Sivasagar (Pron: or ) (Xiwôxagôr), previously spelled Sibsagar, ("the ocean of Siva Singha"), is a city in the Amazonas region of Assam, about 360 kilometres (224 mi) northeast of Guwahati. It is the headquarters of the Sivasagar district. This city is surrounded by the Dehing rainforest, where the mighty Dihing (Brahmaputra) & Lohit rivers meet.
It is well known for its Ahom palaces and monuments. Sivasagar today is also an important centre for the tea and oil industries.
Video Sivasagar
History
Sivasagar, formerly known as Rangpur, was the capital of the Ahom Kingdom from 1699 to 1788. The Ahoms ruled Assam for six centuries, until their kingdom fell to the Burmese in 1819 and their ruling class was all but wiped out.
The province was liberated by the British in 1825 but, owing to the state of anarchy which prevailed, it was completely annexed in 1826. For administrative purposes it was divided into three sub-divisions.
It is said that the original name of Sivasagar was - 'Kalansupar' after the name of 'Kalansu Gohain' who resided in a village that originally existed in the place where currently the Sivasagar tank is located. [1][2]
This town's main feature is the water body from which it takes its name. This is a 257-acre (1.04 km2) tank, also known as the Borpukhuri, which is at a higher elevation than the rest of the town, with three temples ("Dol"s in Assamese) on its banks. Of these temples, the most prominent is the Sivadol, standing tall at 104 feet (32 m), drawing large crowds on Shiv Ratri. The other temples are the Vishnudol and Devidol. The temples were built by Kuwori Ambika, wife of Swargadeo Siba Singha, in 1734.
The Land
It was in the middle ages that king Rudra Singha (1690 AD - 1714 AD), the 30th Ahom ruler got the fourth capital town constructed at Meteka and christened it as Che-mon. The construction of the new capital 'Chemon' or Rangpur was started in 1699 AD and after completion it was inaugurated in 1707 A.D. However, the existing capital at Garhgoan continued to function as the centre of administration whereas the new capital town at Rangpur was initially used as an army cantonment, centre of amusement, secretariat and court of law.
The new capital town of Rangpur was bounded on the east by Banhgarh (Bamboo rampant), the rivers Dikhow and Namdang on the west, whereas these two rivers again bounded the city on the north and the south respectively. Two main entrances to the capital town were the Singhaduar at Banhgarh on the east and the Namdang stone bridge on the west, and these two entrances were connected by the Bor Ali.
The Raj Kareng or royal palace in the new capital complex stands magnificently near Joysagar tank. To its south stands the Fakua-Doul (Pa-Kua) with eight symbols and octagonal in shape, in keeping with Taoist cosmology, built by king Rudra Singha in 1703-04 A.D. for religious purposes, while the Ranghar known to be the first sports pavilion in Asia and built in its present shape by king Pramatta Singha in 1746 A.D., still proudly stands on the west. This Ranghar besides being used for enjoyment of indigenous traditional sports activities by the royal people and lords also served the king to hold conferences with foreign ambassador and dignitaries. Out of the five capital towns of the Ahom rule, as many as four - Charaideo, Saragua, Garhgaon and Rangpur, now lie within Sivasagar district, leaving out only Jorhat, the last capital, in the adjacent district by the same name.
The capital town of Rangpur was to the south of Dikhow River. The part on the northern bank was known earlier as Shivpur, later Sibsagar and now Sivasagar. Thus in the past Sivasagar and Rangpur were two different areas separated by Dikhow river, which in those days used to flow through the middle part of the present Sivasagar town - a stretch of the mori Dikhow or the dead river still exists by the side of the Sankardeva Samaj Namghar and Seuji Sangeet Vidyalya. Earlier the Sivasagar town was bounded by Cherekapar on the east, Kathpar on the west, Joyrapar in the north and Dhuliapar on the south. Nomenclature of river Dikhow owes its origin to the Bodo-Kachari group of Tibeto-Burman languages: Di meaning water or river and 'khow' high steep and thus Dikhow implies a river with high steep. This river in earlier times was also known as 'klong' or 'klongso' and the northern bank of Dikhow came to be known as Klongsopar or Kolongsopar, and, a little later still, as Doikolong. Till the fag end of the Ahom rule the name Shivpur persisted. Only after the treaty of Yandaboo in 1826 A.D. when the East India Company and for that matter, the British government came to hold power, Shivpur along with Rangpur came to be known as Sibsagar. As per historical records, Sir Newville in 1818 A.D. shifted the administrative headquarters from Rangpur to Jorhat where from thirty years later it was reverted to Rangpur by Mr. Scott and then moved to the bank of the Sibsagar tank by captain Broody in the same year. During British rule, the Sibsagar district comprised three sub-divisions: Sibsagar, Jorhat and Golaghat. In 1912 A.D. the district headquarter was again shifted to Jorhat leaving Sibsagar only as a sub-divisional headquarter. It remained so till 1983 when on 1 July of that year the Sibsagar and Golaghat sub-divisions of undivided Sibsagar district were declared as new districts by the Government of Assam. The newly constituted Sibsagar district has three sub-divisions, viz. Sibsagar, Nazira and Charaideo. The city of Sivasagar is the largest city in amazonas region in upper assam and it lies around the largest and most biodiverse Dehing rainforest and also listed among world's wildest cities(BBC documentry,2000).
Maps Sivasagar
Transport
- Road
Sivasagar is well connected by road with the rest of the state. State-run buses connect it to Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jorhat and other places from the Assam State Transport Corporation's (ASTC) bus station in Sivasagar. Private buses are also available. Taxis are also available for hire. AC and Non AC Luxury buses to Guwahati, Itanagar, North Lakhimpur, Tezpur are available daily.
Auto-rickshaws and other modes of transport are available in and around the town. Cheaper modes of transport, like Tata Magic and Tempos, are available through Nazira, Mechagarh, and Joysagar to Sivasagar. A Proposed SivasAgar-Majuli bridge on river Bramahputra and an Express highway would connect Sivasgar with the World's largest river island, Majuli soon.
- Air
The closest airport is Jorhat Airport located at Jorhat, 75 km from Sivasagar. The airport is connected via regular flights to cities like Guwahati, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Delhi. Sivasagar is also connected to Dibrugarh and Shillong. Another option for getting here is via Dibrugarh Airport, located at a distance of 95 km from the city. There are frequent flight services to both Jorhat and Dibrugarh. Taxis to Sivasagar are available from either airport.
- Railway
The New Tinsukia - Bengaluru Weekly Express connects the Sibsagar Town railway station. Dibrugarh-Agartala Express connects Sivasagar town directly with Barak Valley and the state of Tripura and runs twice in a week. Kamakhya-Dibrugarh intercity Express connects Sivasagar to the State capital daily. Rangiya Dibrugarh Express thrice a week also connects Sivasagar to Lower Assam . The nearest railway station on the Tinsukia-Guwahati sector of the North East Frontier Railways is located at Simaluguri, 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Sivasagar. Buses ply regularly from Simaluguri towards Sivasagar. It is approximately a half-hour bus ride from Simaluguri town. Simaluguri JN is well connected with many cities across the country.
Demographics
An official Census 2011 detail of Sivasagar
In 2011, Sivasagar had population of 1,151,050 of which male and female were 589,216 and 561,834 respectively. In 2001 census, Sivasagar had a population of 1,051,736 of which males were 545,476 and remaining 506,260 were females. Sivasagar District population constituted 3.69 percent of total Assam's population. In 2001 census, this figure for Sivasagar District was at 3.95 percent of Assam's population.
There was change of 9.44 percent in the population compared to population as per 2001. In the previous census of India 2001, Sivasagar District recorded increase of 15.83 percent to its population compared to 1991. Average literacy rate of Sivasagar in 2011 were 80.41 compared to 74.47 of 2001. If things are looked out at gender wise, male and female literacy were 85.84 and 74.71 respectively. For 2001 census, same figures stood at 81.53 and 66.81 in Sivasagar District. Total literate in Sivasagar District were 813,505 of which male and female were 444,767 and 368,738 respectively. In 2001, Sivasagar District had 7,965,351 in its district. Most of the inhabitants of the town are Assamese, comprising Ahom, Koch, Assamese Hindus, Assamese Muslims, and other ethnic groups.
Population History
Source of article : Wikipedia
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