Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the
Cachar district
Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cachar district alongside ...
of the state of
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 ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. It is located south east of
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest 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 ...
. It was founded by Captain Thomas Fisher in 1832 when he shifted the headquarters of Cachar to Janiganj in Silchar.
It earned the moniker “Island of Peace” from
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...
, the then
Prime Minister of India
The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
.
Silchar is the site of the world's first
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
club and the first competitive polo match.
In 1985, an
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...
flight from
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
to Silchar became the world's first all-women crew flight. Silchar was a tea town and
Cachar club was the meeting point for tea planters.
Etymology
The name Silchar comes from the two
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 ...
words 'shil' and 'char', meaning 'rock' and 'shore/island' respectively. The city was founded in Janiganj-Sadarghat area of the town near the
Barak
Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, ...
bank which was used as a river port.
It is theorised that the locals started calling the area 'Shiler Chor' meaning the rocky shore, which got shortened to 'Silchar', which was in turn adopted and popularised by the British.
History
Medieval History
Since Silchar was only founded after the introduction of the British in 1832, the pre-colonial history of Silchar can be approximated through the history of the region and nearby areas.
Tippera, Koch, and Dimasa rule
Cachar
Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence the undivided Cachar district was split into four districts in Assam: Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills), Cachar district alongside ...
district, whose headquarters is in Silchar, was ruled by the
Tippera dynasty in the 13th century.
The initial capital of the kingdom was in Khalangsha in Cachar, which has been identified as Rajghat village in
Sonai
Sonai (Pron:/'sə(ʊ)'nʌɪ/সোনাই) is a town in Cachar district, the Cachar district in the Indian state of Assam. It is also the name of a circle and block in the town. Government of Assam declared it as a municipal area on 2016 with 1 ...
, 18 km from Silchar.
The Tippera eventually moved eastwards to present day Tripura. By the 16th century, Cachar was a part of the Tripura kingdom.
The Tippera kings continued their rule in Barak Valley till mid-16th century, when commander
Chilarai
Shukladhwaja (Pron:ʃʊkləˈdwɑːdʒ) (1510-1577AD), or more popularly known as Bir Chilarai(Pron:/ʧɪləˌraɪ/), was the 3rd son of Biswa Singha, founder of the Koch Dynasty in Kamata Kingdom and younger brother of Nara Narayan, the 2nd kin ...
of the
Koch dynasty defeated the king of Tripura in 1562 in Longai.
Longai became the boundary between the Tripura and Koch kingdoms. Bir Chilarai, also known as Shukladhwaja, was the younger brother of the Koch king
Naranarayan. Gosai Kamal, also known as Kamal Narayan, was another brother of Naranarayan. He was made the governor of Barak Valley and ruled the area from Khaspur, 20 km away from Silchar.
Even after the collapse of the Koch kingdom elsewhere, the Koch continued ruling Cachar from Khaspur.
The area was ruled by seven more Koch kings after Gosai Kamal: Udita Singha, Dhir Singha, Mehendra Singha, Ranjit Singha, Nara Singha and Bhim Singha. Bhim Singha, the last Koch Raja of Khaspur, only had a daughter called Kanchani who was married off to Prince Laksmichandra of the
Kachari Dimasa kingdom of
Maibang
Maibang (IPA: mai-bang ''mai means rice and bang means much defining a land of prosperity) is a town and a town area committee in Dima Hasao district in the Indian state of Assam. Maibang is also one of the three sub-divisions of Dima Hasao Dist ...
in 1745.
Maibang is in present-day hill district of
Dima Hasao
Dima Hasao district (), earlier called North Cachar Hills district, is an administrative district in the state of Assam, India. As of 2011, it is the least populous district of Assam.
Dima Hasao district is one of the two autonomous hill distr ...
, adjacent to Cachar. Laksmichandra was made the governor of a part of the kingdom which is still named after him -
Lakhipur
Lakhipur (IPA: ˈlækɪˌpʊə), is a town and a Municipal Board in Cachar district in the Indian state of Assam.
Etymology
The name ''Lakhipur'' is said to be very ancient. Two schools of opinion on the origin of its name exist. According to o ...
, situated 25 km away from Silchar. Laksmichandra became the Raja after Bhim Singha's death and eventually the two kingdoms were merged and present day Cachar came under Dimasa rule.
Under the Dimasa kings, Cachar witnessed attacks from the
Mughals
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
, the
Jaintias, the
Manipuri kings, the
Burmese, and the
Ahoms.
Bengali presence in the Kachari Kingdom
While the hill areas of the Kachari kingdom i.e. Dima Hasao, had a
Dimasa stronghold, the plain areas i.e. present day Cachar had
Bengalis
Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the ...
constituting the majority.
While Bengalis had been inhabiting Cachar before the Koch rule, the Dimasa kings encouraged increased migration of Bengalis from nearby areas as priests, cultivators, and ministers at court.
Eventually, the formal conversion of Dimasa kings into Hinduism was carried out under
Bengali Brahmins
The Bengali Brahmins are Hindu Brahmins who traditionally reside in the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, currently comprising the Indian state of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh.
The Bengali Brahmins, along with Baidyas and ...
when Raja Krishna Chandra and Raja Govinda Chandra performed the
Hiranyagarbha
Hiraṇyagarbha (Sanskrit: हिरण्यगर्भः ; literally the 'golden womb', poetically translated as 'universal womb') is the source of the creation of universe or the manifested cosmos in Vedic philosophy. It finds mention in on ...
ceremony in 1790.
The kings in turn were great patrons of
Bengali literature
Bengali literature ( bn, বাংলা সাহিত্য, Bangla Sahityô) denotes the body of writings in the Bengali language and which covers Old Bengali, Middle- Bengali and Modern Bengali with the changes through the passage of time ...
; Bengali was the court language of the Kachari kings, translation of Sanskrit texts into Bengali was carried out, and the kings themselves composed prose and poetry in Bengali. In fact some of the only surviving written examples of the Bengali tradition in later 18th and early 19th century Cachar are the 27 letters written by Raja Krishna Chandra and Raja Gobinda Chandra to the
East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...
.
Colonial History
Burmese Invasion and the Treaty of Badarpur
After taking over parts of the
Brahmaputra Valley
The Brahmaputra Valley is a region situated between hill ranges of the eastern and northeastern Himalayan range in Eastern India.
The valley consists of the Western Brahmaputra Valley covering the regions of Goalpara and Kamrup; the Central ...
and Manipur by 1823, the Burmese made forays into Cachar as well.
The then Governor General of India,
Lord William Amherst, saw the British occupation of Cachar as essential towards guarding the nearby British held district of
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
from the Burmese.
On 6 March 1824, Gobinda Chandra signed the Treaty of Badarpur with the British, who declared Cachar as a
British protectorate and recognised Raja Gobinda Chandra as the ruler of Cachar.
The Burmese army attacked Cachar in 1824 and the British declared war on them. Eventually, the two armies clashed in the Burmese stronghold of Dudpatil, 15 km from Silchar and the British were able to drive the Burmese away to Manipur in 1825.
The clash in Cachar was the start of the
First Anglo-Burmese War
The First Anglo-Burmese War ( my, ပထမ အင်္ဂလိပ်-မြန်မာ စစ်; ; 5 March 1824 – 24 February 1826), also known as the First Burma War, was the first of three wars fought between the British and Burmese ...
, which ended with the
Treaty of Yandabo
The Treaty of Yandabo ( my, ရန္တပိုစာချုပ် ) was the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War. The treaty was signed on 24February 1826, nearly two years after the war formally broke out on 5March 1824, by ...
, wherein the
Kingdom of Ava
The Kingdom of Ava ( my, အင်းဝခေတ်, ) was the dominant kingdom that ruled upper Burma (Myanmar) from 1364 to 1555. Founded in 1365, the kingdom was the successor state to the petty kingdoms of Myinsaing, Pinya and Sagaing th ...
agreed to stop attacking Cachar, amongst other areas.
Gobinda Chandra was reinstated on the throne but had to pay an annual tribute of Rs.10,000 to the British as per the Treaty of Badarpur, which adversely affected the post-Burmese occupation Cachar's economy.
Gobinda Chandra was assassinated without any heir on 24 April 1830.
Though
Gambhir Singh
Chinglen Nongdrenkhomba (1788–1834), also known as Raja Gambhir Singh, was a ruler of the Manipur Kingdom.
Biography
He was a son of Chingthang Khomba. He succeeded his nephew Yumjaotaba in April 1821 during the seven years devastation. He ...
of Manipur, who was suspected to be behind the assassination, laid claim on Cachar, it passed onto British hands as per the Treaty of Badarpur.
Captain Thomas Fisher, an army officer took charge of Cachar on 30 June 1830 with the headquarters in
Cherrapunji
Cherrapunji () or Sohra is a subdivisional town (Proposed District) East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is the traditional capital of ka ''hima'' Sohra (Khasi tribal kingdom).
Sohra has often been credited as being t ...
. On 14 August 1832 Cachar came under formal British occupation and in 1833 Silchar was made the headquarters. Cachar was part of the
Bengal province from 1832 to 1874, when the district was transferred to the new Assam province.
Foundation of Silchar
There is no mention of any place called 'Silchar' before the annexation of Cachar.
Its constituent areas such as Tarapur, Ambikapur, Kanakpur, and Rangpur have been mentioned as villages under Gobinda Chandra, but not 'Silchar'. The earliest mention of Silchar was in 1835 in a report by R.B. Pamberton, and since then it was mentioned in British official documents.
Silchar was founded as the administrative headquarters of Cachar around the Janiganj-Sadarghat area of the town.
After shifting the district headquarters to Silchar in 1832, Captain Fisher started building Sadar Station in Janiganj.
Janiganj existed prior to the British as part of a taluk under the Mirasdars of Ambikapur before being taken over by Gobinda Chandra. In this respect, Captain Thomas Fisher was the founder of Silchar.
The Sadar Station and the District Court are still located in and around present day Janiganj.
According to a theorist, Fisher's reasons for choosing Silchar as the administrative centre for Cachar included 'the strategic location of Silchar, its accessibility from
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
, availability of land and labour, approach routes to neighbouring hills and prospects of riverine commerce'.
The establishment of the Sadar Station was followed by the construction of the treasury and a kutchery. A jail and a police outpost for the Sylhet Light Infantry was constructed in Fatak Bazar, while offices and residential quarters were made in Janiganj. Parts of Janiganj were also allotted to officers and traders.
John Edgars, the successor to Captain Fisher, added to the urban growth of the city. He prepared a blueprint for the planned development of Silchar, paved the roads, and supervised the construction of office buildings, residential quarters, circuit house and the Deputy Commissioner's office.
The latter two still survive. Under him, the jail was shifted from Fatak Bazar to its present site, and traders from nearby areas in Bengal were encouraged to settle in the town. Communication facilities were strengthened with the steamer service between Silchar and Kolkata in 1850, the establishment of the Head Post Office in 1852, and the introduction of telegraph in 1861. While Tarapur, Malugram and Itkhola were part of the older settled areas, newer localities such as Central Road, Nazirpatty, Premtola, Tulapatty, and Narshingtola emerged.
Silchar under the British
Due to the initiatives of Captain Fisher, a medical centre was established in Silchar in 1835, which became a hospital in 1864.
The tea industry in Cachar was growing by 1855, which lead to Silchar's emergence as a centre of trade and commerce.
The town got its first English education institution in 1863 when Reverend Pyrse started the High Grammar School, which later became the Government Boys Higher Secondary School.
In 1864, a charitable dispensary was set up, which later became the Civil Hospital.
Silchar got its very first body for self governance In 1882, when a Town Committee was established under the Bengal Municipal Act, 1876.
Keating Library, the first library in Silchar, was established in 1876 and was renamed to Arun Chanda Granthagar after Independence.
The earliest newspaper in Cachar, called 'Silchar', appeared in 1883. In 1891, the town became a municipality and in 1899 the Assam-Bengal railways reached Silchar, providing easier access to the
Chittagong sea port.
Silchar was connected to
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
through steamers as well.
Silchar witnessed major flooding in June 1929 because of incessant rains and flooding of river
Barak
Barak ( or ; he, בָּרָק; Tiberian Hebrew: '' Bārāq''; ar, البُراق ''al-Burāq'' "lightning") was a ruler of Ancient Israel. As military commander in the biblical Book of Judges, Barak, with Deborah, from the Tribe of Ephraim, ...
.
N. G. A. Edgley, District and Sessions Judge of Sylhet and Cachar, was present in Silchar during the floods and supervised the relief activities till 19 June when the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner returned from
Shillong
Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...
and
Haflong
Haflong is a town and headquarters of Dima Hasao district (formerly North Cachar Hills district) in the state of Assam in India. It is the only hill station in Assam.
Etymology
Haflong is a Dimasa word meaning '' ant hill''.
Climate
Haflon ...
, where they were stranded. Buildings in the town sustained major damages and the supply of filtered water was absent from 12 June to 5 July.
By 1934, Silchar town had grown because of good connectivity through road, river, and rail.
The population in the town had grown by 60% since 1901 and had access to water supply. The town now had increased amenities, including 'presses, motor woks, druggist shop, oil mills, ice factory'.
This led to the increase in revenue rates in 1934 by the then Deputy Commissioner P.C. Chatterjee. 1935 saw the establishment of G.C. College as the Guardian College.
In 1937, the Cachar Branch of the
Kishan Sabha was established with Dwijen Sen as first General Secretary.
In 1940, a conference of the Sabha was organised in Silchar to demand better conditions for farmers. The
Tebhaga movement
Tebhaga movement (1946–1947) was significant peasant agitation, initiated in Bengal by the All India Kisan Sabha of peasant front of the Communist Party of India.
History
At that time sharecroppers had contracted to give half of their harv ...
of Bengal was organised in Cachar district as well by the Sabha where the local peasants participated. In 1942, the Japanese forces dropped a bomb on Derby Tea Estate 20 km from the town and the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
led to the shortage of water, electricity, paper, wood, kerosene. and clothes.
Cycle rickshaws were introduced in Silchar the same year.
Silchar Polo Club
In the 1850s, the British observed exiled Manipuri princes in Silchar play Sagol Kangjei, the predecessor to modern
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
which was already popular in nearby
Manipur
Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...
.
Captain Robert Stewart, then assistant deputy commissioner, participated in the game with the Manipuri players.
In 1859, Stewart, now the deputy commissioner, and Major General Joseph Sherer, assistant deputy commissioner, established the world's first polo club in Silchar, called the Silchar Kangjei Club. It was later renamed to Silchar Polo Club and survives today as the
Cachar Club, though no polo is played anymore.
The first competitive modern form of polo was played in Silchar as well, and the plaque for this feat still stands behind the local District Library.
Post independence history
After the
Partition of Assam and Independence of India, the town of Silchar saw a large increase of 10.5% in its population in the decade of 1941–51.
This was largely because of the in migration of Hindu refugees from the adjacent district of
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
went to
East Pakistan
East Pakistan was a Pakistani province established in 1955 by the One Unit Scheme, One Unit Policy, renaming the province as such from East Bengal, which, in modern times, is split between India and Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India ...
. The effect of the partition was felt administratively as well. The Sessions Court of Sylhet had a Circuit Court present in Silchar till Independence. After that, Silchar and the rest of Cachar came under the District & Sessions Judge, Jorhat till 1955 when the District & Sessions Judge of Cachar District took over in Silchar. S. K. Dutta became the first District & Sessions Judge of Cachar District Judiciary.
Apart from the refugees from East Pakistan, Silchar also saw a lot of migration from neighbouring states in Northeast due to political disturbances which added to the population growth.
The
1971 Bangladesh liberation war saw more in migration from then East Pakistan.
Language movement in Barak Valley
Silchar saw one of the uprisings in favor of the
Bengali language
Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second m ...
. When the Assam government, under Chief Minister
Bimala Prasad Chaliha
Bimala Prasad Chaliha (26 March 1912 – 25 February 1971) was a Leader of Indian National Congress and a Freedom Fighter who was imprisoned at Jorhat Jail in 1942 for active participation in Mahatma Gandhi's Quit India Movement against the Briti ...
, passed a circular to make
Assamese mandatory, Bengalis of Barak Valley protested. On 19 May 1961, Assam police opened fire on unarmed protesters at
Silchar railway station
Silchar railway station is a railway station situated at Tarapur, Silchar in Assam. The railway station falls under the jurisdiction of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways. The railway gauge functioned here is broad gau ...
. Eleven people (listed below) were killed.
*
Kanailal Niyogi
* Chandicharan Sutradhar
* Hitesh Biswas
* Satyendra Deb
* Kumud Ranjan Das
* Sunil Sarkar
* Tarani Debnath
*
Sachindra Chandra Pal
Sachindra Chandra Pal (1942 - 19 May 1961) was an Indian student who took part in the Bengali Language Movement in Silchar and was martyred on 19 May 1961. Sachindra Paul Road in Silchar is named in his memory.
Early life
Sachindra Chandra bo ...
*
Birendra Sutradhar
* Sukamal Purakayastha
*
Kamala Bhattacharya
Kamala Bhattacharya was an Indian student who was martyred in the Bengali Language Movement in Silchar in 1961.
Early life
Kamala was born to Ramraman Bhattacharya and Suprabasini Devi, the fifth of seven children in the year 1945 in the erstw ...
After the popular revolt, the Assam government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the three districts of Barak Valley.
Section 5 of Assam Act XVIII, 1961, safeguards the use of Bengali in the Cachar district. It says, “Without prejudice to the provisions contained in Section 3, the Bengali language shall be used for administrative and other official purposes up to and including district level.”
World's first all-women crew flight
In 1985,
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...
created history by operating the world's first all-women crew flight in the Kolkata-Silchar route.
It was a
Fokker Friendship
The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...
F-27 flight which was piloted by Saudamini Deshmukh and co-piloted by
Nivedita Bhasin
Nivedita Bhasin (born 1963) of Indian Airlines became the youngest woman pilot in world civil aviation history to command a commercial jet aircraft on 1 January 1990 at the age of 26.
Bhasin piloted IC-492 on the Bombay-Aurangabad-Udaipur sector.
...
, and had two airhostesses.
Industries
*
ONGC
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the ...
has its base located at Srikona, near Silchar, which is known as Cachar Forward Base with ongoing operations in Tripura, Mizoram and Barak Valley.
*Cachar Paper Mill (CPM) is the only major industrial undertaking in south Assam and the adjoining states of Mizoram, Meghalaya and Tripura. Despite a lack of infrastructure, CPM has a continuous record of improvement in production. During the year 2006–07, the mill recorded the highest annual production of 103,155 metric tonnes, registering 103% capacity utilization, which was 100% during the previous year.
*Silchar is a cluster centre for cane and bamboo artisans.
Civic administration
Silchar Municipal Board is responsible for the municipal governance of the town. The municipal history of Silchar goes back to 1865 when the town was made a municipality under the Bengal District Town Improvement Act, 1864.
The municipality was composed to 8 European and 3 Indian members, in addition to the chairperson and the vice-chairperson.
This was later withdrawn in 1868. In January 1882, Silchar got a Town Committee under the Bengal Municipal Act, 1876. Mr. Wright, the Deputy Commissioner, was the chairperson and Babu Jagat Bandhu Nag was elected by the committee members as the vice-chairperson. Silchar had been divided into four wards - Janiganj, Ambicapur, Tarapur, and Malugram - but each ward had only 20-50 voters.
The Town Committee had limited powers to impose taxes, which constrained its funds and municipal activities. Yet it carried out some important activities: road construction, creating tanks and cleaning older ones, making public latrines, removable of 'objectional' houses such as distillery and slaughter houses out the town, and draining of swamps to prevent diseases.
In 1891, on recommendation of the Deputy Commissioner to the Assam Government, Silchar was turned into a municipality.
The first Municipal elections in Silchar were held in February 1900 but only 14.6% of the town was eligible to vote. 12 members were elected, who joined 2 ex-officio members and 6 nominated members to form the municipality. Of these 20 members, 16 were Indians and 4 were Europeans.
From 1882 to 1912, the Deputy commissioners were the chairpersons of the municipality. The chairpersons began to be elected from 1913 onwards. Kamini Kumar Chanda and Mahesh Chandra Dutta were the first elected chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Silchar municipality.
The municipality took decisions like construction and repair of roads, buying medicines and taking public health preventive steps, sanitation, and setting prices to guard again inflation. As the pro-Independence sentiments grew, the municipality started to participate as well; reception plans for the
Viceroy Chelmsford's visit to Silchar in 1919 were cancelled because of the
Jallianwala Bagh massacre
The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, also known as the Amritsar massacre, took place on 13 April 1919. A large peaceful crowd had gathered at the Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, Punjab, to protest against the Rowlatt Act and arrest of pro-independence ...
, a resolution was passed after the death of
Chittaranjan Das
Chittaranjan Das (5 November 1870 – 16 June 1925), popularly called ''Deshbandhu'' (Friend of the Nation), was an Indian freedom fighter, political activist and lawyer during the Indian independence movement and founder-leader of the Swar ...
in 1925, and members of the municipality proposed a
hartal
Hartal () is a term in many Indian languages for a strike action that was first used during the Indian independence movement (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a mass protest, often involving a total sh ...
to protest against the
Simon Commission
The Indian Statutory Commission also known as Simon Commission, was a group of seven Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Sir John Simon. The commission arrived in India in 1928 to study constitutional reform in Britain's largest a ...
's visit to India in 1928.
In 1930, the then chairperson Dhirendra Kumar Gupta and member Satindra Mohan Deb were arrested because of their participation in the
Civil Disobedience Movement
The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mahatma Gandhi. The twenty-four day march lasted from 12 March to 6 April 1930 as a di ...
. The municipality took out a resolution in July 1947 against including Cachar within Pakistan and sent a member to Kolkata to submit a memorandum in front of the Boundary Commission.
By 1952, when the first post Independence municipal elections took place, Madhurban was added to the ward list and the town now had 5 wards in total. This period also saw the municipality giving over the control of the fire brigade to the state government, and donation of land to establish educational institutes.
The area under the Silchar Municipal Board was 10 km
2 in 1971 and 15.75 km
2 in 1971.
Till 1975, the municipality had elected members, but from 1975 to 1979, a government Executive Officer was in charge.
1975 to 1984 saw an elected body preside over the municipal board, but from 1984, it has been run by state government appointees.
Geography
Silchar is located in the southernmost part of Assam.
It is located between longitudes 92º24’ E and 93º15’ E and latitudes 24º22’N and 25º8’N East and is 35 meters above mean sea level. The city is located in an alluvial flat plain with swamps, streams, and isolated small hills (locally known as ''tilla'') marking its landscape. Apart from Barak river, the other major river is Ghagra river.
Silchar is in Zone V on the Seismic Zonation Map and has witnessed major earthquakes. The earthquake in January 1869 was of magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale and caused heavy damage. Other significant earthquakes include those in 1947 (magnitude 7.7), 1957 (7.0) and 1984 (6.0).
Demographics
According to 2011 India
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, Silchar municipal area has a population of 172,830.
The sex ratio of Silchar is 989 females per 1,000 males, which is above the national ratio of 940 females per 1,000 males. Silchar municipal area has an average literacy rate of 82.33%, higher than the national average of 74.04%, with male literacy at 84.15% and female literacy at 80.49%.
Religion
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
is the majority religion in Silchar city with around ''154,381'' followers.
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
is the second most popular religion in Silchar with approximately ''21,759'' followers.
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current ...
is practiced by ''1,408'' people,
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
by ''1,052'' people,
Sikhism
Sikhism (), also known as Sikhi ( pa, ਸਿੱਖੀ ', , from pa, ਸਿੱਖ, lit=disciple', 'seeker', or 'learner, translit=Sikh, label=none),''Sikhism'' (commonly known as ''Sikhī'') originated from the word ''Sikh'', which comes fro ...
by ''77'' people and
Buddhism
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 gra ...
by ''39'' people in Silchar city. Around ''145'' people did not state their religion.
Languages
According to 2011 census, Silchar city having a population of 172,830 persons, of which
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 ...
is spoken by 158,606 people,
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 de ...
is spoken by 9,263 people,
Manipuri is spoken by 3,543 people,
Bishnupriya Manipuri
Bishnupriya Manipuri, also known as simply Bishnupriya, is an Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Bengali–Assamese languages, Bengali–Assamese linguistic sub-branch. It is a creole language, creole of Bengali language and Meitei languag ...
is spoken by 1,244 people, while other languages constitute 0.1% of the city's population according to 2011 census.
[https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16T/DDW-C16-TOWN-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX ]
Climate
Silchar has a borderline
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''Am'') slightly too hot in the “winter” or “cool” season to qualify as a
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
(''Cwa''). During this “cool” season the weather is generally warm and dry with cool to mild mornings; however, the “wet” season begins early as
the monsoon moves into the region during April, with the result that for seven months of the year Silchar has very hot and humid weather with heavy thunderstorms almost every afternoon until the middle of October, when there is usually a brief period of hot and relatively dry weather before the “cool” season sets in during November.
Educational Institutes
Silchar is home to the main campus of
Assam University
Assam University is a collegiate central public university located at Silchar, Assam, India. It was founded in the year 1994 by the provisions of an act enacted by the Parliament of India. The Governor of Assam is the Chief Rector and the ...
, a central university that imparts education in both the general and the professional streams. The university, which came into existence in 1994, has 17 schools and 35 post graduate departments. It has 56 colleges affiliated to it.
All the colleges in Silchar city are affiliated to the Assam University. Apart from the university, Silchar also has multiple colleges; G.C. College established in 1935, Cachar College, A.K.Chanda Law College, Teacher's Training College established in 1960, Women's College in 1963, Silchar Medical College in 1968, National Institute of Technology (Regional Engineering College) in 1969, and Radha Madhab College in 1971.
Technical institutions
*
National Institute of Technology, Silchar
National Institute Of Technology Silchar (NIT Silchar or NITS) is one of the 31 NITs of India and was established in 1967 as a Regional Engineering College in Silchar. In 2002, it was upgraded to the status of National Institute of Technology and ...
Triguna Sen School of Technology, Assam University, Silchar* Silchar Polytechnic
* National Institute For Automotive Inspection Maintenance & Training (NIAIMT)
Colleges
*
Gurucharan College
Gurucharan College, popularly known as GC College, is a college imparting 10+2, undergraduate, certifications (self-financing) and postgraduate (self-financing) education under the aegis of Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, Guwahati and A ...
*
Cachar College
*
Women's College, Silchar
Women's College, Silchar, established in 1963 at Silchar, is a women's higher education institution in India. It offers Intermediate (10+2 level) and First Degree Level (10+2+3 level) courses in Arts and Commerce. The College also offers short t ...
*
Radhamadhab CollegeSilchar College* Lalit Jain Commerce College
Medical college
*
Silchar Medical College and Hospital
Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH), established in 1968, is a government-run medical college cum hospital located in Silchar in southern Assam, one of the oldest medical college of North East India. It is the only referral hospital in ...
, established in 1968, serves the southern region of Assam. There is an Institute of Pharmacy attached to it.
*
Government Dental College, Silchar
Government Dental College, Silchar is a government dental college of Assam. It was established in 2018 by Government of Assam.
The college offers 5 year full-time degree course of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). The college is affiliated un ...
Law colleges
*
A. K. Chanda Law College at Tarapur.
Air transport
Silchar Airport
Silchar Airport is a domestic airport serving Silchar, Assam, India. It is located at Kumbhirgram, 29 km (18 mi) from the city centre. It was built by the British as RAF Station Kumbhirgram in 1944 and transferred to the Royal Indian ...
(IXS) is located at
Kumbhirgram, about 22 km from Silchar. It was built during World war II and the current ATC services are provided by Indian Air Force.
Silchar has been selected as one of the towns for the construction of 51 low-cost airports across the country.
Silchar Airport is the 2nd busiest airport (70 civilian flights/week) in Assam and 4th busiest in North east after Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal and handles approximately 200,000 PAX yearly.
In December 1985,
Air India
Air India is the flag carrier airline of India, headquartered at New Delhi. It is owned by Talace Private Limited, a Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Tata Sons, after Air India Limited's former owner, the Government of India, completed the sa ...
operated the first all-woman crew flight in the world from Kolkata to Silchar which was commanded by Captain Saudamini Deshmukh on a
Fokker F-27 Friendship
The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Euro ...
aircraft.
Politics
Silchar is part of the
Silchar (Lok Sabha constituency)
Silchar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Assam state in north-eastern India. From 1951 to 1971, the area under it was referred as Cachar constituency. The constituency covers the entirety of Cachar district in th ...
and
Silchar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
Silchar Assembly constituency ''(Bengali: শিলচর বিধানসভা সমষ্টি)'' is one of the 126 Assam Legislative Assembly, state legislative assembly constituencies in Assam state in Northeast India, North Eastern In ...
. The current member of Parliament from Silchar is Dr.
Rajdeep Roy
Dr Rajdeep Roy (Bengali language, Bengali : রাজদীপ রায়) is an Indian politician. He was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India from Silchar (Lok Sabha constituency), Silchar, Assam in the 2019 India ...
of the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
and current MLA is Dipayan Chakraborty of the
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
.
Notable people
*
Arun Kumar Chanda
*
Nihar Ranjan Laskar
*
Nurul Huda
*
Moinul Hoque Choudhury
Moinul Hoque Choudhury (13 May 1923 – 13 February 1976) was an Indian politician from Assam. A five-time MLA; he was the Minister of Commerce and Industrial Development during Indira Gandhi regime in 1971. He is also known as the Industrial Ref ...
*
Ullaskar Dutta
Ullaskar Dutta (16 April 1885 – 17 May 1965) was an Indian revolutionary associated with Anushilan Samiti and Jugantar of Bengal and was a close associate of Barindra nath Ghosh.
Early life
Ullaskar was born in the village of Kalikachha in ...
*
Santosh Mohan Dev
Santosh Mohan Dev (1 April 1934 – 2 August 2017), was an Indian political leader and a key member of the Indian National Congress. Mr. Dev was first elected to the Parliament of India, Parliament in 1980, the first of his seven terms in offi ...
*
Kabindra Purkayastha
Kabindra Purkayastha (born 15 December 1931) is a former union minister of state of India. He served as minister of state for communication in Atal Bihari Vajpayee government from 1998 to 1999. He is a senior leader of Bharatiya Janata Party in ...
*
B. B. Bhattacharya
Barid Baran Bhattacharya (9 March 1945 – 14 February 2017) was an Indian economist and educationist. He was vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He was also Director and Professor at the Institu ...
*
Sushmita Dev
Sushmita Dev (born 25 September 1972) is an Indian politician and member of Rajya Sabha from West Bengal, and belongs to the All India Trinamool Congress. Previously, she was elected to the Lok Sabha, lower house of the Parliament of India fro ...
*
Dilip Kumar Paul
Dilip Kumar Paul (born March 19, 1956 in Silchar, Assam) is an Indian politician and was the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian p ...
*
Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya
Kalika Prasad Bhattacharya (11 September 1970 – 7 March 2017) was an Indian folk singer and researcher. He was born and raised in Silchar, Assam. He went on to study comparative literature at Jadavpur University. His musical inspiration was his u ...
*
Debojit Saha
Debojit Saha is an Indian playback singer and performer mainly active in Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. Saha was the winner of Zee TV singing reality show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005 and was awarded the 'Voice of India' title ...
*
Bir Radha Sherpa
Bir Radha Sherpa is an Indian dancer, who is renowned for winning- Dance Plus (season 3) and Dance Champions.
Early life
Bir was born on 15 August 1999, in Silchar, Assam. Born in a poor family, Bir always showed a passion for dancing as a ch ...
*
Debattama Saha
*
Rahul Singh
*
Rajdeep Goala
Rajdeep Goala (born 10 May 1984)
is an Indian politician. He served as the former MLA of Assam from Lakhipur in 2014 and 2016 representing INC. Later, Rajdeep Goala joined BJP.
Education
Rajdeep did his graduation in B.Com.(P) Delhi College ...
See also
*
Silchar Vidhan Sabha
*
Barak Valley
The Barak Valley is located in the southern region of the Indian state of Assam. The region is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The ...
*
Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium
Satindra Mohan Dev Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium situated at Silchar, Assam. It was earlier known as the District Sports Association Stadium. After extensive upgrade of facilities, it was renamed after the father of Sri Santosh Mohan Dev. T ...
*
Silchar railway station
Silchar railway station is a railway station situated at Tarapur, Silchar in Assam. The railway station falls under the jurisdiction of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone of the Indian Railways. The railway gauge functioned here is broad gau ...
*
Silchar Airport
Silchar Airport is a domestic airport serving Silchar, Assam, India. It is located at Kumbhirgram, 29 km (18 mi) from the city centre. It was built by the British as RAF Station Kumbhirgram in 1944 and transferred to the Royal Indian ...
*
Silchar Part-X
Silchar Part-X is a census town in Cachar district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Assam.
Demographics
India census, Silchar Part-X had a population of 5,313. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Silc ...
*
Interstate Bus Terminus ,Silchar Assam
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System (United States), National ...
*
2022 Silchar Floods
References
External links
*
Britannica article on Silchar
{{Authority control
Cities and towns in Cachar district