Upper Assam is an

administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of the state of Assam comprising the undivided Lakhimpur and Sivasagar (previously, Sibsagar) districts, of the upper reaches 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 ...

. The other divisions are: Lower Assam, North Assam and Hills and Barak Valley. The division is under the jurisdiction of a Commissioner, stationed at Jorhat. Consisting of 7 districts initially, the Upper – Assam division now contains 10 districts, that includes Biswanath, Jorhat,

Dibrugarh Dibrugarh (pron: ˌdɪbru:ˈgɑ:) is an industrial city in Upper Assam with sprawling tea gardens. It is located 435 kms East from the state capital of Dispur. It serves as the headquarters of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam i ...

, Dhemaji, Golaghat, Charaideo, Lakhimpur,

Majuli Mājuli or Majuli () is a river island in the Brahmaputra River, Assam and in 2016 it became the first island to be made a district in India. It had an area of at the beginning of the 20th century, but having lost significantly to erosion it c ...

, Sivasagar, and Tinsukia. While Charaideo and Majuli are the newest districts that were raised to district status in 2016, Golaghat and Tinsukia are the biggest districts in terms square kilometre area in the region, raised to the district status in the years of 1987 and 1989 respectively. Dibrugarh, Golaghat and Jorhat are also the oldest recognised and constantly inhabited urban centres (municipal areas) in the region based on the earliest years of formation of the civic bodies, constituted before the Indian independence of 1947. An extended list of Upper – Assam region also includes the districts of Sonitpur,

Karbi Anglong Karbi may refer to: Places * Karbi, Armenia * Karbi Anglong Plateau, an extension of the Indian Plate in Assam, India * Karbi Anglong district, a district of Assam, north-eastern India Other uses * Karbi people, an ethnic group of North-eas ...

& Nagaon. The region is the most productive part of the state of Assam, which is rich in natural resources like coal, oil and natural gas as well as tea plantations.

Dhubri Dhubri (Pron: ˈdhubri) is an old town and headquarter of Dhubri district in Indian state of Assam. It is an old town on the bank of the Brahmaputra river, with historical significance. In 1883, the town was first constituted as a Municipal Bo ...

Kokrajhar Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous territory in Assam, one of the North Eastern states of India. Kokrajhar town is located along the bank of the river Gaurang. The North East Indian Railways divides the ci ...

Bongaigaon Bongaigaon () is a major city in the Indian state of Assam. Its urban area spans across Bongaigaon and Chirang district. The city also serves as the gateway of the North-East Frontier Railway Zone with its New Bongaigaon Junction railway st ...

Goalpara Goalpara, Pron: ) is the district headquarters of Goalpara district, Assam, India. It is situated to the west of Guwahati. Etymology The name Goalpara is said to have originated from the word "Gwaltippika" meaning Guwali village, or The villa ...

, Darrang, Morigaon, Baksa,

Udalguri Odalguri (; also spelt Udalguri) is a town and the headquarters of Udalguri district under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council which controls the Bodoland Territorial Area Districts in the state of Assam. Geography Odalguri is l ...

, Chirang, Kamrup, Barpeta & Nalbari come under Lower – Assam.

History

Medieval

Chutia Kingdom (??-1523)

The medieval Chutia Kingdom was on the bank of the river Brahmaputra. It was a powerful kingdom which had ruled in northeastern Assam and some areas of present-day

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 ...

, with the capital at Sadiya. The kingdom controlled almost the entire region of present Assam districts of Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Tinsukia and

as well as parts of Sonitpur, Golaghat, Jorhat and Sibsagar districts. In Arunachal Pradesh, it covered the districts bordering Assam.

Ahom Kingdom (1228-1826)

The Ahom Kingdom was a kingdom in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam,

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 ...

that maintained its sovereignty for nearly 600 years and successfully resisted Mughal expansion in North-East India. Established by

Sukaphaa Sukaphaa (), also Siu-Ka-Pha, the first Ahom king in medieval Assam, was the founder of the Ahom kingdom and the architect of Assam. A prince of the Su/Tsu (Tiger) clan of the Mao-Shan sub-tribe originally from present-day Mong Mao, Yunnan Prov ...

, a

Tai Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...

prince from

Mong Mao Mong may refer to: People *A proposed original name for the Hmong people, based on the main group, the Mong community *Bob Mong (), American journalist and academic administrator * Henry Mong (), American surgeon and Presbyterian missionary * Mong ...

, it began as a Mong in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra river. It expanded suddenly under Suhungmung in the 16th century after annexing the Chutia kingdom and parts of Kachari kingdom and therefore became multi-ethnic in character. The kingdom became weaker with the rise of the Moamoria rebellion, and subsequently fell to a succession of Burmese invasions. With the defeat of the Burmese after 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 Burmes ...

and 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 ...

in 1826, control of the kingdom passed into British ( East India Company) hands.

Demographics

The Upper Assam division has a population of 7.56 million (24 percent of Assam's population). More than 80 percent of the people follow Hinduism with Islam as the second largest religion. More than 60 percent of the people speak Assamese with a sizeable Bengali and Hindi minority. The major communities of Upper assam are Ahom, Chutia, Tea tribes, Mishing,

Sonowal Kacharis The Sonowal Kachari ( as, Xonowāl Kosāree) are one of the indigenous peoples of the state of Assam in Northeast India. They are of Tibeto-Burman origin, and are closely associated with the other ethnic groups of Assam which are commonly refe ...

, Moran, Matak, Deori, and Thengal Kacharis.

Gallery

Dibrugarh_Night_View.jpg, Jorhat.jpg, City_Skyline_-_Golaghat.png, GNB_Road_and_Ranghr_Complex.jpg,

Notes

* Formation of Dibrugarh municipal region, 1873. * Formation of Golaghat municipal region, 1920. * Formation of Jorhat municipal region, 1909.

References

*{{cite book , first = Leslie , last = Shakespear , title = History of Upper Assam, Upper Burmah and Northeast Frontier. , year = 1914 , publisher = Cambridge University Press. Divisions of Assam