Tinsukia (Pron: ˌtɪnˈsʊkiə) is an industrial city. It is situated north-east of

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

and away from the border with

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

. Tinsukia serves as the headquarters of the

Moran Autonomous Council Moran Autonomous Council is an autonomous council in the Indian state of Assam, for development and protection of ethnic Moran people. It was formed in 2020. About The Moran people are indigenous people living primarily in the Tinsukia distric ...

, which is the governing council of the Morans (an indigenous tribal group found predominantly in the Tinsukia district and neighbouring Arunachal pradesh). It is the administrative headquarters of the

Tinsukia District Tinsukia district is one of the 34 administrative districts in the state of Assam, India. The district headquarters is located at Tinsukia city. The district occupies an area of 3790 km2. History 16th century The area of the present ...

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

, India.

History

14th century

During the reign of

Sudangphaa Sudangphaa (1397–1407) was a Chaopha of the Ahom kingdom. He was popularly known as Bamuni Konwar (Brahman prince) because of his upbringing in a Brahman's house. His reign marks the first stage in the growth of Hinduism in the Ahom dynast ...

(1397-1407), the relatively small Ahom kingdom was attacked by Mong Kawng, a

Shan state Shan State (, ; , ) is a administrative divisions of Myanmar, state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos (Louang Namtha Province, Louang Namtha and Bokeo Provinces) to the east, and Thailand (Chiang Rai Province, Chia ...

in what is today

Upper Burma Upper Myanmar ( or , also called Upper Burma) is one of two geographic regions in Myanmar, the other being Lower Myanmar. Located in the country's centre and north stretches, Upper Myanmar encompasses six inland states and regions, including ...

. A Mong Kwang army sent under General Ta-chin-Pao advanced up to Tipam but was subsequently defeated and pushed back as far as the Kham Jang territory. The generals of the two armies conducted a peace treaty on the shore of the Nong Jake lake and in accordance with the Tai custom dipped their hands in the lake, fixing the boundary of the two kingdoms at Patkai hills. Tinsukia is the site of ''Bengmara'', which was originally known as ''Changmai Pathar''. It was the capital of the Matak kingdom which was founded by Swargadeo

Sarbananda Singha Sarbananda Singh or Mejera was a Moamoria leader. He was Matak Chutia by ethnicity. He was the first ruler of the autonomous region called Matak rajya (1805–1839), selected by his followers, with its capital in Bengmara, in what is now Tinsu ...

. Swargadeo Sarbananda Singha, known as Mezara, was a member of the erstwhile Chutia royal family and rose to become an able administrator. Mezara adopted the name Sarbananda Singha after he became the king.

Swargadeo Saopha (), also spelled Sawbwa, was the title used by hereditary rulers of Shan states in Upper Myanmar. Chaopha and Chao Fa were similar titles used by the hereditary Tai rulers in mainland Southeast Asia and the Ahom kingdom in India. Nam ...

Sarbananda Singha introduced coins in his name and in Saka 1716 and 1717, he inscribed the title Swargadeo in the coins.

Geography

Tinsukia is located at . It has an average elevation of 116 metres (380 feet).

Demographics

According to the 2011 census, Tinsukia had a population of 116,322. It is estimated that the city has a population of 178,000 people in 2024. Males constituted 55% of the population and females 45%. Tinsukia had an average literacy rate of 70.15%, higher than the national average of 64.84%; male literacy was 77.89%, and female literacy 63.54%. 13.29% of the population was under 6 years of age. According to the 2011 census, 34.46% of the population spoke

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, 33.05%

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, 21.29% Assamese, 4.37%

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri may refer to: * Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal * Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language * Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language * Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language * Bhojpuri region ...

, 1.89% Nepali and 0.96%

Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of Indic languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the state * Rajasthani architecture, Indian ar ...

as their first language.

Politics

Tinsukia is part of

Dibrugarh (Lok Sabha constituency) Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam state in north-eastern India. Assembly segments Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the following assembly segments: Current assembly segments Pre ...

Sanjoy Kishan Sanjoy Kishan (born January 26, 1970, in Dhelakhat, Assam) is a Bharatiya Janata Party politician from Assam, India. He was elected to the Assam Legislative Assembly election in 2016, representing the Tinsukia constituency. Early life Sanjoy ...

of BJP is the current MLA of

Tinsukia (Vidhan Sabha constituency) Tinsukia Assembly constituency is one of the 126 assembly constituencies of Assam a north east state of India. Tinsukia is also part of Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency. Members of Legislative Assembly Election results 2016 ...

Media

The Assamese daily ''

Dainik Janambhumi () is an Indian Assamese-language daily newspaper. This newspaper is published by Janambhumi Group of Publications from Nehru Park, Tulsi Narayan Sarma Path, Jorhat. In 1947, Janambhumi Group of Publications was founded with the launch of the ...

'' is published from Tinsukia along with

and

Jorhat Jorhat ( /) is a major city in Upper Assam division, Upper Assam and among the fastest growing urban centres in the state of Assam in India. Etymology Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and ...

Notable people from Tinsukia

Bhupen Hazarika Bhupen Hazarika (; 8 September 1926 – 5 November 2011), widely known as Sudha Kontho, was an Indian singer, songwriter, writer, filmmaker and politician from Assam. He has written songs mainly in the Assamese language, which are marked by h ...

Mahika Sharma Mahika Sharma is an Indian actress. She won a beauty pageant, becoming the Miss Teen Northeast. She has also appeared in Indian television serials. Sharma has appeared in television show F.I.R. (TV series) and Bollywood movie Mr Joe B. Carva ...

Savitri Jindal Savitri Devi Jindal (born 20 March 1950) is an Indian businesswoman and politician. She is the chairperson emeritus of the O.P. Jindal Group. She is also the president of Maharaja Agrasen Medical College, Agroha. As of June 2024, the Jindal fa ...

* Harekrishna Deka

Notes

References

* * *

External links

Tinsukia district official website
* {{Authority control