Kolong river

Bhuyan settlement in the Kalang valley is there since 13th-14th century as suggested by some religious literature. There had been also Kachari people settled. Since the reign of Swargadeo Suhungmung Dihingia roja when the Ahom kingdom extended much westward, it gained strategic, political and also commercial and economic importance.

Swargadeo Pratap Singha established a large numbers of well planned villages on it both banks and founded the stations for the frontier Governors like- Roha Choki, Jagi Choki and Kajali Choki in different places of its banks. And since 17th century it served as a main channel of communication between the Ahom-Kachari and Ahom-Jayantia territories.

There was an army station of the Ahoms with 300 boats at the mouth of the Kalang and a battle that took place there with the Mughals. Swargadeo Jayadhwaj Singha built two bridges over it as a part of war preparation against the Mughal[1]

In the colonial period, though, the river was known to be widely used for passenger and goods transport, specially because the road and rail network was undeveloped or underdeveloped during that period. That is why the British colonial administration almost established the district headquarters in Puranigudam, on the bank of the river.

Until the colonial period, the Kolong river and smaller streams feeding the river were the main sources of potable water. Most of the villages were settled on their banks. People became heartily attached to the river, and as one folk tale says, it was just "Kolong" for them, they refused to say it was even a river.

In those days, the river created havoc by flooding the lowland areas in the present Nagaon and Morigaon districts during the rainy season, as it received water not only from the smaller streams, but also from the overflowing Brahmaputra. Sometime in the 1960s, a major flood caused a threat to existence of the Nagaon town itself, which lies in a lowland area. The mouth of the river in Hatimura region of Jakhalabandha was permanently closed subsequently, allowing the river to carry the water only from the smaller streams to Brahmaputra. Following this, the threat of flood disappeared. However, due to lack of enough water, especially during the dry winter, the river dried almost halfway. In several places, the river presently looks like a closed pond, covered with water hyacinth. Due to the lack of current, many sand-sores were formed in and around the river. The population of flora and fauna also diminished on the river and several other water bodies.

Numerous fictional and non-fictional, famous and not-so-famous articles, and poems have been written taking the river as a main subject or character. The famous Assamese poet, the late Nabakanta Baruah Nabakanta Barua wrote a famous novel Kokadeutar Had: The Bone of (my) Grandfather, fictionalizing the river and its history.

There are several bihugeets (songs sung during Bihu) and modern Assamese songs which mention Kolong.