Goalpara Region
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Goalpara region, largely congruous to the historical undivided Goalpara district, is a
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
that is associated with the
people The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...
and culture of Goalpara. It is bounded on the north by
Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, on the east by the
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 the south by
Meghalaya Meghalaya (; "the abode of clouds") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeast India. Its capital is Shillong. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the Assam: the United Khasi Hills an ...
and in the west by Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri in
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
and Rangpur in
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
. The natural landmarks are: Sankosh and
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 ...
rivers on the west, the Manas River on the east in the north bank, and a corresponding region in the south bank; the Garo Hills in the south and Bhutan Hills in the north.


History

In ancient times, it was a part of a division of the Kamarupa kingdom. After the fall of the Kamarupa dynasties Sandhya, a later Kamarupa king, moved his capital from Kamarupanagara (present-day
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 ...
) to Kamatapur (near Cooch Behar town) in the middle of the 13th century, and established the Kamata kingdom. This situation prevailed till the time of Naranarayana, when it became a part of
Koch Hajo Koch Hajo (1581–1616) was the kingdom under Raghudev and his son Parikshit Narayan of the Koch dynasty that stretched from Sankosh River in the west to the Bhareli River in the east on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River. It was created by ...
. It was defined as an administrative unit for the first time in the 17th century when it was called ''Sarkar Dhekuri'' under the
Bengal Subah The Bengal Subah (Bengali language, Bengali: সুবাহ বাংলা, ), also referred to as Mughal Bengal and Bengal State (after 1717), was one of the puppet states and the largest subah, subdivision of The Mughal India, Mughal Emp ...
of the
Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...
. After the transfer of the Bengal ''Diwani'' to the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
, the Goalpara region, minus the Assam Dooars, then under
Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
, came to be called Rangamatty, and after 1816, "Northeast Rangpur". When the British constituted this as a district in 1833 it came to be known after its headquarters which was in Goalpara town. A portion of the Assam Dooars areas were added to this district after the
Bhutan war The Duar War (or Anglo-Bhutanese War) was a war fought between British Raj, British India and Bhutan in 1864 to 1865. It has been the only military conflict between the two states since 1774. Background Across the nineteenth century, British ...
of 1865.


People

A majority of the people belong to Koch Rajbanshi speaking
Rangpuri language Rangpuri (Rangpuri: অংপুরি ''Ôṅgpuri'' or অমপুরি ''Ômpuri'') is an eastern Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language of the Bengali–Assamese languages, Bengali-Assamese branch, spoken in Rangpur Division in Bangl ...
who are converts from Mech, Rabha communities in earlier times.
Goalpariya dialect Goalpariya is a group of Indo-Aryan dialects spoken in the Goalpara region of Assam, India. Along with Kamrupi, they form the western group of Assamese dialects. The North Bengali dialect is situated to its west, amidst a number of Tibet ...
spoken here is a part of Rajbongshi which is a constituent of the
Assamese language Assamese () or Asamiya ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a ''lingua franca'' in parts of Northeast India."Axomiya is the major langu ...
. Assamese Brahmins and
Kayastha Kayastha (or Kayasth) denotes a cluster of disparate Indian communities broadly categorised by the regions of the Indian subcontinent in which they were traditionally locatedthe Chitraguptavanshi Kayasthas of North India, the Chandraseniya Ka ...
communities are small, and even the Kalitas, who have a dominating presence in the adjoining
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 ...
, are not as significant. The Bodos form a strong presence in the region. Traditionally, they are called Kacharis in the south and in the rest 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 ...
, but called Mech in the north bank of the
Brahmaputra River 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 language, Assamese, Yarlung Tsangpo in Lhasa Tibetan, Tibetan, the Siang/Dihan ...
and the whole of North Bengal. Their strongest presence is in the present Kokrajhar district in the north bank. The Rabhas, who along with the Bodos, are a semi-Hinduized group concentrated in the south bank. The Garos and the Hajongs too are not insignificant in the south. The indigenous Keot (Kaibarta) people are present near the wetlands and riverine areas both in the North and South Bank. The Muslim population, which is not insignificant, a distinction is made between the local indigenous ('' deshi'') communities that are descendants of ethnic groups convert, and non-local immigrant (''bhatiya'') who have immigrated in recent times from downstream
East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...
(Bangladesh).


Notes


References

* * * {{coord missing, Assam Regions of Assam Cultural regions