Dibrugarh district () is a district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located within the city of Dibrugarh.

Etymology Dibrugarh derived its name from Dibarumukh (as a renowned encampment of Ahoms during the Ahom-Chutia war). The name "Dibru" is associated with the Dibaru or Dibru River. The word is derived from the Tibeto-burman word “Dibru” and “Garh” meaning "fort". The Tibeto-burman Bodo-Kacharis groups add the prefix “Di-” (which means “water”) wherever there is a small stream, a river, or a large river in a town or city.

History Prior to the Ahom expansion of the early 16th century, most of the area comprising present-day Dibrugarh district formed part of the Chutia Kingdom, while the eastern tracts adjoining the Patkai foothills, including Tipam and Namrup, formed part of the early Ahom kingdom. The Dihing, then following a course (adjecent to the Disang course) considerably different from that of the present Burhi Dihing River, marked an important frontier between the Chutia and Ahom territories. Namrup was one of the easternmost provinces of the Ahom kingdom and is described as a crown estate established by Sukaphaa, while Tipam was one of the earliest Ahom administrative divisions; the latter roughly corresponded to the later Joypur police-station area of Dibrugarh district.

During the reign of Suhungmung, following the Chutia-Ahom conflicts, the Ahoms expanded into the Chutia-controlled parts of the Dihing valley. The Chutia army under the generals Kasitora, Alangi Chetia and Borpatra fought against the Ahoms at Dibrumukh,Deodhai Assam Buranji, chap. 31 but were defeated. Following the capture of Sadiya in 1524 and the fall of the Chutia kingdom, the newly conquered territories were incorporated into the Ahom kingdom, and Suhungmung appointed an official named Chaolung Shulung to administer the region.

Following the defeat of the Ahom royal forces at Amaratali in the Dibru region in 1787, during the reign of Gaurinath Singha and the Moamoria rebellion, the area passed under the control of the Mataks or Moamorias, who subsequently formed the Matak kingdom and became the dominant religious community there."Since the defeat of the royal troops at Amaratali of Dibru in 1787 A.D. this region came under the Mataks or the Moamarias, who formed there a dominant religious community." During the reign of Matak king Sarbananda Singha in the early 19th century, Kachari Sonowals and Bihiya Sonowals were brought over by the king from Sadiya and Sissi-Dhemaji regions respectively and settled in the forested areas of Dibrugarh district, between the Buri Dihing and Dibru rivers.

Dibrugarh became a separate district when it was split from Lakhimpur on 2 October 1971. On 1 October 1989 Tinsukia district was split from Dibrugarh.

Geography Dibrugarh district occupies an area of , comparatively equivalent to Russia's Vaygach Island. The district extends from 27° 5' 38" N to 27° 42' 30" N latitude and 94°33'46"E to 95°29'8"E longitude. It is bounded by Dhemaji district on the north, Tinsukia district on the east, Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh on the south-east and Sibsagar district on the north and south-west. The area stretches from the north bank of the Brahmaputra, which flows for a length of 95 km through the northern margin of the district, to the Patkai foothills on the south. The Burhi Dihing, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra with its network of tributaries and wetlands flows through the district from east to west. There is a large tract of Tropical Rainforest in its eastern and southern regions, which is a part of the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary.

Flora and fauna

In 1999 Dibrugarh district became home to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, which has an area of . It shares the park with Tinsukia district. It is also home to the Padumani-Bherjan-Borajan Wildlife Sanctuary, which was established in 1999 and has an area of . In 2020 Dibrugarh district became home to Dehing Patkai National Park, which has an area of . It shares the park with Tinsukia district.

Economy Tea and oil are the major revenue earners for the district. Beside these many rice and oilseed mills exist. Also there are some coal mining and petroleum production industries.

Agriculture The majority of the population are occupied in farming of rice, sugar-cane, pulses, and fish farming.

Dibrugarh has the world's largest area covered by tea gardens. The entire district is surrounded by tea plantations and has tea factories. Many tea gardens are more than 100 years old.

Industry The world's oldest running oil refinery is situated in Digboi (Tinsukia District). The entire district has many oil and natural gas rigs owned by the Oil India Limited and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.

The headquarters of Oil India Limited is located in Duliajan, 50 km from Dibrugarh Town.

Namrup is known for its 3 main industries viz. BVFCL (Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd.), APL (Assam Petrochemicals Ltd.) and NTPS (Namrup Thermal Power Station).

Administrative The Administrative System is divided into:

Village (1361) Block (7) Gaon Panchayats (93) Zilla Parishad (1)

In the lower-house (Lok Sabha) of the Indian Parliament, Dibrugarh is one constituency and represented by one elected Member of the Parliament.

Notable towns and villages

Chabua Dibrugarh Duliajan Jamirah Patra Gaon Moran Naharkatia Namrup

Revenue circles Dibrugarh East Dibrugarh West Chabua Tengakhat Naharkatia Tingkhong Moran.

Police stations

There are seven Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Moran, Dibrugarh, Lahowal, Duliajan, Tingkhong, Naharkatia, and Chabua. Chabua is in the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituency, whilst the other six are in the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency.

Transport Dibrugarh is well linked by roads, railway (Dibrugarh railway station), airway (Mohanbari Airport) and waterway. There are four airfields, which were used by the British against Japanese forces in Burma during World War II.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Dibrugarh district has a population of 1,326,335, roughly equal to the nation of Mauritius or the US state of Maine. This gives it a ranking of 367th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.04%. Dibrugarh has a sex ratio of 961 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.05%, 82.82% in males and 68.99% in females. 18.38% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 4.44% and 7.76% of the population respectively.

Dibrugarh is a multi-cultural district. According to the 2011 census, 76.01% of the district speaks Assamese, 5.93% Bengali, 5.80% Hindi, 4.83% Sadri, 1.72% Nepali, 1.13% Bhojpuri and 1.00% Odia as their first language.

Education The district is the pivot of higher education in the entire North East India. Right from the British India period the district has been a center for learning. The Assam Medical College was established by a personal grant from Dr. John Berry White after he retired as the civil surgeon of Lakhimpur district. The medical school, "John Berry White Medical School" was set up in 1900 at Dibrugarh, and thus this premier institute started its history, and marked a new era in education. Assam Medical College has the pride of having the first Radiology department in India, as in 1910 two X-ray machine (One 10MA and another 15MA) was bought from England, only 15 years after the discovery of X-rays by Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895–96. These two were the first X-ray machines in India.

Apart from medical, the other higher fields of learning in the district are Pharmacology, Geology and Applied Geology and Petroleum Technology. All these courses are offered by Dibrugarh University, which was established in 1965.

Beside the university, other centres for learning are:

Dibrugarh Poly-technique, offering various diploma courses in electrical, civil and mechanical fields Regional Medical Research Centre - RMRC, a centre for scientific and research in bio-medical sciences where major health problems and its causes are studied

The district came to national prominence for education in 2009 with Gaurav Agarwal of the Assam Valley School topping the country in the Class XII board examinations conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.

Politics The Dibrugarh district is part Dibrugarh, and Lakhimpur parliament constituency. Vidhan Sabha constituencies are Moran, Dibrugarh, Lahowal, Duliajan, Tingkhong, Naharkatia, Chabua

Notable people

Arun Sharma: Dramatist Biju Phukan: Assamese actor Dipannita Sharma: Indian actress and model Jyoti Prasad Agarwala: Indian playwright, songwriter, poet, writer and film maker Jogendra Nath Hazarika: former chief minister of Assam Keshab Chandra Gogoi: former chief minister of Assam Moloya Goswami: Indian actress Nilmoni Phukan: Assamese writer, poet, freedom fighter and politician Nagen Saikia: Indian writer Paresh Barua: leader of militant group ULFA Parineeta Borthakur: Indian actress Prahlad Chandra Tasa: Indian writer and educationist Ranjan Gogoi: 46th Chief Justice of India Rameswar Teli: MP, Lok sabha from Dibrugarh Shamin Mannan: Indian actress Sarbananda Sonowal: former chief minister of Assam

See also Sonowal Kachari Autonomous Council Matak Autonomous Council

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links Dibrugarh District official Website Assam Medical College Dibrugarh University Dibrugarh Online website