Dooars

Contents

The Dooars region covers the foothills of the Himalayas in North Bengal and Assam, and an eastern extension of Nepal's Tarai region. It is home to animal species like the famous one-horned rhino (গণ্ডার goṇḍār) and numerous other species of animals and birds. The region has an undulating span of tea gardens and rice plantation. Besides, it offers a pleasant environment, and is more relaxed than the nearby tourist destinations of Darjeeling and Gangtok. Its economy is based on the three "T"s — tea, timber and tourism.

Regions

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The Dooars region that Bhutan lost in the 1865 Duar War.

The Dooars region is covered under the following Wikivoyage regions:

Understand

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Name

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The name "Dooars" comes from the Bengali or Assamese word duyār (দুয়ার/দুয়াৰ) or dwār (দ্বার/দ্বাৰ), meaning "door". There are 18 passages or gateways between Bhutan and India.

History

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Once part of the Kamata Kingdom of the Koch dynasty, the same dynasty that ruled Cooch Behar, the Dooars acted as a trade route between Bengal-Assam and Bhutan. The region later came under the rule of Bhutan when the British captured it in 1865 after the Duar War under the command of Captain Hedayat Ali.

The area was then incorporated into two districts: Western Dooars under Bengal and Eastern Dooars under Assam. Eastern Dooars evolved into the present-day Bodoland in Lower Assam, whereas Western Dooars was renamed to Jalpaiguri in 1869, which got split into Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts in 2014.

This article is on an extra-hierarchical region, describing a region that does not fit into the hierarchy Wikivoyage uses to organise most articles. These "extraregion" articles usually provide only basic information and links to articles in the hierarchy. This article can be expanded if the information is specific to the page; otherwise new text should generally go in the appropriate region or city article.