Cachar district is an administrative district in the state of Assam in India. After independence, the pre-existing undivided Cachar district was split into four districts: Dima Hasao (formerly North Cachar Hills), Hailakandi, Karimganj, and the current Cachar district. Silchar is Cachar district’s center of government.
Etymology
The word Cacahr is derived from the Dimasa word Kachari and traces its origin to the Kachari Kingdom.[2]
History
Pre-independence period
Around the year 1536, the elder prince of Dimasa Kachari, Drikpati, and a younger prince, Dakhin, had a conflict. Dakhin and his followers were driven out and built a new capital at the Barak Valley, declaring themselves as Dibrasa or the Children of the Barak River (Di means “River”, and Brasa means “Barak”).[3][4] The Dibrasa were later known as Twiprasa and formed the Twipra Kingdom in the Barak Valley.
In 1562, the Koch dynasty King Chilarai invaded and captured the Barak Valley from the Twipra Kingdom. King Chilarai gave his brother, Kamal Narayan, authority over the region. The descendants of Kamal Narayan ruled the region until the 18th century. After the fall of the Koch kingdom due to no heir, the Dimasa Kingdom took over and ruled most of the undivided Cachar district.
Raja Shri Krishna Chandra Dwaja Narayan Hasnu Kacharihe was the most powerful king of the Dimasa Kingdom at Khaspur. During Krishna Chandra’s rule, the Manipuri king sought help against the Burmese army. Krishna Chandra defeated the Burmese in battle and was offered the Manipuri Princess Induprabha in thanks. Because Krishna Chandra was already married to Rani Chandraprabha, he asked Princess Induprabha to marry his younger brother, Govinda Chandra Hasnu. During this period, Khaspur was the capital of Cachar. The last king of Cachar was Raja Govindra Chandra Dwaja Narayana Hasnu.
British period
The British moved into Assam in 1824 during the First Anglo-Burmese War, which was then under Burmese occupation.[4] At the time, the Cachar kingdom was ruled by two leaders—Raja Govindra Chandra Dwaja Narayana Hasnu in the southern plains, and Raja Tularam Thaosen in the North Cachar Hills (Dima Hasao). Raja Govinda Chandra was assassinated on 24 April 1840 at Haritikar.[5] Because he died without a natural heir, his territories were annexed by the British under doctrine of lapse, adding it as the Cachar district of Assam.[4][6][5]
The British sent army officer T. Fisher to oversee the region; he established its headquarters at Cherrapunji on 30 June 1830.[5] Fisher was both the magistrate and the collector, later becoming the first Superintendent of the District.[5] The British annexed Cachar plains on 14 August 1832.[5] The district’s headquarters moved to Dudpatil in 1833, and later to its current location of Silchar.[5]
Northern Cachar remained a separate principality but came under British occupation in 1854 after the death of Tularam; the British justified this takeover of northern Cachar because of the “misconduct of its rulers.”[4][5] Cachar district became part of the Chief Commissionership of Assam on 6 February 1874.[5]
In the later 19th century, southern Cachar was raided numerous times by the Lushais