Hojai is a town and a
municipal board
A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...
in
Hojai district
Hojai District is a district in Assam, India. It was formed on 15 August 2015. The headquarters of the district is situated at Sankardev Nagar, which is about 8 km away from Hojai town. Hojai District was formed from three tehsils of N ...
in the Indian
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
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 ...
. It is located on the banks of the two tributaries of Brahmaputra, namely Kapili and Jamuna.
Etymology
The term Hojai
means Priest in the
Dimasa language
The Dimasa language is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by the Dimasa people of the Northeastern Indian states of Assam and Nagaland. The Dimasa language is known to Dimasas as "Grao-Dima" and it is similar to Boro, Kokborok and Garo lang ...
and is also one of the clans of the
Dimasa people
The Dimasa people or Dimasa Kachari people are an ethnolinguistic community presently inhabiting in Assam and Nagaland states in Northeastern India. They speak Dimasa, a Tibeto-Burman language. This community is fairly homogeneous and excl ...
, who populated the settlement during its initial formation.
Geography
Hojai is located at . It has an average elevation of 59 metres (193 feet).
History
Hojai was a part of the
Dimasa Kachari Kingdom in medieval times. The Dimasa Kacharies living in Hojai is known as "Hojai-Kacharies
" to others. "Hojai" is one of the clans (Sengphongs) of the Dimasa tribe, The city "Hojai" got its name from this clan. It was made a sub-division on 15 August 1983 under
Nagaon district
Nagaon district is an administrative district in the Indian state of Assam. At the time of the 2011 census it was the most populous district in Assam, before Hojai district was split from it in 2016.
History
Bordowa was the birthplace of the ...
. On 15 August 2015, it was declared a new district of the state along with 3 other new districts. On 31 December 2022, the district were remerged with their previous district. Nonetheless, on 25 August 2023, the Assam cabinet unveiled its decision to reinstate Hojai's district status.
Demographics
Population
As of
2011 Indian Census, Hojai had a total population of 36,638, of which 18,762 were males and 17,876 were females. Population within the age group of 0 to 6 years was 3,869. The total number of literates in Hojai was 29,708, which constituted 81.1% of the population with male literacy of 83.9% and female literacy of 78.1%. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population of Hojai was 90.7%, of which male literacy rate was 93.8% and female literacy rate was 87.4%. The
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes population was 3,158 and 197, respectively. Hojai had 7049 households in 2011.
Languages
Assamese and
Meitei (
Manipuri) are the official languages of this place.
69.6% of the people speak
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 ...
, followed by
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 ...
, 16.0%;
Assamese, 10.7%;
Dimasa Kachari 1.8% and
Meitei, 1.6% speakers.
Religion
Most of the population follow
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
(81.11%), with
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
being the largest minority religion with 18.28% adherents.
Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and other religions are followed by less than one per cent of the population.
Administration
Administrative duties are carried on from
Sankardev Nagar in
NH-27 where the DC Office, Judicial Courts as well District SP Offices are located. The DC Office campus also houses the Government Circuit House within it. Hojai Judicial Courts are situated at Sankardev Nagar approximately 8 km away from Hojai Town near NH-27. Advocates of the Hojai Judicial Courts have their own Association known as "Hojai Bar Association", established in 1982.
District administration
The present Deputy Commissioner is Anupam Choudhury, ACS and the present Superintendent of Police is Barun Purkayastha. and present Additional Superintendent of police is Punjit Duwara, APS. Deputy Superintendent of Police Hojai is Rosy Talukdar, APS.
Judiciary
Initially the Judicial Court at Hojai was established on 20 October 1982 and functioned as Court of Judicial Magistrate First Class. In due course of time, later on, the Courts of Additional District and Sessions Judge (Fast Track Court), Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate, Munsiff cum JMFC Courts were established and functioning under District Judiciary, Nagaon.
On 6 March 2021, Suman Shyam, Judge Guahati High Court, has inaugurated the newly created Courts of District & Sessions Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate at Hojai, Sankardev Nagar. On inauguration of the new District Judiciary, Aditya Hazarika became the first District & Sessions Judge and Shakti Sharma became the first Chief Judicial Magistrate of Hojai District.
Politics
Hojai is an MLA constituency that falls under the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency. It was previously a part of the Jamunamukh LAC. Since its inception in 1967, seven individuals have been elected as MLAs.
The first was Jonab Rahimuddin Ahmed. He was followed by Idris Ali Fakir, Sadhan Ranjan Sarkar, Santi Ranjan Dasgupta and since 1991,
Ardhendu Kumar Dey has been consistently elected as an MLA, the lone defeat coming in 2006 to AIUDF's Aditya Langthasa who served as an MLA for a single term.
Ardhendu Kumar Dey regained his seat in 2011 for a fourth term. For the first time, in 2016 assembly elections, BJP wrested this seat with the incumbent MLA being
Shiladitya Dev.As of 2021,
Ramkrishna Ghosh is elected in Assam Legislative Assembly election in 2021 from Hojai constituency.At present,
Ramkrishna Ghosh is the MLA of Hojai District.
Economy
Hojai is one of the important hubs of
agarwood
Agarwood, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood or the Wood of Gods, commonly referred to as oud or oudh (from , ), is a fragrant, dark and resinous wood used in incense, perfume, and small Woodworking, hand carvings.
It forms in the heartwood of ...
oil extraction and trade. In 2019, the Assam government under
Sarbananda Sonowal
Sarbananda Sonowal (; born 31 October 1962) is an Indian politician who has served as Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways since 2021. He also has been the Government of India, Member of the Rajy ...
allowed plantation of agarwood in five hectares.
Education
List of educational institutes
*
Deshabandhu Bidyapith HS High School, Hojai
*
Don Bosco High School, Hojai
*
Markaz Academy
*
Rabindranath Tagore University, Hojai
Healthcare
Hospitals
Hojai has two hospitals. Hojai Civil Hospital is an Government owned hospital and Haji Abdul Majid Memorial Hospital (HAMM) and Research Center is a private Hospital, inaugurated in 1995 by
Mother Teresa
Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...
. It offers free treatment to the poor. Its charitable dispensary, established in 1986, treats over ten patients for free every day. The hospital has an Operating Theatre and a Dental clinic.
Transport
Road

State roads connect Hojai to the rest of the state, and the nearest National Highway is NH27. Buses also provide connections between Hojai and the rest of Assam, as well as other states. A proposed flyover in Hojai is currently under construction.
Railway

The
Hojai railway station lies on the
Guwahati–Lumding section
The Guwahati–Lumding section is a broad-gauge railway line connecting and . The long railway line operates in the Indian state of Assam. It is under the jurisdiction of Northeast Frontier Railway zone.
History
In the pre-partition days, Assa ...
line of the
Lumding railway division
Lumding railway division is one of the five railway divisions under the jurisdiction of Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways. This railway division was formed on 1 May 1969, with its headquarter located at Lumding in the state o ...
. The station provides railway connectivity to different cities of India through many long-distance trains. Almost all of the major trains have a stoppage including the
Rajdhani Express
The Rajdhani Express () is a series of passenger train services in India operated by Indian Railways connecting the national capital New Delhi with the capitals or the largest cities of various states. ''Rajdhani'', derived from the Sanskrit m ...
which connects the national capital.
Airport
The nearest airport is
Tezpur Airport
Tezpur Airport , also known as Salonibari Air Force Station, is a domestic airport and an Indian Air Force Station serving Tezpur, Assam, India. It is located in Salonibari, situated from the city centre.
The airport covers an area of 22 acre ...
, about 120 km away.
The nearest International Airport is LGB
International Airport in Guwahati, about 190 km away.
See also
*
Hojai Vidhan Sabha
References
External links
Hojai district official website{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Hojai district