Kolong River

The Kolong River or Kailang is an anabranch of the Brahmaputra River, which diverts out from the Brahamputra river in Hatimura region of Jakhalabandha (Nagaon district, Assam, India), and meets the same at Kolongpar near Guwahati. The tributary is about long and flows through the districts of Nagaon, Morigaon and Kamrup; on the way, several smaller streams ( Diju, Missa and others) meet it. The river flows through the heart of the Nagaon urban area dividing the town into Nagaon and Haiborgaon.

History and cultural influence

Medieval History

Bhuyan settlement in the Kalang valley is there since 13th-14th century as suggested by some religious literature. There had been also Kachari people settled. Since the reign of Swargadeo Suhungmung Dihingia roja when the Ahom kingdom extended much westward, it gained strategic, political and also commercial and economic importance.

Swargadeo Pratap Singha established a large numbers of well planned villages on it both banks and founded the stations for the frontier Governors like- Roha Choki, Jagi Choki and Kajali Choki in different places of its banks. And since 17th century it served as a main channel of communication between the Ahom-Kachari and Ahom-Jayantia territories.

There was a army station of the Ahoms with 300 boats at the mouth of the Kalang and a battle that took place there with the Mughals. Swargadeo Jayadhwaj Singha built two bridges over it as a part of war preparation against the Mughal

Mordern history

In the colonial period, though, the river was known to be widely used for passenger and goods transport, specially because the road and rail network was undeveloped or underdeveloped during that period. That is why the British colonial administration almost established the district headquarters in Puranigudam, on the bank of the river.

Until the colonial period, the Kolong river and smaller streams feeding the river were the main sources of potable water. Most of the villages were settled on their banks. People became heartily attached to the river, and as one folk tale says, it was just "Kolong" for them, they refused to say it was even a river.

In those days, the river created havoc by flooding the lowland areas in the present Nagaon and Morigaon districts during the rainy season, as it received water not only from the smaller streams, but also from the overflowing Brahmaputra. Sometime in the 1960s, a major flood caused a threat to existence of the Nagaon town itself, which lies in a lowland area. The mouth of the river in Hatimura region of Jakhalabandha was permanently closed subsequently, allowing the river to carry the water only from the smaller streams to Brahmaputra. Following this, the threat of flood disappeared. However, due to lack of enough water, especially during the dry winter, the river dried almost halfway. In several places, the river presently looks like a closed pond, covered with water hyacinth

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