Top Places to visit in Karimganj, Assam

The beautiful and mesmerizing lake, Son Beel also called as Shon Bill is the second largest seasonal wetland in Asia and the largest wetland in Assam.The most amazing thing about Son Beel is that it becomes a farm land for rice cultivation during winter till March and then the land fills with water and becomes a lake. The less depth of the lake makes it overflow during rainy season and the water meets Kushiara River through Kakra River and flows to Bangladesh. The lake gives a picturesque landscape with hills on both east and west sides. The inlet and outlets of Son Beel is River Shingla that originates in Manipur. Son Beel is famous for its fishery and it is one of the main producers of fish for the entire district in southern Assam. Son Beel is best visited during rainy season that is March onwards till the beginning of winters. Till then the lake is full of water and offers a view that is hard to find elsewhere.

HISTORY ABOUT MALEGARH (LATU) SEPOY MUTINY-1857

“In November 1857, three companies of the 34th Native Infantry stationed at Chittagong mutinied and after burning their lines, breaking open the jail and plundering treasury, marched in the direction of Comila; then they turned off into jungles of Hill Tippera, whence they subsequently emerged in the south-east of the Sylhet district. Their intention was to push on, through the south of Cachar, into Manipur. As soon as Mr. Allen head of their movements, he determined to intercept them. Under his order, Major Byng, the commandant of the Sylhet Light Infantry ( now the 8th Gurkha Rifles), set out with about 160 men and reached Pertabgarh, some eighty miles distant, in the short space of thirty six hours. Then, hearing that the rebels were expected shortly to pass through Latu, twenty eight miles away, he made a night march and arrived there early next morning. The rebels, numbering about two hundred, came up soon afterwards. They tried by taunts and solicitations to prevent the Hindustanis, who formed half the detachment, but only answer they received was steady fire, which put them to fight with a loss of twenty six killed. Major Byng was also killed His successor in the command did not think it advisable to follow them into jungle, but a few days later, after entering the Cachar district, they were attacked by another detachment of the Sylhet Light Infantry under Lieutenant Ross, and were again put to fight.” (From History of Assam, E.A. Gait, pp. 378-79)

IN THE EYE OF ‘ACHYUT CHARAN TATWANIDHI’ ABOUT THE MALEGARH SEPOY MUTINY

“In Chittagong, the govt. had three hundred soldiers. When the news of the mutiny reached ther, these three hundred soldiers rebelled. They looted Rs. 278267 from the collector’s office, took three elephants, freed prisoners and through Tripura marched onto Sylhet. There, they, through intimidation, procured food from Souchh Ali Khan, the old father of Maulavi Ahmed Khan, the Zaminder of Lungla. At a later time, it was with much difficulty, that the Zaminder was able to prove his innocence. When the news reached Major Byng of the Sylhet Light Infantry, he promptly marched his infantry towards Pratabgarh. Reaching there, they learnt that the sepoys had left for Latu. Major Byng and his soldiers immediately started for Latu, leaving behind half cooked rice.The British soldiers met the rebels near Latu bazar. The rebels took shelter on the malgar (treasury) hillock on the bank of the river and started firing on the British soldiers. The soldiers were stationed on the bank bellow. The first round took Major Byng who instantly died.Soon another five soldiers were killed and one was seriously injured. SubedarAjodhya Singh showed great skill and won the battle. The incident is known as the battle of Latu. The rebels left behind them 26 of their comrades who were dead and hid themselves in the jungle.” [Translated from Bengali from Srihatter Itibritta: Achyut Charan Tatwanidhi . This English version is taken from Mutiny Period in Cachar: Edited by Dr. Sujit Choudhury].

A Mughal era fort on the banks of the river Barak in Assam’s Karimganj district. Badarpur Fort is located in the Karimganj district of Assam, Badarpur Fort is an important tourist destination. It was built during the Mughal era. It is situated along the banks of Barak River. Badarpur Fort is around 27 km from Karimganj city and you get buses and cabs to reach this fort. One can avail taxis from Silchar Airports to reach this fort. State buses and private buses ply between Karimganj and nearby towns and cities on regular basis and the bus stands have enough taxis and auto rickshaws to take you to the fort.

Karimganj town is linked via both rail and road transport with the rest of India. Karimganj town is a railway junction and broad gauge lines connecting Tripura with Assam pass through this station. Badarpur railway station is the biggest junction of the district. The most popular mode of passenger transport, however, is by road. A good number of buses - mostly night services - ply between Karimganj and Guwahati daily. Direct long distance bus services are also available to Shillong, Agartala, Aizawl and so on. Communication with Silchar, Badarpur, Patharkandi and other nearby places is also mainly dependent on road transport, with services by all sorts of light and heavy vehicles available at frequent intervals. The nearest airport is Kumbhirgram (85 km) near Silchar - the headquarters of the adjacent district of Cachar. Karimganj town is also an important river port and has seasonal cargo and freight transport links with Kolkata through river ways via Bangladesh.

source: http://karimganj.gov.in