Udalguri district | |
|---|---|
 Paneri Tea Garden | |
.svg) Location in Assam | |
 Udalguri district | |
| Country |  India |
| State |  Assam |
| Territorial Region |  Bodoland |
| Headquarters | Udalguri |
| Government | |
| • Lok Sabha constituencies | Mangaldoi |
| • Vidhan Sabha constituencies | Panery,Udalguri,Majbat |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,852.16 km2 (715.12 sq mi) |
| Population (2011) | |
• Total | 831,668 |
| • Density | 449.026/km2 (1,162.97/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| PIN | 784509 |
| Telephone code | 03711 |
| ISO 3166 code | IN-AS |
| Vehicle registration | AS-27 |
| Website | udalguri |
Udalguri district (Pron:ˌʊdʌlˈgʊəri), also known as Odalguri, is a district in theBodoland Territorial Region of the state ofAssam inNortheastern India.Udalguri town is the headquarters of the district.
The name Udalguri denotes a place surrounding the Udal tree (Udal, meaning a tree and Guri meaning surrounding area). Some authors are of the opinion that the name of the place became Udalguri as there was a hermitage of a sage named Uddalak Muni. Yet, another source mentions that the word has origins in the Boro language. From the Bodo wordsordla andgundri, the name becameOrdlagundri >Ordlagundi >Odalguri >Ugalguri. Bodo people still pronounce the name as Odalguri. In the Bodo language,ordla means wide and spacious, andgundri means powdered object.[1]
Udalguri district falls underDarrang Duars which includes the region between theBornadi River andDhansiri River. The Duar that falls under the Udalguri district are the Buriguma Dooar and Killing Dooars.[2]
In older times, Udalguri acted as a trading point betweenAssam andTsona city inTibet (nowChina).[3] The route passed through theNyamjang Chu andTawang Chu rivers viaTrashigang andDewangiri. TheMonpas of Tibet would visitTangla andUdalguri to acquire silk known as Alaine from theBodos andRavas.[3] and also to weave their dyed silk in the villages, the final product was later sold in Monpa villages in present Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet.[3]
Under the Darrang Raja, an officer named Guntia Baruah was appointed to manage the transaction with theBhutias who handed it over to theBorphukan atGuwahati, the Bhutias appointedDzongpon to do the same.[4]
According to Bhutanese chronicles, the region till the east in Killing Duars fell under the authority of the Bhutias in 1189.[5]
From the early 17th-century present-day Udalguri district was governed jointly by theDruk Desi (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་སྡེ་སྲིད་) ofBhutan and theSutamla of theAhom kingdom.[6] Under the Bhutan government, it was under the authority ofTongso Penlop who appointedSubah who in turn appointed Laskar,Mondol or Uzir to look after the activities of the Duars.[7]
In 1841, theBritish East company removed the Bhutanese influence and the area was later merged to undividedDarrang district of Assam of theIndian Union in 1949.[8]
This district was formed on 14 June 2004[9] as one of the four districts under theBodoland Territorial Council. This district was carved out by bifurcatingDarrang district.[9] The territory of the present district was earlier Udalguri sub-division of the undivided district.
Late Jojaram Sharma was one of the prominent India freedom fighters from Assam lived here.
Other than the multitude of culture and tradition of the various ethnic communities, the district has several tourist places. Some of the important ones are,
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 72,515 | — |
| 1911 | 72,634 | +0.2% |
| 1921 | 81,624 | +12.4% |
| 1931 | 102,727 | +25.9% |
| 1941 | 138,593 | +34.9% |
| 1951 | 172,046 | +24.1% |
| 1961 | 278,788 | +62.0% |
| 1971 | 439,022 | +57.5% |
| 1991 | 692,919 | +57.8% |
| 2001 | 758,746 | +9.5% |
| 2011 | 831,668 | +9.6% |
| Source: Census of India[15] | ||
According to the 2011 census Udalguri district's population is 831,668, an increase of 9.8% over 2001.[16] The literacy rate is 66.6% and the gender ratio is 966.[16] There are 449 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,160/sq mi).[16] 4.52% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 4.55% and 32.15% of the population respectively.
The district is multi-ethnic and multi-religious in nature.Bodos forms the largest ethnic group in the district with 31.76% of the district's population. Other ethnic groups with significant population areAdivasi community with almost 23.12% andBengali Muslims with 12% of the district's population. Assamese andBengali Hindus resides mainly in urban areas. There is also a presence of sizeable Nepali speakingGorkha community with estimated 5% of the district's population thinly scattered across the Udalguri district.
| Religion | Percent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | 73.64% | |||
| Christianity | 13.25% | |||
| Islam | 12.66% | |||
| Other or not stated | 0.45% | |||
Followers ofBathouism are counted underHindus , no government data gives their exact number. Hindus are the largest group in the district, making up 612,425 which is 73.64% of the population. There are also 110,215 Christians (13.25%) and 108,319 Muslims (12.66%) in the district.[17]
According to the 2011 census, 26.90% of the population speaksBoro, 22.62%Assamese, 19.43%Bengali, 7.88%Sadri, 5.60%Nepali, 2.79%Santali, 2.64%Odia, 2.08%Kurukh, 1.66%Hindi, 1.57%Mundari and 1.45%Bhojpuri as their first language.[18]
This district is bounded byBhutan andWest Kameng district ofArunachal Pradesh state in the north,Sonitpur district in the east,Darrang district in the south andTamulpur district in the west. Area of the district is 1852.16 km2.[19]
Odalguri is the largest town in Udalguri district. Other towns includeTangla,Rowta, Mazbat,Kalaigaon, Paneri, Khairabari and Bhergaon.
In 1990, Udalguri district became home toBornadi Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 26.22 km2 (10.1 sq mi).[20] It shares the park with four other districts.
Animals like elephants, Hog Deer, Tiger, Wild Boar, Civet, etc. are found. Birds like Bengal Florican, Black-necked Stork, Greater Adjudant Stork, Pallas's Fishing Eagle and Reptiles such as King Cobra, Python, Paradise Flying Snake,[21] Lessemys Punctate, etc. can also be found.
| Climate data for Tangla (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 31.7 (89.1) | 32.5 (90.5) | 38.0 (100.4) | 38.2 (100.8) | 38.9 (102.0) | 39.6 (103.3) | 38.1 (100.6) | 39.0 (102.2) | 38.8 (101.8) | 37.0 (98.6) | 33.4 (92.1) | 32.1 (89.8) | 39.6 (103.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 20.9 (69.6) | 23.3 (73.9) | 25.4 (77.7) | 28.6 (83.5) | 29.0 (84.2) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.5 (86.9) | 31.0 (87.8) | 29.8 (85.6) | 28.6 (83.5) | 26.9 (80.4) | 22.7 (72.9) | 27.5 (81.5) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 11.2 (52.2) | 12.4 (54.3) | 15.2 (59.4) | 19.0 (66.2) | 20.9 (69.6) | 23.5 (74.3) | 24.8 (76.6) | 25.0 (77.0) | 24.0 (75.2) | 21.8 (71.2) | 18.5 (65.3) | 12.9 (55.2) | 19.4 (66.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 3.6 (38.5) | 5.3 (41.5) | 8.4 (47.1) | 10.8 (51.4) | 15.7 (60.3) | 17.4 (63.3) | 20.0 (68.0) | 20.3 (68.5) | 19.0 (66.2) | 11.3 (52.3) | 9.2 (48.6) | 5.2 (41.4) | 3.6 (38.5) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 8.1 (0.32) | 16.2 (0.64) | 48.3 (1.90) | 267.4 (10.53) | 251.1 (9.89) | 335.3 (13.20) | 326.6 (12.86) | 247.9 (9.76) | 187.6 (7.39) | 116.7 (4.59) | 14.2 (0.56) | 5.6 (0.22) | 1,825 (71.85) |
| Average rainy days | 1.0 | 1.6 | 3.8 | 13.6 | 11.5 | 15.2 | 14.1 | 10.3 | 9.6 | 5.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 87.4 |
| Source:India Meteorological Department[22] | |||||||||||||
The district has two sub-divisions: Udalguri and Bhergaon. These two sub-divisions are further divided into 5 revenue circles: Udalguri, Majbat,Harisinga,Kalaigaon,Khoirabari.
Three Vidhan Sabha constituencies of this district arePaneri, Majbat, and Udalguri. All of these are part ofMangaldoi Lok Sabha constituency.[citation needed]
Apart from these three Legislative Assembly constituencies, majority of the villages under Kalaigaon Legislative Assembly Constituency and a few villages fall under the Borsola Legislative Assembly Constituency fall in Udalguri District. While Kalaigaon LAC is a part of Mangaldai Lok Sabha Constituency and Borsola LAC is a part ofTezpur Lok Sabha Constituency.[citation needed]
Dhansiri Irrigation Project, the largest irrigation project in the region is situated in Udalguri.[citation needed]
{{cite web}}:|last= has generic name (help)Places adjacent to Udalguri district | |
|---|---|
26°44′42.72″N92°05′46.32″E / 26.7452000°N 92.0962000°E /26.7452000; 92.0962000
