From Kachari Kingdom to Cachar District- The Journey Worth Knowing

Cachar

Cachar is one of the largest and oldest districts of Assam. It is bounded on the North by Barail and Jayantia Hills, on the south by the state Mizoram, and on the east by sister districts Hailakandi and Karimganj, covering an area of 3786 sq. Km. and has a population of 19,06,364 (as per Aadhar in 2019, data). In fact, many have to say that the present name Cachar was given by Kacharis when they ruled this land while others think, the word Kachar in Sylheti means a stretch of land at the foot of a mountain. Hence, the name Cachar might have been given by Bengalis of Sylhet as the land is surrounded by mountains. 

History of Cachar

The Kachari Kingdom (also called Dimasa Kingdom) was a powerful kingdom that was ruled by the Dimasa people, part of the greater Kachari ethnic group. The kachari kingdom has a long-lost relation with Dimapur. After Ahom’s invaded them, they abandoned Dimapur and established their new capital in Maibong. The royal family came under Hindu influence at Maibang, though the first conversion of a Kachari king to Hinduism is recorded in Khaspur. The king’s genealogy was drawn from Bhima of the Pandavas, and his son Ghatotkacha who was born to Hidimba. The kingdom then came to be known as Hirimba, and the rulers Hirambeswar.

                                                 Chilarai attacked the kingdom on or after 1564, and made it into a tributary of the Koch Kingdom. In 1644, during the reign of Birdarpan Narayan, the Kachari rule had withdrawn completely from the Dhansiri valley and it reverted to a jungle forming a barrier between the kingdom and the Ahom kingdom. When a successor king, Tamradhwaj, declared independence, the Ahom king invaded Maibong and destroyed its forts in 1706 and the king had to take refuge in Khaspur. By the 17th century, the Dimasa Kachari rule extended into the plains of Cachar. The plains people did not participate in the courts of the Dimasa Kachari king directly but the Dharmadhi guru and other Brahmins in the court cast a considerable influence, especially with the beginning of the 18th century.

                                                 After the fall of the Kamarupa kingdom, the region of Khaspur was originally a part of the Tripura Kingdom, which was taken over by Koch king Chilarai in the 16th century. The region was ruled by Kamalnarayana, the brother of king Chilarai. Around the 18th century Bhima Singha, the last Koch ruler of Khaspur, didn't have any male heir. His daughter, Kanchani, marries Laxmichandra, the Dimasa prince of the Maibong kingdom. And once the last Koch king Bhima Singha died the Dimasas migrated to Khaspur, thus merging the two kingdoms into one as Kachari kingdom under the king Gopichandranarayan, as the control of the Khaspur kingdom went to the ruler of the Maibong kingdom as an inheritance from the royal marriage and established their capital in Khaspur, near present-day Silchar. The independent rule of the Khaspur's Koch rulers ended in 1745 when it merged with the Kachari kingdom. The last Kachari King, Govinda Chandra Hasnu, who was childless was assassinated by his own people on April 24, 1830. Upon his death, his territory lapsed to the British under the term of a treaty executed in 1826. In 1830, headquarter was established at Dudhpatil and later to Silchar. This district was formally captured by the declaration on August 14, 1832. Till today, brick palaces and temples are present at Khaspur as a part of the Kachari Kingdom.

Independence Movement in Cachar
The kingdom of Cachar was ruled by two rulers. In the plains (southern portion of Cachar), Govinda Chandra Hasnu was ruling the territory but after his death in 1832, the British captured his territory. In the hills (northern portion of Cachar), Tularam was the ruling chief but after his death in 1854, it was captured too. While South Cachar was taken by Robertson, the North Cachar came under Jenkins, who was the Commissioner of Assam.
                During the Independence movement, Cachar played an important role. Kamini Kumar Chanda, his son Arun Kumar Chanda, Abdul Matlab Mazumdar, Ullas Kar Laskar and many were fighting for Independence. Mahatma Gandhi also paid a visit to the Cachar district igniting a passion for freedom. Abdul Matlab Mazumdar along with Fakruddin Ahmed and other freedom fighters pleaded before the Radcliffe Commission that Sylhet remains with India. He was also among the few who were instrumental in retaining the Barak Valley region of Assam, especially Karimganj with India.

                   After the partition and Independence on 15th August 1947, a large number of people even lost their lives to this violence. Many Hindus came to India while Muslims left for East Pakistan. Abdul Matlab Mazumdar, along with his colleagues took the responsibility for the safety of everyone in Cachar, touring affected areas and arranging camps and rehabilitation for the refugees, organising supplies and security.

War of 1971
December 16, 1971, is a significant day for India and its neighbours Bangladesh and Pakistan as India won the war against Pakistan that resulted in the birth of Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) During the Bangladesh Liberation War with West Pakistan, an estimated 1 crore people of East Pakistan left the country because of mass killings, rapes, lootings and torture. They took refuge in India particularly in the Indian states of West Bengal, a significant number also moved to the Barak Valley of Assam and some moved to Tripura. In Cachar, people from Bangladesh took shelter in Dholchera Camp today’s BSF camp. The war lasted 13 days and ended on 16 December 1971 after West Pakistan surrendered. 

Bengali Language Movement
Every year May 19 is celebrated as the Bhasha Shahid Divas to honour those 11 martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the sake of protecting the Bengali language at Silchar railway station. The Bengali Language Movement of Barak Valley in 1961, was a protest against the decision of the Government of Assam to make Assamese the only official language of the state as the Bengali population constitute the overwhelming majority of the population. Shahid Minar, the martyr's tombstones shelter the ashes of the braves who chose death for their right to get a formal education in their mother tongue is founded in Silchar in the memory of those martyrs.

Barak Valley
Barak valley is located in the southern region of Assam. It is named after the Barak river which flows through the main town of the valley Silchar which is also the second-largest city of the state. The Barak valley mainly consists of three administrative districts of Assam - namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakand. Bengali is the official language and Sylheti is spoken by the majority of the people who identify as Bengali speakers in Barak Valley.