Lower Assam division

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} {{Use Indian English|date=August 2022}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Lower Assam division | settlement_type = Division | image_alt = | image_caption = Guwahati is the important and most developed city in Lower Assam division | image_seal = | image_map = Divisions of Assam.svg | map_caption = The five divisions of Assam | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = {{flag|India}} | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Assam | established_title = | established_date = | seat_type = Capital | seat = Guwahati | seat1_type = Largest City | seat1 = Guwahati | government_footnotes = | leader_title = DC | leader_name = Shri Jayant Narlikar, IAS | leader_title1 = DIG | leader_name1 = | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 22,024 | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_total = 11252365 | population_as_of = 2011 census | population_footnotes = | population_density_km2 = auto | population_note = | image_skyline = Guwahati city during Diwali 2012.jpg | population_demonym = | timezone1 = IST | utc_offset = +05:30 | website = {{URL|https://assam.gov.in}} }} '''Lower Assam division''' is one of the 5 administrative divisions of Assam in India. It was formed in 1874, consisting of the undivided Kamrup district of Western Assam, undivided Darrang and Nagaon districts of Central Assam and Khasi & Jaintia hills of Meghalaya, created for revenue purposes.<ref>{{cite book |title=Development of Administration in Assam: With Special Reference to Land |last=Bose |first=Manilal |year=1985 |publisher= Concept Publishing Company }}</ref>

==History==

[[File:Southern border of Bhutan1985.jpg|thumb|280px|Some parts of Lower Assam and North Bengal were under the Kingdom of Bhutan before the 1865 Duar War]]

Around 1498-1502, Sultan Alauddin Hussain Shah of Gaur conquered parts of Lower Assam during the Bengal-Kamata War.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 July 2025 |title=Husayn Shah Ala al-Din |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Husayn-Shah-Ala-al-Din |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref><ref>"The annexation of the Khen Kingdom up to Hajo was, however, not completed before Ramzan 907/10 March 1502..." {{harvcol|Sarkar|1992|p=47}}</ref> The Sultan appointed his son, Shahzada Danyal,<ref>{{cite book|last=Desai|first=Ziyaud-Din A.|author-link=Z. A. Desai|title=Purā-prakāśa: Recent Researches in Epigraphy, Numismatics, Manuscriptology, Persian Literature, Art, Architecture, Archaeology, History and Conservation : Dr. Z.A. Desai Commemoration Volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EKDpAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Tn+the+third+year+of+Husain+Shah%27s+occupation+of+the+throne,+Daniyal+probably+his+eldest+son,+acted+as+his+deputy+in+negotiations+with+Sultan+Sikandar+Lodi%22|year=2003|publisher=Bharatiya Kala Prakashan|isbn=978-81-8090-007-5|page=244}}</ref> as the governor of the newly conquered region; that reached up to Hajo and intended to expand to Central Assam. Danyal governed Kamata for several more years until the Assamese Bhuyans led by Harup Narayan led a campaign against him. In this campaign, the Bhuyans seized and killed Danyal and his officers, thus ending the Sultanate's short rule over the territory some time before 1509.<ref name="harup">{{harvtxt|Nath|1989|pp=20-21}}</ref><ref name=sarkar>{{harvtxt|Sarkar|1992|pp=46-48}}</ref><ref name="baruah-daniel">"But the rule of the Muslims was short. The Bhuyans made a united attack on Daniel's garrison and destroyed it to the last man."{{harvcol|Baruah|1986|p=181}}</ref> Musundar Ghazi succeeded Danyal as Bengal's representative in Kamrup.<ref>{{cite book|last=Salim|first=Gulam Hussain|author2=tr. from Persian |author3=Abdus Salam |title=Riyazu-s-Salatin: History of Bengal|url=https://archive.org/details/riyazussalatinhi00saliuoft/page/132/mode/2up?q=ashraf|year=1902|publisher=Asiatic Society, Baptist Mission Press|pages=132}}</ref>{{bcn|date=June 2025}} Some parts of Lower assam districts were under rule of the Kingdom of Bhutan until the 19th century.<ref>{{harvcol|Phuntsho|2013|p=453}}</ref>

==Districts== Lower Assam division contains 12 districts, namely Dhubri, South Salamara, Kokrajhar, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Barpeta, Bajali, Nalbari, Baksa, Kamrup and Kamrup metropolitan.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gad.assam.gov.in/information-services/divisions|title = Divisions | General Administration | Government of Assam, India}}</ref> Among these, 3 districts namely Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa lie within Bodoland.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bodoland.in/index.php/2016-02-26-07-47-07/48-bodoland-at-a-glance|title=Bodoland.in}}</ref> {| class= "wikitable sortable" |- ! Code<ref>ISO 3166</ref> ! District ! Headquarter ! Population (2011)<ref name="districtcensus">{{cite web |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/Assam.html|title= District Census 2011}}</ref> ! Area (km²) ! Density (/km²) |- | BK|| Baksa# ||Mushalpur ||950,075|| 2,457|| 387 |- | -|| Bajali ||Pathsala ||253,816||600||423 |- | BP|| Barpeta|| Barpeta|| 1,439,806|| 2,645<ref>{{cite web | url=https://barpeta.assam.gov.in/portlets/district-profile | title=District Profile | Barpeta District | Government of Assam, India }}</ref>|| 544 |- | BO|| Bongaigaon|| Bongaigaon|| 738,804|| 1,093|| 676 |- | CH|| Chirang# ||Kajalgaon ||482,162|| 1,170|| 412 |- | DU|| Dhubri|| Dhubri|| 1,394,144|| 1,608|| 867 |- | GP|| Goalpara|| Goalpara|| 1,008,183|| 1,824|| 553 |- | KM|| Kamrup Metropolitan|| Guwahati||1,253,938 | 1,528|| 821 |- | KU|| Kamrup|| Rangia||1,517,542 | 3,105|| 489 |- | KJ|| Kokrajhar# || Kokrajhar||887,142 | 3,169|| 280 |- | NB|| Nalbari|| Nalbari||771,639 | 2,257|| 342 |- | SSM|| South Salmara-Mankachar ||Hatsingimari<ref>{{cite news|title=South Salmara-Mankachar dist inaugurated|url=http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=feb1116/state051|newspaper=Assam Tribune|access-date=11 February 2016}}</ref> || 555,114 || 568 || 977 |- !Total !12 !— !1,12,52,365 !22,024 !511 |} # Districts within the Bodoland Territorial Region

==Demographics== As per the 2011 census, Lower Assam division has a population of 11,501,873 people. ===Languages=== {{Pie chart |thumb = right |caption = Languages spoken in Lower Assam Division (2011)<ref name="censuslang">{{cite web |title=C-16 Population By Mother Tongue – Assam |url=https://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-16/DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-1800.XLSX |website=censusindia.gov.in |access-date=16 August 2020}}</ref> |label1 = Assamese |value1 = 52.98 |color1 = yellow |label2 = Bengali |value2 = 30.90 |color2 = red |label4 = Hindi |value4 = 2.83 |color4 = orange |label3 = Boro |value3 = 7.73 |color3 = blue |label5 = Others |value5 = 5.56 |color5 = grey }} According to the 2011 census, the total number of Assamese speakers in the division were '''59,61,583''', Bengali speakers were '''34,76,953''', Boro speakers were 8,70,198 and Hindi speakers were 3,17,958. Although the Bengali speaking population was 30.9% as per the 2011 census language report, Lower Assam Division is home to a large Muslim population of Bengali origin, most of whom now identify as Assamese speakers in the census.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Saikia|first=Arunabh|title=A new generation of 'Miya' Muslims in Assam may vote for Congress-AIUDF – but only out of compulsion|url=https://scroll.in/article/991174/a-new-generation-of-miya-muslims-in-assam-may-vote-for-congress-aiudf-but-only-out-of-compulsion|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Scroll.in|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=X|first=Samrat|title=National Register of Citizens: Identity issue haunts Assam, again|url=https://www.newslaundry.com/2018/01/08/national-register-of-citizens-identity-assam-immigrants|access-date=2021-07-16|website=Newslaundry}}</ref>

===Religion=== Total population of Lower Assam Division is 11,501,873. Among them, Hindus are 5,659,063, Muslims are 5,474,223 and 368,587 follow other religions.

{{Pie chart |thumb = right |caption = Religion in Lower Assam Division (2011) |label1 = Hinduism |value1 = 49.20 |color1 = darkorange |label2 = Islam |value2 = 47.59 |color2 = green |label3 = Others |value3 = 3.21 |color3 = blue }} {| class="wikitable sortable" !District !Hindu !Muslim !Other |- |Kamrup Metropolitan | style="background:darkorange" |84.89 |12.05 |3.06 |- |Kamrup | style="background:darkorange" |57.82 |39.66 |2.52 |- |Dubri |26.07 | style="background:green"|73.49 |0.44 |- |Goalpara |34.51 | style="background:green"|57.52 |7.97 |- |Barpeta |22.27 |style="background:green" |77.58 |0.15 |- |Bongaigaon |48.61 | style="background:green"|50.22 |1.17 |- |South Salmara Mankachar |4.49 | style="background:green"|95.19 |0.32 |- |Chirang | style="background:darkorange" |66.50 |22.66 |10.84 |- |Kokrajhar | style="background:darkorange" |59.64 |28.44 |11.92 |- |Nalbari | style="background:darkorange" |69.11 |30.56 |0.33 |- |Bajali | style="background:darkorange" |67.90 |31.91 |0.19 |- |Baksa | style="background:darkorange" |82.40 |14.29 |2.32 |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== {{refbegin}} * {{Citation |last=Baruah |first=S L |title=A Comprehensive History of Assam |publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.|place=New Delhi |year=1986}} * {{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ECxUOSudNGYC|last=Nath|first=D.|title=History of the Koch Kingdom, C. 1515–1615|publisher=Mittal Publications|year=1989|isbn=8170991099|access-date=26 March 2023|archive-date=3 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503105404/https://books.google.com/books?id=ECxUOSudNGYC|url-status=live}} * {{Cite book |last1=Phuntsho |first1=Karma |title=The History of Bhutan |date=2013 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=9781908323583}} * {{Citation |last=Sarkar |first=J. N. |contribution=Chapter II The Turko-Afghan Invasions |editor-last=Barpujari |editor-first=H. K. |title=The Comprehensive History of Assam |volume=2 |pages=35–48 |publisher=Assam Publication Board |place=Guwahati |year=1992}} {{refend}} Category:Divisions of Assam