Jorhat

Jorhat is located at 26.75°N 94.22°E / 26.75; 94.22.[7] It has an average elevation of 116 metres (381 feet).

The municipal area stretches to 9 square kilometres (3.5 sq mi)[2] having 19 wards with a population of about 1.53 lakhs at present. The district spreads over 2,851 square kilometres (1,101 sq mi) and had a population of 870,000 according to a 1991 census. Population density at that time was 306 persons per square kilometre (793/sq mi). The sex ratio is 913 (913 females per 1000 males).

In 2011, Jorhat District Urban population was 219,565 (includes population of Mariani, Titabor and Teok) of which males and females were 113,555 and 106,010 respectively, while the rural population was 871,730, male 444,389 and female 427,341.[8] There was an increase of 9.21 percent in the population compared to the population of 2001. In the previous census of India 2001, Jorhat recorded an increase of 14.69 percent to its population compared to 1991.[9]

The average literacy rate of Jorhat in 2011 was 91.39%. Gender-wise, male and female literacy were 93.63% and 88.99% respectively. The total literates in Jorhat were 182,600 of which male and female were 96,806 and 85,794 respectively.

With regards to the sex ratio in Jorhat, it stood at 934 females per 1000 males, according to the Census 2011 Directorate.

Jorhat ("jor" means twin and "hat" means market) means two hats or mandis- "Macharhat" and "Chowkihat" which existed on the opposite banks of the river Bhogdoi. During the 18th century, Jorhat was the last capital of the Ahom Kingdom, as a planned town under royal patronage. It is often spelt as "Jorehaut" during the British reign. In 1794, the Ahom King Gaurinath Singha shifted the capital from Sibsagar, erstwhile Rangpur to Jorhat. Many tanks were built around the capital city by the Ahom royalty such as Rajmao Pukhuri or Borpukhuri, Buragohain Pukhuri, Bolia Gohain Pukhuri, Kotoki Pukhuri and Mitha Pukhuri. This town was a flourishing and commercial metropolis but was destroyed by a series of Burmese invasions of Assam between 1817 and the arrival of the British force in 1824 under the stewardship of David Scott and Captain Richard.

From the very first decade of the British rule, revolutionaries like Gomdhar Konwar, Jeuram Medhi, and Piyali Phukan emerged. The British system of administration came into vogue in the year 1839 with an established Police Thana. During the great Sepoy Mutiny, Maniram Dewan and Piyali Barua were publicly hanged here in 1858.

In 1885, a narrow-gauge railway, Jorehaut Provincial Railway, became operational. In time, this contributed to the rapid growth of the tea industry.

Jorhat is vibrant and combines tradition and modernity. In 1896, Jorhat Theatre was established to perform cultural activities and dramas by some renowned people of the town. The Chandrakanta Handique Bhawan, the headquarters of Asam Sahitya Sabha was established in 1926. Jorhat has produced creative writers, historians and journalists. Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, the first Assamese to win India's highest literature award, the Jnanpith Award, was from Jorhat.[10]

The six daily newspapers published in Jorhat are - Dainik Janambhumi, Amar Asom, Dainik Agradoot and Asomiya Khobor in Assamese, the Purbanchal Prohori in Hindi and The Telegraph in English. The Eastern Clarion was the first English daily published in the city, but it went into administration. Apart from the dailies, weekly newspapers including Saptahik Janambhumi are also published in Jorhat. City Guide of Jorhat was the first yellow pages, published in July 1987. The first online yellow pages of Jorhatmycity was initiated in January 2013.

Jorhat has a radio broadcast station of All India Radio (AIR) located in the outskirts of the city at Garmur.

Jorhat is part of Jorhat (Lok Sabha constituency).[37]

Topon Kumar Gogoi of the Bharatiya Janata Party is the current Member of Parliament serving the 17th Lok Sabha from Jorhat, Assam. While Hitendra Nath Goswami of B.J.P. is the incumbent M.L.A. from Jorhat assembly constituency.[38]

• Krishna Kanta Handique, Sanskrit scholar, Indologist and philanthropist
• Amulya Barua, Assamese poet
• Ananda Chandra Barua, Assamese poet, dramatist, former president of Asam Sahitya Sabha
• Ananda Chandra Dutta, botanist
• Birendra Kumar Bhattacharya, the first Jnanpith Award-winning Assamese writer
• Ganesh Gogoi, Assamese poet
• Hiren Bhattacharyya, Assamese poet
• Hemendra Prasad Barooah, tea planter and industrialist
• Tarun Gogoi, Ex-Chief Minister of Assam.
• Jadav Payeng, The Forest Man of India
• Jitendra Nath Goswami, chief scientist of Chandrayaan -1
• Anuradha Sharma Pujari, Assamese journalist and author
• Zubeen Garg, Assamese and Bollywood singer
• Joi Barua, Assamese and Bollywood singer

• Jorhat Municipal Board
• Jorehaut Provincial Railway
• Jorhat Stadium
• Timeline of Jorhat
• Jadav Payeng

Look up jorhat in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jorhat.

• Jorhat travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Jorhat NIC
• Shree Digamber Jain Samaj Jorhat
• Jorhat census 2011