Silchar (
Shilchôr,
AssameseAssamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Small pockets of Assamese speakers can be found in Bhutan...
: শিলচৰ
Xilsôr,
SylhetiSylheti is the language of Sylhet, the north-eastern region of Bangladesh, and also spoken in parts of the North-East Indian states of Assam and Tripura...
: িশলচর
Hilsôr) is the headquarters of
Cachar districtCachar is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India.The district headquarters are located at Silchar. The district occupies an area of 3786 km²...
in the state of
AssamAssam ) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur located in the Guwahati city. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys and the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles...
in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. It is the economic gateway to the state of
MizoramMizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India. It shares land borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Bangladesh and the Chin State state of Myanmar. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its population at the 2001 census stood at...
and part of
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east. It covers an area of ....
. The town of Silchar has tremendous commercial importance and is the second largest in the state of assam. It consequently, witnesses the settlement of a sizeable population of traders from distant parts of India.
Being a very peaceful place in the otherwise very disturbed North-East earned it the
bon mot of "Island of Peace" from India's Prime Minister
Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( Indirā Priyadarśinī Gāndhī; née: Nehru; (19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977...
.
Silchar (
Shilchôr,
AssameseAssamese is the easternmost Indo-Aryan language. It is used mainly in the state of Assam in North-East India. It is also the official language of Assam. It is also spoken in parts of Arunachal Pradesh and other northeast Indian states. Small pockets of Assamese speakers can be found in Bhutan...
: শিলচৰ
Xilsôr,
SylhetiSylheti is the language of Sylhet, the north-eastern region of Bangladesh, and also spoken in parts of the North-East Indian states of Assam and Tripura...
: িশলচর
Hilsôr) is the headquarters of
Cachar districtCachar is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India.The district headquarters are located at Silchar. The district occupies an area of 3786 km²...
in the state of
AssamAssam ) is a northeastern state of India with its capital at Dispur located in the Guwahati city. Located south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys and the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills with an area of 30,285 square miles...
in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. It is the economic gateway to the state of
MizoramMizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North Eastern India. It shares land borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Bangladesh and the Chin State state of Myanmar. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its population at the 2001 census stood at...
and part of
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east. It covers an area of ....
. The town of Silchar has tremendous commercial importance and is the second largest in the state of assam. It consequently, witnesses the settlement of a sizeable population of traders from distant parts of India.
Being a very peaceful place in the otherwise very disturbed North-East earned it the
bon mot of "Island of Peace" from India's Prime Minister
Indira GandhiIndira Priyadarshini Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi ( Indirā Priyadarśinī Gāndhī; née: Nehru; (19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was the Prime Minister of the Republic of India for three consecutive terms from 1966 to 1977...
. Approximately 90% residents of Silchar are Sylhetis, the rest being Marwaris and some tribal groups like Meitei and Naga. The Sylhetis settled here after migrating from
SylhetSylhet , is a major city in north-eastern Bangladesh. It is the capital of Sylhet Division and Sylhet District, and was granted metropolitan city status in March 2009. Sylhet is located on the banks of the Surma River and is surrounded by the Jaintia, Khasi and Tripura hills...
, a district of undivided
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
, after partition of India in 1947. The people of Silchar(mainly Sylheti) are peaceful and progressive minded who understand that fighting with each other will not gain anything else but destruction and annihilation as it is in the other parts of North Eastern India. Silchar is situated by the banks of the Barak River in what is popularly known as
Barak ValleyBarak Valley is situated in the southern part of the Indian state of Assam. The main city of the valley is Silchar. The place is named after the Barak river. Barak valley mainly consists of three districts namely Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. Karimganj, the district headquarters of Karimgnaj...
. Rice is the staple cereal. Fish is also available.
Shuţki (the local name for dried fish),
shidal chutney , "chunga-r peetha" are some of the local delicacies. Silchar developed as a business center mainly after the Sylheti people moved here.Over the past few years, the city is constantly witnessing a huge influx of people from nearby smaller places due to city's increasing future prospects and other developments in the field of education, medical facilities, and the more recently booming real estate market and other commercial businesses, making the city quite an overcrowded one. It has now the second highest population in the state, although the difference with the highest populated city i.e., Guwahati, the capital of Assam, is quite huge.
Official Language =
BengaliBengali or Bangla is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages....
Geography
Silchar is located at the southern part of Assam. Situated on the Barak River near the Bangladesh border, it is a trade and processing centre for tea, rice and other agricultural products. There is limited industry, principally papermaking and tea-box manufacturing. The city has an airport and lies on both a rail head and national highways connecting Guwahati, Assam; Agartala, Tripura; Imphal, Manipur and Aizawl in Mizoram state. It has an average elevation of 22
metreThe metre or meter is the basic unit of length in the International System of Units . Historically, the metre was defined by the French Academy of Sciences as the length between two marks on a platinum-iridium bar, which was designed to represent one ten-millionth of the distance from the Equator...
s (72 feet).
Demographics
India
censusA "census" is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
, Silchar had a population of 144,003.But presently,it is considered that the population has actually crossed the 500,000 mark due to the constant increase in the city's population over the past 5 to 6 years.Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49%. Silchar has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 76%. In Silchar, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. Major religions followed are Hinduism and Islam.
Climate
At Silchar, the wind generally blows from the northeast in the morning and from the southeast in the afternoon. Summer is hot, humid and interspersed with rains and thunderstorms. Winter generally starts towards the end of November and lasts till February. Towards the start of the Bengali month of Baishakh or manipuri month 'Sajibu' (mid-April) rain clouds start covering the skyline. Silchar is inundated almost every year due to excessive rainfall and flooding by the river Barak. In the last three decades, Silchar and the Barak Valley have been ravaged by three major floods—in 1986, followed by the one in 1991, and more recently in 2004.
Education
Silchar has some of the best educational institutes in the whole of North East India. One of the 20 National Institutes of Technology (formerly known as Regional Engineering Colleges),
NIT SilcharNational Institute Of Technology Silchar , an Institute of National Importance under the NIT Act was established in 1967 as a Regional Engineering College , Silchar. NIT Silchar is situated on the banks of river Barak...
is one of the oldest engineering colleges in the North-Eastern region. REC Silchar, as it was known previously, is now an Institute of National Importance in India.
After several years of persistent efforts, Silchar got its own university
Assam UniversityAssam University is a teaching-cum-affiliating University. The University has nine Schools which offer Social Sciences, Humanities, Languages, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Information Sciences, Technology and Management Studies. There are 29 Departments under these...
, a central university, which imparts education in both the general as well as professional streams. The university, which came in to existence in 1994, has 9 schools and 29 departments under them. The university also has 51 affiliated colleges under it.
Some reputed schools in Silchar include Adhar Chand H.S. School, Holy Cross School, Silchar Collegiate School, Narsing School, Govt. Boys School, Govt. Girls school, Tiny Tots Home, Muktashree High School,
Holy Child SchoolHoly Child School is a high school in Silchar. It was founded in 1993-External links:* Orkut...
, South Point School, Oriental High School, Maharishi Vidya Mandir, a couple of Kendriya Vidyalayas, Don Bosco School,Ramnagar, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya,Pailapool and a few convent schools amongst others. Among the colleges the best known ones are Guru Charan College, Ramanuj College, Aryan Jr. College,Cachar College, Radhamadhab College etc. Guru Charan College is one of the most respected and reputed colleges in the whole of Assam. On the other hand, Ramanuj Gupta & Aryan college are known to be the most successful institutions for +2 level studies in the recent past within Barak Valley. The colleges are credited with producing some of the best intellectuals of the region.
Silchar also boasts of the Silchar Medical College, a Polytechnic Institute, B.Ed colleges, two Law colleges and one Industrial Training Institute (ITI).
Recent years have seen Silchar emerge as a potential educational place where denizens from the trouble-torn North-Eastern region come to the town for their children's education. Today a large number of professionals from Silchar are to be found around the globe in almost all countries and regions. Students today can educate themselves in almost all fields.
Connectivity
Silchar is well connected by road, rail and air to the rest of the country.
Silchar is connected through meter gauge rail network with Lumding and this is currently being updated to broad gauge lines. The railways station is located at Tarapur, Silchar.
There are regular and large number of inter-state super deluxe bus services connecting Silchar with Guwahati, Shillong, Aizawl, Agartala and other places.It is noted that the highway connecting silchar with guwahati(N.H.-44)is considered one of the most pristine in the country as it passes almost entirely within the bordering state of Meghalaya.A passenger can get panoramic views of the khasi and jaintia hills of the state,as well as the beautiful capital hill-station of Meghalaya,Shillong and can experience the cool weather all throughout the journey even in d scorching months of may or June.
The airport is located at Kumbhirgram, about 22 km from Silchar and there are regular flights connecting Silchar with Kolkata, Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal.The airport is being extensively mordernised and is considered as the second busiest in Assam in terms of passenger foot-fall and cargo,after guwahati airport.
Cachar district records
"The management of the affairs of the district was entrusted after annexation, to Lieutenant Fisher, an officer of approved ability and great local experience. for some months Cachar continued to be administered from Cherrapunji, the head quarters of the Agent to the Governor General, but in consideration of practical difficulties early in 1833 Fisher had his head quarters at Dudpatil which however were soon shifted to Silchar for the sake of convenience."
In the 1850s,
BritishThe East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
tea planters re-discovered the game
poloPolo is a team sport played on horseback in which the objective is to score goals against an opposing team. Players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing team's goal using a long-handled mallet...
in
ManipurManipur is a state in northeastern India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. Manipur is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west; it also borders Myanmar to the east. It covers an area of ....
on the Burmese border with India. The first polo club in the world was formed at Silchar. The first competitive modern form of Polo was also played out in Silchar and the plaque for this feat still stand at the back side of the District Library, Silchar. Other clubs followed and, today, the oldest in the world is the Calcutta Club, founded in 1862.
Railway link
The Assam Bengal Railway brought Silchar into the Indian railway map in 1899. The railway line from Lumding to Silchar is hailed as one of the most exciting pristine railway tracks of India. Built by the British during the colonial rule, the Meter Gauge line stands testimony to the grandiose of what was once a highly popular city in the North-East.
Language martyrs
Silchar saw one of the uprising in favour of the Bengali language. When the Assam Government, under Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha, passed a circular to make
AssameseAssamese refers to "related/associated to or belonging to Assam or the people/culture of Assam". It could mean any of the following or more:* Assamese people* Assamese language* Assamese script* People of Assam:Category:People from Assam...
mandatory, Bengalis of Barak Valley protested. On 19 May, 1961, Assam Police opened fire on unarmed protesters at Silchar Railway Station in which 11 agitators died. After the popular revolt, Assam Government had to withdraw the circular and Bengali was ultimately given official status in the three districts of Barak Valley.
External links