Kokrajhar () is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous territory in Assam, one of the North Eastern states of India.
History Under the Kingdom of Bhutan
From the early 17th century to 1865, the Kokrajhar district was under the control of the Kingdom of Bhutan,"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." until the Duar Wars in 1865, when the British removed the Bhutanese influence and later the areas were merged into the undivided Goalpara district of the Indian Union in 1949.
Geography Kokrajhar is located at .Falling Rain Genomics, Inc - Kokrajhar It has an average elevation of 38 metres (124 feet).
Climate
Demographics
As per 2011 Indian census, Kokrajhar had a population of 34,136.
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 17,693 speakers, followed by Bodo at 8,549, Hindi spoken by 2,946 people and Assamese at 2,752, with smaller but significant number of Bhojpuri, Rajbanshi, Nepali and Marwari speakers.
Transportation Rupsi Airport is situated 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 are affiliated under Bodoland University since 2017.
Universities and colleges
Bineswar Brahma Engineering College, Kokrajhar Central Institute of Technology, Kokrajhar Commerce College, Kokrajhar Kokrajhar Medical College and Hospital Science College, Kokrajhar
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 Kokrajhar (Lok Sabha constituency)
References
Sources