Jiribam district | |
---|---|
Country | India |
State | Manipur |
Established | 2016 |
Headquarters | Jiribam |
Area | |
• Total | 232 km2 (90 sq mi) |
Population | |
• Total | 43,838 |
• Density | 190/km2 (490/sq mi) |
Language(s) | |
• Official | Meitei (officially called Manipuri) |
• Spoken | Bengali • Hmar • Other tribal languages |
Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
Major highways | NH-37 |
Website | https://jiribam.nic.in/ |
Jiribam District (Meitei pronunciation: /jee-ree-baam/) is a district at the western periphery state of Manipur, India. It borders the Cachar district of Assam on the west, and serves as the western gateway for Manipur. Formerly a subdivision of the Imphal East district, it was made an independent district in December 2016. [1]
Jiribam district lies in the valley between the Bhuban range on the west (in Assam's Cachar district) and the Vangai range ("Vangaitang") in the east. The Barak River flows due north in the valley from Tipaimukh, turning west near Jirimukh, about 10 km south of Jiribam. Also at Jirimukh, the Jiri River that flows from north in the same valley drains into the Barak River.
The area of Jiribam district appears to have been part of the Cachar kingdom at the beginning of the 19th century. After annexing the kingdom in 1832, the British made an agreement with Raja Gambhir Singh of Manipur ceding all claims to the territory up to the western stretch of Barak River [lower-alpha 1] and the Jiri River. Thus the eastern portion of the Jiribam valley came under the control of Manipur, while the rest remained under Cachar which became part of Assam. [3] [4]
The Jiribam Valley was at that time forested and mostly uninhabited. [5] The Cachar portion of the valley had a ferry port at Jirighat, which was used by the travellers on the Silchar–Manipur road (called "Cachar Road" in Manipur). [6] The Manipur state government decided to open the valley for agricultural settlement in 1907, [5] and by 1911, 14,346 bighas of land is said to have been settled. [7] Rice and sugarcane were cultivated, and betel leaf (pan) in areas unsuitable for rice cultivation. [7]
By 1931, there were 46 villages in the Jiribam settlement, populated by Manipuri (Meitei) Hindus and Muslims, Bengali Hindus and Muslims, a few Kukis and Kabuis. [5] Jiribam also had 5 primary schools, the same number as in the Imphal Valley outside the city of Imphal. [8] Most of the settlers in Jiribam came from the Cachar district, very few from the Imphal Valley (Manipur valley). [5] This meant that the settlers had to be treated as 'British subjects' rather than 'Manipur state subjects' and revenue settlement orders and dispute resolutions had to be carried out by the British Political Agent. [9]
After the independence of India, Manipur elected a legislative assembly under its own constitution. Ten seats in the assembly were allocated to the hill areas, which included Jiribam. [10] Soon afterwards, Manipur merged into India and was governed under the Constitution of India as a union territory. [lower-alpha 2] The territory of Manipur was divided into 8 subdivisions, one of which was based at Jiribam. The Jiribam subdivision covered the Vangai range, and stretched up to Tipaimukh in the south. [11] It was designated as a hill subdivision. [12]
In 1969, when Manipur was divided into five districts, the southern part of the Jiribam subdivision was separated into the Tipaimukh subdivision of the 'Manipur South' district (now in Pherzawl district), while the northern part was added to the 'Manipur Central' district headquartered at Imphal. [13] [14] [15] This also meant that Jiribam became part of the valley area of Manipur, rather than hill area. [10] To avoid the anomaly, the eastern part consisting of the Vangai range was transferred to the Tipaimukh subdivision. [16] With the reorganisation of 'Manipur Central', Jiribam got attached to the Imphal East district. In 2016, Jiribam subdivision became an independent Jiribam district. [17]
At the time of the 2011 census, the district had a population of 42,838. Jiribam had a sex ratio of 945 females per 1000 males and a literacy rate of 63.11%. 16.75% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 16.94% and 12.52% of the population respectively. [19]
At the time of the 2011 census, 50.79% of the population spoke Bengali, 30.51% Manipuri, 8.04% Hmar, 2.66% Bishnupuriya, 1.63% Hindi, 1.46% Kabui and 1.11% Kuki as their first language. [2]
The following are the sub-divisions in Jiribam district:
Jiribam district as a whole is one state assembly constituency - the Jiribam Assembly constituency. [20]
Manipur is a state in northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanmar, Sagaing Region to the east and Chin State to the south. The state covers an area of 22,327 km2 (8,621 sq mi). The official and most widely spoken language is the Meitei language. Native to the Meitei people, it is also used as a lingua franca by smaller communities, who speak a variety of other Tibeto-Burman languages. Manipur has been at the crossroads of Asian economic and cultural exchange for more than 2,500 years. This exchange connects the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia to Southeast Asia, East Asia, Siberia, regions in the Arctic, Micronesia and Polynesia enabling migration of people, cultures and religions.
Hmar people are a scheduled tribe ethnic group from the states of Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, and Meghalaya in Northeast India. They use the Hmar language as their primary language.
Cachardistrict 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, Hailakandi, Karimganj, and the current Cachar district. Silchar is Cachar district's center of government.
Karimganj district is one of the 31 districts of the Indian state of Assam. Karimganj town is both the administrative headquarters district and the biggest town of this district. It is located in southern Assam and borders Tripura and the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. It makes up the Barak Valley alongside Hailakandi and Cachar. Karimganj was previously part of the Sylhet District before the Partition of India. It became a district in 1983.
Churachandpur District, is one of the 16 districts of the Indian state of Manipur populated mainly by Kuki-Zo people. The name honours former Maharaja Sir Churachand Singh of Manipur. The district headquarters is located in the Churachandpur town, which is also locally known by the name Lamka.
Imphal East district is one of the 16 districts of Manipur state in northeastern India. In 2011, it was the second most populous district in the state, after Imphal West. In 2016, the Jiribam subdivision, which was an exclave at the western periphery of the state, was separated as an independent district.
Senapati, is one of the 16 districts of the Indian state of Manipur. The present Senapati district was formed in December 2016, after spawning off the Sadar Hills region in the south into a separate Kangpokpi district. The district headquarter is located in the municipality of Tahamzam.
Tamenglong district is one of the 16 districts of Manipur state in northeastern India. In 2011, Tamenglong was the least populous district in Manipur. In 2016, the Nungba subdivision was separated as a separate district.
The Barak River or Barbatro flows 900 kilometres (560 mi) through the states of Manipur, Mizoram and Assam in India. It flows into Bangladesh where it bifurcates into the Surma river and the Kushiyara river which converge again to become the Meghna river before forming the Ganges Delta. Of its total length, 524 km (326 mi) is in India, 31 km (19 mi) in Bangladesh. The upper part of its navigable part is in India — 121 km (75 mi) between Lakhipur and Bhanga, declared as National Waterway 6, (NW-6) since the year 2016. It drains a basin of 52,000 km2 (20,000 sq mi), of which 41,723 km2 (16,109 sq mi) lies in India, 1.38% (rounded) of the country. The water and banks host or are visited by a wide variety of flora and fauna.
Jiribam is a town governed by a municipal council in the Jiribam district of the state of Manipur, India. It is one of the fastest-growing towns in Manipur.
The Barak Valley is the southernmost region and administrative division of the Indian state of Assam. It is named after the Barak river. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam namely - Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The main and largest city is Silchar, which seats the headquarter of Cachar district and also serves as administrative divisional office of Barak valley division. The valley is bordered by Mizoram and Tripura to the south, Bangladesh and Meghalaya to the west and Manipur to the east respectively. Once North Cachar Hills was a part of Cachar district which became a subdivision in 1951 and eventually a separate district. On 1 July 1983, Karimganj district was curved out from the eponymous subdivision of Cachar district. In 1989 the subdivision of Hailakandi was upgraded into Hailakandi district.
The Surma-Meghna River System is a river complex in the Indian Subcontinent, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest on earth. It rises in the Manipur Hills of northeast India as the Barak River and flows west becoming the Surma River and then flows south as the Meghna River, a total of 946 kilometres (588 mi) of which 669 kilometres (416 mi) are within Bangladesh, to the Bay of Bengal.
Churachandpur, locally known as Lamka, is the second largest town in the Indian state of Manipur and the district headquarters of the Churachandpur District. The name "Churachandpur" was transferred from the earlier headquarters of the district at Songpi to the present location, and honours Churachand Singh, former maharaja of the Manipur princely state. The local People reject the name as a colonial imposition and use the native name "Lamka".
Tipaimukh Dam, officially "Tipaimukh Multipurpose Hydroelectric Dam Project", is a proposed dam on the Barak River at Sipuikawn(Tipaimukh) in Manipur, India. The purpose of the dam is flood control and hydroelectric power generation. The project was approved by the Government of India in 1999 and entrusted to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited, later switched to NHPC Limited. Due to environmental concerns as well as concerns in Bangladesh over downstream effects, the project remains under discussion and no construction has yet taken place.
Zeliangrong people are one of the major indigenous Naga communities living in the tri-junction of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in India. They are the descendants of Nguiba. The term "Zeliangrong" refers to the Zeme, Liangmai and Rongmei Naga tribes combined. Earlier, the term also covered the Inpui tribe. The descendants of Hoi of Makuilongdi (Makhel) were divided and were made peripheral appendages to three political entities - Manipur, Naga Hills (Nagaland) and the Dima Hasao of Assam. The Zeliangrong may be classified as an ethno-cultural entity. The Zeliangrong belong to the larger Southern Mongoloid population and their language belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family of languages.
Pherzawl district is located in the southern part of the state of Manipur. It is bounded on the east by Churachandpur District; on the north by Tamenglong District, Noney District and Jiribam district; on the west by the Cachar District of Assam and on the South by Sinlung Hills, Mizoram. Pherzawl District has approximately 200 villages.
Thangjing Hill , is a mountain peak in the Indian state of Manipur. It is in the Churachandpur district, to the west of Moirang. The north-south-running mountain range on which it sits is also called Thangjing range or Thangjing Hills. The range forms part of the western border of the Imphal Valley.
Borobekra, also spelt Barabekra, is a village and the headquarters of an eponymous subdivision in the Jiribam district in Manipur, India. It is about 30 km south of Jiribam, the headquarters of the district. The village is on the bank of a tributary of the Barak River, which flows down from the Vangaitang range to the east. The Barak River itself flows north in this region, up to Jirimukh, where it turns west. The Barak River also forms the border with the Assam state of India. The north–south-running Jiribam–Tipaimukh highway passes by the village.