Jorhat (/ˈɔːrhɑːt/ JOR-haht) is a major city in Upper Assam and a growing urban centre in the state of Assam in India.[3][4][5]

Jorhat
City
From top, then left to right: Thengal Manor, Su-Ka-Pha Samannay Khetra, Jorhat Govt. Boys' Higher Secondary and Multi-Purpose School, Asam Sahitya Sabha headquarters, Night view of Baruah Chariali
Nickname: 
City of Cultural Capital of Assam
Jorhat is located in Assam
Jorhat
Jorhat
Location in Assam
Jorhat is located in India
Jorhat
Jorhat
Jorhat (India)
Coordinates: 26°45′N 94°13′E / 26.75°N 94.22°E / 26.75; 94.22
CountryIndia
StateAssam
RegionUpper Assam
DistrictJorhat
Zone3 (Central, East & West)
No. Of Wards19
Established1909
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyJorhat Municipal Board
 • District CommissionerShri Jay Shivani, IAS
 • Superintendent Of PoliceSri Shwetank Mishra, IPS
Area
 • Total
72.8 km2 (28.1 sq mi)
Elevation
116 m (381 ft)
Population
 • Total
153,736
 • Density2,100/km2 (5,500/sq mi)
DemonymJorhatian
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
7850XX
Telephone code0376
Vehicle registrationAS-03
Sex Ratio951 ♀️/ 1000 ♂️
ClimateCwa
Official LanguageAssamese
Literacy RateIncrease 90.01% high
Lok Sabha ConstituencyJorhat
Vidhan Sabha ConstituencyJorhat, Titabar, Mariani, Teok
Websitejorhat.assam.gov.in

Etymology

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Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis - "Masorhaat" and "Sowkihat" which existed on the opposite banks of the Bhugdoi river.

History

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Under Konbaung empire

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Maha Bandula who led the Burmese forces to Jorhat

The town was occupied by the Burmese Konbaung dynasty between 1817 - 1825. The Burmese left the commander Mingimaha Tilwa in charge of the area who appointed Jogeswar Singha as the new puppet King in 1821 in Jorhat.[6] Later when the deposed king Chandrakanta Singha tried to fight back, Bagyidaw (1819 – 1837), the seventh King of Burma sent the greatest of his generals Mingimaha Bandula with 20,000 troops[7] (including 10,000 Kamti Shan and Kachin levies who were chieftains of Mongkawng and Hukawng) who defeated Chandrakanta Singha at Mahgarh near Jorhat and reestablished Burmese authority in Assam. The defeat of Chandrakanta on 12 June 1822 marks the start of the Burmese rule in Assam.[8] and Burmese commander Mingimaha Tilwa was made the king. Maha Bandula then returned to Ava in Myanmar.

Under British Rule

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In 1885, a narrow-gauge railway, Jorehaut Provincial Railway, became operational. In time, this contributed to the rapid growth of the tea industry.[9]

Geography

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Jorhat is located at 26°45′N 94°13′E / 26.75°N 94.22°E / 26.75; 94.22.[10] It has an average elevation of 116 metres (381 feet).

The municipality covers an area of 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi),[2] has 19 wards with a population of about 1.53 lakhs at present, with 72.8 square kilometres (28.1 sq mi) for master plan area.[11] The district spreads over 2,851 square kilometres (1,101 sq mi) and had a population of 870,000 according to a 1991 census. Population density at that time was 306 persons per square kilometre (793/sq mi). The sex ratio is 913 (913 females per 1000 males).

Demographics

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Jorhat Municipal Board (covering the out growth area) had a population of 1,26,736 as of the 2011 census.[12]

The average literacy rate of Jorhat in 2011 was 91.39%. Gender-wise, male and female literacy were 93.63% and 88.99% respectively, which is one of the highest in the state. The total literates in Jorhat were 182,600 of which male and female were 96,806 and 85,794 respectively.

Jorhat's sex ratio stood at 935 females per 1000 males, according to the Census 2011 Directorate.

Hindus were 87.49% of the population, while Muslims were 10.50% and Christians 0.62% of the population respectively.[13]

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are 6.40% and 1.84% of the population respectively.[12]

Languages

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Assamese is the predominant language and is spoken by 70.08% of the population, while Bengali was spoken by 12.27%. Hindi (11.60%) and Bhojpuri (1.01%) are spoken by migrants from the Gangetic plains, such as traders and labourers. Ethinic languages like Mising and Deori are also spoken by the respective ethnicity. Other small languages in the city include Marwari, Sadri, Santali, Sora and Odia which in total are spoken by 5.04% of the population.[14]

Culture

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Jorhat is known as the Cultural Capital of Assam. It has rich contributions in the fields of arts, culture and tradition of the contemporary Assamese society. In 1896, Jorhat Theatre was established to perform cultural activities and dramas by some renowned people of the town. The Chandrakanta Handique Bhawan, the headquarters of Asam Sahitya Sabha was established in 1926. Jorhat has produced creative writers, historians and journalists. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, the first Assamese to win India's highest literature award, the Jnanpith Award, was from Jorhat.[15]

Media

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In 1935, the first Assamese daily newspaper Dainik Batori was published from Jorhat by Raibahadur Siva Prasad Barooah.[16][17] The daily newspapers which have Jorhat editions include Dainik Janambhumi, Amar Asom, Dainik Agradoot and Asomiya Khabar in Assamese, the Purbanchal Prohori in Hindi and The Telegraph in English. The Eastern Clarion was the first English daily published from the city, but it was ceased. Besides the dailies, a weekly newspaper Saptahik Janambhumi is also published from Jorhat. City Guide of Jorhat was the first yellow pages, published in July 1987. Jorhat has a radio broadcast station of All India Radio (AIR) located on the outskirts of the city at Garmur.

District Court

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District & Sessions Judge Court, Jorhat

The District & Sessions Judge Upper Assam District Jorhat was created on 15 November 1948 and has been made permanent w.e.f the 1 April 1953. The first roll of honor of District & Sessions Judge of Assam Valley, Upper Assam Districts, Jorhat District was Mr. S.K Das, MA, BL. Presently, the territorial jurisdiction of the District is extended over 2(two) sub-divisions namely Majuli Sub-Division and Titabar Sub-Division. Altogether, the District & Sessions Judge and the Chief Judicial Magistrate comprise 15 courts staffed by Judicial Officers of various grades. The District & Sessions Judge together with the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court Complex, Jorhat is situated in the heart of the city. The Present District & Sessions Judge as the head of the establishment is Shri Mridul Kumar Kalita. The present Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jorhat, the head of all the Criminal Courts is Sri Vijay Kumar Singh.[18][19]

Transport

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The Jorhat Airport commonly known as Rowriah Airport, is located at Rowriah, a suburb of Jorhat, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the city centre.[20] The airport has daily flights connectivity to Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru and Guwahati operated by IndiGo. It is controlled by the Airports Authority of India.

Rail

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The first rail connectivity of Jorhat began during British era in 1885, when Jorehaut Provincial Railway, a narrow-gauge railway services became operational.

Jorhat is served by Jorhat Town railway station[21] which lies on the Furkating-Jorhat-Mariani branch line of Tinsukia railway division. Mariani Junction railway station,[22] the major railway junction of the district is about 18 km (11 mi) from Jorhat. It falls in the Lumding-Dibrugarh section and is well connected to all the large cities of the country by long-distance express trains.

Road

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The Inter State Bus Terminus (ISBT) of Jorhat is at Kotoki Pukhuri, Tarajan. It operates daily bus services from ASTC and private operators to other towns and cities in the state and few destinations of the Northeast. Auto-rickshaws, local cabs and rickshaws are the main mode of public transport within the city.

Water

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The daily ferry services connect the Nimati ghat with Kamalabari and Aphalamukh in Majuli. The Neamati multimodal waterways terminal on Brahmaputra National Waterway 2 in Jorhat district is part of the Bharatmala and Sagarmala projects.[23]

Education and research institutions

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Research institutes

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Main entrance of Rain Forest Research Institute

Universities

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Main entrance of Assam Agricultural University

Technical institutes

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Design institute

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Medical institutes

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Training institute

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  • Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Jorhat [36]

Colleges

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Jagannath Barooah College

HS Schools

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  • Crescent Academy [45]
  • Excellere Senior Secondary School [46]
  • Luit Valley Academy

Schools

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Sports

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Established in 1950, the multi-purpose Jorhat Stadium is the oldest stadium of Assam, which is mainly used for cricket and football.[57] It has hosted few Ranji Trophy matches. The prominent football tournament ATPA Shield held every year in this venue since 1955. Jorhat Town Club used the stadium as home ground for their home matches of Assam State Premier League. Other sporting venues near the stadium include JDSA Field, Kushal Konwar Indoor Stadium, Jorhat Swimming Society and Jorhat Tennis Club.[58] The historic sporting venue Jorhat Gymkhana Club known for the century old annual horse race called Jorhat Races, which began in 1877. It has a golf course and a cricket ground.[59]

Politics

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Jorhat is part of Jorhat (Lok Sabha constituency).[60] Gaurav Gogoi, Indian National Congress is the current Member of Parliament serving the 18th Lok Sabha from Jorhat, Assam while Hitendra Nath Goswami of BJP is the incumbent MLA from Jorhat assembly constituency.[61]

Notable people

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Ministry of Home Affairs Directorate of Census Operations, Assam (2011). "District Primary: District Primary Census Abstract 0117 Jorhat: Urban". 1813 Part B District Census Handbook (DCHB) Jorhat (PDF) (Report) (PART XII-B ed.). Assam: Census of India 2011. p. 24. 1813. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b "Jorhat Municipal Board, Functions of Jorhat Municipality".
  3. ^ http://niti.gov.in/writereaddata/files/Assam-reports.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ "Jorhat Lok Sabha Election Results 2019- Jorhat Parliamentary Constituency, Winning MP and Party Name".
  5. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 December 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ "Meanwhile the Burmese king Badawpaya died in May 1819 leaving his grandson Bagidaw to the throne of Burma. Bagidawa desired that Assam be a permanent part of Burmese empire. Hence in 1821 Tilwa who had since returned to Burma was sent back to reclaim Assam. Tilwa occupied places like Jorhat and set up Jogeshwar Singha as the new King of Assam. With this the Burmese became the de facto ruler of the country."(Nag 2018:13–14)
  7. ^ (Nag 2018:13–14)
  8. ^ "When the deposed king Chandra kanta tried to fight back Bagidaw sent the greatest of his generals Mingimaha Bandula to reestablish Burmese authority in Assam. The defeat of Chandrakanta on June 12, 1822 marked the end of Ahom rule in Assam."(Nag 2018:14)
  9. ^ "NFR History". NF Railway. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  10. ^ "redirect to /world/IN/03/Jorhat.html". fallingrain.com.
  11. ^ "Jorhat Info".
  12. ^ a b "District Census 2011 - Jorhat" (PDF).
  13. ^ "C-16 Population By Religion - Assam". censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. 2011.
  14. ^ "C-16 Population By Mother Tongue - Town Level". censusindia.gov.in. Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India.
  15. ^ "Bhattacharya, Birendrakumar" in Amaresh Datta, ed., Encyclopaedia of Indian literature vol. 1 (Sahitya Akademi, 1987), ISBN 978-81-260-1803-1, p. 482 (excerpt available at Google Books).
  16. ^ "What was the First Assamese Daily Newspaper?". Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  17. ^ "Thangal Manor in Jorhat, Assam is worth a visit". 4 September 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Jorhat Court Recruitment".
  19. ^ "Jorhat District & Sessions Court".
  20. ^ "Jorhat Airport (JRH) or Rowriah Airport". goindigo.in.
  21. ^ "JTTN/Jorhat Town". India Rail Info.
  22. ^ "MXN/Mariani Junction". India Rail Info.
  23. ^ Bharatmala presentation
  24. ^ "Central Muga Eri Research and Training Institute (C.M.E.R. & T.I.) Lahdoigarh, Jorhat Assam". cmerti.res.in.
  25. ^ "Particulars of I.G.M.R.I.(FS), Jorhat, its functions and duties". Indian Grain Storage and Research Institute, Jorhat. Archived from the original on 13 January 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2015.
  26. ^ "ONGC :: Our Initiatives :: Institutes :: I.N.B.I.G.S." Ongcindia.com. Archived from the original on 28 August 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  27. ^ "ONGC ::Bilingual-Home". Ongcindia.com. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  28. ^ toonworks business solution (1 January 2004). "Welcome NEIST". Rrljorhat.res.in. Retrieved 17 August 2012. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  29. ^ "Tocklai". tocklai.net.
  30. ^ "Kaziranga University : A 21st Century Career University with a focus on research in emerging areas of Science, Technology and Management". kazirangauniversity.in.
  31. ^ a b "Jorhat Institute of Science and Technology". jistassam.in. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  32. ^ "About NEIMS". neimscollege.com. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  33. ^ "NID Assam (Jorhat)". Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  34. ^ Webx. "Welcome to Jorhat Medical college". Archived from the original on 22 March 2010.
  35. ^ "Dr. Jiba Kanta Saikia Homoeopathic Medical college and hospital".
  36. ^ "Institute of Advanced Studies in Education, Jorhat". Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  37. ^ "Welcome to Bahona College". Archived from the original on 26 August 2014. Retrieved 23 August 2014.
  38. ^ "CKB Commerce College". ckbcc.org. Archived from the original on 20 September 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  39. ^ "D.C.B. Girls College, Jorhat, Asssam". dcbgirlscollegejorhat.org. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  40. ^ "Welcome to J B College". Jagannath Barooah College. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  41. ^ http://www.jorhatcollege.org.in Archived 9 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ^ "Jorhat Law College, Jorhat, Assam, India- BA LLB, LLB, LLM". jorhatlawcollege.org. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  43. ^ "Kakojan College, Kakojan".
  44. ^ "Dr. Nobin Bordoloi College". dr.nobinbordoloicollege.com. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
  45. ^ "Crescent Academy info". Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  46. ^ "Excellere". Retrieved 10 June 2023.
  47. ^ "Carmel School, Jorhat". 30 July 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  48. ^ "About Delhi Public School Jorhat-Assam". Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  49. ^ "Don Bosco Hr. Sec. School – Baghchung, Jorhat". dbsjorhat.org.
  50. ^ "About JNV Jorhat". navodaya.gov.in. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  51. ^ http://www.sankardevseminary.org Archived 2 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  52. ^ "Group". Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  53. ^ http://www.dongme.ning.com Archived 9 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  54. ^ "Kendriya Vidyalaya, AFS Jorhat". Kvafsjorhat.org. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  55. ^ "Kendriya Vidyalaya N E I S T (RR L) Jorhat". Kvrrljorhat.org. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  56. ^ "Kendriya Vidyalaya ONGC Jorhat". Kvongcjorhat.org. Archived from the original on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  57. ^ "Sports in Jorhat". jorhatonline.in. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
  58. ^ "Sports Venues". assam.gov.in. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
  59. ^ "Century-old Jorhat horse race sputters on". telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  60. ^ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  61. ^ "Jorhat (Assam) Election Results 2016". Election.in. Retrieved 19 May 2016.

References

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  • Nag, Sajal (2018). "Devour thy Neighbour: Foreign Invasions and the Decline of States in Eighteenth Century North East India". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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