Sivasagar district: Difference between revisions

'''Sivasagar district''' (Pron: {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|v|ə|ˌ|s|ʌ|g|ər}} or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|ʃ|ɪ|v|ə|ˌ|s|ʌ|g|ər}}), formerly known as ''Sibsagar'', is one of the 34 [[Districts of Assam|districts]] of [[Assam]] [[States and territories of India|state]] in Northeast [[India]]. [[Sivasagar]] city is the administrative headquarters of this district. This historic place is also known for its rich biodiversity.<ref name="Deputy Director">{{cite book | title=District at a glance, Sivasagar | publisher=Office of the Deputy Director of Economics and Statistics, Sivasagar | year=2001}}</ref> The districts covers an area of 2668 square kilometers (of the total area of 78438 square kilometers of Assam). The district comprises two sub-divisions – ''Sivasagar'' and ''Nazira''. The district of Sivasagar lies between 26.45°N and 27.15°N latitudes and 94.25°E and 95.25°E longitudes. The district is bounded by the [[Brahmaputra River]] to the north, [[Nagaland]] to the south, the [[Charaideo district]] to the east and the [[Jhanji River]] to the west. The Sivasagar district has acquired its distinct identity due to the co-existence of different races, tribes, languages and cultures.

Before the British period, the center of administration of Assam was around Sivasagar were the famous [[Ahom Dynasty|Ahoms]] ruled for nearly six hundred years. The Ahom kings took keen interest in building different temples, dedicated to various deities and which were usually flanked by large tanks which till today stand out as memorials to their glory in the district.<ref name="Deputy Director" /> Sivasagar, or Rongpur as it was known then, was the capital of the [[Ahom Kingdom]] from 1699 to 1788. The famous [[Joysagar Lake|Joysagar Tank]] was excavated within 45 days by [[Rudra Singha]] (1696-1714) in memory of his mother [[Joymoti Konwari]]. The Joy Dol is situated on the bank of the Joysagar Tank. [[Pramatta Singha]] (1744-1751) built the [[Ranghar]] with bricks in 1745. Gaurisagar Tank is situated at a distance of about eight miles from Sivasagar town. The Sivasagar Tank was excavated by queen Ambika Devi in 1733. The Siva Dol, Vishnu Dol and Devi Dol are situated on the bank of the Sivasagar Tank. Rajeshwar Singha (1751-1769) built the Kareng Ghar in Gargaon. Charaideo, about 28 kilometers away from Sivasagar is famous for a cluster of Maidams, the Ahom age tumuli. [[Sukapha]], the first Ahom king, constructed his capital at Charaideo in 1253. Sivasagar was earlier known as Rongpur and Rongpur was earlier known as Meteka.<ref name="G L Publications">{{cite book | title=Sivasagar District | publisher=G L Publications | author=The North East Times, Special supplement | year=1995 | location=Guwahati}}</ref> The original name of Sivasagar district was Sibpur. On February 24, 1826, the treaty of Yandaboo consolidated the British occupation of Assam. This [[Treaty of Yandabo|treaty of Yandaboo]] brought an end to the roughly six hundred year long Ahom rule in Assam. After the 1826 teaty, the British government in Assam incorporated a number of administrative changes such as the formation of districts. The Sivasagar district was created after the annexation of [[Purandar Singha]]’s dominion of upper Assam in 1839. The Sadar headquarter of Sivasagar was transferred to Jorhat in 1912-13. The undivided old Sivasagar district comprised three subdivisions, namely Sivasagar, Jorhat and Golaghat. In 1983, the Sivasagar district was reorganized to carve out the [[Jorhat district]].<ref name='Statoids'>{{cite web | url = http://www.statoids.com/yin.html | title = Districts of India | access-date = 2011-10-11 | last = Law | first = Gwillim | date = 2011-09-25 | work = Statoids}}</ref> It was further divided on 15 August 1987 for the creation of the [[Golaghat district]].<ref name='Statoids'/>

There are also many reserve forests like Abhaypur, Dilli, Diroi, Geleky and Saleh. There are some unclassified forests along the Nagaland and Arunachal border. The vegetation is mostly [[tropical evergreen]] with trees like hollong, titachapa, nahor, mekai etc. dominating the canopy.  

The district is also rich in fauna. Various rare and endangered mammals like [[tiger]], [[elephant]], [[sun bear]], [[sambar (deer)|sambar]], [[hoolock gibbon]] are found in the reserve forests.