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The Duars or Dooars are flood plains and the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. 'Duar' means door in Assamese and Bengali languages and form the gateway to Bhutan. This region is divided by the Sankosh river into the eastern and the western Duars. This region was controlled by the Kingdom of Bhutan when the British annexed it in 1865. They are now part of the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal. Many wars have been fought over them. These plains are very fertile. There are innumberable streams and rivers flowing through these fertile plains from the mountains of Bhutan. In Assam the major rivers are Brahmaputra and Manas, and in northern West Bengal the major river is the Teesta besides many others like the Jaldhaka, Torsha, Sankosh, Dyna, Karatowa among others.
People The native people of this region generally have East Asian features. They are composed of numerous tribes, including the Bodo people in Assam, the Rabha, the Toto, the Koch and the Rajbongshis in Bengal. Apart from the tribal population, a large Bengali population (mostly displaced by the Partition of Bengal) also populate the Duars. The Dooars are famous for the tea gardens, which were planted by the British. For working in the gardens, they imported labour from Nepal and the Santhal Parganas. The remnants of these people also form a very large part of the population surrounding the tea gardens. History The region was the western part of the Kamarupa kingdom that later gave rise to the Kamata kingdom in the 13th century. The most important dynasty that ruled this kingdom was that of Biswa Singha, who ruled in the 16th century. His ancestor was Haria Mandal, an indigenous chieftain of the Koch tribe. The western portion of this kingdom, Koch Bihar, remained unaffected by the great changes that overtook its surrounding provinces in the decade following the battle of Plassey in 1757. However, it was invaded by Bhutan in the latter half of the 18th century, which prompted a formal treaty of alliance with the British in 1775. Upon the extinguishing of British rule in India in 1947, the state acceded unto the dominion of India and it merged with the Union of India shortly afterwards. Cities and towns The Duars region is a large region, and is dotted with many towns and cities. The largest city in the whole region stretching from the Darjeeling foothills to the Arunachal Pradesh foothills is Siliguri. This northern Bengal city is well connected with the rest of country by air and railway, and is the business hub of the region. The other major cities are Tezpur, Bongaigaon, Goalpara, Barpeta and Dhubri in Assam. Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Birpara are the major cities of the Duars on West Bengal. Also, the commercial capital of Bhutan, Phuentsholing, can be considered a part of this region. Politics Historically, the region has suffered from ethnic strife. The Bodoland agitation in Assam for a separate homeland for the Bodo people and the Kamtapur or Greater Cooch Behar movement in northern Bengal for the Rajbongshis are the two most vociferous ones. The ethnic people originating from the historic Kingdom of '''Kamatapur''' (the "Koch-Rajbongshi" community), are demanding a separate state within the boundary of India ostensibly to save their culture and customs from disappearing. Forests The beauty of the region lies not only in its tea gardens but also in the dense jungles that make up the countryside. Famous wildlife sanctuaries like Manas National Park in Assam; the Jaldapara National Park; Buxa Wildlife Sanctuary; Gorumara National Park; Chapramari Sanctuary; and the Mahananda Wildlife Park in West Bengal are located in this region. | ||||||||
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