Duars Sonitpur district falls under the
Darrang Duars which includes the region between the
Bornadi River and
Dhansiri River.
Trade and relation with Tibet According to Tibetan chronicles, the ruler of Darrang (now Sonitpur district) used to pay tribute to Wongme Palder the ruler of
Thembang (now
West Kameng district, Arunachal Pradesh) who was a descendant of an exiled Tibetan prince named
Lhase Tsangma, brother of Tibetan ruler
Ralpacan in the 9th century C.E. The Koriapar Dooar falls under the Sonitpur district and was held by Bhutias known as the
Monpas () and to the
Chinese as Monbas. These chiefs were subordinate to the ruler of
Tawang, who in turn were a tributary to the
Tibetan government at
Lhasa. Koriapar Dooar under Sonitpur district acted as a trading point between Assam and
Tibet. Under Ahom government, the management was under the Sat Rajas and revenue was collected by an officer called Sanzati. The Tibetan government at Lhasa appointed Tibetan officials called Gellongs to supervise the local Monpa chief. The Monpa chief who looked after the Duar were called Tsorgon. This office was created in the 16th-century. It was occupied by the
Baro-Bhuyan feudal lords in the 14th century. The Koriapar Dooars was annexed by British
East India Company in 1844 and added to the Assam province.
16th century In the 16th century, the eastern part of the district, up to the
Kameng River, was conquered by the
Ahoms. In 1523, they deported a large number of
Chutia families to a place on the east bank of the Kameng. In 1532, they defeated a
Mughal Empire army sent against them at the banks of the Kameng. Starting in the 16th century, under the reign of
Nara Narayan, the
Koch kingdom expanded to a great extent. Several years after the Ahom victory at the Kameng,
Nara Narayan sacked the Ahom capital at
Gargaon and forced the Ahoms to pay tribute. Its eastern conquests were completed by Raghudev, the nephew of the king and heir as Nara Narayan had no son. However eventually one of Nara Nayaran's queens gave birth to a child, Lakshmi Narayan. Raghudev rebelled, supported by the Ahoms, but was eventually defeated. In response Nara Narayan gave Koch territory east of the
Sankosh River to Raghudev and the rest to Lakshmi Narayan. Raghudev's kingdom became known as
Koch Hajo, and quickly fell under Ahom hegemony, while the western
Koch Bihar kingdom fell under Mughal influence. Koch Hajo's boundary with the Ahoms was at the
Kameng River, also known as the Bareli, which flowed through the middle of what is now Sonitpur district. Soon war broke out between Raghudev and Lakshmi Narayan. Lakshmi Narayan was defeated and appealed to the Mughals for help. The Mughals sent a large force and defeated Raghudev, although Sonitpur was on the eastern boundary and so was not conquered. Raghudev's brother Bali Narayan then fled to his Ahom overlords for help, and when the Mughals demanded his return, the Ahoms refused. This led to
several wars between the Ahoms and Mughals, most of which were in
lower Assam. In 1615, a Mughal army advanced as far as the Kameng, but was soon defeated on both land and water. In 1637, the Mughals defeated and killed Bali Narayan and in the treaty that followed, the entirety of Sonitpur came into Ahom possession. During the chaos that followed the death of
Shah Jahan in 1658, the Ahoms tried to push their boundary to the
Sankosh river but were pushed back by Mir Jumla, who captured Gargaon. On their advance, the Mughals took a fort near Silghat while the Ahoms evacuated the Chandara fort near Tezpur. However the rains that set in during their retreat, as well as the diseases, took a huge toll on the Mughal army, and the Ahoms soon took back
Guwahati and kept it. The rajas of
Darrang quickly became reduced in territory to a small area around
Mangaldoi. In 1792, the
Moamoria rebellion broke out, and fighting soon ensured the entirety of Ahom territory fell into anarchy. Several outside kingdoms, including
Manipur, attempted to send help but could not do much. The
Moamorias raised an Ahom prince to kingship, and in 1786 conquered
Rangpur, the Ahom capital. The Ahom raja Gaurinath Singh was forced to flee. While the Ahoms were beset by the Moamoria rebellion, the Darrang raja and a descendant of Bali Narayan, Krishna Narayan, tried to reassert their independence with the help of Bengali mercenaries. However, in 1792, a British force sent to help the Ahom kings managed to take back Guwahati and defeated Krishna Narayan. In 1794, they retook Rangpur. However much of the kingdom was still only under weak Ahom control, and subject to constant raids from the surrounding hill-tribes like the
Nyishis. In 1818, the Burmese invaded to restore their preferred monarch on the throne, and forced out the Ahom king and took over his land. The Burmese occupation of Assam resulted in massive death and destruction. In 1826, the British declared war on Myanmar and defeated them in the first
Anglo-Burmese War. In the subsequent
Treaty of Yandabo, the territory came under British control. Darrang, including present-day Sonitpur district, became a separate district in 1833, and the capital was shifted to Tezpur in 1835. The British introduced tea plantation to the district, and imported large numbers of labourers from the tribal belt of
Chota Nagpur to the Sonitpur area. ==Administration==