Kokrajhar is a town in the Bodoland Territorial Region, an autonomous territory in Assam, one of the North Eastern states of India. Kokrajhar town is located along the bank of the river Gaurang. The North East Indian Railways divides the city into two divisions, north and the south Kokrajhar. Kokrajhar town is the headquarters of Kokrajhar district and the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC).

Etymology

Kokrajhar is made of two words: Kok and rajhar. Kok means Koch, rajhar means King; Kokrajhar means Koch-King.

History

Under the Kingdom of Bhutan

From early 17th-century present-day Kokrajhar district was under the control of Kingdom of Bhutan, till the Duar Wars in 1865 when British removed the Bhutanese influence and later the areas were merged to undivided Goalpara district of the Indian Union in 1949.

Geography

Kokrajhar is located at 26.4°N, 90.27°W. It has an average elevation of 38 metres (124 feet).

Climate

Demographics

Indian census, Kokrajhar had a population of 31,152. Males constitute 52% of the population and females constitute 48% of the population. Kokrajhar has an average literacy rate of 79%, higher than the national average of 71%: male literacy is 84%, and female literacy is 74%. In Kokrajhar, 10% of the population is under 6 years of age. The district has 3 sub divisions Kokrajhar, Gossaigaon and Parbotjhora.

Language

Bengali is the most spoken language at 18,130 speakers, followed by Bodo at 8,549, Assamese is spoken by 2,752 people and Hindi at 4,024.

Transportation

Rupsi Airport is situated 66 km west from Kokrajhar town. Kokrajhar is served by the government owned Assam State Transport Corporation, Bodoland Transport Services and many private bus operators. The Kokrajhar railway station lies on the New Jalpaiguri–New Bongaigaon section of Barauni–Guwahati line under the Northeast Frontier Railway with services to important cities of the country like Guwahati, Kolkata, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai etc. Important trains like Rajdhani Express, Kamrup Express, Brahmaputra Mail, North East Express, Vivek Express, Garib Rath Express, Avadh Assam Express etc. have their stoppage at Kokrajhar railway station.

Education

The town has many schools and colleges with English being the sole medium of instruction in higher education. All the colleges under the jurisdiction of Bodoland Territorial Council is affiliated under Bodoland University since 2017.

Secondary schools

Universities and colleges

Politics

Kokrajhar consists of three assembly constituencies: Kokrajhar East, Kokrajhar West and Gossaigaon, which all are part of Kokrajhar (Lok Sabha constituency). Joyanta Basumatary from United People's Party, Liberal is the current member of Lok Sabha from Kokrajhar Lok Sabha constituency.

Notable personalities