| Udalguri district | |
| Settlement Type: | District of Assam |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Assam |
| Subdivision Type2: | Territorial Region |
| Subdivision Name2: | Bodoland |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Udalguri |
| Leader Title: | Lok Sabha constituencies |
| Leader Name: | Mangaldoi |
| Leader Title1: | Vidhan Sabha constituencies |
| Leader Name1: | Panery, Udalguri, Majbat |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 1,852.16 |
| Population Total: | 831,668 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +05:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 784509 |
| Area Code: | 03711 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Iso Code: | IN-AS |
| Registration Plate: | AS-27 |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Bodo, Assamese |
Udalguri district (Pron:ˌʊdʌlˈgʊəri), also known as Odalguri, is a district in the Bodoland Territorial Region of the state of Assam in Northeastern India. Udalguri town is the headquarters of the district.
The name Udalguri, denotes a place surrounding the Udal tree (Udal, meaning a tree and Guri meaning surrounding area). Some authors are of the opinion that the name of the place became Udalguri as there was a hermitage of a sage named Uddalak Muni. Yet, another source mentions that the word has origins in the Boro language. From the Bodo words and, the name became > > > . Bodo people still pronounce the name as Odalguri. In Bodo language means wide and spacious and means powdered object.[1]
See main article: article, Dooars, Duar War, Bhutan and Ahom kingdom.
Udalguri district falls under Darrang Duars which includes the region between the Bornadi River and Dhansiri River. The Duar that falls under the Udalguri district are the Buriguma Dooar and Killing Dooars.
In older times, Udalguri acted as a trading point between Assam and Tsona city in Tibet (now China). The route passed through the Nyamjang Chu and Tawang Chu rivers via Trashigang and Dewangiri. The Monpas of Tibet would visit Tangla and Udalguri to acquire silk known as Alaine from the Bodos and Ravas.[2]
According to Bhutanese chronicles, the region till the east in Killing Duars fell under the authority of the Bhutias in 1189.
From the early 17th-century present-day Udalguri district was governed jointly by the Druk Desi (Dzongkha: འབྲུག་སྡེ་སྲིད་) of Bhutan and the Sutamla of the Ahom kingdom.[4] Under the Bhutan government, it was under the authority of Tongso Penlop who appointed Subah who in turn appointed Laskar, Mondol or Uzir to look after the activities of the Duars. In 1841, the British East company removed the Bhutanese influence and the area was later merged to undivided Darrang district of Assam of the Indian Union in 1949.
This district was formed on June 14, 2004[5] as one of the four districts under the Bodoland Territorial Council. This district was carved out by bifurcating Darrang district.[5] The territory of the present district was earlier Udalguri sub-division of the undivided district. There are Hindu, Christians and Muslim population living together in the district. This was a very peaceful place till mid 80s but various communal clashes took place from time to time. Late Jojaram Sharma was one of the prominent India freedom fighters from Assam lived here.
Other than the multitude of culture and tradition of the various ethnic communities, the district has several tourist places. Some of the important ones are,
According to the 2011 census Udalguri district's population is 8,31,668, an increase of 9.8% over 2001.[11] The literacy rate is 66.6% and the gender ratio is 966.[11] There are .[11] 4.52% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 4.55% and 32.15% of the population respectively.
The district is multi-ethnic and multi-religious in nature. Bodos forms the largest ethnic group in the district with 31.76% of the district's population. Other ethnic groups with significant population are Adivasi community with almost 23.12% and Bengali Muslims with 12% of the district's population. Assamese and Bengali Hindus resides mainly in urban areas. There is also a presence of sizeable Nepali speaking Gorkha community with estimated 5% of the district's population thinly scattered across the Udalguri district.
Hindus are the largest group in the district, making up 612,425 which is 73.64% of the population. There are also 110,215 Christians (13.25%) and 108,319 Muslims (12.66%) in the district.[12]
According to the 2011 census, 26.90% of the population speaks Boro, 22.62% Assamese, 19.43% Bengali, 7.88% Sadri, 5.60% Nepali, 2.79% Santali, 2.64% Odia, 2.08% Kurukh, 1.66% Hindi, 1.57% Mundari and 1.45% Bhojpuri as their first language.[13]
This district is bounded by Bhutan and West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh state in the north, Sonitpur district in the east, Darrang district in the south and Tamulpur district in the west. Area of the district is 1852.16 km2.[14]
Odalguri is the largest town in Udalguri district. Other towns include Tangla, Rowta, Mazbat, Kalaigaon, Paneri, Khairabari and Bhergaon.
In 1990, Udalguri district became home to Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 26.22abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[15] It shares the park with four other districts.
Animals like elephants, Hog Deer, Tiger, Wild Boar, Civet, etc. are found. Birds like Bengal Florican, Black-necked Stork, Greater Adjudant Stork, Pallas's Fishing Eagle and Reptiles such as King Cobra, Python, Paradise Flying Snake,[16] Lessemys Punctate, etc. can also be found.
The district has two sub-divisions: Udalguri and Bhergaon. These two sub-divisions are further divided into 5 revenue circles: Udalguri, Majbat, Harisinga, Kalaigaon, Khoirabari.
Three Vidhan Sabha constituencies of this district are Paneri, Majbat, and Udalguri. All of these are part of Mangaldoi Lok Sabha constituency.
Apart from these three Legislative Assembly constituencies, majority of the villages under Kalaigaon Legislative Assembly Constituency and a few villages fall under the Borsola Legislative Assembly Constituency fall in Udalguri District. While Kalaigaon LAC is a part of Mangaldai Lok Sabha Constituency and Borsola LAC is a part of Tezpur Lok Sabha Constituency.
Dhansiri Irrigation Project, the largest irrigation project in the region is situated in Udalguri.
Under the Darrang Raja, an officer named Guntia Baruah was appointed to manage the transaction with the Bhutias who handed it over to the Borphukan at Guwahati, the Bhutias appointed Dzongpon to do the same.