominated Barak Valley Guwahati News Times of India The Times of India 11 October 2013 Lochtefeld 2002 p 208 Bhattacharjee Swapnaneel 20 October 2017 350 Pujas in Silchar town the Telegraph Retrieved 25 September 2023 Rain ruins the festivity in Assam 350 Kali Puja pandals damaged The Times of India 21 October 2017 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Apostles Club s Kali Puja in Malugram to showcase puppetry and 70 feet tall eco friendly pandal Barak Bulletin 22 October 2022 Retrieved 25 September 2023 Busu Dima festival begins in Dima Hasao The Times of India 29 January 2012 Retrieved 24 March 2021 Dimasa Kachari community celebrates Bishu festival Eastern Mirror 27 January 2022 Festivals Dima Hasao District Government Of Assam India dimahasao assam gov in Archived from the original on 28 October 2021 Retrieved 24 March 2021 Busu Dima festival begins in Dima Hasao Guwahati News Times of India The Times of India 29 January 2012 Charak Puja an integral part of Barak Valley s Nababorsho celebrations 14 April 2018 Education of Muslim youths stressed during Eid prayers in Barak Valley Guwahati News Times of India The Times of India September 2011 Eid ul Fitr celebrated across Barak Valley Sentinelassam 27 June 2017 legislative assam gov in https legislative assam gov in PDF The Assam Official Language Act 1960 a b Mukhopadhyay Baidyanath 19 May 2013 ব ঙ ল র চ তন য শ ধ এক শ স থ ন ন ই উন শ র শহ দদ র Ei Samay in Bengali Kolkata a b Choudhuri Arjun Bhasha Shahid Divas We The People Barak Valley Archived from the original on 29 May 2013 Retrieved 23 May 2013 a b How 11 people gave their lives for Bangla in Assam 21 February 2022 In Language Movements of West Bengal and Assam a Parallel in Governments Responses Laskar Dilip Kanti 4 March 2012 Today English Newspaper Update Headlines India the Sunday Indian Online Magazine the Sunday Indian উন শ র স গ র ম অনন য অত লন য The Sunday Indian in Bengali Archived from the original on 2 September 2015 Retrieved 23 May 2013 Other than Bangalees those who struggled for mother tongue Bangla No alliance with BJP says AGP chief The Telegraph Calcutta 27 December 2003 Archived from the original on 29 September 2004 Retrieved 26 May 2017 Silchar rly station to be renamed soon The Times of India 9 June 2009 Retrieved 26 May 2017 legislative assam gov in https legislative assam gov in PDF The Assam official Language Amendment Act 1961 Protest isn t against Assamese language but imposition BDF softens tone a day after erasing Govt Poster 18 October 2021 Hoarding in Assamese language smeared with black ink in Silchar 18 October 2021 Hoarding in Assamese language smeared with black ink in Silchar 19 October 2021 State Govt silent on attack on Assamese language says Asom Sattra Mahasabha Sentinelassam 28 November 2021 Assam Hoardings in Assamese defaced in Bengali speaking region 2 arrested 20 October 2021 Swahid Pronamo Tumak Solemn tributes to the martyrs of the historic Assam Movement Singh Bikash Kin of Assam agitation martyr called up by foreigners tribunal The Economic Times Kin of those killed in Assam movement return mementos 31 January 2019 UGC Approved Journal Series 2PDF Settlement of East Bengal Refugees in Tea Gardens of South Assam Citizenship Amendment Act BJP chasing ghosts in Assam Census data shows number of Hindu immigrants may have been exaggerated 18 December 2019 Naqvi Sadiq 11 December 2019 Bengali Hindu refugees in Assam s Barak Valley hope for CAB s passage in RS Hindustan Times Retrieved 7 December 2020 Citizenship Bill protests Here s why Assam is burning Mail Today News Das Barasha 7 March 2020 Who is an Indigenous Assamese Guwahati Plus Retrieved 8 August 2022 The Identity Quotient review An unbiased guide to Assamese Muslims their origin and history 14 May 2021 Bagchi Suvojit 31 July 2018 Barak Valley sheds Bangladeshi tag The Hindu Barak valley in Assam sees large inclusion of applicants in the final draft NRC The Times of India 31 July 2018 Barak Valley tribes say no to tribunals Himanta Biswa Sarma s Bid to Define Assamese People is an Exercise in Exclusion 21 April 2022 https www time8 in who is an assamese why its difficult to define Definition of Assamese people Current Affairs Total seven inter state border disputes in country Assam has dispute with four states Govt India News Times of India The Times of India 29 July 2021 Deb Debraj 5 August 2021 Explained Why did a 150 year old Assam Mizoram dispute get violent now The Indian Express Retrieved 25 May 2022 Singh Bikash Tripathi Rahul Assam Mizoram border clashes Here s why it happened amp everything else you need to know The Economic Times a b Assam Mizoram clash It was like a war between two countries BBC News 8 August 2021 Singh Bikash Mizoram Home Minister apologises for clashes along Assam Mizoram border The Economic Times a b c Hindutva s Quiet Entry in Assam Hindustan Times a b 11 civilians eight policemen injured in Silchar clash The Hindu The Hindu 7 June 2017 a b Assam clashes Day after one killed in violence Hailakandi remains tense curfew extended till 7 am on Monday 11 May 2019 a b In Assam what s behind the renewed demand for a separate Union Territory 29 December 2017 Assam Communal clash breaks out in Hailakandi curfew imposed 10 May 2019 Assam Curfew imposed in parts of Hailakandi after clash between two groups 17 August 2021 Professor and economist Joydeep Biswas on Barak Valley as a separate state It would not be any worse than what it is now 28 June 2018 Which one of the following is an important crop of class 8 social science CBSE https www indiastatpublications com District Factbook Assam Cachar text Main 20source 20of 20income 20in 19 2C551 https www indiastatpublications com District Factbook Assam Hailakandi text Main 20source 20of 20income 20in 19 2C055 https www indiastatpublications com District Factbook Assam Karimganj text Main 20source 20of 20income 20in 20 2C093 Into the twilight Imagining a future for Barak Valley under the spectre of poverty hegemony and sedition 10 December 2021 Human Wildlife Conflict in the Forest Villages of Barak Valley Assam India Current World Environment 10 1 30 April 2015 via www cwejournal org 11 3 1 Introduction Assam the second Forest Survey of India a b District Profile Karimganj District Government Of Assam India karimganj gov in Archived from the original on 25 April 2019 Retrieved 12 April 2022 a b District Profile Hailakandi District Government Of Assam India hailakandi gov in Retrieved 12 April 2022 a b District at Glance Cachar District Government Of Assam India cachar gov in Retrieved 12 April 2022 District at Glance Cachar District Government Of Assam India cachar gov in Know Tripura Tripura State Portal Talukdar N R Choudhury P 2017 Conservation status of Asiatic elephant in southern Assam India Gajah 47 18 23 Choudhury A U 1999 Status and Conservation of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus in north eastern India Mammal Review 29 3 141 173 Choudhury A U 2004 Vanishing habitat threatens Phayre s leaf monkey The Rhino Found NE India Newsletter 6 32 33 Choudhury A U 1989 Campaign for wildlife protection national park in the Barails WWF Quarterly No 69 10 2 4 5 Choudhury A U 2005 Amchang Barail and Dihing Patkai Assam s new wildlife sanctuaries Oryx 39 2 124 125 Talukdar N R Singh B Choudhury P 2018 Conservation status of some endangered mammals in Barak Valley Northeast India Journal of Asia Pacific Biodiversity 11 167 172 Talukdar N R Choudhury P 2017 Conserving wildlife wealth of Patharia Hills reserve Forest Assam India a critical analysis Global Ecology and Conservation 10 126 138 Choudhury A U 1983 Plea for a new wildlife refuge in eastern India Tigerpaper 10 4 12 15 Which one of the following is an important crop of class 8 social science CBSE Karmakar Rahul 28 March 2021 Assam Assembly Elections 2021 Barak Valley caught between CAA and Assam Accord Clause 6 The Hindu External links EditLanguages of the Barak Valley collection Saihriem Thadou Hrangkhol Ranglong Sakachep in the Computational Resource for South Asian Languages CoRSAL archive Annotated Texts of the Languages of the Barak Valley Thadou Saihriem Hrangkhol Ranglong by Dr Pauthang HaokipSources EditBhattacharjee J B 1994 Pre colonial Political Structure of Barak Valley in Sangma Milton S ed Essays on North east India Presented in Memory of Professor V Venkata Rao New Delhi Indus Publishing Company pp 61 85 Bhattacharya Gargee 2018 The Dimasa Kacharis of Cachar District An Overview Archived from the original on 30 November 2020 Cederlof Gunnel 2014 Founding an Empire on India s Northeast Frontiers 1790 1840 Climate Commerce Polity New Delhi Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 809057 1 Khan Sameer Ud Dowla 21 February 2018 Amago Bhasha In celebration of our ethnic and linguistic diversity Dhaka Tribune Retrieved 19 October 2020 Lochtefeld James G 2002 The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism A M The Rosen Publishing Group ISBN 978 0 8239 3179 8 Ludden David 2003 The First Boundary of Bangladesh on Sylhet s Northern Frontiers Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh 48 1 1 54 Ludden David 2003 Political maps and cultural territories Himal Magazine Archived from the original on 30 May 2021 Mahanta Sakuntala Gope Amalesh 2018 Tonal polarity in Sylheti in the context of noun faithfulness Language Sciences 69 80 97 doi 10 1016 j langsci 2018 06 010 S2CID 149759441 Shin Jae Eun 2020 Descending from demons ascending to kshatriyas Genealogical claims and political process in pre modern Northeast India The Chutiyas and the Dimasas The Indian Economic and Social History Review 57 1 49 75 doi 10 1177 0019464619894134 S2CID 213213265 Tunga S S 1995 Bengali and Other Related Dialects of South Assam Delhi Mittal Publications ISBN 9788170995883 Retrieved 19 February 2013 24 48 N 92 45 E 24 800 N 92 750 E 24 800 92 750 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Barak Valley amp oldid 1181759801, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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