| Dibrugarh district | |
| Settlement Type: | District of Assam |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Dibrugarh |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Assam |
| Subdivision Type2: | Division |
| Subdivision Name2: | Upper Assam |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Dibrugarh |
| Parts Type: | Tehsils |
| Parts Style: | para |
| Leader Title: | Member of Parliament |
| Leader Name: | Sarbananda Sonowal (BJP) – Dibrugarh Pradan Baruah (BJP) – Lakhimpur |
| Leader Title1: | District Commissioner |
| Leader Name1: | Bikram Kairi (IAS) |
| Leader Title2: | Superintendent of Police |
| Leader Name2: | V.V. Rakesh Reddy (IPS) |
| Area Total Km2: | 3,381 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Total: | 1,326,335 |
| Total Type: | Total |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Demographics |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Literacy |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 76.22% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Sex ratio |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 961 per 1000 male |
| Demographics1 Title3: | Scheduled Castes |
| Demographics1 Title4: | Scheduled Tribes |
| Demographics Type2: | Language |
| Demographics2 Title1: | Official |
| Demographics2 Info1: | Assamese, English |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +05:30 |
| Registration Plate: | AS-06-xxxx |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Major highways |
| Blank Info Sec1: | NH 15 |
Dibrugarh district (Pron:ˌdɪbru:ˈgor:) is a district in the state of Assam in India. The district headquarters are located within the city of Dibrugarh.
Dibrugarh derived its name from Dibarumukh (as a renowned encampment of Ahoms during the Ahom-Chutia war). Either the name “Dibru” evolved from Dibaru river or from the Bodo-Kachari word “Dibru” which means a “blister” and “Garh” meaning "fort". The Bodo-Kacharis add the prefix “Di-” (which means “water”) wherever there is small stream, a river, or a large river in a town or city.[1]
According to the Brief History of Mengguo Zhanbi, in 1318, Si Kefa, the ruler of Mongmao after conquering southeast states till Lancang river from the Yuan dynasty, appointed his brother Sanlongfa as the general and led an army of 90,000 to attack the king of Mengwei Sari (Upper Assam) in the northwest. In the end, he designed a plan to make Mengwei Sari surrender and pay tribute.[2]
In Hsweni state chronicle, the two generals Tao Sen Yen and Tao Sen Hai Khai sent with Samlongpha sent a story to Hso Khan Hpa (Si Kefa) that Samlongpha was conspiring with the king of Mong Wehsali Long to dethrone Hso Khan Hpa, Hso Khan Hpa believed the story and sent poison food to Samlongpha and he died at Mongkawng.
The region was part of the Chutia Kingdom until the Ahoms occupied it in the year 1523 AD. The Chutia army under the generals Kasitora, Alangi Chetia and Borpatra fought against the Ahoms at Dibrumukh,[3] but were defeated. After the Ahoms captured Sadiya in 1524 AD, bringing an end to the Chutia kingdom, the Ahom king Suhungmung placed an official named Chaolung Shulung to control the region.[4]
Since the defeat of the royalists troops at Amaratali of Dibru in 1787 A.D. in the reign of Gaurinath Singha, during the Moamoria rebellion this region came under the Moamarias who also formed there a dominant religious community. Dibrugarh became a separate district when it was split from Lakhimpur on 2 October 1971.[5] On 1 October 1989 Tinsukia district was split from Dibrugarh.
Dibrugarh district occupies an area of 3381km2,[6] comparatively equivalent to Russia's Vaygach Island.[7] The district extends from 27° 5' 38" N to 27° 42' 30" N latitude and 94°33'46"E to 95°29'8"E longitude. It is bounded by Dhemaji district on the north, Tinsukia district on the east, Tirap district of Arunachal Pradesh on the south-east and Sibsagar district on the north and south-west. The area stretches from the north bank of the Brahmaputra, which flows for a length of 95 km through the northern margin of the district, to the Patkai foothills on the south. The Burhi Dihing, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra with its network of tributaries and wetlands flows through the district from east to west. There is a large tract of Tropical Rainforest in its eastern and southern regions, which is a part of the Dehing Patkai wildlife sanctuary.
In 1999 Dibrugarh district became home to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, which has an area of 340abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[8] It shares the park with Tinsukia district. It is also home to the Padumani-Bherjan-Borajan Wildlife Sanctuary, which was established in 1999 and has an area of 7.2abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[8] In 2020 Dibrugarh district became home to Dehing Patkai National Park, which has an area of 231.65abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[8] It shares the park with Tinsukia district.
Tea and oil are the major revenue earners for the district. Beside these many rice and oilseed mills exist. Also there are some coal mining and petroleum production industries.
The majority of the population are occupied in farming of rice, sugar-cane, pulses, and fish farming.
Dibrugarh has the world's largest area covered by tea gardens. The entire district is surrounded by tea plantations and has tea factories. Many tea gardens are more than 100 years old.
The world's oldest running oil refinery is situated in Digboi (Tinsukia District). The entire district has many oil and natural gas rigs owned by the Oil India Limited and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation.
The headquarters of Oil India Limited is located in Duliajan,[9] 50 km from Dibrugarh Town.
Namrup is known for its 3 main industries viz. BVFCL (Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd.), APL (Assam Petrochemicals Ltd.) and NTPS (Namrup Thermal Power Station).
The Administrative System is divided into:
In the lower-house (Lok Sabha) of the Indian Parliament, Dibrugarh is one constituency and represented by one elected Member of the Parliament.
There are seven Assam Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Moran, Dibrugarh, Lahowal, Duliajan, Tingkhong, Naharkatia, and Chabua.[10] Chabua is in the Lakhimpur Lok Sabha constituency, whilst the other six are in the Dibrugarh Lok Sabha constituency.[11]
Dibrugarh is well linked by roads, railway (Dibrugarh railway station), airway (Mohanbari Airport) and waterway. There are four airfields, which were used by the British against Japanese forces in Burma during World War II.
According to the 2011 census Dibrugarh district has a population of 1,326,335,[12] roughly equal to the nation of Mauritius[13] or the US state of Maine.[14] This gives it a ranking of 367th in India (out of a total of 640).[12] The district has a population density of 393PD/sqkm.[12] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.04%.[12] Dibrugarh has a sex ratio of 961 females for every 1000 males,[12] and a literacy rate of 76.05%, 82.82% in males and 68.99% in females. 18.38% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 4.44% and 7.76% of the population respectively.[12]
Dibrugarh is a multi-cultural district. According to the 2011 census, 76.01% of the district speaks Assamese, 5.93% Bengali, 5.80% Hindi, 4.83% Sadri, 1.72% Nepali, 1.13% Bhojpuri and 1.00% Odia as their first language.[15]
The district is the pivot of higher education in the entire North East India. Right from the British India period the district has been a center for learning. The Assam Medical College was established by a personal grant from Dr. John Berry White after he retired as the civil surgeon of Lakhimpur district. The medical school, "John Berry White Medical School" was set up in 1900 at Dibrugarh, and thus this premier institute started its history, and marked a new era in education.[16] Assam Medical College has the pride of having the first Radiology department in India, as in 1910 two X-ray machine (One 10MA and another 15MA) was bought from England, only 15 years after the discovery of X-rays by Professor Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen in 1895–96. These two were the first X-ray machines in India.
Apart from medical, the other higher fields of learning in the district are Pharmacology, Geology and Applied Geology and Petroleum Technology. All these courses are offered by Dibrugarh University, which was established in 1965.
Beside the university, other centres for learning are:
The district came to national prominence for education in 2009 with Gaurav Agarwal of the Assam Valley School topping the country in the Class XII board examinations conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations.[17] [18] [19]
The Dibrugarh district is part Dibrugarh, and Lakhimpur parliament constituency. Vidhan Sabha constituencies are Moran, Dibrugarh, Lahowal, Duliajan, Tingkhong, Naharkatia, Chabua