Nagaon is the second largest city of Assam, India and the largest district of Assam. Nagaon is the headquarters of central Assam division. It is situated 120 km east of state's capital Dispur, Guwahati and 55 km west of Kaziranga National Park.

Nagaon
Nowgong
City/District
Nagaon City
Nagaon City skyline
Nagaon City skyline
Nagaon is located in Assam
Nagaon
Nagaon
Location in Assam, india
Nagaon is located in India
Nagaon
Nagaon
Nagaon (India)
Coordinates: 26°21′01″N 92°40′47″E / 26.3503828°N 92.6795912°E / 26.3503828; 92.6795912
CountryNagaon India
StateAssam
RegionCentral Assam
DistrictNagaon
No. Of Wards28
Established1832
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • BodyNagaon Municipal Board
 • MayorSri Rupak Sarmah, BJP
 • District CommissionerShri Narendra Kumar Shah, IAS
 • Superintendent Of PoliceShri Nabaneet Mahanta
Area
 • Total78 km2 (30 sq mi)
 • Rank2nd in Assam
Population
 (2022)
 • Total2Lakh+(estimate)
 • Rank2nd in Assam
 • Density2,800/km2 (7,000/sq mi)
DemonymNagaoian
Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN
782001,782002,782003, 782141,782142,782144,782101, 782102,782103
Telephone code03672
ISO 3166 codeIN-AS
Vehicle registrationAS-02
Sex Ratio981 ♀️/ 1000 ♂️
ClimateCwa
Official LanguageAssamese
Literacy RateIncrease 71% high
Lok Sabha ConstituencyNowgong
Vidhan Sabha ConstituencyNagaon, Raha, Barhampur, Batadroba, Dhing, Rupohihut, Samaguri, Kaliabor
Websitenagaon.assam.gov.in

History edit

This division was organised on the both banks of Kalang river by Momai Tamuli Borbarua in 1611 during the reign of Pratap Singha. Its settlement was completed during the reign of Gadadhar Singha. Nagoan was under the administration of the Borphukan. From Nagoan 1,310 soldiers took part in the Kachari invasion of Swargadeo Rudra Singha in 1707[1]

Geography edit

The Kolong River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River, flows through Nagaon and in the process divides the city into two distinct regions: Nagaon and Haibargaon.[2]

Nagaon is bounded on the north by the Sonitpur district and the Brahmaputra River. On the south, it borders the West Karbi Anglong district, Dima Hasao and Hojai District. On the east it is bounded by Karbi Anglong district and the Golaghat district, while on the west it neighbours the Marigaon district.

There are several beels, marshy areas and swamps in the district, including the regions of Marikalong, Potakalong, Haribhanga, Jongalbalahu, Samaguri Beel, Gatanga Beel[3] Urigadang and Nawbhanga. These wetlands are former channels of the Kolong and Kopili rivers.

Transport edit

Road edit

There is very good availability of buses playing from Guwahati, Jorhat and Tezpur to Nagaon. The district lies about 120 km east of Guwahati with an average travel time of 2 hours. Nagaon is some 190 km from Jorhat and 75 km from Tezpur. Taxies are available for hire from all major destinations to Nagaon.[4]

Railway edit

There are two railway stations in Nagaon town, one at Haibargaon (Dhing gate) and another at Nagaon. The nearest railway junction is at Chaparmukh, which is around 28 km from Nagaon.

Airport edit

The nearest airport is Tezpur Airport. The nearest international airport is Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati.

Demographics edit

Languages spoken in Nagaon city (2011)[5]

  Assamese (44.92%)
  Bengali (21.79%)
  Hindi (10.21%)
  Others (23.08%)

As of 2011 India census,[6] Nagaon [7][8] city had a population of 155,889 making it one of the largest cities of Assam. The population is largely of heterogeneous nature. Indigenous Assamese communities along with tribal communities like Karbi, Tiwa (Lalung) are the natives of the city. Assamese is spoken by 70,039 people, Bengali is spoken by 33,978, Hindi is spoken by 15,926 people and 35,946 speaks others languages.[5]

Politics edit

Nagaon is part of the Lok Sabha constituency of Nowgong.[9] Rupak Sarmah of BJP is the current MLA of Nowgong (Vidhan Sabha constituency).

Pradyut Bordoloi of Indian National Congress is the current MP of Nowgong (Lok Sabha constituency).

Education edit

Modern education was first introduced in the district by Christian missionaries, such as Miles Bronson and Nathan Brown in the nineteenth century. Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, a major figure in Assamese literature, spent the better part of his life in Nagaon, and the Assamese intellectual Gunabhiram Barua worked in Nagaon for about two decades.

Schools edit

The Nowgong Mission High School, established by Miles Bronson in 1846 is one of the oldest school in Assam. It also has the third oldest government school in Assam, the Nowgong Government Boys' Higher Secondary School, established in 1865. Another old school is the Dawson Higher Secondary & Multipurpose School.

Prominent English Medium Schools:

 
Front view of the main entrance of Nowgong Mission High School, the oldest school of Assam
  1. Kendriya Vidyalaya, Nagaon
  2. Christ Jyoti School
  3. Nowgong Mission High School
  4. St. Ignatius Loyola English Medium High School
  5. St. Antony's High School
  6. Little Flower School
  7. Model English School
  8. Nagaon English Academy
  9. Sandipani Vidyamandir
  10. St. Boniface High School
  11. Riverdale School

School having both English and Assamese medium

  1. Ramanujan Secondary School

Other Schools of Repute:

  1. Nagaon Shankardev Vidya Niketon
  2. National Academy Nagaon
  3. Nowgong Government Boys' Higher Secondary School
  4. Nowgong Government Girls' Higher Secondary School
  5. Nagaon Bengali Boys' Higher Secondary School
  6. Nagaon Bengali Girls' Higher Secondary School
  7. Government Urban Basic School
  8. Dawson Higher Secondary and Multipurpose School
  9. Om Prakash Jajodia Girls' Hindi High School
  10. Marwari Hindi high School
  11. Nabarup Jatiya Vidyapith
  12. Navaroop jatiya vidyapith
  13. Haibargaon Adarsha High School

Colleges edit

At present, there are about 25 colleges, of which probably the most renowned are

  1. Nowgong College
  2. A.D.P. College (named after Anandaram Dhekial Phookan)
  3. Khagarijan College (named after the old administrative headquarters of Nowgong District)
  4. Nowgong Girls' College
  5. Nowgong Law College
  6. Nagaon G.N.D.G. Commerce College
  7. Pioneer Arts College
  8. College of Education, Nagaon

Besides these there are a number of junior colleges in Nagaon. As such many students from the neighboring districts also come to study in these colleges. Some of these are

  1. Ramanujan Junior College
  2. Concept Junior College
  3. Geetanjali Junior College (regarded as the best college for Commerce Department)
  4. Renaissance Junior College
  5. Alpha Beta College (Jr.)
  6. Kalong-Kapili Vidyapith Junior College
  7. Kalongpar Vidyapith Junior College
  8. Bharali's Academy Junior College
  9. Nagaon Junior College
  10. Srimanta Sankardev Junior College
  11. Madhabdev Junior College
  12. Dronacharya Junior College
  13. Chanakya Junior College
  14. Matrix Junior College
  15. Dimension Junior College
  16. Gyanpith Junior College
  17. CV Raman Junior College
  18. Dr. S.R.K. Junior College
  19. Anandaram Baruah Junior College
  20. Kamala Kanta Barua Junior College
  21. Nonoi Junior college
  22. Abhigyan Junior college
  23. Daswani Classes (Domain Academy)
  24. Gurukul Global Academy, Nagaon.

Assam Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital edit

The Assam Homeopathic College is situated in Haibargaon, Nagaon. The institute was established in 1968. It is the first homeopathic medical college of the entire North East India.

Nowgong Polytechnic edit

 
Nowgong Polytechnic

Nagaon is also home to Nowgong Polytechnic, one of the oldest technical education institutes in Assam.

The College of Fisheries edit

The College of Fisheries, the only college of its kind in the entire northeastern India, is located in Raha and comes under the academic management of Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat.

Medical College edit

The foundation stone of the Nagaon Medical College and Hospital was laid by the then chief minister of Assam Mr. Tarun Gogoi in February 2016. The construction work on the same has officially begun from 18 February 2017. On 14 April 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the college and Hospital, along with All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati and two other medical colleges.[10]

University edit

Nagaon is home to the Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya, which offers postgraduate and doctorate level courses.

As of 2024, Nowgong College has been declared as an university. However, official status from the University Grants Commission of India (UGC) is pending.

Notable people edit

Sports edit

The multipurpose Nurul Amin Stadium of Nagaon is named after the sportsperson late Nurul Amin. It hosts the Independence Day Cup football tournament every year wherein most of the teams of national repute participate. Other sports like cricket, hockey, kabaddi etc. are also played in this stadium, and sports training programs are also held here.

Hima Das who is an Indian sprinter and the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships was born in Dhing, a town in Nagaon.

Photo gallery edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Nityananda Gogoi, Historical Geography of Medieval Assam. p. 277.
  2. ^ "Indian Express दिल्ली epaper dated Sat, 15 Feb 14". epaper.jansatta.com. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Gatanga Beel (গটঙা বিল)". gatangabeel.business.site. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  4. ^ District Website, Nagaon (22 April 2022). "Nagaon -Location, Access". Nagaon District Website. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  5. ^ a b 2011 Censuscensusindia.gov.in Archived 27 March 2023 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 16 June 2004. Retrieved 1 November 2008.
  7. ^ District Website, Nagaon (22 April 2022). "Nagaon - Location, Approach". Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  8. ^ Nagaon, District Website (22 April 2022). "Nagaon District at a Glance". District Website. Archived from the original on 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  9. ^ "List of Parliamentary & Assembly Constituencies" (PDF). Assam. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 May 2006. Retrieved 6 October 2008.
  10. ^ "PM Modi Dedicates Northeast's 1st AIIMS, 3 New Medical Colleges In Assam". NDTV. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.

External links edit

  Media related to Nagaon at Wikimedia Commons