TEZPUR

city, north-central Assam state, northeastern India. Situated along the Brahmaputra River, it is a trade centre for tea, rice, and other crops grown in the surrounding agricultural area. There is also some tea processing. The city is served by a rail line and nearby Salani airport. In World War II Tezpur was the western terminus of an Allied airlift to Kunming, China, over the hump of the Himalayas in the China-Burma-India theatre of war. Darrang College and a law school, both affiliated with Gauhati University, and a government industrial and technical school are located in Tezpur. The capital of part of the ancient Pala kingdom about the 9th century AD, the city contains carvings and ruined temples from that period. Pop. (1991 prelim.) 54,999.