Silchar Subdivision, 1908
Silchar Subdivision
This article has been extracted from THE IMPERIAL GAZETTEER OF INDIA , 1908. OXFORD, AT THE CLARENDON PRESS. |
Note: National, provincial and district boundaries have changed considerably since 1908. Typically, old states, ‘divisions’ and districts have been broken into smaller units, and many tahsils upgraded to districts. Some units have since been renamed. Therefore, this article is being posted mainly for its historical value.
Head-quarters subdivision of Cachar Dis-
trict, Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 24 15' and 25 8' N.
and 92 27' and 93 16' E., with an area of 1,649 square miles. The
population in 1901 was 301,884, compared with 267,673 in 1891. It
contains one town, SILCHAR (population, 9,256), the head-quarters of
the District and the principal centre of local trade ; and 809 villages.
The demand on account of land revenue and local rates in 1903-4 was
Rs. 3,81,000. The subdivision consists of a level plain surrounded on
three sides by mountains, through the centre of which the Barak flows
in a tortuous course. The surface of the plain is dotted over with low
isolated hills called tilas, many of which have been planted with tea.
The staple crops are tea and rice, and the former industry is of con-
siderable importance. In 1904 there were 133 gardens with 47,972
acres under plant, which gave employment to 113 Europeans and
49,900 natives. The population is fairly dense, the subdivision sup-
porting 183 persons per square mile, in spite of the fact that more
than one-third of the total area is ' reserved ' forest, while a considerable
portion of the remainder lies too low even for the cultivation of rice.
For administrative purposes the subdivision is divided into the three
Mnas of Silchar, Lakhipur, and Katigara. The rainfall is heavy even
for Assam. At Silchar it is 124 inches in the year, but near the hills
it exceeds 160 inches.
