Jalpaiguri district

Jalpaiguri district (Bengali pronunciation: [dʒɔlpaːiːguɽiː]) is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. The district was established in 1869 during British Raj.

This article is about the Indian district in the state of West Bengal. For its eponymous city headquarters, see Jalpaiguri City.

Jalpaiguri district
District
Clockwise from top: Neora Tea Estate, Raikut Palace, Himalayas from Jalpaiguri, Sevoke bridge over the Teesta, Champramary Wildlife Sanctuary
Location of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal
Location of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal
Country India
State West Bengal
DivisionJalpaiguri
HeadquartersJalpaiguri
Government
 • Lok Sabha constituenciesJalpaiguri
 • Vidhan Sabha constituenciesNagrakata, Dhupguri, Maynaguri, Mal, Dabgram-Phulbari, Jalpaiguri, Rajganj
Area
 • Total3,386 km2 (1,307 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
 • Total2,381,596
 • Density700/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
 • Urban
1,103,847
Demographics
 • Literacy84.79 per cent
 • Sex ratio954
Time zoneUTC+05:30 (IST)
Major highwaysNH 31, NH 31A, NH 31C, NH 31D
Average annual precipitation3160 mm
Websitewww.jalpaiguri.gov.in

The headquarters of the district are in the city of Jalpaiguri, which is also the divisional headquarters of North Bengal.

History

Jalpaiguri district comprises western Dooars and the major part of the eastern Morang and this area, according to Sailen Debnath, in the ancient time was a part of the kingdom of Kamarupa, and since the medieval period it became a part of Kamata kingdom.[1] Sailen writes that three of the five ancient capitals of Kamatapur were geographically in the district of Jalpaiguri; and the three capitals were at Chilapata, Mainaguri and Panchagarh in sequence. According to him, Hingulavas, the first capital of the next Koch kingdom as well was in Jalpaiguri district. Hingulavas has well been identified with Mahakalguri in Alipurduar Sub-Division.[1]

The Dooars in Jalpaiguri district were under the control of Kingdom of Bhutan till 1865 when British East India company captured the area in the Duar War under the Treaty of Sinchula and were added to the district of Jalpaiguri in 1869 and later finally to the Indian Union in 1949.

Like all the Duars under Druk Gyalpo of Bhutan, it was under the jurisdiction of Tongso Penlop, below the Tongso Penlop were Subah who in turn appointed Mondal, Laskar or Uzir to look after the Duars.[2]

Geography
Samsing in Jalpaiguri district

Jalpaiguri is a part of West Bengal which is situated in North Bengal.

The district situated in the northern part of West Bengal has international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh in the north and south respectively and district borders with Darjeeling hills in the west and northwest and Alipurduar district and Cooch Behar district on the east.

National protected areas include the Gorumara National Park and the Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary.

Climate

Jalpaiguri is part of monsoon climate zone of South-Eastern Asia. May is the hottest month of this region with average maximum temperature of about 32 °C whereas January is coldest with 11 °C. Highest ever recorded maximum and minimum temperature are 40 °C and 2 °C. The average annual humidity in the district is of 82%. The annual average rainfall is 3160mm. December is the driest month with average rainfall 0.2 mm and July is wettest with 809.3 mm. Number of rainy days are 0 to 1 during November to February and 24 days during July. Thunderstorms are common weather phenomenon during May.

Divisions

Sub-divisions

Jalpaiguri district earlier had three sub-divisions – Jalpaiguri Sadar subdivision, Mal subdivision and Alipurduar subdivision. Alipurduar district was created in June 2014 and Jalpaiguri district was left with two subdivisions – Jalpaiguri Sadar and Mal.[3][4]

Police stations

There are 16 police stations in the district, viz.:[5]

  1. Banarhat
  2. Bhaktinagar
  3. Binnaguri (Phari)
  4. Chalsa
  5. Dhupguri
  6. Domohani (Phari)
  7. Gairkata
  8. Jalpaiguri (Kotwali)
  9. Kranti Hat (Phari)
  10. Malbazar
  11. Matelli (Phari)
  12. Mainaguri
  13. Nagrakata
  14. New Jalpaiguri
  15. Patkata (Phari)
  16. Rajganj

Telephone districts

There are six telephone area codes of Jalpaiguri district. They are 03561, 03562, 03563, 03564, 03565, 03566.

Assembly constituencies

As per order of the Delimitation Commission in respect of the delimitation of constituencies in the West Bengal, the district is divided into seven assembly constituencies:[6]

S No. Name Lok Sabha constituency MLA Party
15 Dhupguri (SC) Jalpaiguri Bishnu Pada Ray Bharatiya Janata Party
16 Maynaguri (SC) Kaushik Roy Bharatiya Janata Party
17 Jalpaiguri (SC) Pradip Kumar Barma All India Trinamool Congress
18 Rajganj (SC) Khageshwar Roy All India Trinamool Congress
19 Dabgram-Phulbari Sikha Chatterjee Bharatiya Janata Party
20 Mal (ST) Bulu Chik Baraik All India Trinamool Congress
21 Nagrakata (ST) Alipuarduars Puna Bhengra Bharatiya Janata Party

Malbazar and Nagrakata constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates. Dhupguri, Maynaguri, Jalpaiguri and Rajganj constituencies are reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates. Along with one assembly constituency from Cooch Behar district, Dhupguri, Maynaguri, Jalpaiguri, Rajganj, Dabgram-Phulbari, and Malbazar constituencies form Jalpaiguri (Lok Sabha constituency), which is reserved for Scheduled Castes.

Transport

One can avail train from the major railway stations in the vicinity like New Jalpaiguri railway station/ Jalpaiguri/ Jalpaiguri Road/ New Maynaguri railway station/ New Mal Junction railway station. By road it is connected with rest of the country. Air travel is available up to Bagdogra Airport, and from there it is connected by a 20 km expressway from the district border.

Demographics
Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1901546,764—    
1911663,222+1.95%
1921695,946+0.48%
1931740,993+0.63%
1941847,841+1.36%
1951916,747+0.78%
19611,359,292+4.02%
19711,750,159+2.56%
19812,214,871+2.38%
19912,800,543+2.37%
20013,401,173+1.96%
20113,872,846+1.31%
source:[7]

According to the 2011 census Jalpaiguri district had a population of 3,872,846, roughly equal to the nation of Liberia.[8] This gives it a ranking of 66th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 621 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,610/sq mi) . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 33.77%. Jalpaiguri has a sex ratio of 954 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 79.79%.[9]

After bifurcation the district has a population of 2,381,596, of which 752,805 (31.62%) live in urban areas. The residual district has a sex ratio of 956 females per 1000 males. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have a population of 1,001,572 (42.05%) and 349,592 (14.68%) of the population respectively.[9]

Religion
Religion in Jalpaiguri district (2011)[10]
Religion Percent
Hinduism
 
 82.41%
Islam
 
 13.25%
Christianity
 
 3.12%
Buddhism
 
 0.64%
Other or not stated
 
 0.58%
Religion in present-day Jalpaiguri district
Religion Population (1941)[11]: 90–91  Percentage (1941) Population (2011)[10] Percentage (2011)
Hinduism 272,664 51.95% 1,962,679 82.41%
Tribal religion[lower-alpha 1] 136,455 26.00% 8,950 0.38%
Islam 113,176 21.56% 315,478 13.25%
Christianity 1,069 0.20% 74,188 3.12%
Buddhism --- --- 15,358 0.64%
Others[lower-alpha 2] 1,520 0.29% 4,943 0.20%
Total Population 524,884 100% 2,381,596 100%

Language

Languages of Jalpaiguri district (2011)[12]

  Bengali (65.56%)
  Sadri (12.94%)
  Nepali (4.90%)
  Hindi (4.69%)
  'Other' Bengali (3.80%)
  Rajbongshi (2.69%)
  Kurukh (1.39%)
  Others (4.03%)

According to the 2011 census, 65.57% of the population spoke Bengali, 12.96% Sadri, 4.90% Nepali, 4.69% Hindi, 2.69% Rajbongshi and 1.39% Kurukh as their first language. Other languages spoken include Santali and Munda.[12] Kurukh and other tribal languages such as Kharia and Mundari were once more widespread among the tea tribes as late as the 1960s, but they have since rapidly shifted to Sadri as their mother tongue.

Flora and fauna

It is home to Gorumara National Park, which was established in 1994 and has an area of 79 km2 (30.5 sq mi).[13] Apart from Gorumara National Park, the district contains Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary.

Notable people

This is a list of notable people from Jalpaiguri District.

Notes
  1. In the 1941 census, tribals were counted under 'Tribal' irrespective of actual religion.
  2. Including Jainism, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Ad-Dharmis, or not stated.

Notes
  1. Sailen Debnath, The Dooars in Historical Transition, ISBN 9788186860441, N.L. Publishers
  2. (Das 1998:32)
  3. "Alipurduar a new district on June 25". The Times of India, 21 June 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  4. "Alipurduar district birth on June 25". The Telegraph, 21 June 2014. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  5. "Administrative setup". Official website of the Jalpaiguri district. Archived from the original on 10 April 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  6. "Delimitation Commission Order No. 18" (PDF). West Bengal. Election Commission. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  7. Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901
  8. US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Liberia 3,786,764 July 2011 est.
  9. "District Census Handbook: Jalpaiguri" (PDF). censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  10. "Table C-01 Population by Religion: West Bengal". censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. 2011.
  11. "CENSUS OF INDIA, 1941 VOLUME VI BENGAL PROVINCE" (PDF). Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  12. "Table C-16 Population by Mother Tongue: West Bengal". www.censusindia.gov.in. Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  13. Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment. "Protected areas: Sikkim". Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 25 September 2011.
  14. "Could never afford nutritious food required by athlete, Asian gold-medallist Swapna Barman's father". The Indian Express. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.

References
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