Barpeta is a town in

Barpeta district Barpeta district is an administrative districts of Assam, district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located at Barpeta. The district occupies an area of and has a population of 1,642,420 (as of 2001). History Bar ...

of the state of

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 ...

in India and is district headquarters. The city is located north west 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 is one of the major cities in Western Assam. It is also called Satra ''Nagari'' (Temple town) of Assam due to the presence of various Vaishnavite Satras in the vicinity.

Geography

It is located at . It has an average elevation of 35 metres (114 feet). It is 40 km away from

Manas National Park Manas National Park is a national park, Project Tiger reserve, and an elephant reserve in Assam, India. Located in the Himalayan foothills, it borders the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. The park is known for its rare and endangered ende ...

. Three rivers - Chaulkhowa, Mora Nodi (Dead River) and Nakhanda, both of which are tributaries to

Brahmaputra The Brahmaputra is a trans-boundary river which flows through Southwestern China, Northeastern India, and Bangladesh. It is known as Brahmaputra or Luit in Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Tibetan, the Siang/Dihang River in Arunachali, and ...

run through the town.

History

The Barpeta was earlier known as 'Tatikuchi', where Tati stands for weaver and Kuchi means cluster of villages in native Barpetia dialect, i.e. the land of weavers. In ancient times, it was central part of erstwhile ancient Kamrup, included in Kamapitha of Kamarupa Pithas, the ancient divisions of old

Kamrup region Kamrup is the modern region situated between two rivers, the Manas river, Manas and the Barnadi River, Barnadi in Western Assam, with the same territorial extent as the Colonial and post-Colonial "Undivided Kamrup district". It was the capita ...

. In nineteenth century, Barpeta town and adjoining areas became part of Undivided Kamrup district, as Barpeta subdivision. In 1983, the subdivision attained district status.

Forestry

Barpeta is the gateway to

, one of the National Parks of Assam and one of the few tiger reserves of India.

Demographics

Hindus form the majority of the town's population, but in surrounding area is Muslim people's, followed by

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Barpeta had a population of 42,649. Population of Children within age of 0-6 is 3673 which is 8.61% of total population of Barpeta. The female Sex Ratio is of 1008 against state average of 958. Moreover, Child Sex Ratio in Barpeta is around 994 compared to Assam state average of 962. Literacy rate of Barpeta city is 90.77% higher than state average of 72.19%. In Barpeta, Male literacy is around 94.86% while female literacy rate is 86.73%. Bengali is spoken by 23,827 people, Assamese is spoken by 6,193, Hindi by 4242, Bodo by 884 and 7,509 people speak other languages. Most of these people are

Bengali Hindus Bengali Hindus () are adherents of Hinduism who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. They make up the majority in the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Assam's Barak Valle ...

and

Assamese people The Assamese people are a socio- ethnic linguistic identity that has been described at various times as nationalistic or micro-nationalistic. This group is often associated with the Assamese language, the easternmost Indo-Aryan language, an ...

, Hindi speaking people and others. Bengali, Assamese and

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 ...

are the major languages spoken in the town.

Climate

Barpeta has a subtropical climate, with chilly winters and hot, humid summers. However, residents here can enjoy both seasons. Sometimes, on a hot day, the temperature in this city varies from 35°C to 39°C.

Politics

Barpeta is part of Barpeta (Lok Sabha constituency). Indian president Fakaruddin Ali Ahmed was an MLA from Jania LAC and MP from the Barpeta constituency. Syed Abdur Rouf, A.F Golam Osmani and other prominent persons represented Barpeta in the constitutional assembly. Phani Bhusan Choudhury of

Asom Gana Parishad Asom Gana Parishad (translation: ''Assam People's Council'', AGP) is a political party in the state of Assam, India. The AGP was formed following the historic Assam Accord of 1985 and formally launched at the Golaghat Convention held from 13 t ...

is the current MP from Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency since the year 2024. There 7 nos of Assembly Constituency in the district. Those are Jania, Baghbar, Sorbhog, Sarukhetri, Bhabanipur, Chenga and Barpeta.

Transport

The nearest railway station, airport and port is Barpeta Road, Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport and Dhubri respectively. Barpeta town is connected to National Highway 31 through Howly, and National Highway 427 via Hajo-Doulashal connects it to Guwahati.

Education

Barpeta has very good educational environment. The town has produced so many noble figures of Assam. Few of them are

Ambikagiri Raichoudhury Ambikagiri Raichoudhury (1885–1967) was an Assamese poet, lyricist, singer, powerful prose writer, news worker, magazine editor, patriotic, social-worker and the leading freedom fighter of India's freedom struggle. He is known as Assam Kesari ...

, Banikanta Kakati, Mahendra Mohan Choudhry and Purushottam Das. Some of the well known higher educational institutions of Barpeta are Barpeta Vidyapith Higher Secondary School, Kendriya Vidyalaya Barpeta, Madhab Choudhury College and Barpeta Girls' College. It also has the fifth medical college of Assam, the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital.

Notable people

, poet and nationalist * Banikanta Kakati, linguist *

Chandra Bharati Chandra Bharati (c. 1525-1578) was a 16th-century poet, litterateur and proficient of Sanskrit grammar from Barpeta, Kamrup region, Kamrup. The inscription on a stone slab on the hill in Rajaduar, abutting on the Brahmaputra, claims that the hi ...

, poet *

Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (13 May 1905 – 11 February 1977) was an Indian lawyer and politician who served as the President of India from 1974 to 1977. Born in Delhi, Ahmed studied in Delhi and Cambridge and was called to the bar from the Inner ...

, fifth

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

* Kalpana Patowary, singer * Mahendra Mohan Choudhry, fourth chief minister of Assam * Rameshwar Pathak, Kamrupi Lokgeet singer * Abdul Khaleque, Politician * Bhattadeva, father of Assamese prose

References

External links

Barpeta District Official Website
* {{Authority control Cities and towns in Barpeta district ar:باربتا bpy:বড়পেটা new:बर्र्या