Lohit () is an administrative district in the state of
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...
in India. The district headquarters is located at
Tezu
Tezu is a census town and the headquarters of Lohit district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the fifth largest town in Arunachal Pradesh and one of its most developed.
Tezu is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assemb ...
. As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Arunachal Pradesh, after
Papum Pare and
Changlang.
Etymology
It was known earlier as the
Mishmi Hills
The Mishmi Hills are located at the northeastern tip of India, in northeastern Arunachal Pradesh. On the Chinese side, they form the southern parts of Nyingchi Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region.
These hills occur at the junction of No ...
. The district is named after the
Lohit River
The Lohit River, also known as the Zayul Chu by the Tibetans and Tellu by the Mishmis, is a river in China and India, which joins the Brahmaputra River in the state of Assam. It is formed in the Zayul County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, ...
and consists of the river valley and hills/mountains to the
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
.
History
During
medieval times
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, the present district was under the control of the rulers of the
Chutiya Kingdom
The Chutia Kingdom (also Sadiya) was a late medieval state that developed around Sadiya in present Assam and adjoining areas in Arunachal Pradesh."(T)he Chutiyas seem to have assumed political power in Sadiya and contiguous areas falling ...
. The Chutiya rulers controlled the area from the early 13th century to the 16th century and during the 19th century, it became one of the last
territories
A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal.
In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
to be brought under
British control after the punitive
Abor Abor or ABOR may refer to:
* Abor, Enugu, a town in Ojebogene L.G.A., Enugu, Nigeria
* Abor, Ghana, a town in the Volta Region of Ghana
* Abor Hills, Arunāchal Pradesh
* Abor people (disambiguation), multiple uses
* Abor Formation, located in the ...
and Mishmi Expedition in the first decade of 20th century.
In June 1980,
Dibang Valley district
Dibang Valley (Pron:/dɪˈbæŋ/) is a district of Arunachal Pradesh named after the Dibang River or the Talon as the Mishmis call it. It is the least populated district in India and has an area of .
History
In June 1980, Dibang Valley distr ...
was split from Lohit (and has since been bifurcated again to create the new
Lower Dibang Valley district).
On 16 February 2004,
Anjaw district
Anjaw District (Pron:/ˈændʒɔ:/) (Burmese : အန်််ကျော) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. It was created district in 2004, by splitting off from the Lohit district under the ...
was carved out from the northern part of Lohit district bordering
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
and
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, with its headquarters at
Hawai. Anjaw was carved out under the Arunachal Pradesh Re-organization of Districts
Amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...
Bill.
Namsai was split from Lohit in 2013.
Geography
Wakro
Wakro (Wakro H.Q.) is a village in Wakro circle of the Lohit district in Arunachal Pradesh state of India. The PIN code of Wakro is 792102. Wakro is connected by two national highways, National Highway 13 and National Highway 15
Demographi ...
is an important sub-division of this district. It is a
disyllabic
A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). Syllables are often considered the phonological "b ...
word originated from the local dialect ''Miju Mishmi''. Another important sub-division of Lohit is Sunpura, which is located near
Assam
Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and Arunachal
border
Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders ca ...
. Lohit district occupies an area of and has a population of 143,478 (as of 2001).
Divisions
There are four
Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly
The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Arunachal Pradesh state in north-eastern India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Itanagar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprise ...
constituencies located in this district:
Tezu
Tezu is a census town and the headquarters of Lohit district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the fifth largest town in Arunachal Pradesh and one of its most developed.
Tezu is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assemb ...
,
Wakro
Wakro (Wakro H.Q.) is a village in Wakro circle of the Lohit district in Arunachal Pradesh state of India. The PIN code of Wakro is 792102. Wakro is connected by two national highways, National Highway 13 and National Highway 15
Demographi ...
, Sunpura. All of these are part of
Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.
Transport
The area is highly inaccessible, and it was only in 2004 that a permanent bridge has been made operational across the Lohit at the
holy site of
Parashuram Kund, giving a round-the-year connection to
Tezu
Tezu is a census town and the headquarters of Lohit district in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is the fifth largest town in Arunachal Pradesh and one of its most developed.
Tezu is one of the 60 constituencies of Legislative Assemb ...
. About east of Tezu lies the small town of
Hayuliang
Hayuliang is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous subdivision in the Anjaw district in the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, India. , and this is slated to become the headquarters of a new district. The road along the Lohit runs right up to the small garrison town of
Walong
Walong is an administrative town and the headquarters of eponymous circle in the Anjaw district in eastern-most part of Arunachal Pradesh state in India. It also has a small cantonment of the Indian Army. Walong is on banks of Lohit River, which ...
just south of the Chinese border, site of the famous Battle of Walong in 1962.
Demographics
According to the
2011 census the erstwhile Lohit district has a
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...
of 145,726,
roughly equal to the nation of
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...
.
This gives it a ranking of 601st in India (out of a total of
640).
[ The district has a population density of .][ Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 16.44%.][ Lohit has a ]sex ratio
The sex ratio (or gender ratio) is usually defined as the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. Many species dev ...
of 901 females
Female (symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gametes than a male. Females ...
for every 1000 males,[ and a ]literacy rate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...
of 69.88%.[ The divided district has a population of 49,776. 15,920 are Scheduled Tribes.
Lohit is the home of the Adi, Zekhring, Khampti, Singpho and Mishmi tribes. A small group of ]Tibetans
The Tibetan people (; ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Tibet. Their current population is estimated to be around 6.7 million. In addition to the majority living in Tibet Autonomous Region of China, significant numbers of Tibetans liv ...
have settled in Lohit since the 1960s. The Zekhring are Tibetan Buddhists
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
; the Khampti and Singpho are Threvada Buddhists, and the Mishmi and Adis are mainly Animists.
Languages
The most populous language spoken in the district is Nepali
Nepali or Nepalese may refer to :
Concerning Nepal
* Anything of, from, or related to Nepal
* Nepali people, citizens of Nepal
* Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...
, with 28.19% of the population. 24.02% speak Mishmi, 16.4% Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
, 9.09% 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 ...
, 5.41% Assamese, 2.87% Adi, 1.73% Odia
Odia, also spelled Oriya or Odiya, may refer to:
* Odia people in Odisha, India
* Odia language, an Indian language, belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family
* Odia alphabet, a writing system used for the Odia languag ...
as their first language.
Religion
Flora and fauna
In 1989 Lohit district became home to the Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of .
It is the home to some of the endangered flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
...
and fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is '' flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. ...
. The district has been found to be an ideal place for Jatropha cultivation, which is used for bio-diesel
Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil wit ...
making.
In the western part of the district, north of the Lohit River occurs the new subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics ( morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all specie ...
of hoolock gibbon, which has been described and named as Mishmi Hills hoolock ''H. h. mishmiensis''.[.] A new giant flying squirrel
Flying squirrels (scientifically known as Pteromyini or Petauristini) are a tribe of 50 species of squirrels in the family Sciuridae. Despite their name, they are not in fact capable of full flight in the same way as birds or bats, but they a ...
named as Mishmi Hills giant flying squirrel also occurs north of the Lohit River.[.]
References
External links
Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lohit District
Districts of Arunachal Pradesh