Nagaon is a city and a municipal board in Nagaon district in the Indian state of Assam. It is situated 122.6 km east of Guwahati.

History

This division was organised on both banks of the Kalang river by Momai Tamuli Borbarua in 1611 during the reign of Pratap Singha. Its settlement was completed during the reign of Gadadhar Singha. Nagaon was under the administration of the Borphukan. From Nagaon 1,310 soldiers took part in the Kachari invasion of Swargadeo Rudra Singha in 1707.

Geography

The Kolong River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River, flows through Nagaon and in the process divides the city into two distinct regions: Nagaon and Haibargaon. Nagaon is bounded on the north by the Sonitpur district and the Brahmaputra River. On the south, it borders the West Karbi Anglong district, Dima Hasao and Hojai District. On the east it is bounded by the Karbi Anglong district and the Golaghat district, while on the west it neighbours the Marigaon district. There are several beels, marshy areas and swamps in the district, including the regions of Marikalong, Potakalong, Haribhanga, Jongalbalahu, Samaguri Beel, Gatanga Beel Urigadang and Nawbhanga. These wetlands are former channels of the Kolong and Kopili rivers.

Climate

Nagaon has been ranked 25th best “National Clean Air City” under (Category 3 population under 3 lakhs cities) in India.

Transport

Road

There is very good availability of buses playing from Guwahati, Jorhat and Tezpur to Nagaon, There is flexibility of timings. Plenty of government and private buses travel between Guwahati and Nagaon. The district lies about 120 km east of Guwahati with an average travel time of 2 hours. Nagaon is about 190 km from Jorhat and 75 km from Tezpur. Taxies are available for hire from all major destinations to Nagaon.

Railway

There are two railway stations in Nagaon town, one at Haibargaon (Dhing gate) and another at Nagaon. The nearest railway junction is at Chaparmukh, which is around 28 km from Nagaon.

Airport

The nearest airport is Tezpur Airport. The nearest international airport is Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati.

Demographics

India census, Nagaon city had a population of 155,889 making it one of the largest cities of Assam. The population is largely of heterogeneous nature. Indigenous Assamese communities along with tribal communities like Karbi, Tiwa (Lalung) are the natives of the city. Assamese is spoken by 70,039 people, Bengali is spoken by 33,978, Hindi is spoken by 15,926 people and 35,946 speaks others languages.

Politics

Nagaon is part of the Lok Sabha constituency of Nowgong. Rupak Sarmah of BJP is the current MLA of Nowgong (Vidhan Sabha constituency). Pradyut Bordoloi of Indian National Congress is the current MP of Nowgong (Lok Sabha constituency).

Education

Modern education was first introduced in the district by Christian missionaries, such as Miles Bronson and Nathan Brown in the nineteenth century. Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, a major figure in Assamese literature, spent the better part of his life in Nagaon, and the Assamese intellectual Gunabhiram Barua worked in Nagaon for about two decades.

Schools

The Nowgong Mission High School, established by Miles Bronson in 1846 is one of the oldest school in Assam. It also has the third oldest government school in Assam, the Nowgong Government Boys' Higher Secondary School, established in 1865. Another old school is the Dawson Higher Secondary & Multipurpose School. Prominent English Medium Schools: School having both English and Assamese medium Other Schools of Repute:

Colleges

At present, there are about 25 colleges, of which probably the most renowned are Besides these there are a number of junior colleges that have sprung up in Nagaon. As such many students from the neighboring districts also come to study in these colleges. Some of these are

Assam Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital

The Assam Homeopathic College is situated in Haibargaon, Nagaon. The institute was established in the year 1968. It is the first homeopathic medical college of the entire North East India.

Nowgong Polytechnic

Nagaon is also home to Nowgong Polytechnic, one of the oldest technical education institutes in Assam. Nagaon also has an ITI at Panigaon.

The College of Fisheries

The College of Fisheries, the only college of its kind in the entire northeastern India, is located in Raha and comes under the academic management of Assam Agricultural University in Jorhat.

Medical College

The foundation stone of the Nagaon Medical College and Hospital was laid by the then chief minister of Assam Mr. Tarun Gogoi in February 2016. The construction work on the same has officially begun from 18 February 2017. On 14 April 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the college and Hospital, along with All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Guwahati and two other medical colleges.

University

1. Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya Nagaon is home to the Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva Viswavidyalaya, which offers postgraduate and doctorate level courses.
2. Nagaon University As of 2024, Nowgong College has been declared as a university. However, official status from the University Grants Commission of India (UGC) is pending.

Notable people

Sports

The multipurpose Nurul Amin Stadium of Nagaon is named after the sportsperson late Nurul Amin. It hosts the famous Independence Day Cup football tournament every year wherein most of the teams of national repute participate. Other sports like cricket, hockey, kabaddi etc. are also played in this stadium, and sports training programs are also held here. Hima Das who is an Indian sprinter and the first Indian athlete to win a gold medal in a track event at the IAAF World U20 Championships was born in Dhing, a town in Nagaon.

Photo gallery