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Raimona National Park, in the Eastern (Assam) Dooars
Tracks to Elephant Reservation, Assam Dooars
The Assam Duars, better known as the Assam Dooars or East Dooars, is part of the Dooars. Though environments, culture, history, and practically everything else make them one with the Bengal Dooars, the reason for the justification for division is that the Assam Duars are east of the Sankosh river and usually end at the Manas river. Today, they mostly lay in the likes of India, specifically eastern Gorkhaland and Cooch Behar, Assam, and southern Bhutan.
History[]
Kamata Rule[]
The Assam Dooars served among the most useful to the Kamata Kingdom specifically under Koch rule. This was mostly because the region was a trade route from Assam to Bhutan, giving them a complete monopoly over the trade of various silks like Muga silk, rice, dried fish, and clothing in the region. Many imports from Bhutan also gave them an upper hand, receiving woolen clothing, gold, Himalayan rock salt, yaktails and ponies.
Bhutia Arrival & British Conflicts[]
As the Koch dynasty and the Ahom Kingdom fell, the Bhutias from Tibet who had come from Bhutan where they had settled took advantage over the situation in order to have the prosperity that the two kingdoms did. The Ahoms, whose fate was sealed later than the Koches, had to cede lands the Bhutias said they wanted out of pure compulsion; threatening compulsion. As soon as the Bhutanese infiltrated the Koch capital in 1772, the garrisons were kicked out by the British; the first military conflict between the two, happening in the crossroads of the Assam Dooars. After the British invaded Burma, they seized Assam as a result of the Treaty of Yandabo. Then, the taxes of the Bhutias owed to the Assamese king were then owed to the British, with the irregularities creating conflict between the two.
British Occupation[]
In 1838, Bhutanese raiders raided the Assam Dooars. The British requested compensation, to which the Bhutanese declined in order to protect their independence. So the British soon dealt with the Bhutanese in 1841 by annexing the Assam Dooars in turn for 10000 Rupees annually. The Bengal Dooars were also then ceded as per many issues with them. Later, after the Bhutanese raided the Assam Dooars again in 1862, the British finally, after much pressure on the Druk Desi, declared war on Bhutan by entering through the Purba Dooars. This invasion, from 1864 - 1865, was known as the Duar War. After the British captured the fort at Deothang, which is a parts of the Assam Dooars, they proceeded to escape at the sight of the Bhutanese and come back with the help of the 55th Regiment on Foot and reconquered it, with the unfortunate expense of 2 howitzer guns, the only guns in Bhutan at the time. Under the British, the Dooars were politically split for the first time, where we get our term and its geographical boundaries, creating the Cooch Behar State in the West Dooars and Koch Hajo in the East. While Cooch Behar remained an unincorporated princely state for a long time, Koch Hajo was absorbed into the British Raj almost instantly. The governors of the Duars were called Subahdars, which ironically was the term for leaders in the Delhi Sultanate (mostly under the Tughlaq Dynasty) and for the Mughals (where it was called Sahib-i-Subah). Later, the Eastern Dooars were merged with Goalpara district.
Modern-Day (Under India & Bhutan)[]
Today, the approximate area falls completely within the Bodo districts of Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, and Chirang, and partially in the Bhutanese dzongkhags of Chhukha and Geylegphug. Much of the people in these areas in India advocate for Bodo or Gorkha independence in the form of Gorkhaland and Bodoland. Many might be divided on the decision; not for independence - disputes. Both Bodoland and Gorkhaland (which is actually not majority Gorkha) have the Assam Dooars. Bodoland does have the upper hand however, as they have more recognition as an autonomous division with its own constitutional autonomous council. As if 2025, there are no dispute issues between the groups.
Geography[]
Purba Dooars[]
Out of the 18 Dooars, which are 18 passageways from the Teesta River to the western Bhutanese Himalayas, the Assam Dooars have 7 of them. The 7 Dooar gates in Assam are called the Purba Dooars, meaning 'east doors'. The most commonly known Purba Dooars with a high level of recognition and significance include the main five: Bijni, Chapakhamar, Chapagur, Banska and Gurkola.