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Concept
Siliguri
Summary
Siliguri, ˈʃiliɡuɽi) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms "Twin Cities" with the neighbouring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the "Gateway of Northeast India", Siliguri is popular for three Ts: tea, timber and tourism. It is located on the banks of the Mahananda River and the Teesta River at the foothills of the Himalayas. Siliguri is the third largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal, after Kolkata and Asansol.
Siliguri has great strategic importance in West Bengal, with convenient access to four international borders: China, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. It also connects the North-East with mainland India. Located at the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, Siliguri is a significant trading and transportation hub.
According to Sailen Debnath, "Siliguri" means a stack of pebbles or stones. Until the 19th century this region was called as "Shilchaguri" when there was dense Dolka forest covering the region. Siliguri was a small agricultural village in the Kingdom of Sikkim. It was captured by the Kingdom of Nepal in 1788, after which Kirati and Nepali Lepchas came to settle in this region.
At that time a river port on Mahananda, South of Siliguri in Phansidewa had an important role in having trade bond with Malda, Bengal and Bihar. This riverine trade line was thus used by the Bhutanese and Sikkimese to bring goods into their mainland.
Siliguri started as a small area in the northern part of city, on the front of Mahananda River, which is now Dagapur. The Treaty of Sugauli in 1815, signed between Britain-Nepal, changed the prospects of Siliguri, and it became a point of transit for the Darjeeling hills and Nepal mainland. From 1815 onwards, Siliguri started growing rapidly as a small city due to its strategic location in trade routes. In 1865, the British captured Darjeeling and the entire Dooars region to build tea plantations and export the produce to England.
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