Kokrajhar () is a town in the

Bodoland Territorial Region The Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) is an Autonomous administrative divisions of India, autonomous division in Assam, India, and a Proposed states and union territories of India#Assam, proposed state in Northeast India. It is made up of five ...

, an autonomous territory in

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 ...

, one of the North Eastern states of India.

History

Under the Kingdom of Bhutan

From the early 17th century to the present day, the Kokrajhar district was under the control of the

Kingdom of Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

, until the Duar Wars in 1865, when the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

removed the Bhutanese influence and later the areas were merged into the undivided Goalpara district of the Indian Union in 1949.

Geography

Kokrajhar is located at . It has an average elevation of 38 metres (124 feet).

Climate

Demographics

Indian census, Kokrajhar had a population of 31,152. Males constitute 52% of the population and females constitute 48% of the population. Kokrajhar has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 71%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 74%. In Kokrajhar, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. The district has 3 sub divisions Kokrajhar, Gossaigaon and Parbotjhora.

Language

Bengali is the most spoken language at 18,130 speakers, followed by Bodo at 8,549, Assamese is spoken by 2,752 people and Hindi at 4,024.

Transportation

Rupsi Airport is situated west from Kokrajhar town. Kokrajhar is served by the government owned Assam State Transport Corporation, Bodoland Transport Services and many private bus operators. The Kokrajhar railway station lies on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of Barauni–Guwahati line under the Northeast Frontier Railway with services to important cities of the country like

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest 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 seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

etc. Important trains like Rajdhani Express, Kamrup Express, Brahmaputra Mail, North East Express, Vivek Express, Garib Rath Express, Avadh Assam Express etc. have their stoppage at Kokrajhar railway station.

Education

The town has many schools and colleges with English being the sole medium of instruction in higher education. All the colleges under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council is affiliated under Bodoland University since 2017.

Secondary schools

* Don Bosco School, Kokrajhar * U. N. Academy, Kokrajhar * D N Himatsingka High School

Universities and colleges

* Bodoland University, Kokrajhar * Kokrajhar Government College * Commerce College, Kokrajhar * Science College, Kokrajhar * Bineswar Brahma Engineering College, Kokrajhar * Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar * Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital

Politics

Kokrajhar consists of three assembly constituencies: Kokrajhar East, Kokrajhar West and Gossaigaon, which all are part of Kokrajhar (Lok Sabha constituency). Joyanta Basumatary from United People's Party, Liberal is the current member of

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

from Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency.

Notable personalities

* Halicharan Narzary, national footballer * Hagrama Mohilary, ex chief of BTC and chairperson of Bodoland People's Front * Durga Boro, footballer * Bineshwar Brahma, politician, poet, teacher * Apurna Narzary, national footballer

References

Sources

* {{Cite book , last1=Phuntsho , first1=Karma , title=The History of Bhutan , date=2013 , publisher=Penguin Books , isbn=9781908323583 Cities and towns in Kokrajhar district Bodoland