NOWGONG or Nâogàon, a district in the chief-commissionership of Assam, India, lying between 25° 45' and 26° 40' N. lat. and 92° and 93° 50' E. long., is bounded on the N. by the Brahmaputra, separating it from Darrang, E. and S. by Sibsâgar and the Nâgâ and Khasi Hills. The district, which has an area of 3417 square miles, consists of a wide plain much overgrown with jungle and canebrakes, intersected by numerous offshoots and tributaries of the Brahmaputra, and dotted with shallow marshes. It is estimated that about a hundred minor streams become navigable in the rainy season. The Mfkir Hills cover an area of about 65 miles by 35 in the south of the district; the highest peak is about 3500 feet The slopes are very steep, and are covered with dense forest. The KâmAkhyâ Hills area small range near the bank of the Brahmaputra, about 1500 feet high. On the summit of the highest peak is a celebrated temple of Kâmâkhyà, the local goddess of love, where three annual festivals are held, attended by crowds of pilgrims from all parts of the country. Only about one-ninth of the area of the district has been as yet brought under cultivation. Wild beasts of all kinds abound.

The population in 1881 was 310,579, of whom about 12,000 were Mohammedans and the rest mainly aborigines or semi-Hinduized aborigines and Hindus in about equal proportions. The great bulk of the aborigines consists of the cognate tribes of Mikirs, Lalangs, and Caclιarιs. The population of the town of Nowgono∙ was only 4200 in 1881. ° j...