Red River and Blue Hills

Chapter 2 Red River and Blue Hills

Chapter 2 Red River and Blue Hills 2.1 Introduction: The state of Assam, lying on the north eastern frontier of the country acts like a gateway to the North Eastern region of India. Geographically, the state lies between 24 0 3 N to 27 0 58 N and 89 0 5 E to 96 0 1 E (see Map 2.1). The state shares its border with all the seven sister states of North East, viz. Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, and Arunachal Pradesh, as well as with that of West Bengal. The state also forms a part of India s international boundary with Bangladesh and Bhutan. The heavily silt laden Brahmaputra, winding its way through the breadth of Assam looks reddish because of high sedimentation and is thus called Lauhitya (meaning red in local language). From a distance, the snow capped Himalaya of Arunachal Pradesh and the heavily forested mountains of Meghalaya simmer, giving the Assamese horizon a blue haze. This is why; the state is called the land of Red River and Blue Hills. Red River and Blue Hills 23

Map 2.1: Assam: Location, Settings and Administrative Divisions Red River and Blue Hills 24

Map 2.2: Assam, 1950 During colonial times, the whole of North East, except the princely states of Manipur and Tripura were a part of a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Assam province (see Map 2.2). The present day Arunachal Pradesh was a separately administered part of Assam, and was called North East Frontier Agency (NEFA). Since independence, most of the ethnic groups of Assam have, in subsequent stages, been given the status of statehood (see Map 2.3). This is in line with the constitutional provision of giving full expression to the diverse social, cultural and linguistic groups of the country. Red River and Blue Hills 25

Map 2.3: Assam, 2011 The present day state boundary of the state was formed in 1972, when Meghalaya was created as a separate state. Dispur, within the Kamrup Metropolitan District serves as the administrative capital of the state and is also the biggest as well as the most important urban centre of North East India. In total, the state of Assam has 27 districts that serve as administrative divisions. The Brahmaputra carries a very high sediment load and thus, its course becomes braided. This has given rise to many anabranches of the river, and correspondingly many islands between the Brahmaputra and its anabranches. One such island is Majuli. Majuli is the most populated riverine island in the world and the largest riverine island in India. Red River and Blue Hills 26

Culturally, it is home to the Vaishanavite tradition of Hinduism as propagated by Shankar Deb in Assam in the 16 th century. The state of Assam, thus, is culturally diverse land, situated on the south of the Eastern Himalayas, and nestled by the Brahmaputra and its tributaries. 2.2 Physiography Geologically, the state can be divided into three structural regions, viz. the alluvial plains of Brahmaputra and Barak, the plateau region of Karbi Anglong, and the Tertiary Era Mountains of North Cachar Hills (see Map 2.4). The three divisions of Assam are explained below: Map 2.4: Physiography of Assam Red River and Blue Hills 27

2.2.1 The Brahmaputra and Barak Plains The valleys of Brahmaputra and Barak form the agriculturally rich alluvial plains of Assam. The Brahmaputra originates from the Chema-Yung-Dung glacier of Tibet and enters Assam near Pasighat. From here, it covers the entire breadth of Assam till Dhubri, after which it enters Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra valley in Assam is nearly 80 to 100 Km wide and 720 Km in length. 2.2.2 Plateau Region The Meghalaya plateau has a north eastern extension in the state of Assam in the form of Karbi Anglong plateau. Karbi Anglong is thus the eastern most part of the peninsular plateau of India. 2.2.3 North Cachar Hills The North Cachar Hills are the Fold Mountains formed as a result of Tertiary depositions during Himalayan uplift. These hills comprise the highest range in Assam-the Barail range, from where the Barak River originates. 2.3 Climatic Characteristics Assam s climate can be categorised as Tropical Monsoon Climate, which is represented by the symbol Am in Koppen s classification. The state receives high precipitation during the monsoon season. The summers are warm and long and the winters are short but cool. The month wise average rainfall and average temperature for Guwahati is given below in Table 1. Red River and Blue Hills 28

Table 2.1: Average Temperature and Rainfall for Guwahati, Assam Temperature (in 0 C) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 17.1 19 22.9 25.3 26.7 28.4 28.5 28.8 27.9 26 22.2 18.1 Rainfall (in 18.4 27.4 79.1 186 328.8 429.6 416.8 347.3 267.5 143.4 25.2 12.7 mm) Source: IMD, 2006 The above data has been shown in the form of a Climate Graph in figure 2.1. Figure 2.1: Climate Graph for Guwahati, Assam 2.4 Demography Linguistically, ethnically, culturally, and racially, Assam has a diversity of human population. As per 2011 census, total population of Assam was 31,169,272. The total population of the state has increased from 26,638,407 to 31,169,272 (see Table 2.2, Figure 2.6) in the last ten years with a growth rate of 16.93%. The sex-ratio was 958 females for 1000 males (see Table 2.3, and Figure 2.7), and the literacy rate was 72.19% (see Table 2.4, Figure 2.8). The population density was recorded at 398 persons/km 2 (see Table 2.5, Figure 2.9). Red River and Blue Hills 29

In terms of religion, Hindus are the dominant group in Assam, comprising about 64.89% of the state s population (2001 Census). The Muslims with 30.92% population are the second largest group in Assam (2001 Census). In terms of language, the indigenous linguistic group is Assamese. However, in the Barak valley, and in parts of Western Assam close to West Bengal, Bengali is more predominant. Other major language groups include Hindi, Bodo, Santhali, Manipuri, and Marwari. Table 2.2: District-wise population by Sex in Assam, 2011 Population District Geographical Area (in Km 2 ) Persons Male Female Baksa 2400 950075 481330 468745 Barpeta 3245 1693622 867004 826618 Bongaigaon 1724 738804 375818 362986 Cachar 2786 1736617 886284 850333 Chirang 1468 482162 244860 237302 Darrang 3481 928500 475273 453227 Dhemaji 3237 686133 351249 334884 Dhubri 2838 1949258 997848 951410 Dibrugarh 3381 1326335 676434 649901 Dima Hasao 4888 214102 110802 103300 Goalpara 1824 1008183 513292 494891 Golaghat 3502 1066888 543161 523727 Hailakandi 1327 659296 337890 321406 Jorhat 3731 1092256 556805 535451 Kamrup 2527 1517542 778461 739081 Red River and Blue Hills 30

District Geographical Area (in Km 2 ) Population Persons Male Female Kamrup Metropolitan 1528 1253938 647585 606353 Karbi Anglong 10434 956313 490167 466146 Karimganj 1809 1228686 625864 602822 Kokrajhar 3129 887142 452905 434237 Lakhimpur 2277 1042137 529674 512463 Marigaon 1704 957423 486651 470772 Nagaon 3831 2823768 1439112 1384656 Nalbari 2257 771639 396006 375633 Sibsagar 2668 1151050 589216 561834 Sonitpur 6424 1924110 983904 940206 Tinsukia 3790 1327929 680231 647698 Udalguri 1676 831668 421617 410051 Assam 78440 31205576 15939443 15266133 Source: Census of India, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 31

Map 2.5: District-wise Population of Assam, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 32

Table 2.3: District-wise Sex-ratio in Assam, 2011 Sex Ratio Districts Total Rural Urban Kokrajhar 959 961 931 Dhubri 953 953 960 Goalpara 964 963 971 Barpeta 953 953 959 Marigaon 967 969 953 Nagaon 962 962 964 Sonitpur 956 956 955 Lakhimpur 968 970 939 Dhemaji 953 955 934 Tinsukia 952 964 907 Dibrugarh 961 967 932 Sibsagar 954 959 901 Jorhat 962 968 937 Golaghat 964 965 953 Karbi Anglong 951 953 940 Dima Hasao 932 948 894 Cachar 959 955 982 Karimganj 963 961 982 Hailakandi 951 948 994 Bongaigaon 966 967 960 Chirang 969 969 967 Kamrup 949 947 969 Kamrup M. 936 953 933 Nalbari 949 948 954 Baksa 974 974 942 Darrang 954 955 926 Udalguri 973 973 960 Assam 958 960 946 Source: Census of India, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 33

Map 2.6: Sex Ratio of Assam, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 34

Table 2.4: District-wise Literacy Rate in Assam, 2011 Literacy Rate Districts Persons Male Female Kokrajhar 65.22 71.89 58.27 Dhubri 58.34 63.1 53.33 Goalpara 67.37 71.46 63.13 Barpeta 63.81 69.29 58.06 Marigaon 68.03 71.9 64.04 Nagaon 72.37 76.51 68.07 Sonitpur 67.34 73.65 60.73 Lakhimpur 77.2 83.52 70.67 Dhemaji 72.7 79.84 65.21 Tinsukia 69.66 77.19 61.73 Dibrugarh 76.05 82.82 68.99 Sibsagar 80.41 85.84 74.71 Jorhat 82.15 87.63 76.45 Golaghat 77.43 83.56 71.09 Karbi Anglong 69.25 76.14 62 Dima Hasao 77.54 83.29 71.33 Cachar 79.34 84.78 73.68 Karimganj 78.22 84.12 72.09 Hailakandi 74.33 80.74 67.6 Bongaigaon 69.74 74.87 64.43 Chirang 63.55 70.24 56.65 Kamrup 75.55 81.3 69.47 Kamrup M. 88.71 92.13 85.07 Nalbari 78.63 84.36 72.57 Baksa 69.25 77.03 61.27 Darrang 63.08 67.87 58.04 Udalguri 65.41 72.58 58.05 Assam 72.19 77.85 66.27 Source: Census of India, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 35

Map 2.7: Literacy Rate in Assam, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 36

Table 2.5: District-wise Population Density in Assam, 2011 (Persons per Sq. Km) Districts Total Rural Urban Kokrajhar 269 254 3366 Dhubri 896 814 6378 Goalpara 553 495 2142 Barpeta 742 689 4050 Marigaon 617 580 2874 Nagaon 711 631 4586 Sonitpur 370 340 3019 Lakhimpur 458 424 2527 Dhemaji 212 198 3105 Tinsukia 350 285 4305 Dibrugarh 392 325 5359 Sibsagar 431 397 2565 Jorhat 383 316 2392 Golaghat 305 280 2681 Karbi Anglong 92 81 3016 Dima Hasao 44 31 2870 Cachar 459 382 4884 Karimganj 679 625 5693 Hailakandi 497 464 4572 Bongaigaon 676 593 3465 Chirang * (Kokrajhar, Bongaigaon and Barpeta) 251 234 2930 Kamrup 489 454 1936 Kamrup Metropolitan * (Kamrup) 1313 313 3952 Nalbari 733 691 1492 Baksa (Barpeta, Kamrup and Nalbari) * 387 383 2089 Darrang 586 555 4479 Udalguri * (Darrang and Sonitpur) 413 397 3807 Assam 398 347 3491 Source: Census of India, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 37

Map 2.8: Population Density in Assam, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 38

2.5 Economy The economy of Assam is largely dependent on Agriculture. According to the estimates released by Assam Economic Survey, 2013-2014, almost 70% of the state s population are dependent on agriculture, but agriculture contributes about 21.3% of the state Gross Domestic Product. The industrial sector contributes about 21.27% and the Service Sector contributes almost 57.5% of the State GDP. The state of Assam showed a growth rate of 5.87% in the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). Rice is the major agricultural crop of the region and is grown through intensive subsistence agriculture. On the other end of the spectrum, tea is grown in Plantation basis on the foothills of Assam s mountains. Assam is the largest tea growing region in the world and according to an estimate, the yield of tea here is approximately 1.5 million pounds (about 680,400 Kg). Assam is also rich in fossil fuels and contains about a quarter of India s oil and produces about 12% of domestic production. Digboi in Upper Assam was the first oil field of India. 2.6 Study Area: Majuli Situated on the River Brahmaputra in the Indian state of Assam, and inscribed as a Cultural Heritage Site, Majuli is a large and one of the most populated river islands in the world covering an area approximately 584 Km 2 and home to 167,304 persons (Census of India, 2011). Majuli lies between latitudes 26 0 25 N and 27 0 12 N; and longitudes 93 0 39 E and 94 0 35 E. It is formed when an anabranch of Brahmaputra, locally called Kherkutti Xuti or River Luhit separates from the main river, moves north, travels almost 100 Km as a separate river and finally merges back with the main river near Golaghat district. Red River and Blue Hills 39

2.6.1 Physiography Lying between the main channel of Brahmaputra and its anabranch, Luhit; Majuli is an immensely flat land with little or no slope in most parts of the island. The flat nature of Majulian topography is evident from a Digital Elevation Model of Majuli shown in Map 2.9. Source: Data Derived from Remote Sensing Images of USGS Map 2.9: Digital Elevation Model; Majuli Red River and Blue Hills 40

2.6.2 Drainage Being a river island, the topography of Majuli is overwhelmingly dominated by water. A large part of the island is criss-crossed by numerous streams of Brahmaputra that originate from the main river and then meets Brahmaputra again. The land formed between such small streams of Brahmaputra and the main channel of Brahmaputra is called char or chapoori (Goswami, 1985). A drainage map of Majuli is given in Map 2.10. Source: Data Derived from Remote Sensing Images of Map 2.10: Drainage Basin; Majuli Red River and Blue Hills 41

2.6.3 Climatic Characteristics Like the rest of Assam, Majuli falls within tropical climatic zone, but being surrounded by water bodies on all sides, it has a moderate climate. Majuli has a cool spring season fron March-April, a warm summer season from May-August, a pleasant autumn season from September-October, and a cold winter season from November-February. Most of the rainfall in Majuli is of monsoon origin and falls between April-September. The total rainfall is upto 230 cm (IMD, 2006) annually. 2.6.4: Demography According to the 2011 Census of India, Majuli has a population of 167,304 persons distributed among 243 villages. There is no urban area in Majuli. The basic population data of Majuli is given Table 2.6 and 2.7. Table 2.6: Majuli: Basic Population Data Geographical Area (in Km 2 ) Total Population Male Population Female Population Rural Population Urban Population Majuli 584.48 167,304 85,566 81,738 167304 0 Source: Census of India, 2011 Table 2.7: Literacy in Majuli Literate Population Literacy Rate Persons Male Female Persons Male Female 114107 63969 50138 68.20 74.76 61.34 Source: Census of India, 2011 2.6.5: Society and Culture Majuli is multi-ethnic, yet an immensely mono-cultural society. Shankerdeb, the famous 15 th century religious reformer of Assam started the Vaishnavite cult, also called neo- Red River and Blue Hills 42

Vaishnavism on the island, which later spread to the whole of Assam. Vaishnav cult in Hinduism in India is the worship of Lord Vishnu and his reincarnation in the form of Lord Krishna. A similar cult of Shiva worship is called Shaivism and the two cults have existed in every Hindu society. Shankardeb in 15 th century introduced monastic elements and monotheism in Assamese society and called this new philosophy Ek Sarna Hari Naam Dharma, literally meaning Complete Surrender to One God (Choudhury, 2011). This one God according to Shankardeb is Lord Vishnu, and hence the new religious philosophy associated with Shankardeb came to be called neo-vaishnavism. Neo- Vaishnavism is different to other forms of Vaishnavism in three respects. 2.6.6: Economy The economy of Majuli is primarily dependent on agriculture. Being a totally rural area, there are no industries, and only a few big shops in the villages of Garamur and Kamlabari. The occupational structure of the island is given in Table 2.8 Table 2.8: Occupational Structure Categories Population Population in Percentage Total Population 167304 100.00 Total workers 84873 50.73 Main workers 53484 63.02 Cultivators 37352 69.84 Agricultural labourers 1373 2.57 Household industry workers 2598 4.86 Other workers 12161 22.74 Marginal workers 31389 36.98 Cultivators 16351 52.09 Agricultural labourers 5964 19.00 Household industry workers 3662 11.67 Other workers 5412 17.24 Non-workers 82431 49.27 Source: Census of India, 2011 Red River and Blue Hills 43

2.7 Conclusion Assam thus happens to be the most accessible of India s Northeast States. The archetypal Assamese landscape is a picturesque golden-green vista of seemingly endless rice fields and manicured tea estates, framed in the distance by the hazy blue mountains of Arunachal in the north and the highlands of Meghalaya in the south. The state is fed by the rivers Brahmaputra, Barak and their tributaries which bring agriculturally rich alluvial soil to the plains of Assam. The mosaic of culture involves people of diverse religion, various ethnicities, and different languages forming an Assamese identity. Economically, Assam is dependent on agriculture, but recently, the focus is shifting away from agricultural sector and towards service sector. Red River and Blue Hills 44

References Census of India, 2001 Census of India, 2011 Choudhury, R.N. (2011). Shankardeva s Philosophy of Religion in Srimanta Shankardeva and his Philosophy, Barua G (Eds.). Nagaon: Srimanat Shankardeva Sangha Directorate of Economic Survey, Government of Assam, 2014 Goswami, D. (2008). Managing the Wealth and Woes of the River Brahmaputra. Ishani, Vol. 2, No. 4 Indian Meteorological Department (2006). Guwahati Weather Station Report Red River and Blue Hills 45