Dimapur () is the largest city and municipality in the Indian state of Nagaland. As of 2024 , the municipality had a population of 172,000. The city is the main gateway and commercial centre of Nagaland. It is located near the border with Assam, along the banks of the Dhansiri River. Its main railway station is the second busiest station in Northeast India. It was an important logistics and supply hub for the Allied forces during the Second World War.
Etymology
Scholars note that the name "Dimapur" essentially means the city of the Dimasa people living near the Dhansiri River. The Dhansiri is known as Dima in Dimasa usage; Edward Gait noted that Dima, meaning "big river", was used particularly for the Dhansiri, while the Ahoms referred to the river as Nam-tima. The compound word is, therefore, derived from the Dimasa Kachari words: di (water), ma (big), and pur (settlement).
In the Ahom Buranjis, Dimapur is referred to sometimes as Che-din-chi-pen (town-earth-burn-make) meaning "Brick-town" and its rulers as khun timisa (distorted word for Dimasa).
History Situated on the banks of the Dhansiri (originally known as Dong-siri meaning a ravine of peaceful habitation), Dimapur was described as the 'Brick City' by the European scholars and by the Ahoms.
Medieval period Capital of the Kachari Kingdom Dimapur served as the capital of the Dimasa Kingdom during the medieval period.District Dimapur, History, dimapur.nic.in, India, retrieved 12 February 2021. The extensive fortifications, gateways, reservoirs and monumental remains found within the modern city testify to the prosperity and architectural development of the Kachari capital. According to one tradition, the city was founded by the Kachari king Mahamanipha, whose reign is placed between 1330 and 1370.
The Ahom–Kachari conflict under Suhungmung began in 1526, but the campaign did not immediately result in the conquest of Dimapur. According to Edward Gait, renewed hostilities in 1531 followed the construction of an Ahom fort at Marangi in the lower Dhansiri region. After defeating a Kachari army commanded by Detcha, the Ahoms advanced up the Dhansiri River, pursued the retreating forces to Dimapur and compelled the Kachari king Khunkhara to flee. A Kachari prince named Detsung was then installed as ruler under Ahom suzerainty.“The Kacharis were again defeated and pursued as far as their capital at Dimapur. The Kachari king fled with his son, and a prince named Detsung was set up in his place.” Some accounts place Suhungmung's advance to Dimapur in 1526: “This city is probably the one mentioned in the Ahom Buranji, which records that Ahom king Suhungmung (alias Dihingia Rāja) and his son reached the city by ascending the river Timā (Dima or Dhansiri) in 1526 when the Ahoms attacked Dimapur.”
When Detsung subsequently resisted Ahom authority, another expedition advanced through the Dhansiri valley in 1536. The Ahom forces again entered Dimapur, while Detsung fled and was later captured and killed at Jangmarang. Following this defeat, the Kachari royal house abandoned Dimapur and transferred its political centre southwards to Maibang.“In 1536 Detsung quarrelled with the Ahoms, who again ascended the Dhansiri and sacked Dimapur ... After this invasion, the Kacharis deserted Dimapur and the valley of the Dhansiri, and, retreating further south, established a new capital at Maibong.”
The occupation of Dimapur was nevertheless temporary and did not amount to its permanent annexation or settlement by the Ahom kingdom. Gait describes the Kachari capital as having been “twice occupied”, but states that the Ahoms “never attempted to occupy” the Dhansiri valley, which subsequently reverted largely to forest.“The Ahoms thus became masters ... of the Dhansiri valley, which they never attempted to occupy and which soon relapsed into jungle.” Permanent Ahom administration was concentrated farther north, in the lower Dhansiri or Marangi frontier, where an official known as the Marangikhowa Gohain was appointed.“Their capital at Dimapur was twice occupied. A permanent official known as the Marangi Khowa Gohain was appointed to hold the lower valley of the Dhansiri.” Dimapur's fall therefore represented the military defeat and abandonment of the Kachari capital rather than the incorporation of the city and the surrounding upper Dhansiri valley into the Ahom administrative system.
The frontier remained contested: after a Kachari incursion, Pratap Singha led an expedition through the Kopili and Dhansiri valleys in 1606, but the Kacharis later attacked the Ahom force at Raha, killed Sundar Gohain and drove out the survivors, prompting the king to seek conciliation. He subsequently settled four hundred Ahom families around Marangi and proposed an embankment along the Kachari boundary, but abandoned the plan after his nobles argued that a fixed frontier might restrict future expansion.
With the Ming dynasty and kingdom of Ava (1400–1500)
It appears that Chinese Ming dynasty had political contacts with the Dimasa and other neighbouring kingdoms between 1406 and 1439. The Ming dynasty canonised the Dimasa kingdom as a tusi in 1406. A Pacification superintendency was established in the Dimasa kingdom and Lawangpa was appointed as the Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendent."As the regions of Da Gu-la and Di-ma-sa were broad, pacification superintendencies were established there, while in Xiao Gu-la, Cha-shan, Di-ban, Meng-lun and Ba-jia-ta, Chief's Offices were established. Po-di-na-lang was appointed as Da Gu-la Pacification Superintendent, and La-Wang-pa was appointed as Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendent" The Ming court sent Zhou Rang, a Supervising Secretary to bestow Imperial orders, patent, seals, paper money, silks etc. to the kingdom"Patents, seals, Imperial tallies and red warrants engraved with gold characters were conferred upon all of them. The Supervising Secretary Zhou Rang was sent to take the Imperial orders and go and confer them upon these people. Further, paper money and silks as appropriate, were conferred upon them all." and in return, the chieftain of Dimasa sent horses and local products as a sign of tribute.The chieftains sent separately by Po-di-na-lang, the pacification superintendent of Da Gu-la; La-wang-pa, the pacification superintendent of Di-ma-sa; Bai-zhang, the chief of Xiao Gu-la; and Zao-zhang, the chief of Cha-shan, offered tribute of horses and local products in gratitude for the Imperial grace manifested in the conferring of posts upon them." In 1425, paper money, ramie-silks, silk gauzes and thin silk were conferred to Mazhiasa who was sent to the Ming court by Diedaomangpa, the acting head of Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendency."Paper money, ramie- silks, silk gauzes and thin silks as appropriate, were conferred upon ...the monk Hui Yuan from Yun-nan Prefecture; the chieftain Ma-zhi-a-sa, who had been sent by Die-dao Mang-pa, the husband of the younger sister of the deceased pacification superintendent of the Di-ma-sa Pacification Superintendency and acting head of the superintendency;"
It is speculated that Dimasa kingdom is referred to as Timmasala in the Yan-anng-myin pagoda inscription of Burma in 1400 A.D."The Yan-anng-myin pagoda inscription at Themaungan, south of Pinya, claims that in 1400 A.D. the rule of the king extended beyond the Kandu (Kadu, an ethnic group in northern Burma) and the “Palaung who grow tails,” to the “heretic kingdoms of the naked Nagas on the borders of Khamti Khun kyuiw, as far as the heretic kingdom called Timmasala where they kill people and turn into spirits.” This Timmasala should be identified with the Dimasa Kacharis of Upper Assam.""The Khaṁtī mentioned after Muiwkon (Mogaung) and Muin Can (Maing Zin) in the Kyankse Hill inscription (List 1084a 5, 955 s.), is doubtless Singkaling Khamti. The recently discovered Yan-aung-myin pagoda inscription at Thèmaunggan, south of Pinya (Obverse, line 8, 762 s.), claims that in 1400 A.D. the rule of the king extended beyond the Kandu (Kadu) and the Ponlon amri yols ("Palaungs who grow tails"), to the "heretic kingdoms of the Naked Nagas on the borders of Khamti Khun lcyviw (?), as far as the heretic kingdom called Timmasàla where they kill people and turn into spirits," i.e., the Dimasa Kacharis of Upper Assam." In this inscription by Minkhaung I, the kingdom of Ava is said to extend on the east to Shan Pyi, northwest to Timmasala, west to Kula Pyi, and south to Talaing Pyi."At, or shortly after, his formal ascension, Mingaung the First claimed in the same inscription noted above that “Myanma Pyi” extended on the east to “Shan Pyi,” on the northwest to “Timmasala” (Assam?), on the west to “Kula Pyi,” and on the south to “Talaing Pyi.” What these entities might have been depends on the word pyi. Since Pagan times, the Old Burmese word pran (pyi) has been used in both a concrete, geopolitical and cultural sense (as it is here), as well as in an abstract way, such as in the phrase nibban pyi (the state of nirvana)."
In a 1442 inscription from Pagan of Burma mentions Timmasala (Hill Kacharis) to be one of the 21 principalities under Mong Mao ruler Thonganbwa (1413–1445/6),"On Tuesday the [5th] waxing of Tagu he captured the capital of Suiw Khut called Kale. On Thursday the 7th waxing of the month, he captured the Mo[Mong Mao] king Suiw Nam Phwa, own grandson of the lord of Nine Hundred Thousand, Suiw Khan Phwa (Thonganbwa), ruler of the 21 Umbrellas:- Muin Mo, Muin Nan; the ocean-ordered anklet wearing Kula (Indians) and Timmasala (Hill Kacharis); Muin Kale; Kasan (Manipur); Kakran (Kachin); Muin Tin; Muin Pran; Muin Ti; Muin Na; Muin Myan; Kyra Uiw; Muin Nuiw; Muin Luiw; Muin Saou; Muin Ya; Muin Khruin; Muin Khun; Muin Yuiw;........Many of these 'Umbrellas', i.e independent states can be identified :- Maw (Lu-ch'uan); Mohnyin (Mengyang); Kula and Dimasa; Kalemyo; Manipur; Kachin - these are unmistakeable" who was later captured by the Governor of Taungdwin and presented to King Narapati I of Ava."Thonganbwa and the chief of Kale were soon afterwards taken by the governor (of Taungdwin) to the presence of King Narapadi, who was then sojourning in a temporary palace on Minwun hill, and on Sunday, the 12th waxing of Kason, several elephants and ponies and a quantity of jewellery obtained from Kale were presented to the king."
The ruins of Dimasa Kingdom in Dimapur include a brick wall of the length of nearly 2 miles and 2 tanks about 300 yards square, are indicative of a city of considerable size."However, no clear trace of temples and images in the Dimapur ruins raises doubt about the scale and intensity of Brahmanisation in the early history of the Dimasas. The ruins of Dimapur, which include a brick wall of the aggregate length of nearly 2 miles and 2 tanks about 300 yards square, are indicative of a city of considerable size."
19th century Sanskritisation
During the early 19th century, the Dimasa chiefs with the assistance of Brahmins claimed themselves to be descendent of Hidimba. According to the legend constructed in the court, during their exile, the Pandavas came to the Kachari Kingdom where Bhima fell in love with Hidimbi (sister of Hidimba). Bhima married princess Hidimbi according to the Gandharva system and a son was born to princess Hidimbi, named Ghatotkacha. He ruled the Kachari Kingdom for many decades. Thereafter, kings of his lineage ruled over the vast land of the "Dilao" river ( which translates to "long river" in English), now known as Brahmaputra River for centuries until 4th century AD.
20th century World War II