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he District of Cachar which is located in the southernmost
part of
Origin of the name:
There are two possibilities regarding the
origin of the name. They are:
1. The Kacharis
gave this name Cachar when they ruled this land.
2. The word 'Kachar'
in Sylhette(Bengali of Sylhet)
means a stretch of land at the foot of a mountain.Hence
the name Cachar might have been given by Bengalies of
Sylhet as the land is surrounded by mountains.
The
circumstances under which the Kacharis came and ruled
this land is briefly stated below:
In December
,1706, the Kachari King Tamradhaja
,whose capital was at Maibong on the bank of the Mahur River,was invaded by the
most powerful Ahom king Rudra
Singha.Being defeated by the Ahom
King ,Tamradhaja fled southwards to Khaspur.From this time onwards the Kachari
princes seemed to have settled in the plains of Cachar, their court being
located at Khaspur. The Kachari
King Suradarpa Narayan set
himself to recognise the people and improve the
capital Brick buit palaces and temples were
constructed in different parts of Khaspur.It is said
that the demoness Hirimba,whom
the second Pandava Bhima
married ,resided in this place .Hence the kingdom was named Hirimba
kingdom in memory of the demoness.
The
first connection of British with the District dates from 1762, when Mr. Verelst marched from Chittogong
to assist the Manipuri king Jay Singha who had been
driven from his throne by the Burmese and halted with his army at Jatrapur near the present Silchar town.The
army remained there for about a year, but due to death and disease among the
army ,Mr Verelst could not
proceed further and was ultimately recalled.
The next
historical event of importance was the formal conversion of Kachari
King Krishna Chandra to Hinduism in
1770.
A few years later,the last prince Gobinda Chandra was driven from throne by Marjit Singha of Manipur with the
help of the Burmese.Afterwards the Burmese drove Marjit Singha from this place to
The last of the Kachari Kings, Raja Gobin Chandra
was assassinated by a group of seditious persons with
the help of some of his personal attendants on April 24, 1830, at Haritikar. In absence of natural heirs, his territory
lapsed to the British under the terms of an agreement executed in 1826. Mr. T.
Fisher, an army officer was sent to take charge of the territory with the power
of a Collector and Magistrate and he took over charge on June 30, 1830, with
headquarters at Cherrapunji. In 1833, the
headquarters were shifted to Dudpatil and then to
Silchar. Plain portion of Cachar was formally annexed to the British dominion
on August 14, 1832 by a proclamation of the Governor General-in-Council. Mr. T.
Fisher was gazetted to the first post of the
Superintendent of the district. He unfortunately died while in service and was succeeded respectively by Messrs I.G.
Burns, E.R. Lyons, E. Pearson, P.G.
Verner and others.
In 1854,
As
a result of the partition of
On November 17,
1951, North Cachar Sub-division was carved out of this district and made part
of the newly formed district of United Mikir and
North Cachar Hills.
On July 1, 1983, Karimganj Sub-division was taken out of Cachar and declared
a separate district.
On October 1,
1989, Hailakandi Sub-division was taken out of Cachar and declared a separate
district.
The District is a heterogeneous plain composed of both low lands and high
hills and level plains. Actually the whole of the District lies at the foot
hills. The Bhubban ranges on the eastern side of the
district covers a considerable area. The river Barak, along with the
tributaries ,Jiri, Chiri, Madhura, Jatinga,Sonai, Katakhal and others are flowing through the centre of the
plain valley of the district. On the average, the soil of the district is a
sandy-loomy and sand-clay and is fertile.
Explorations by ONGC in different parts of Cachar
have indicated that there are huge mineral oil and gas deposits in various
parts of the district. The district covers an area of 37861.1 Sq Km. With a
population of 12,15,385 as per 1991 census. The rural population is 10,96, 161
where urban population is only 1,19,224. Thus the majority of the population
live in rural area and their main source of livelihood is agricultural
activities. Almost 70% of the total population is dependant on primary sector, i.e on agriculture. According to 1971 census, 42.70% of
total workers are cultivators and 19.60% are agricultural labourers.
The percentage of workers to total population is 29.16. Other agricultural
allied activities such as mining ,querry, livestock, forestry, fisheries etc are
pursued nearly 14.77% of the total work force of the district. The rest are
engaged in trade and commerce, household industries, construction,
manufacturing, transport etc.
The socio-economic condition of the district remains
backward with lack of major industrial 
establishment in
the district. However there are potentialities for improving
the economic condition of the district in view of the huge water recourses
,forest product, oil and natural gas reserves present project, exploration of
natural gas and extension of Broad gauge railway line up to the head quarter of
the district will help in a great way to accelerate the process of
socio-economic development in the district. As in the other
districts of
The District of Cachar lies between
longitude 92° 24' E and 93° 15'E and Latitude 24° 22' N and 25° 8' N and is
bounded on the north by the North Cachar Hills District and the State of Meghalaya, on the East by Manipur State,on
the South by the State of Mizoram and on the west by
Hailakandi District and Bangladesh.It has two
sub-divisions -Silchar and Lakhipur .Named after the Kacharis who once ruled over this part of the State.Cachar district has prominently figured in the
histories of Manipur and the Kachari Kingdom.Ruins that still invoke memories of the Kachari's past glory are scattered at several places of the
district.
Silchar, the district headquarter town, situated on the
South bank of the Barak river is an important commercial centre of the state .A
gateway to Mizoram,Manipur and Tripura, the town
naturally plays a vital role so far supply of essential commodities etc to
those states is concerned.A medical college ,a
station of All India Radio,a TV Station and several
other organisations have helped the town grow in
importance.
A
The main river of
the district is Barak which comes down from the southern slopes of lofty
ranges of Nagaland and forms the northern boundary of
Manipur.It is joined with many small tributaries from
the hills with are Chiri,Jatinga,Sonai,Dhaleshwari.Katakhal
etc.
Climate
of Barak Velley is significant for excessive humidity
and being shut in by ranges of hills on North,East
and South , heat during summer becomes unbearable.During
rainy season , the air is surcharged with moisture and rainfall is extremely heavy.The winter is not so cold as that of Brahmaputra velley.The rainy
season starts from May and continues upto October.
Area - 3786 Sq. Km
Total Population - 14,42,141 (as per 2001 Census)
HeadQuarter - Silchar
Subdivision - Silchar , Lakhipur
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