Dima Hasao (Assamese: ডিমা হাছাও জিলা) (Pron: ˈdɪmə həˈsaʊ) district — earlier called North Cachar Hills district (Assamese: উত্তৰ কাছাৰ পাৰ্বত্য জিলা) — is an administrative district in the state of Assam in north-eastern India. As of 2011 it is the least populous district of Assam (out of 27). "Dima Hasao" means "Dimasa Hills" in the Dimasa language.

History

Dima Hasao District district was a part of Dimasa Kachari Kingdom before 1832. The kingdom was extended from Jamuna in the North to the foot-hills of Lushai Hills in the south and from the Kopili in the west to the Angami and Katcha Naga hills beyond the Dhansiri in the east. The Dimasa Kachari kings had their capitals successively at Dimapur, Maibang, Kashpur, and, lastly, at Horitikor (Karimganj district near Badarpur). In 1830, the Dimasa king Gobinda Chandra Hasnu was assassinated by his own general Gambhir Singh, after that the British annexed the southern part of the kingdom on 14 August 1832 under the doctrine of Lapsi. The rest was ruled by last Dimasa General Tularam. In 1837, a portion of Tularam's kingdom was further annexed to the British Empire and constituted into a sub-division of Nagaon district in 1837 with Headquarter at Asalu. In 1854, on the death of Tularam, the remaining portion of his kingdom was finally annexed to the British Empire and added to the Asalu sub-division.