Alipurduar

Alipurduar is a municipal city and the district headquarters of Alipurduar district in north Bengal in the Indian state of West Bengal. Situated on the east bank of Kaljani River on the foothills of the Himalayas, the town is a gateway to Bhutan and northeastern states of India.HistoryThe history of Alipurduar can be reconstructed from the writings of J.F. Grunning, J. A. Milligan, D.H.E. Sunder and Sailen Debnath. After the second Anglo-Bhutan War in 1865, according to the Treaty of Sinchula, the eleven Bengal Dooars were annexed by the British. The seven Assam Dooars had already been occupied by the British in 1942. Colonel Hedayet Ali was posted as the commander at the military settlement on the bank of the River Kaljani. The entire tract of land of the Buxa Dooar was leased out to Hedayet Ali on his superannuation and the growing town adjacent to the military settlement began to grow as well. According to Debnath, the military settlement in the town of Alipurduar, in course of time, increasingly turned to be less important because of the fast growth of military cantonment at Buxa Fort in the north of the town and the Chila Roy Barrack in Cooch Behar. Later with the expansion of tea plantation and set up of railway lines, Alipurduar began to be important in terms of communication and administration as it is estimated that 78% people are East Bengal rooted. The partition of the country in 1947 led to the immigration of refugees from East Bengal and the growth of population in the town of Alipurduar.