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111-545: The Barak Valley is the southernmost region and administrative division of the Indian state of Assam . It is named after the Barak river . The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam namely - Cachar , Karimganj , and Hailakandi . 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. The valley

222-538: 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. The root of the dispute is a 1,318 km ( 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 theirs as its "constitutional boundary". On 17 November 2022, Mizoram Home Minister have apologised for

333-568: 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. Hailakandi riot (1990) 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

444-695: A Kachari group in the Tirap region (currently in Arunachal Pradesh ), who informed him that they along with their chief had to leave a place called Mohung (salt springs) losing it to the Nagas and that they were settled near the Dikhou river . This supports a tradition that the eastern boundary of the Kachari domain extended up to Mohong or Namdang river (near Joypur, Assam ) beyond the river Dichang, before

555-517: A Sanksritised name of the king (Viravijay Narayan, identified with Khorapha) with the mention of a goddess Chandi , there is no mention of the King's lineage but a mention of Hachengsa, a Boro-Garo name indicated that an appropriate Kshatriya lineage had still not been created by 1520. The first Hindu coin from the Brahmaputra valley, it followed the same weights and measures of the coins from

666-549: A bullet wound in chest. 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. 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. Soon after that a circular of Section 5 of Assam Language Act XVIII, 1961,

777-483: A few years later. 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. 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

888-630: 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 it into a Bengali-majority region. Once, Barak Valley from (1832–1874) A.D.

999-639: A representative to the royal assembly called Mel , a powerful institution that could elect a king. The representatives sat in the Mel mandap (Council Hall) according to the status of the Sengphong and which provided a counterfoil to royal powers. Over time, the Sengphongs developed a hierarchical structure with five royal Sengphongs though most of the kings belonged to the Hacengha (Hasnusa) clan. Some of

1110-499: Is a corrupted form of the word Kochpur. Gopichandranarayan (r.1745-1757), Harichandra (r.1757-1772) and Laxmichandra (r.1772-1773) were brothers and ruled the kingdom in succession. In 1790, a formal act of conversion took place and Gopichandranarayan and his brother Laxmichandranarayan were proclaimed to be Hindus of the Kshatriya caste. During the reign of Krishnachandra (1790 - 1813), a number of Moamarias rebels took shelter in

1221-626: Is a corruption of Dimasa . The Dimasa kingdom did not record their history, and much of the early information come from other sources. The Ahom Buranjis, for instance, record that in 1490 the Ahom king Suhenphaa (1488–93) created a forward post at Tangsu and when the Dimasas killed the commander and 120 men the Ahoms sued for peace by offering a princess to the Dimasa king along with other presents, but

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1332-416: Is bordered by  Mizoram  and Tripura to the south,  Bangladesh and Meghalaya to the west and Manipur to the east respectively. Once North Cachar Hills was a part of Cachar district which became a subdivision in 1951 and eventually a separate district. On 1 July 1983, Karimganj district was curved out from the eponymous subdivision of Cachar district. In 1989 the subdivision of Hailakandi

1443-461: 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

1554-408: Is still lagging behind in comparison to the Assam's mainland Brahmaputra valley that has access to all of those facilities mentioned above. 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

1665-679: Is the extension of the Greater Surma/Meghna Valley of Bengal in every aspect from culture to geography". 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

1776-430: Is the official as well as the most spoken language of the region with approximately 2,930,378 native speakers. Although Bengali is reported as the most spoken in the census, the most common spoken language is Sylheti , a language that is generally grouped with Bengali as a dialect. Meitei (also called Manipuri ) is the associate official language of the region with 126,498 speakers. Hindi , Bishnupriya and Dimasa are

1887-524: Is the region between the Manas river in the west and the Barnadi river on the east on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river, with a corresponding region on the south bank. Barak Valley region : The Barak Valley in Assam includes Cachar, Hailakandi and Karimganj districts are often called Kachar region and South Assam region, which, excluding Karimganj and including North Cachar (Dima Hasao) together formed

1998-536: Is the region that is constituted by the five colonial districts that were originally in the Ahom kingdom . The districts were: Darrang, Nagaon, Lakhimpur and Sibsagar. Goalpara region : Former Eastern Rangpur region. This is the region between the Sankosh and the manas rivers on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river, with a corresponding region on the south bank. Kamrup region : Former Greater Kamrup region. This

2109-627: The Brahmaputra some of them were swept away —therefore, they are called Dimasa ("Son-of-the-big-river"). The similarity in Dimasa traditions and religious beliefs with those of the Chutiya kingdom supports this tradition of initial unity and then divergence. Linguistic studies too point to a close association between the Dimasa language and the Moran language that was alive till the beginning of

2220-705: The Ahom kingdom . The last king, Govinda Chandra Hasnu, was restored by the British after the Yandabo Treaty in 1826, but he was unable to subjugate Senapati Tularam who ruled the hilly regions. Senapati Tularam Dimasa domain was Mahur River and the Naga Hills in the south, the Doyang River on the west, the Dhansiri River on the east and Jamuna and Doyang in the north. In 1830, Govinda Chandra Hasnu died. In 1832, Senapoti Tularam Thaosen

2331-563: 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 . 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

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2442-605: The Gandharva system and a son was born to princess Hidimbi, named Ghatotkacha. He ruled the Kachari Kingdom for many decades. Thereafter, kings of his lineage ruled over the vast land of the " Dilao " river ( which translates to "long river" in English), now known as Brahmaputra River for centuries until 4th century AD. The Dimasa Kachari kingdom came under Burmese occupation in the late early 19th-century along with

2553-467: The Jaintia kingdom ; and Tripura kingdom held most of the southern highlands and the adjoining lowlands. 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 monopolising traditional trade routes and expanding settled farming for revenue. This was achieved by marking boundaries—company officers served

2664-638: 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

2775-464: The Tripura Kingdom , which was taken over by Koch king Chilarai in the 16th century. The region was ruled by a tributary ruler, Kamalnarayana, the brother of king Chilarai. Around 18th century Bhima Singha, the last Koch ruler of Khaspur, didn't have any male heir. His daughter, Kanchani, married Laxmichandra, the Dimasa prince of Maibang kingdom. And once the last Koch king Bhima Singha died

2886-540: The 16th century by those outside the Dimasa kingdom who practiced sedentary agriculture and who had already experienced Brahminism. After subjugating the Ahoms in 1564, the Koch commander Chilarai advanced on Marangi, subjugated Dimarua and finally advanced on the Dimasa kingdom, then possibly under Durlabh Narayan or his predecessor Nirbhay Narayan and made it into a feudatory of the Koch kingdom . This campaign realigned

2997-492: The 19th century. Given different traditions and legends, the only reliable sources of the early history of the Dimasa kingdom is that given in the Buranjis, even though they are primarily narrations of wars between the Ahom and the Dimasa polities. The historical accounts of the Dimasas begin with mentions in Ahom chronicles: according to an account in a Buranji , the first Ahom king Sukaphaa (r. 1228–1268) encountered

3108-499: The 20th-century, suggesting that the Dimasa kingdom had an eastern Assam presence before the advent of the Ahoms . The eastern Assam origin of the Dimasas is further reinforced by the tradition of the tutelary goddess Kecaikhati whose primary shrine was around Sadiya ; the tribal goddess common to many Kachari peoples : as the Rabhas , Morans , Tiwas , Koch , Chutias , etc. According to legend Hachengsa (or Hasengcha )

3219-456: The 7th century. 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. Sylhet is farther to

3330-468: The Ahoms went on the offence and Khunkhara's brother Detcha lost his life attacking the newly erected Ahom fort at Marangi. Both the Ahom king and the commander then attacked the Nenguriya fort, and Khunkhara had to flee with his son. The Ahoms force under Kan-Seng then reached Dimapur following which Detchung, a son of the earlier king Khorapha, approached Suhungmung at Nenguriya and submitted his claim to

3441-825: 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. 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

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3552-422: 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

3663-602: 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. 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

3774-481: 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. 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

3885-443: The Cachar plains, suggesting that it was the Dimasa people that gave the name Cachar to the plains. Barak valley Division comprises three districts, namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. 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

3996-557: The Cachar state. The Ahoms blamed the Dimasa for providing refuge to the rebels and this led to a number of small skirmishes between the Ahoms and the Dimasas from 1803 to 1805. The King of Manipur sought the help of Krishna Chandra Dwaja Narayan Hasnu Kachari against the Burmese Army . The King Krishna Chandra defeated Burmese in the war and in lieu was offered the Manipuri Princess Induprabha. As he

4107-574: The Chief Minister for providing implicit support to the separation call. The southernmost region of Assam that is Barak Valley has an overwhelming Bengali majority population of about 80.8% as per 2011 census report. 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

4218-556: The Dimasa king Khorapha was killed, and Khunkhara, his brother, came to power. The two kingdoms made peace and decided to maintain the Dhansiri river as the boundary. This peace did not hold and fighting broke out between an advancing Ahom force against a Kachari force arrayed along the Dhansiri—the Kacharis were successful initially, but they suffered a massive loss at Marangi, and again an uneasy stalemate prevailed. In 1531

4329-505: The Dimasa king preparing to attack them. This led Sankardeva and his group to abandon the region for good. One of the earliest mention of Kachari is found in the Bhagavat of Sankardev in the section composed during the later part of his life in the Koch kingdom where he uses it synonymously with Kirata . Another early mention of the name Kachari comes from Kacharir Niyam ( Rules of

4440-518: The Dimasa king, installed Jasa Manik on the throne of Jaintia Kingdom , who manipulated events to bring the Dimasa Kacharis into conflict with the Ahoms once again in 1618. Satrudaman, the most Dimasa powerful king, ruled over Dimarua in Nagaon district , North Cachar, Dhansiri valley, plains of Cachar and parts of eastern Sylhet . After his conquest of Sylhet, he struck coins in his name. By

4551-539: The Dimasa throne. The Ahoms thereafter claimed the Dimasa king as thapita-sanchita (established and preserved), and the Dimasa kingdom provided support to the Ahom kingdom when it was under the attack of Turbak in 1532/1533, a Turko-Afghan commander from Bengal. But when Detchung (also called Dersongpha) tried to throw off the yoke Suhungmung advanced against Detchung captured and killed him, and then advanced on and occupied Dimapur in 1536. The Dimasas rulers thereafter abandoned Dimapur. The current ruins at Dimapur,

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4662-537: The Dimasas migrated to Khaspur, thus merging the two kingdoms into one as Kachari kingdom under the king Gopichandranarayan, as the control of the Khaspur kingdom went to the ruler of the Maibong kingdom as inheritance from the royal marriage and established their capital in Khaspur, near present-day Silchar . The independent rule of the Khaspur's Koch rulers ended in 1745 when it merged with the Kachari kingdom. Khaspur

4773-602: The EIC interests in generating more revenue and confronting Ava militarily, but they also served their own private commercial interests. 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

4884-592: 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. Religions in Barak Valley (2011) Hinduism , by a sliver, is the slight majority religion, while Islam is the second-largest religion in the Valley. The religious composition of the valley population is as follows: Hindus 50%, Muslims 48.1%, Christians 1.6%, and others 0.3%. Hindus are

4995-637: The Kacharis ), composed during the reign of Tamradhwaj Narayan ( r.  1697–1708? ), when the Dimasa rulers were still ruling in Maibang. A coin dated 1520 commemorating a decisive victory over enemies is one of the earliest direct evidence of the historical kingdom. Since no conflict with the Kacharis is mentioned in the Ahom Buranjis it is conjectured that the enemy could have been the nascent Koch kingdom of Biswa Singha . Though issued in

5106-629: The King of Jaintia Kingdom, after his imprisonment he sent messengers to the Assam king for help, in response Rudra Singha deputed his generals with over 43,000 troops to invade Jaintia kingdom. The Jaintia king was captured and taken to the court of Rudra Singha where the Jaintia king submitted and the territories of the Dimasa Kingdom and Jaintia kingdom got annexed to the Ahom kingdom . Kacharis had three ruling clans ( semfongs ): Bodosa (an old historical clan), Thaosengsa (the clan to which

5217-606: The Muslim Sultans of Bengal and Tripura and indicate influence from them. This kingdom might have been part of ancient Sinitic networks such as the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Soon after absorbing the Chutia kingdom in 1523 Suhungmung , the Ahom king, decided to recover the territory the Ahoms had lost in 1490 to the Dimasa kingdom and sent his commander Kan-Seng in 1526 who advanced up to Marangi. In one of these attacks

5328-493: The Sanskrit markings of the 1520 silver coin issued by Viravijay Narayan (Khorapha), the city lacked any sign of Brahminical influence, from the observations in 1536 as recorded in the Buranjis, as well as the colonial observations of 1874. The fall of Dimapur in 1536 was followed by a 22-year period of interregnum , and there is no mention of a king in the records. In either 1558 or 1559 a son of Detsung, Madanakumara, assumed

5439-694: The Valley. While Islam is overwhelmingly practised by Bengalis , with some small populace of Meitei Pangals , Kacharis and Biharis . Christianity is mainly practised by Tea-garden community , tribals such as Khasis , Mizos , Hmars , Kukis and Nagas living in the Valley. The below are population by district tehsils in 2011: 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. Hindus are significant in two tehsils of Hailakandi namely Katlichara and Lala, while Muslims are majority in all

5550-423: The arrested fled the spot. 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

5661-452: The arrival of Ahoms. Given the settlement was large, Sukaphaa decided not to engage with them before settling with the Barahi and Moran polities. During the reign of Sukaphaa's successor Suteuphaa ( r.  1268–1281 ) the Ahoms negotiated with this group of the Dimasa, who had been in the region between Dikhou and Namdang for about three generations by then, and the Dimasa group moved to

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5772-401: The case of Cachar Valley, the language of the region ( Bangla )". 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

5883-516: The clans provided specialized services to the state ministers, ambassadors, storekeepers, court writers, and other bureaucrats and ultimately developed into professional groups, e.g. Songyasa (king's cooks), Nablaisa (fishermen). By the 17th century, the Dimasa Kachari rule extended into the plains of Cachar. The plains people did not participate in the courts of the Dimasa Kachari king directly. They were organized according to khels , and

5994-537: The clashes that have occurred in Barak-Mizoram border in which six police personnel and one civilian were killed in Lailapur. Barak valley has witnessed many major communal riots since 1960's to the most recent 2021 Hailakandi riots. Lists of riots involving communalism in Barak valley region: Karimganj riot (1968) In the 1968 Karimganj riots, a cow belonging to a Muslim wandered into a Hindu house. When

6105-553: The common land. The appearance of an injured cow hurt their sentiments and led to a riot resulting in many casualties. Silchar riot (2013) In 2013, rumours of beef being found in a temple in Silchar sparked Hindu Muslim clashes in which at least 30 people were injured. Regions of Assam The Regions of Assam are non-administrative units in the Indian state of Assam with a common historical past. Not all these regions are mutually exclusive. Assam Proper region : This

6216-522: The creation of a new Purbachal state, separate from Assam. On 29 November 2023, the demand for separate Barak state have been raised before the office of Prime Minister and Home Minister and a memorandum was also submitted by the members of Barak Democratic Front in Parliament of India . The indigenous Dimasa Cachari people of Northeast India have been demanding a separate state called Dimaraji or " Dimaland " for several decades. It would comprise

6327-599: 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. Conflicting territorial claims have persisted for long between Assam's Barak and Mizoram, which share

6438-475: The earlier king, claimed in the coin issued earlier in 1520 from Dimapur that he had defeated the enemies of Hachengsa without specifying his relationship to him but Nirbhaya Narayana and his successors in Maibong for the next hundred years or so claimed in their coins that they belonged to the family of Hachensa; thereby signalling a change in the mode of legitimacy from deed to birth. On the other hand Dimasa kings from Maibang are recorded as Lord of Heremba from

6549-417: The erstwhile undivided Cachar district, a part of the Kachari kingdom , that was under the command of Gobinda Chandra. Karimganj district was a part of the colonial Sylhet district of Assam. Kachari kingdom In the 18th century, a divine Hindu origin was constructed for the rulers of the Kachari kingdom and it was named Hidimba , and the kings as Hidimbesvar. The name Hiḍimbā continued to be used in

6660-507: 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

6771-757: 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 ". 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

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6882-457: The government hoarding has led to condemnation from people and various regional organisations of the Brahmaputra Valley, where Assamese organisations 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. The political 'language wars' and strife between

6993-401: The king provided justice and collected revenue via an official called the Uzir . Though the plains people did not participate in the Dimasa Kachari royal court, the Dharmadhi guru and other Brahmins in the court cast a considerable influence, especially with the beginning of the 18th century. In the medieval era, after the fall of Kamarupa kingdom the region of Khaspur was originally a part of

7104-415: The kings belonged), and Hasyungsa (to which the kings relatives belonged). The king at Maibang was assisted in his state duties by a council of ministers ( Patra and Bhandari ), led by a chief called Barbhandari . These and other state offices were manned by people of the Dimasa group, who were not necessarily Hinduized. There were about 40 clans called Sengphong of the Dimasa people, each of which sent

7215-478: 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 . The Kachari kings at Khaspur appointed Brahmins as rajpandits and rajgurus and provided land grants to Muslims from Sylhet for cultivation. Some people from Manipur and the Ahom kingdom too moved to the Cachar plains following disturbances in those lands. In 1835 Pemberton reported that

7326-626: The latest final draft list. As a whole, about 11% residents of Barak could not make their name appears on the list. 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

7437-535: 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. Hinduism is mainly practised by Bengalis , Dimasas , Tripuris , Meiteis , Bishnupriyas , Odias , Nepalis , Biharis and Marwaris living in

7548-406: The name of the Dimasa king is not known. The Dimasas thus recovered the region east of the Dikhau river that it had lost in the late 13th century. Ekasarana biographies of Sankardeva written after his death use the name Kachari for the Dimasa people and the kingdom and record that around 1516 the Baro-Bhuyans at Alipukhuri came into conflict with their Kachari neighbors which escalated into

7659-440: The number of East Bengali refugees living in Cachar alone is found to be 156,307 which is way higher than the previous census. 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. The number of Hindu immigrants from Bangladesh in Barak Valley has varied estimates. According to

7770-402: The official records when the East India Company took over the administration of Cachar. The origin of the Dimasa Kingdom is not clear. According to tradition, the Dimasa had their domain in Kamarupa and their king belonged to a lineage called Ha-tsung-tsa or Ha-cheng-sa , a name first mentioned in a coin from 1520. Some of them had to leave due to a political turmoil and while crossing

7881-529: 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. 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. The Barak Valley region

7992-480: The other most widely spoken languages with 362,459, 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. 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

8103-526: 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. Hailakandi, claimed by both the Tripura and Kachari kingdoms, was a market town on the banks of the Dalasuri river which connected

8214-597: The products of empire building, especially under the East India Company (EIC) and the British Raj . The pre-colonial kingdoms were not cartographically defined; they were rather defined according to heartlands, and the defence of the margins were not important, and it was communities living in different places owing loyalties to different royal lineages that implied territories. The EIC interests led to drastically differently defined cartographic territories—it

8325-623: The region around Sylhet, which picked up significantly only after 1719 and lasted till the beginning of East India Company rule in 1765. 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. The Mughal administration granted land in Sarkar Sylhet to talukdars , called Chaudhuri , in smaller land parcels called taluks , as opposed to larger zamindars in

8436-479: The region be it rural or urban areas with great joy and happiness. Annually, on average 2,500 puja pandals have been organised by puja committees throughout the valley, with 300 durga puja pandals are being concentrated in Silchar alone. The festival marks the victory of good over evil. Kali Puja is one of the most celebrated festivals in the valley after Durga Puja. Every year around 2000 Puja pandals are built in

8547-520: The region east of Sylhet town slowly after it won the right to collect land revenue under the Treaty of Allahabad in 1765. 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

8658-402: The region separate statehood". 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 ." The BDF subsequently conducted a press conference on 8 September 2023 and congratulated

8769-498: 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 Busu Dima is an annual cultural festival celebrated by the Dimasa Kachari tribe of North Cachar Hills and Cachar of Barak valley. It is the biggest harvesting agricultural festival. It is celebrated after the completion of grain harvest in different villages of

8880-477: The reign of Birdarpan Narayan (reign around 1644), the Dimasa rule had withdrawn completely from the Dhansiri valley and it reverted to a jungle forming a barrier between the kingdom and the Ahom kingdom . When a successor king, Tamradhwaj, declared independence, the Ahom king Rudra Singha deputed 2 of his generals to invade Maibong with over 71,000 troops, and destroyed its forts in 1706. Tamardhwaj fled to Jaintia Kingdom where he got treacherously imprisoned by

8991-576: The relationships and rearranged the territorial controls among the political formations of the time. Dimarua, which was a feudatory of the Dimasa kingdom, was set up by Chilarai was a buffer against the Jaintia kingdom . The hold of the Ahom kingdom, which was already subjugated, over the Dimasa kingdom weakened. Further, Chilarai defeated and killed the Twipra king, and occupied the Cachar region from him and established Koch administration there at Brahmapur (Khaspur) under his brother Kamal Narayan —this region

9102-460: The resource-rich southern hills with the markets in the north along the Barak river. In 1821-22 when Thomas Fischer surveyed the area, 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. In this region a past Tripura king received a princess from Manipur. It was uncertain which of

9213-546: The rest of Bengal. Sylhet was itself a borderland when the EIC acquired the Mughal Sarkar Sylhet in 1765. 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

9324-530: The same city that Suhungmung occupied, include a 2 mile long brick wall on three sides, with the Dhansiri river on the fourth with water tanks—indicating a large city. The existing gateway too was in brick and display the Islamic architectural style of Bengal. The ruins include curious carved 12 feet tall pillars of sandstone with hemispherical tops and foliated carvings with representations of animals and birds but no humans that display no Hindu influence. Despite

9435-520: The state saw as many as 855 Assamese people gave up their lives to protect the Linguistic, ethnic and cultural identity of Assam. 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,

9546-535: The three districts Cachar , Hailakandi , Karimganj , as well as historical Dima Hasao of Undivided Cachar Valley and some parts of 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 . Silchar is the proposed capital of Barak state. 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

9657-435: 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. 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. East India Company had pushed into

9768-603: The three tehsils, but in Katlichara Muslims form a plurality according to 2011 census. 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. 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

9879-486: The throne with the name Nirbhaya Narayana, and established his capital at Maibang in the North Cachar hills . Not all the Kachari people accompanied the rulers from Dimapur to Maibong—and those who remained in the plains developed independently in language and customs. In the hills around Maibong, the Dimasa rulers encountered already established Naga and Kuki peoples, who accepted the Dimasa rule. Khorapha,

9990-603: The total population of Cachar Valley, followed by 10,723 Manipuris, 6,320 Kukis, 5,645 Naga and 2,213 Cacharis. 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. In 1947, when a plebiscite was held in Sylhet of then Assam Province with majority voting for incorporation with Pakistan . The Sylhet district

10101-513: The valley and hills. The festival is usually organised in the month of January. 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 organised cultural events, public meetings, rally and various programs related to this festival. Charak puja ( Pohela Boishakh )

10212-424: 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

10323-463: The valley organising the Congress and addressing meetings educating the masses about the outcome of partition on the basis of religion. 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. Both the meetings, which were attended by a large section of Muslims paid dividend. He

10434-655: The valley specially in Muslim-majority Karimganj and Hailakandi district. Over 80 per cent 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. On 5 February 1961, the Cachar Gana Sangram Parishad

10545-473: 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. 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. The Mughals began the practice of settling cultivators in

10656-613: The west of the Dikhou river. These isolated early accounts of the Dimasas suggest that they controlled the region between the Dikhu river in the east and the Kolong river in the west and included the Dhansiri valley and the north Cachar hills from the late 13th century. The Ahom language Buranjis call the Dimasa kings khun timisa , and place them initially in Dimapur , where Timisa

10767-580: Was a part of the Bengal Presidency under the British Empire . 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

10878-532: Was already married to Rani Chandraprabha, he asked the princess to be married to his younger brother Govinda Chandra Hasnu. The fictitious but widely believed legend that was constructed by the Hindu Brahmins at Khaspur goes as follows: During their exile, the Pandavas came to the Kachari Kingdom where Bhima fell in love with Hidimbi (sister of Hidimba ). Bhima married princess Hidimbi according to

10989-563: Was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam, especially Karimganj with India. 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 ). In return of that, Moulvibazar the only Hindu-majority district of Sylhet Division

11100-607: Was an extraordinary boy brought up by a tiger and a tigress in a forest near Dimapur who replaced the existing king following divine oracles; which likely indicates the emergence of a strong military leader able to consolidate power. Subsequently, the Hasengcha Sengfang (clan) emerged and beginning with Khorapha (1520 in Dimapur), the Dimasa kings continued to draw lineage from Hachengcha in Maibong and Khaspur till

11211-425: 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

11322-578: 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." 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

11433-558: 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 . 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. On 18 May,

11544-428: Was found that two Bengali organisations 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)". The smearing of

11655-416: Was given to East Pakistan during partition. According to the 2011 Indian census , Barak valley had a population of 3,624,599. Male population is 1,850,038 and female population is 1,774,561. The Literacy rate is 76.27%. The population of Barak Valley is estimated to be over 4,386,089 people for upcoming 2021 census. Languages spoken in Barak Valley (2011) As per (2011) language census report, Bengali

11766-489: 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. 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,

11877-504: 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. The Cachar district (Cachar plains) and Dima Hasao (Cachar hills) were both parts of

11988-508: 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. 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

12099-552: Was pensioned off and his region was annexed by the British to ultimately become the North Cachar district; and in 1833, Govinda Chandra's domain was also annexed to become the Cachar district. In The British annexed the Dimasa Kachari Kingdom under the doctrine of lapse . At the time of British annexation, the kingdom consisted of parts of Nagaon and Karbi Anglong ; North Cachar (Dima Hasao), Cachar and

12210-535: Was to form the core of the Dimasa rule in the 18th century. The size of the annual tribute— seventy thousand rupees, one thousand gold mohurs and sixty elephants — testifies to the resourcefulness of the Kachari state. A conflict with the Jaintia Kingdom over the region of Dimarua led to a battle, in which the Jaintias suffered defeat. After the death of Jaintia king Dhan Manik, Satrudaman

12321-496: Was upgraded into Hailakandi district . The name "Barak" has derived from the Dimasa words 'Bra' and 'Kro'. Bra means bifurcation and Kro upper means portion/stream. 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 Barman Kacharis of Cachar plains. Barak valley excluding Karimganj

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