Kokrajhar Town
Kokrajhar town is located along the bank of the river Gaurang. The North East Indian Railways divides the city into two divisions, north and the south Kokrajhar. Kokrajhar town is the headquarters of Kokrajhar district and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).
Etymology
Kokrajhar is made of two words: Kok and rajhar. Kok means Koch, rajhar means King; Kokrajhar means Koch-King.
History
Under the Kingdom of Bhutan
From early 17th-century present-day Kokrajhar district was under the control of Kingdom of Bhutan, till the Duar Wars in 1865 when British removed the Bhutanese influence and later the areas were merged to undivided Goalpara district of the Indian Union in 1949.
Geography
Kokrajhar is located at 26°24′N 90°16′E / 26.4°N 90.27°E. It has an average elevation of 38 metres (124 feet).
Climate
| Climate data for Kokrajhar | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 30 (86) |
33 (91) |
38 (100) |
40 (104) |
38 (100) |
40 (104) |
37 (99) |
37 (99) |
37 (99) |
35 (95) |
32 (90) |
28 (82) |
40 (104) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 23 (73) |
25 (77) |
30 (86) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
32 (90) |
32 (90) |
31 (88) |
30 (86) |
27 (81) |
24 (75) |
29 (84) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10 (50) |
12 (54) |
15 (59) |
20 (68) |
22 (72) |
25 (77) |
25 (77) |
25 (77) |
24 (75) |
21 (70) |
16 (61) |
11 (52) |
19 (66) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −2 (28) |
−3 (27) |
4 (39) |
11 (52) |
16 (61) |
18 (64) |
20 (68) |
21 (70) |
20 (68) |
9 (48) |
0 (32) |
−1 (30) |
−3 (27) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 11.4 (0.45) |
12.8 (0.50) |
57.7 (2.27) |
142.3 (5.60) |
248.0 (9.76) |
350.1 (13.78) |
353.6 (13.92) |
269.9 (10.63) |
166.2 (6.54) |
79.2 (3.12) |
19.4 (0.76) |
5.1 (0.20) |
1,717.7 (67.63) |
| Source: wunderground.com | |||||||||||||
Demographics
As of 2001 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 66 kilometres (41 mi) 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, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai 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
- Rashtra Bhasha Vidyapith Hindi high School
- 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
- Girls' 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 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
See also
References
- ^ "As Assam grants Bodo language official status, here's all you need to know on Bodoland struggle". 8 October 2020.
- ^ "Kokrajhar, Assam". www.tourgenie.com. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ "Central Institute of Technology Kokrajhar |". www.cit.ac.in. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ News, India TV. "Kokrajhar Pin Code | Postal Code (Zip Code) of Kokrajhar, Kokrajhar, Assam, India". www.indiatvnews.com. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "While Bhutan generally enjoyed absolute possession of the eleven Bengal duars, its control over the seven Assam duars was not straightforward. Even during the Ahom rule, the Bhutanese did not gain full possession of the duar tracts. As a result, they are said to have harassed the population along the Assam frontiers with persistent incursions and raids."(Phuntsho 2013:394)
- ^ Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kokrajhar
- ^ "Historical Weather for Delhi, India". Weather Underground. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 27 November 2008.
- ^ "C-1 Population By Religious Community". censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
- ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
- ^ https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16T/DDW-C16-TOWN-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2008.