DIBRUGARH SUBDIVION 341
communication with the Andamans has been established. It is con-
nected with Bassein by a telegraph line, and is visited by vessels
calling for orders.
Dibai.-Town in the Anupshahr tahsal of Bulandshahr District,
United Provinces, situated in 28° 12′ N. and 78° 16′ E., close to the
metalled road from Aligarh to Moradabad and a branch of the Oudh
and Rohilkhand Railway. Population (1901), 10,579, which is in-
creasing rapidly. The town is said to have been called Dhundhgarh
in the eleventh century, when it belonged to Dhakra Rajputs, who
were expelled by Saiyid Salar Masud. A new town was built, called
Dhundai, and later Dibai. In the time of Akbar it was the head-
quarters of a pargana in the sarhdr of Koil. The bazar is composed
of brick-built houses, and the town is fairly well drained by the
Chhoiya river, which flows round three sides. Dibai is administered
under Act XX of 1856, with an income of about Rs. 5,000. It is
a prosperous town, with three cotton-gins, a cotton-press, and an oil-
press, employing nearly 500 persons. There are large exports of
coarse cloth, cotton, ghi, and grain. It contains a flourishing Anglo-
vernacular school with 75 pupils, partly supported by market fees and
partly by private subscriptions, and a middle school with 150 pupils.
Dibalpur.-Ancient town in the Dipalpur tdhsil of Montgomery
District, Punjab. See DIPALPUR.
Dibang.-A large river which rises in the Himalayas and, after
flowing through the hills inhabited by the Mishmis, falls into the
Brahmaputra near Sadiya, in Assam. Its course has never been
explored, owing to the difficulty of the country and the inhospitable
character of the surrounding tribes. BomjUR, the most advanced
British outpost on the north-east frontier, is situated on the left bank
of the river, near the mouth of the gorge through which it debouches
on the plains.
Dibru (or Sonapura).--River of Assam which flows from east to
west, through the southern half of Lakhimpur District, nearly parallel
to the Brahmaputra, for about loo miles, and finally empties itself into
that river just below the town of Dibrugarh, to which it has given its
name. Of recent years the erosive action of this river has carried
away valuable sites in the Dibrugarh bazar.
Dibrugarh Subdivision.-Subdivision of Lakhimpur District,
Eastern Bengal and Assam, lying between 27° 7′ and 27° 52′ N. and 94° 30′ and 96° 5′ E., at the eastern end of the Brahmaputra Valley,
with an area of 3,254 square miles. The subdivision lies on both
banks of the Brahmaputra and is surrounded on three sides by hills ;
but its boundaries on the north, south, and east have never been
definitely determined. The population increased from 190,619 to
286,572, or by 50 per cent., between 1891 and 1901. This enormous
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