Dhubri

Dhubri is one of Assam’s oldest river towns, set on the bank of the Brahmaputra and historically known as an important river-port and trading centre (especially for goods like jute) because of its strategic location near multiple rivers.

Before British rule, the wider area was largely under the Koch kings. A major administrative change came in 1874, when the British created the Assam Valley Province and brought the Goalpara region (including Dhubri) into the new Assam administration. Soon after, in 1879, the district headquarters was shifted to Dhubri, which helped the town grow as a government and commercial hub for western Assam.

Local tradition also links the town’s name to “Netai Dhubuni Ghat”, a mythic riverbank site associated with a washerwoman (“dhubuni”)—a story often cited as part of Dhubri’s cultural memory.

In modern administrative history, Dhubri district was carved out when Goalpara was divided in 1983, and in 2016 it was further reorganised with the creation of South Salmara–Mankachar district.