Sibsagar Subdivision, 1908

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Sibsagar Subdivision

This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.

Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.

Subdivision of Sibsagar District, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 26 42' and 27 16' N. and 94 24' and 95 22' E., with an area of 1,162 square miles. It contains one town, SIBSAGAR (population, 5,712), the head-quarters ; and 666 villages. The subdivision lies on the south bank of the Brahmaputra, and is bounded on the south by the hills inhabited by Nagas.

It was the original centre from which the Ahom tribe extended their influence over the valley of the Brahmaputra, and evidences of their occupation are to be found in numerous large tanks, embankments, and ruins of temples and palaces. The population in 1901 was 211,764, or nearly one-third more than in 1891 (160,304). This enormous increase is due to natural growth among the Assamese, who are found here in large numbers, and to the importation of coolies for tea cultivation. In 1904 there were 56 gardens with 28,076 acres under plant, which gave employment to 75 Europeans and 33,329 natives. The staple food-crop is sali, or transplanted winter rice ; but much damage is done to cultivation by the tributaries of the Brahmaputra, and steps have recently been taken to restore the embankments which enclosed these rivers in the time of the Ahom Rajas. The subdivision, as a whole, supports 182 persons per square mile, but in the Namditol tahsil, which covers an area of 1 60 square miles, the density is as high as 364, and little good land remains available for settlement except in tracts which require to be protected from flood. In the west the rainfall is 85 inches, but on the eastern border it is about 10 inches more. The assessment for land revenue and local rates in 1903-4 was Rs. 5,66,000,